This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/2/2021
Offered is an exceptional image of Babe Ruth and the rest of the 1916 Boston Red Sox pitching staff from Spring training in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Ruth was coming off a banner year as a 20 year old rookie, the young Babe held his own during the 1915 season, winning 18 games and helping the Red Sox into the World Series, where they beat the Phillies to win the World Championship. As impressive as his 18 win season was, his role in the 1915 "fall classic" was limited to a single pinch-hit assignment in the ninth inning of Game One (he grounded out). Few baseball images from the mid-teens are as visually arresting as those of Babe Ruth during his pitching days with the Boston Red Sox. In 1916, Ruth won 23 games and posted a league-leading 1.75 ERA. He also threw nine shutouts—an American League record for left-handed pitchers that still stands. In Game Two of the World Series, Ruth pitched all 14 innings, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-1. Boston topped Brooklyn in the series four games to one. With the Red Sox offense sputtering after the sale of Tris Speaker in 1916, the suggestion to play Ruth every day was renewed when he tied a record with a home run in three consecutive games. Ruth hated the helpless feeling of sitting on the bench between pitching assignments, and believed he could be a better hitter if given more opportunity. In mid-season, with all three Boston outfielders in slumps, Carrigan was reportedly ready to give Babe a shot, but it never happened. Ruth finished the 1917 season at .325, easily the highest average on the team. Left fielder Duffy Lewis topped the regulars at .302; no one else hit above .265. Giving Ruth an everyday job remained nothing more than an entertaining game of “what if” until 1918. The soon-to-be Sultan of Swat stands third from the left, with a Mona Lisa-like half-smile, or possibly non-smile, on his cherubic face. The offered keepsake provides a stunning clarity of the image with easily discernible features of each of the players. An ever so slight amount of vintage tape or more likely residue is faintly apparent at both the bottom edge as well as the left edge and does not even come close to interfering in the glorious presentation. Measuring 7" x 5" The overall presentation rates at a very high level and is void of any creasing. The reverse has a pencil notation of the pitchers by name from left to right. An outstanding fresh to the hobby presentation that we have not encountered before. PSA/DNA Type I Photograph.