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The Sole & Highest Graded Example on Any POP Chart! - POP 1 SECOND-YEAR RUTH!!!
The unparalleled legacy of George Herman "Babe" Ruth began in 1914, when the 19-year-old stud would begin his professional career as a left-handed pitcher for Jack Dunn's Baltimore Orioles AA International League club. Ruth's instant success prompted serious attention from several MLB clubs, including the Boston Red Sox, with Dunn's financial woes compelling him to sell Ruth's contract to Boston along with Ernie Shore and Ben Egan on July 4, 1911. Seven days later, Ruth would take the mound at Boston's Fenway Park in his first MLB appearance on July 11, 1914, pitching seven innings and besting the Cleveland Naps by a 4-3 score. Ruth would appear in four more games before being sent down to the minor leagues to finish the season with Boston's Class AA Providence Grays. Impressed with his rapid development, the Red Sox summoned Ruth to their 1915 Hot Springs, Arkansas spring training facility in March 1915, where his pitching and batting prowess literally tied their hands in keeping the Babe with the big club.
Ruth would not disappoint Boston's management, winning 18 games and posting a stellar 2.44 ERA during his first full 1915 campaign, with the Red Sox winning the 1915 World Series. Interestingly enough, due to Ruth having earned the distinction of being Jack Dunn's "Baby", he would forever take on the nickname of "Babe", with the outstanding southpaw's five full seasons in Boston producing a stellar 89 wins to the tune of a sub 2.30 ERA. Ruth's pitching brilliance led the Red Sox to three world championships during his Beantown tenure (1915, 1916 & 1918), with the dominating left-hander setting a World Series record of 29-2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, since then broken by Whitey Ford in the early 1960s.
Ironically, it would be a March 1915 spring training Ruth image that would ultimately grace a number of his most distinguished and valuable cards: a classic pitching pose that graces his 1917 second-year issues (Boston Store; Collins McCarthy; Standard Biscuit), as well as numerous early 1920s Caramel and Strip cards. Indeed, the iconic Ruth pitching image utilized on these cards was taken from an original glass plate negative from Hot Springs, Arkansas, in March 1915, with the Bambino's second-year 1917 issue being one of his most coveted subjects, only taking a back seat to his 1914 Baltimore News and 1915 rookie cards in value and stature.
Presented here just happens to be the rarest of Ruth's three 1917 known issues, a beyond miraculous SGC 6 EX-NM 1917 Standard Biscuit marvel that proudly stands alone as the finest of its kind! Indeed, only four total known Ruth Standard Biscuit examples currently exist, with the remaining three specimens residing in 2 Good holders (2-PSA; 1-SGC). This extraordinary SGC 6 wonder has literally defied logic, retaining a majority of its original 106-year-old attributes while exhibiting near-perfect centering, a virtually impossible feature for any 1917 second-year Ruth issue. Its incomparable four full grades disparity versus its closest peers is incredible. Furthermore, of the 10+ Boston Stores and 20+ Collins McCarthy Ruths, only a single PSA 7 Boston Store and SGC 8 Collins McCarthy Ruth have managed to exceed this awe-inspiring 6 assessment.
Any second-year Ruth card is momentous, especially considering that less than 40 total subjects, regardless of ad back, are known to exist. This is a fractional count, approximately one-third of Ruth's exalted 1916 rookie card for which there are 115+ documented subjects. Advanced collectors are starting to wisely catch on to the undervalued 1917 Babe Ruth issues, with their potential investment growth arguably more prosperous than the more common 1916 Ruth rookie subject.
This is widely evident by several lucrative public sales for Low to VG 1917 Babe Ruth issues, including $240K for an SGC 3 Boston Store (Dec. 2021); $132K for an SGC 2 Collins McCarthy (Feb. 2022); and $117K for a PSA 1 Collins McCarthy (Aug. 2022). In February 2021, the SGC 8 Collins McCarthy sold for a lofty $660K, yet considering this Standard Biscuit is one of only four known examples as well as being the highest graded copy by four full grades, we cannot even begin to estimate its ultimate value.
Regarding the legacy of this world-class offering, in 1917 several manufacturers produced 200-card candy sets, including the Boston Store Clothier, Collins McCarthy Candy Co. and Standard Biscuit Co. issues, with the Babe once again standing tall as the most prominent and valuable card in the set. The Red Sox were coming off of a second consecutive World Series title, with the Bambino's pitching exploits now ranking him as one of baseball's premier hurlers and its undisputed finest southpaw. With respect to the brilliant aesthetics of this revered offering, anyone can clearly see that it presents itself as one of the finest-looking Babe Ruth cards on the planet.
Donning his classic Red Sox uniform, a slim Babe Ruth has just unleashed another one of his tantalizing pitches as he showcases his immortal pitching motion in a crystal clear and perfectly contrasted black and white pose. Most significantly, the card portrays a virtually dead-centered image, with no notable surface flaws on either side and a super clean Standard Biscuit ad back. Accounting for the assessment is subtle corner wear along the two lower corners, with the minimal surface touching near the corners' utmost tips preventing a higher grade.
As previously stated, few collectors realize that the original glass plate negative for this EXACT IMAGE dates back to the Red Sox's March 1915 spring training at Hot Springs, Arkansas, placing it as a bona fide Babe Ruth rookie image. If you are a passionate Babe Ruth collector or simply collecting cards representing baseball's greatest players, now is your golden opportunity to attain this remarkable representation of the Babe during his early Bo-Sox tenure. To reiterate, this is the undisputed best of the best Standard Biscuit Ruth, with the paucity level of any second-year Ruth subject far scarcer than his 1916 rookie card.
When you carefully consider the seemingly faith-driven stepping stones resulting in Ruth's ultimate rise to MLB stardom, it soundly justifies why his early Boston Red Sox mementos are fetching staggering price tags, with no end in sight for this pricing uptick. The overall mystique of the Sultan of Swat still remains unprecedented; not only in America, but worldwide, for it was Babe's lifetime achievements both on and off a baseball diamond that will echo for eternity. With even low-grade 1917 Ruth second year cards now fetching in excess of $200K, we defer to you, the sophisticated collector, to ultimately decide the true worth of this absolutely breathtaking SGC 6 highest-graded Babe Ruth Standard Biscuit masterpiece!
MIN BID $100,000