1921 E121 AMERICAN CARAMEL "SERIES OF 80" BABE RUTH (HOF) PSA 1.5 (FR).
Item Description
Presented here is one of the earliest baseball cards ever issued picturing the incomparable Babe Ruth after joining the New York Yankees ball club in 1920. Amazingly, this card shares the same image as two of Ruth's all-time favorite cards, the 1917 Collins McCarthy (E135) and the 1917 Boston Store (H801-8), both routinely approach/exceed six-figures for mid-high grade examples today. If you look closely at the Babe's jersey behind his pitching arm, you can partially see the Red Sox inscription on his uniform, which was appropriate for his 1917 cards as he was in his third full season with Boston at that point. However, by 1921, when this card was printed "The Babe" had been a member of the New York Yankees for two seasons now so you would not expect that the American Caramel Co. would reuse an old photo with Ruth still in his Boston uniform. Today, if that was the case, it would surely be airbrushed out of the image. Since it wasn't, however, this card represents an opportunity to pick up one of the truly iconic images of The Babe at a more reasonable price point. Card displays nicely for the grade with the stain responsible for the overall condition assessment just barely touching Ruth's cap in the photo, otherwise not detracting from the central image at all.
Babe Ruth was one of the early superstars of Major League Baseball, joining the Boston Red Sox in 1914 as a star left handed pitcher. Despite being one of the American League's best southpaws for the next six seasons, Ruth exhibited so much prowess during his at-bats that when the New York Yankees acquired him from Boston in 1920, Ruth was converted to a full-time outfielder and the rest, as they say, is history. Babe would go on to lead the New York Yankees to seven World Championships, finishing his career with a .342 batting average, 2,214 RBI's, 2,174 runs scored and an MLB record of 714 home runs, which has eventually eclipsed by Hank Aaron in 1974. The Babe also held the single season home run record of 60, which he swatted in 1927, until it was ultimately broken by Roger Maris with 61 in 1961, although the MLB season had been extended by eight games at that point. In recognition of his numerous accomplishments, Ruth was part of the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame class of 1936, joining four other all-time greats, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson.
Don't pass up this opportunity to acquire one of the Babe's very first New York Yankee cards and, thanks to the American Caramel Co. advertising on the back, possibly his most sought after of all early 1920's Ruth cards.
