Is this Babe Ruth rounding the plate?

[Jeff Alcorn]

Hi Guys,

One thing to note is that on card #117 the Yankees are wearing their road uniforms from 1927-1930. On card #105, both Ruth and Cobb are wearing 1927 home uniforms, so I am not sure where or under what circumstances that picture was taken.

On card #117 the catcher's uniform could possibly be the Athletics in '28, '29' or '30, the Tigers in '30, the Senators in '27 (sock stripes look too far apart, though), or the Cardinals in the 1928 World Series. Adam makes an excellent point about Uruguay's soccer team, so my guess is that the picture is either from the 1928 World Series @ St. Louis, or a 1929 game against the Athletics @ Philadelphia since the stripes on the catcher's socks match up best with the 1928 Cardinals or the 1929 Athletics.

Hope that helps, very interesting card.

Jeff

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alcorn

Hi Guys,

One thing to note is that on card #117 the Yankees are wearing their road uniforms from 1927-1930. On card #105, both Ruth and Cobb are wearing 1927 home uniforms, so I am not sure where or under what circumstances that picture was taken.

On card #117 the catcher's uniform could possibly be the Athletics in '28, '29' or '30, the Tigers in '30, the Senators in '27 (sock stripes look too far apart, though), or the Cardinals in the 1928 World Series. Adam makes an excellent point about Uruguay's soccer team, so my guess is that the picture is either from the 1928 World Series @ St. Louis, or a 1929 game against the Athletics @ Philadelphia since the stripes on the catcher's socks match up best with the 1928 Cardinals or the 1929 Athletics.

Hope that helps, very interesting card.

Jeff

Jeff has indeed thrust a spear through the heart of my argument.
I assumed incorrectly that the YANKEES on the front of Babe's uniform indicated a home uniform, but the home uniforms in 1927 were pinstripes without lettering on the front and the road unis said YANKEES on the front. Despite the favorable feedback, I have erred. (first time ).

Back to the book. The scores of the opening day games in 1927 and in 1928 were identical New York 8 and Philadelphia 3. However in 1928 the game was played in Philly. On that day Babe scored 3 times, but alas the play-by-play of that game is not available on retrosheet, my source for the previous supposition.

Ruth scored three times without a home run that day. He was followed in the line up by Gehrig, Meusel, Dugan and Durocher. Gehrig, Meusel & Durocher each had 2 RBIs. On deck batter would therefore likely be Meusel or Dugan. Since Dugan did not have an RBI, Dourocher is eliminated. Collins followed Durocher and would technically also be possible. There were no home runs in the game, so a runner following Ruth is possible accounting for the positioning of the on deck batter.

The catching duties for Philly that day (4/11/28) were split between Cochrane who batted once and Foxx who batted 3 times.

In the second and last game in Philly in that series, Ruth did not score.

So based on the uniform correction, which seems valid, and assuming the pictures were take early in the year of 1928, I would suggest the possibility of

April 11, 1928
Runner = Ruth
On Deck = Meusel or Dugan or Collins
Catcher = Cochrane or Foxx