1914 Babe Ruth 2nd Game RPPC, only known original 1914 image

[T206Jim]

I wanted to share this story, and a significant piece of baseball history, with the Net54 community. For the last several months I have done extensive research regarding a Real Photo Postcard in my collection. Today, the results of that research are revealed in an article published in the SABR Pictorial History Committee's June 2017 newsletter. Here is the link:

http://sabr.org/research/pictorial-h...ee-newsletters

Here is the postcard:

1914-Fenway-RPPC-watermarked-for-Net-54.jpg

It depicts Babe Ruth on the mound during his second major league start against the Detroit Tigers on July 16, 1914. It is the only known surviving original photo of Babe Ruth in the Majors in 1914. The only other confirmed images are a glass negative in the Museum of Chicago and a microfilm copy from the archives of a Boston publication, neither of which are known to exist in their original 1914 printed state.

I owe a debt of gratitude to many members here who contributed to my research, your help was essential to my efforts. I would like to single out Jeff Prizner, "Bicem" on Net54, in particular for his help. The "Photo 1" in the article came from him and another photo from later in the game which was not used in article. I'd also like to thank Mark Fimoff for the opportunity to collaborate with him on the article, his ability to tell and explain a story of a photo is unmatched!

It was a series on incredible coincidences, and reaching out to the right people, which allowed me to connect the dots. It was a challenging mystery to solve, but I sure have enjoyed it. If anyone has any further information, or if you'd just like to visit about the piece, drop me a line as it is a subject upon which I never tire! The article is just a condensed version of the research, there is so much more to tell.

Finally, if you are not a member of SABR, you should be. They have a vast treasure trove of research information that every serious collector should take advantage of and it is worthy of your support.