Ruth question
 

Which card has proved to be Ruth’s first as a Yankee. Some say Felix Mendelson, others say W514 or W519? What’s says the fine folks of Net54?

The one that checks all the boxes for me is the Babe Ruth Headin Home card with Tex Rickard back. It shows Ruth in a Yankees Uniform. It also shows the date on the back of the card (Sept 19) This was an advertisement for the first showing of the film. The card would have been made before Sept 19,1920.

Thanks for feedback. I know you’re quite the Ruth connoisseur as well.

The 1920 Pathe Freres Babe Ruth has two versions. The earlier one has an incomplete homerun total on the back with the last homerun listed Sept 13, 1920. The later one has the full homerun total, with the last listed Sept 29, 1920. So the first version is technically the earlier of the two and checks in a cool 6 days before the Headin Home. :)

Here's mine:

I would tend to agree also but here is an interesting LINK on the question

https://waxpackgods.com/babe-ruth-baseball-card/

Same info posted. See Jeffrey's link above.

Thank you so much. I knew I came to the right place
to ask this question.

If you are looking for the first year of Babe Ruth on the Yankees, you have several possible choices. IMO most of those choices can't officially be identified as his first card with the Yankees unless there is a date on the card, or we know exactly when the card/set was released. There is also the question of what do we consider a card? Do we accept an old image of Buth Ruth in a Red Sox uniform as his first card with the Yankees?
The Headin Home Ruth IMO more so fits the description of a card and has Ruth in a Yankees uniform. Plus, there is a date on the back which is near impossible to find on 1920's cards.

Beautiful Pathe Ruth!

I read the question posed by the OP as to which is the first of Ruth’s cards as a Yankee, not just which one first shows him in a Yankee uniform. If the test includes a card with a caption or nameplate saying Ruth is with New York, then I would say that the Headin’ Home and Pathe Freres cards are clearly not the first, as those came out late in the 1920 season. Beautiful examples shown, however.

Of the three sets the OP cited, I would lean toward the W514 as being earliest. There is some evidence that Mendelsohn’s large m101-6 cards were available in 1921. Of course they may have been around in 1920 also--I will look in my notes but don’t presently recall seeing an ad for them in the 1920 TSN. W519 is about as unhelpful as you can get with date identifiers. Use it as you wish I suppose. Maybe some clue could be gleaned from the card of Joe Murphy, shown crouched in a catcher’s pose. I have no idea what player was intended, as I do not see a Joe Murphy or any MLB catcher named Murphy (or Murray) in 1920-21.

As for W514, there are at least a couple of indicators that it came out early in 1920. First, Chick Gandil is in the set, and he did not play a game for the White Sox in 1920. Instead, when his salary demands were not met by Spring Training 1920, he stayed in California. There would seem no reason to include him if the set was produced after the season was very far along. Also, Dave Bancroft is shown with Philadelphia, and he was traded to New York June 7, 1920 for Art Fletcher, who is also shown with his "old" team. This points to a production if not release date before mid-season, 1920. In fact, it was once thought that the W514 set had an issue date of 1919-21; however, I assume that was changed to 1920 when it was seen that Ruth was card #2, was therefore among the first cards issued in the set, and that he was on the Yankees, who of course he did not join until 1920.

I have not studied all of the sets identified in one of the above links, but I note that W522 is not a 1920 set at all, at least if Baseball Reference is correct; or, if it is, it was issued in separate parts over more than one year (doubtful given that it's only a 20 card set). The set includes Goldie Rapp, who did not even make his MLB debut until 1921.

The 1921 Exhibit is pretty early and it definitely checks all the boxes for me, even as a beater

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...bsize/Ruth.jpg

I would vote for W514 unless there is evidence supporting the M101-6 being offered by The Sporting News in early 1920.

Sounds like the W514 set is a strong candidate too.
Keep in mind technically the Headin Home cards could have been issued a bit earlier than September. The date on the card I mentioned is an advertisement for the movie. The card wouldn't have been made on that date. It would have been made/issued before. There are also blank backs that could possibly predate the one I mentioned.
I can't prove the Headin Home cards were released before w514 but I can assume they are absolutely among his earliest Yankee cards

Ruth
 

I like the W514 as he still has the Boston Jersey on and a cool pose