REA has another 1914 Ruth, and another, and another...

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Posted By: Robert Edward Auctions

The fact that we have another Babe Ruth is almost unbelievable to us also! To those who have characterized REA presenting four 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie cards in four straight auctions as a “statistical anomaly” (that is, something that is statistically incredibly improbable, and even bordering on unbelievable, but true), we can’t blame you! But it’s just how it is. We’re not printing these in the basement! I personally don’t think that this newly discovered card suggests that the card is far more common than previously thought. Eleven known examples is not a lot. Could there be another one or two (or more) yet to be discovered? Who knows? Anything is possible. Of the three cards auctioned during the past three years, only two were new to the hobby, saved in the families of noncollectors. Our good fortune in attracting consignors of this card, we think, has to do with the fact that for many years we have been prominently featuring the Ruth rookie card in advertisements, articles, direct mailings, and press releases (both in print and on the web). Also, we are very close to Baltimore, where these cards were issued, which gives us a geographical advantage, and which probably can’t hurt. The fact that REA is the only company to offer even one of these cards over the past five years, let alone three (soon to be four), actually confirms its rarity to us. If there were many unknown examples out there, I would think that maybe a new one would turn up elsewhere, which it has not. There are a lot of advanced collectors in Baltimore and we get a lot of referrals from that area. Our last catalog had such a strong Baltimore flavor I was tempted to put a map of the city on the cover! (only kidding, but we really had the early Baltimore baseball material). I’m not sure if the fact that REA is presenting a newly discovered 1914 Babe Ruth rookie in our next auction is statistically any more incredible than the fact that over the years we have played a role in the sale of twenty T206 Honus Wagners (out of approx 50 to 60 examples known), seven 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth cards (out of approx 11 known, including the newly discovered example), or eight T206 Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb back cards (out of approx 14 examples known). There are many other similar examples. To us, it’s all incredible! A lot of it is just plain luck. We may never get another 1914 Ruth rookie again, or we could get a call with another tomorrow. There’s no way to know for sure. When we presented a T210 Old Mill Joe Jackson in 2006 for the second straight year and another turned up at the same time in another auction, collectors were saying “Hey, maybe it’s not that rare.” But those three cards are long gone, we get calls for the T210 Jackson all the time, and it may be a long time before another surfaces. Sometimes big money brings cards out of the woodwork but the 1914 Ruth is already valuable enough to make a noncollector take notice. As its fame continues to rise and its significance continues to be even more greatly appreciated, maybe additional examples will surface that are currently not known. Ruth’s roots are in Baltimore. He was born there and grew up there. St. Mary’s was in Baltimore. The Babe Ruth Museum is in Baltimore. His connection with the city is so great that it would not be surprising that a Ruth rookie card might survive in the hands of the family of a casual local collector, and it might even be the case that, if the card wasn’t Ruth, it might not have been saved. That’s exactly what happened with several of the Ruth rookie cards that have surfaced over the years. Maybe there will be more - or maybe not – but I do think that every new example is a very big deal. Maybe I am influenced by the fact that this has long been my favorite baseball card. Since it was first discovered and checklisted the 1980s I have always championed this card as one of the most important of all baseball cards, a true miracle card. I still can’t get over the fact that Babe Ruth just happened to be with the Baltimore Orioles in 1914, as a complete unknown, when The Baltimore News issued this set and included him. Now that’s a statistical anomaly!!!

Sincerely,


Robert Lifson
President
Robert Edward Auctions LLC

www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com