Babe Ruth Locker Tags

[jerseygary]

Has anyone come across these? They are listed in various auctions as circa 1930 and that 3 were issued every year to each player. Plausible story, but I have only ever seen Babe Ruth ones (the one shown is from a Huggins and Scott auction). Surely a Lefty Gomez or Lou Gehrig or some other Yankee would have survived, right? I stopped counting at 4 different Ruth ones that have surfaced.

Anyone see another player besides The Babe?

[MK]

I have seen these come up many times in various auctions. My guess is they were produced after Ruth's death as a momento. Too many of them have surfaced to be the real thing.

[packs]

Could it be possible that they were simply given out to fans as a souvenir? I seem to remember they kept Ruth's locker untouched for a while after he retired and died.

What I'm thinking is they had tours and fans were given tags to Ruth's locker as a souvenir. That is if my memory serves me well and they did display his locker for some time.

[ooo-ribay]

I wondered about those, myself. With as many as are floating around, isn't it a bit odd the major, reputable auction houses continue to represent these as "one of a kind, held in Ruth's hand," etc?

[jerseygary]

Yeah I agree it's odd. You'd think if these were legit at least one other player's tags would have popped up on the market - as far as I can tell none have. But these keep selling for crazy prices. I'd hate to think some guy in Astoria, Queens is making them on some old tag maker device in his garage!

[packs]

Ruth's locker was in Yankee stadium until at least 1948. There are photos of him visiting his locker during his final trip to the stadium. I would like to see if anyone can find an article or advertisement for visiting the Yankee locker room. They do these types of tours today and I'd have to think they did similar ones in the past as well, especially since everything seemed much more accessible back then. If I were to lay some money down I'd say these tags were purchased or given away as souvenirs for people who visited the clubhouse, if they aren't fantasy pieces.

[baseball tourist]

Perhaps Lelands had the most plausible description back in 2003?

"2” gold pendant is like the one used to label the most famous locker at Yankee Stadium, home to the great Bambino’s spikes, glove, & uniform. Tag is EX. Engraved with “Babe Ruth 3” on one side, “Yankee Stadium Locker 3 The Bronx, New York” on the other. This is believed to have been produced after Ruth’s career. Possibly given out by the Yankees as some sort of keepsake."

http://www.lelands.com/auction/Aucti...uth-Locker-Tag

[Jay Wolt]

Even w/ Lelands disclosure in their 2003 auction, it still brought in $1600

[sporteq]

IMO- most of the recent tags that have surfaced are phony, to me anyhow. Like you, why such a influx of tags all Babe Ruth? I have seen NO other Yankee sample.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Even w/ Lelands disclosure in their 2003 auction, it still brought in $1600

A reward for honest disclosure, eh?

[sayhey24]

Originally Posted by sporteq

IMO- most of the recent tags that have surfaced are phony, to me anyhow. Like you, why such a influx of tags all Babe Ruth? I have seen NO other Yankee sample.

I don't think these are genuine tags off of Ruth's locker, but I do think there's a chance they are vintage period pieces made as souvenirs or giveaways, maybe for a specific day or event.

If someone was making these in recent years to defraud and make money, I can't imagine why they wouldn't double their money and make Lou Gehrig tags as well. So the fact that we only see Ruth tags makes me think that they may not be modern fakes.

Greg

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Even w/ Lelands disclosure in their 2003 auction, it still brought in $1600

You know Ruth/Yankee collectors

[sporteq]

Originally Posted by sayhey24

I don't think these are genuine tags off of Ruth's locker, but I do think there's a chance they are vintage period pieces made as souvenirs or giveaways, maybe for a specific day or event.

If someone was making these in recent years to defraud and make money, I can't imagine why they wouldn't double their money and make Lou Gehrig tags as well. So the fact that we only see Ruth tags makes me think that they may not be modern fakes.

Greg

My take is.. Why didn't we see this many tags in the past 20 years? I saw only handful within that time period (20 years) Now, in the past few years I've seen dozens of these tags surface.. Could they keep recycling, who knows. I believe they've been made in the last decade.

As far as Gehrig tag, I think Babe Ruth's items are far more replicated and far more superior in price.. So why settle and create anything less, hence the mass production of these tags. But who knows what a forger thinks.

Albert

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by sporteq

My take is.. Why didn't we see this many tags in the past 20 years? I saw only handful within that time period (20 years) Now, in the past few years I've seen dozens of these tags surface.. Could they keep recycling, who knows. I believe they've been made in the last decade.

As far as Gehrig tag, I think Babe Ruth's items are far more replicated and far more superior in price.. So why settle and create anything less, hence the mass production of these tags. But who knows what a forger thinks.

Albert

Agreed Albert. Plus any semi intelligent forger who's done his homework would realize that to flood the market with tags for a number of different Yankees, when none have existed in the past, would raise the red flags of too many collectors. For Ruth though, let's be honest, it's different, many collectors will risk the chance of authenticity to possibly own a piece of the babe.
Just my two cents.

Brent

[Bob Lemke]

These are very reminiscent of the fantasy brothel tokens that were a plague on the numismatic hobby in the 1970s.

whorehouse.jpg

[jgmp123]

With Babe's original locker now being in the Hall of Fame, why wouldn't these accompany it if authentic....

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Bob Lemke

These are very reminiscent of the fantasy brothel tokens that were a plague on the numismatic hobby in the 1970s.

Attachment 168242

That one is cool because it's so obviously fake. If it was in a dollar box I'd at least have it in the "maybe" stack.

But I remember seeing others that were far less obvious - at least until the people who dealt in them realized that having them out on the table for kids to look at wasn't a good idea.

Steve B

[steve B]

These locker tags have always seemed to me as being like the tags used by large machine shops. If the machinist needed some expensive bit of equipment he'd get it from the tool room but would have to leave a tag with his name or employee number. That way if it went missing they knew who to ask first.

Machinists were a rather mobile bunch. Our machining prof talked about one guy who would feel overworked and underappreciated and simply roll his toolbox out the door at lunch or coffee break and get hired across the street or down the block. A few months later he'd be back, roll in and get to work as if nothing had happened.

I can't really picture the team making Ruth sign out any sort of equipment. Maybe they had a tag to let some manager know who was in the bathroom? Which makes no sense either. 1920's they'd probably just knock and ask if they even bothered with a door.

Steve B