Babe Ruth may be the most famous baseball player of all time, even a century or so after his prime. Few of Ruth's records still stand, although his stat line remains one of the most impressive in the history of the game. Number 3 is best remembered for his incredible power. Ruth led the American League in home runs an incredible 12 times for a career total of 714. But he hit for average as well. "The Sultan of Swat" hit .342 and is tied for eighth all-time in batting average.
And here is the thing, he was probably better than we thought. Today we have more advanced stats that allow us to calculate the value of players better than the old-fashioned numbers. For example, OPS+ is probably the best measure of offensive contribution. Ruth has the highest of all time. Well ahead of Ted Williams, Oscar Charleston, and Barry Bonds. Meanwhile, he also ranks first in the combined fielding offense metric of Wins Above Replacement. Was he the best player of all time? The stats would certainly suggest so.
Babe Ruth was also an incredible character and was beloved by his fans. His image remains iconic. The combination of his exploits as a hitter and batter was a guarantee of that. But he also had a distinctive and unmistakable appearance. Those skinny legs and massive torso are unforgettable.
Most Valuable Babe Ruth Cards
If so, Babe Ruth is the ultimate subject for baseball cards. And their value does reflect that. But "The Bambino" was a superstar long before the golden age of baseball cards, which started in the 1950s. The roaring 20s also came well after the peak of the cigarette card in the early 1900s. There were no regularly released cards but a motley selection of haphazard offerings.
Therefore, the selection of Babe Ruth cards is not as rich or rewarding as we would like. There is no one massive card that stands head and shoulders above the rest. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Babe Ruth's cards are fascinating, and each one is a unicorn. Not only are these pieces of cardboard very valuable, but they also provide a glimpse into a long-gone era. A fascinating time when the doldrums of the Great Depression replaced the glittering promise of Gatsby's America. But through it all, there was one constant. Babe Ruth was there to amaze and entertain the masses. These cards are a testament to his eternal appeal.
1921 Shotwell Babe Ruth
A raw card sold for $2.
You may be wondering why a 100-year-old Babe Ruth card sold for the prize of a base Andrew Benintendi third-year card. That is an excellent question. A vacuum cleaning business owner stopped in a card store and spotted this Babe Ruth card. The store owner wasn't sure if it was worth anything, so he agreed to sell it to the customer for $2. After taking it to a lab, they determined that all the materials on the card were consistent with production in 1921. The two-buck card was now worth probably a bit over 4 million dollars.
The 1921 Shotwell Babe Ruth is literally one of a kind. It was produced to be part of a baseball game. However, the game was never manufactured, and only a prototype exists. That is why the card shop owner could not identify the card. So while you can find the same wonderful picture on other cards, this particular item is a 1/1. It is also one of the first cards of Ruth playing in New York.
1920 516-1 Babe Ruth Strip Card
A PSA 3 sold for $5,000.
Easily one of the most beautiful Babe Ruth cards; the secret here is the captivating background. The jagged line representing a color separation creates a dream-like landscape for Ruth's pitching form. If you look at pictures or drawing showing off "The Babe's" pitching, you will always see more or less this form. This suggests it was typical of how the great player hurled before becoming the most lethal power hitter the world had seen.
1922 E121 American Caramel Babe Ruth Photo Montage
A PSA 4 sold for $7,500.
You don't often see baseball cards that qualify as art. But the 1922 E121 American Caramel Babe Ruth Photo Montage certainly does. This is one of the most striking card photos of all time, in my opinion. To art historians, the picture would seem to suggest a juxtaposition between the bigger-than-life public image of the celebrity and the smaller, almost insignificant mundane virtues of reality. To baseball card collectors, it's just a cool card. There are only 119 of these registered at PSA. But the value suffers because none of them are above a PSA 4. Possibly because they are not famous enough to be forged or trimmed in significant numbers, it is surprising this card does not have more of a reputation.
1921 Oxford Confectionary Babe Ruth Baseball Card
A PSA 6 sold for $61,868.
The 1921 Oxford Confectionary Babe Ruth Baseball Card seems vastly undervalued to me. It is one of the earliest Ruth cards, and there are only 27 copies on the books at PSA. It is also possibly the first card to show the "Sultan of Swat" in his best-known phase: as a Yankees slugger. Of course, in those days, the Yankees played at the Polo Grounds rather than Yankee Stadium, and that is where this classic picture was taken. The iconic stadium in the Bronx was completed two years later, in 1923.
1923 W-515-1 Yankees Strip Card Babe Ruth
A PSA 10 sold for $63,600.
The 1923 W-515-1 Yankees Strip Card Babe Ruth has the Yankees slugger looking like a comic book character. The illustration is way ahead of its time and very striking. The drawing is based on a well-known Underwood & Underwood photograph of the player. But the artist added remarkable depth to it. However, this Babe Ruth card has often been forged and fraudulently reprinted. That raises many questions about some of the cards out there with very high grades.
1932 U.S. Caramel Babe Ruth
A PSA 9 sold for $432,000.
One year before the more famous 1933 Goudey series, U.S. Caramel put out a set with a similar look. It featured premier athletes from a wide variety of sports. Of course, you couldn't do that in 1932 without including Babe Ruth, undoubtedly the country's best-known athlete then. Thus the 1932 U.S. Caramel Babe Ruth was born. I don't know about you, but I can't think of this card without wanting to buy a Baby Ruth candy bar.
1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #144
A PSA 9 sold for $528,000.
The 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #144 is my favorite of the three Ruth cards in this release. It looks like someone drew the player for a fairy tale book from the 19th Century. It has excellent aesthetics and captures "The Bambino" in his iconic Yankees pinstripes. It is also the only card with a full body shot of Ruth, and it captures his visage well, albeit in a storybook format. The card has the largest population count among the trio, standing at a surprisingly high 1,254. There are also, amazingly, 4 PSA 9s of this ancient card. You have to wonder if these cards were altered or trimmed to get such high grades for a card from the Great Depression.
1916 M 101-4 Sporting News Babe Ruth #151
A PSA 7 sold for $717,000.
Perhaps the coolest Babe Ruth card of all is this rookie card depicting the legend in his Boston Red Sox uniform. In those days, Babe was primarily a pitcher. And an incredible one at that. He had a career ERA of 2.28 and was particularly devastating in the World Series. His Game 2 victory in 14 innings remains the longest World Series start in baseball history. The card is a moody beauty that gives you an idea of the kind of pitcher Ruth was.
The 1916 M-101-4 Sporting News Babe Ruth #151 comes in two variations. The front always looks the same. But the back can either be blank or have advertisements placed there. And you have to hand it to Americans. We have always known that empty spaces without ads are an absolute waste. As for the value, you may wonder why a PSA 7 of a Ruth rookie card only costs $717,000. The answer is the last sale was in 2018. The next time one of these sells, it will go for several million.
1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #181
A PSA 9 sold for $1,272,000.
The 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #181 is somewhat less popular than the better-known #53 from the series. It has a slightly larger population number, with 1,025 compared with 954, but that is probably not the reason. I believe it is because the picture here is somewhat less attractive. Part of it is the unappealing puke green, which is less inviting than the iconic yellow. Also, let's get real. I hate to make jokes at the expense of people's looks, but you must admit that Ruth has a full-on Quasimodo vibe in this illustration.
Nonetheless, whoever bought the only PSA 9 copy of this card in existence for $1,272 made a great deal; this puke green card will doubtless be worth even more in the future. The legend of Babe Ruth is clearly eternal, and Goudey is a profoundly beloved release.
1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #53
A PSA 9 sold for $4,212,000.
Yes, that is correct. There is a PSA 9 of a freaking 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #53 out in this crazy mixed-up world of ours. There are also 14 PSA 8s. How did they survive in that condition for so long? Who knows.
There is no one Ruth card that towers over the rest like the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. But this card comes close. The 1933 Goudey release captured the eye in a way most cards of the era did not. They were far bigger than most of the earlier cards, standing at 2-3/8" by 2-7/8" size. And the artistic style was more colorful and striking than the cards of the 1920s. The set was also crucial because it was marketed for kids and not adults. That is why it included a bit of gum rather than tobacco. Keep in mind that there are three Babe Ruth cards in this set. But the yellow background #53 gets the best value, probably because it has a nice look.
1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth
An SGC 3 sold for $6,000,000.
If you are thinking, wait, Babe Ruth played for the Orioles? The answer is yes. And no. At that time, Baltimore was a minor league team, plying its trade in the Triple-A International League. It was also there that Ruth got his "Babe" nickname. It was given to him because owner Jack Dunn treated him as his baby. After all, the young player had tremendous talent but little grasp of proper social behavior.
The 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth may not be the most attractive of his cards. But here is the fantastic part. It is a legit Babe Ruth minor league card. And as a pretty obscure promotional item, there are hardly any extant. PSA has only 3 on file; the highest grade is 4. And I enjoy it immensely. The blue tinge looks like a moody Frank Sinatra album cover. It captures Ruth as still an unassuming youngster in delightful stockings. The Oriole had no idea what was coming and how his life would change.
Final Word On The Best and Most Expensive Babe Ruth Baseball Cards
Babe Ruth is one of the most iconic athletes in American history. And he has a collection of baseball cards to match. One thing that is really striking about the cards from this wildly significant era in American history is how artistically resonant many of these cards are. In these years before the standardization of size and design, every manufacturer could approach their subject from a unique perspective. The results are a fascinatingly pluralistic and evocative collection that brings alive a fascinating character and a lost time and place.
