(RR Auction)
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — An anonymous buyer beat out other bidders to purchase a rare Babe Ruth rookie card, complete with an ad for a "boy's fashion shop" in Michigan, for more than $110,000.
The vintage 1916 card was put up for auction by RR Auction of Boston. According to the auction house's website, the card included an advertisement for Herpolsheimer's clothing store in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The Babe is shown in a Red Sox jersey. According to a description on the auction website, "despite the card having a horizontal crease across the middle, which does not intersect with Ruth's face, this is a very nice card in all other respects," adding that "Ruth's facial features are clear and in full display."
“What makes this 1916 baseball card spectacular is it’s Babe Ruth’s professional baseball rookie card, and it shows him as a pitcher for the Red Sox," Bobby Livingston, a spokesman for RR Auction, told The Boston Globe. "I think so many of us forget Babe Ruth wasn’t just the greatest home run hitter in history, but he was also the greatest left-handed pitcher in Boston Red Sox history."
As Red Sox fans have long lamented, Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees following the 1919 season after breaking the Major League's single-season home run record. He played with the Red Sox as a pitcher and in the outfield from 1914 through 1919.
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