This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/22/2019
As he did so often in the early stages of his career, Babe Ruth poses with his arms folded on this original Type I photo from 1921, snapped by the famous photography studio of Underwood & Underwood. Though he appears calm and subdued, "The Bambino" was showing the greatness that would make him the standard-bearer for all great sluggers that followed, having hit his fifth home run of the year in only the season's ninth game, sending a Walter Johnson fastball over the Polo Grounds fence. Baseball experts were new to the kind of offensive onslaught Ruth brought to the game and confidently proclaimed that his 54 home runs in 1920 could not be duplicated the next year. It wasn't, it was surpassed! In 1921, Ruth hit 59 home runs and reached 60 in 1927. The photo is bordered on three sides and carries the Underwood & Underwood stamp on the reverse as well as a teletype caption. A great snapshot of the 26-year old Babe on his way up the ladder to baseball immortality! Measures 7 x 9 with an LOA from PSA/DNA.