Babe Ruth Auction To Benefit Babe Ruth Foundation Closing February 18
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2017
The story goes that, in 1921, Colonel Ruppert was fed up with his players' late-night drinking and gambling habits. So he hired a private detective with the alias "Kelly" to go incognito and catch them in the act. Posing as a rich traveling salesman, Kelly befriended Ruth and company with card games and advice about racetracks and speakeasies. Then, accompanying the players to a ham-and-cabbage dinner at a Joliet brewery until 3 AM, he coordinated this incriminating photo and submitted it to the Yankee brass. Confronted by Miller Huggins soon after, Ruth reportedly explained his hunger for debauchery by saying, "I didn’t have a thing till I was 18 years old, not a bite. Now it’s busting’ out all over.”
Ironically, considering the controversial circumstances, this vintage photo hails from the "Babe Ruth Farewell Album" scrapbook assembled by...Yankees management! Measuring 8-1/2 x 10-3/8 inches, it's a "period" 1920s Type III example made from a "duplicate negative" of the original 1921 image. A handwritten caption on the reverse reads, “[F]amous Joliet Ill. brewery picture offered as evidence that the Yankees broke training by Kelly the Detective (3rd from left)…Lefty O’Doul, Ruth, Whitey Witt & Bob Meusel.” A captivating shot of young Ruth in his sophomore Yankee season—and, as it were, acting sophomoric.
Provenance: This lot originates from the "Babe Ruth Farewell Album" that was prepared by the Yankees franchise upon Ruth's death and gifted to his widow Claire, then eventually acquired by Barry Halper and presented in Sotheby's 1999 Halper Auction. The 80-page scrapbook featured photos, news clippings and various well-wishing letters from fellow ballplayers. Each photo reverse exhibits related mounting remnants/wear that in some cases shows through to the front side. This photograph has been classified as Type III by PSA/DNA.
Please note: Due to their routine newsroom usage for publication purposes, all news-service photos generally bear varying degrees of handling wear (creasing, crazing, chipping, etc.) and editorial marks (outlining, cropping, highlighting, background masking, etc.). Goldin Auctions will be donating 5% of the winning bid price of this lot and all lots in this auction to the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum.