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Lot Number: 839
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Lot 839
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| Description: Babe Ruth signed 712th career home run baseball with accompanying provenance. In 1933, with Babe Ruth aging and Lou Gehrig slumping, the Yankees fell to second place. By this time, the Babe was seldom playing an entire game, often being removed for defensive reasons in the late innings. With his playing career clearly winding down, Ruth set his heart on becoming the manager of the Yankees and made his wishes known. The Yankee brass suggested he first manage the Yankees AAA club in Newark to gain some experience. With injured pride, Ruth refused. After the 1934 season, and somewhat sulking with an uncertain future, Ruth led a group of Americans on a tour of Japan. Upon his return, Ruth, the greatest star of his or any era, was presented with a contract offer of $1 by the franchise he had almost single-handedly built into a dynasty. The Yankees' offer was a mere formality, enabling Ruth to refuse, and thus retire on his own recognizance.In 1935, the Boston Braves came forward and offered Ruth what they described as a three-level position: player, assistant manager, and vice president, the second and third of which were merely baited titling in order to lure the great Bambino into becoming a gate attraction for the meager Braves. In spite of his rapidly diminishing skills, Ruth showed one last glimpse of his former greatness. On May 25, 1935, in Pittsburgh, Ruth homered in his first trip to the plate off Pirates hurler Red Lucas. The clout was Ruth's 712th of his career. Ruth homered again in the 3rd inning on a 3-2 pitch from Guy Bush, singled in his third appearance, and in the 7th, blasted another Bush pitch over the right field roof of Forbes Field. It was his final major league home run, a typically majestic shot. The crowd of 10,000 let loose a mighty roar as the old slugger hobbled around the bases. When he rounded third, the pitcher, Guy Bush, tipped his cap to the Babe, who smiled and saluted back. It was the last home run he would ever hit, number 714. At that point in baseball history, no other player had ever hit even half as many. It was a record that would stand for nearly four decades. Emmet Cavanagh, a resident of Pittsburgh, PA and aspiring baseball player, became part of baseball history that Saturday afternoon in May of 1935. At the time, Cavanagh was employed by the G.C. Murphy Co. warehouse and elected to head down to Forbes Field on his day off. Barely having settled into his seat in the right field stands, Cavanagh watched as Ruth launched a two run home run towards his location. He luckily caught the ball and then settled in to witness history as Ruth hit two more round trips that afternoon. After his 714th home run in the 7th inning, Ruth was removed from the game, which was a common occurrence in late innings at that point in career, in order to head back to the team hotel. In fact, Ruth had to depart through the Pirates dugout to enter the visitor's locker room (as did all visiting players). En route, Ruth briefly took a seat on the Pirates' bench next to a rookie pitcher by the name of Mace Brown. In a 1995 AP interview, Brown was quoted as having heard Ruth remark to him on the bench that final day, "Boy, that one felt good." Ruth would then vanish into the locker room and would not hit another home run in his storied career. When Cavanagh realized that Ruth was leaving the field, he tracked Ruth down at the Schenley Hotel in Pittsburgh where he was staying, and got him to autograph the ball. According to Cavanagh, Ruth expressed no interest in keeping the ball and simply signed it on a side panel. On a panel of the ball opposite Ruth's autograph, Cavanagh added his notation "Home Run 1st Inning". Shortly thereafter two postage stamp sized labels were affixed to the ball with a neatly printed notation on one reading "5/25/35 - Babe Ruth's First of 3 Home Runs Hit in Pitts. Off Lucas in 1st." and "Other Two Off Bush" on the other above Ruth's stat line for the day. Magnifying the extraordinary significance of this ball is a cache of accompanying provenance to include:
1) Letter from Cavanagh written and dated 1936 to Rogers Hornsby in which he asks for Hornsby's autograph and mentions his Ruth 712th home run ball as his "prized possession". Cavanagh writes, in part, "I am an aspiring first baseman who would rather play ball then eat, but I never get much chance to play due to my work. The last time the "Babe" played in Pittsburgh on May 25th of this year, I was lucky enough to catch the first of those three beautiful homers he poled (which incidentally were his last in the big time...)."
2) Signed response letter from Hornsby dated 1936 with content including, "...I regret that I can not be on a team playing some where in order that I might make an effort to hit a home run for you to catch...". The letter is typed on St. Louis Browns stationary and has been signed by Hornsby on blue fountain pen rating 10 out of 10. A 3"x5" real photo postcard of Hornsby by G.Burke is also included as well as the original mailing envelope postmarked 1936.
3) Scarce original program issued for the game between the Braves and Pirates at Forbes Field. Foldout style program is partially scored including all three of Ruth's home runs notated in ink. Front cover has a period ink notation as penned by Cavanagh which reads, "5/25/35 "Babe" Ruth 3 home runs and single. Knocked in Braves first 6 runs." It is important to note the extreme rarity and significance of the
program itself as it is the program for Ruth's final home run #714 as well as the offered baseball.
4) Postmarked New York Yankees envelope dated Nov. 2, 1975 as sent to Cavanagh. The envelope contained a New York Yankees mailing label addressed to Mrs. Claire Ruth as Cavanagh had considered sending the ball to Mrs. Ruth (referenced in the 1966 newspaper article).
5) 1966 newspaper article from a Pittsburgh area paper chronicling the full account of Ruth's home run and Emmet Cavanagh's procurement of said baseball, autograph, etc.
The ball itself shows appropriate usage wear with moderate soiling throughout including of an area of wear on a side panel, which is almost certainly the area of impact with Ruth's bat. Only slight vestiges of the Official National League stampings remain. Ruth's signature and Cavanagh's inscription are both faint, but fully legible, rating 3-4 out of 10 in terms of boldness. It is nearly impossible to overstate the historical significance of this baseball, hit by Babe Ruth not only for the 712th home run of his career, but during the same game of his very last home run. The discovery of the baseball's existence is also of great importance as it is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest numeric total Ruth home run ball extant in private hands. The 714th home run baseball was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948 by a Pittsburgh resident by the name of Paul "Wiggy" DeOrio. It is believed that DeOrio retrieved the ball from a nearby yard as it was the first ever hit over the right field grandstand at Forbes. Based on research and period news accounts, the whereabouts of the 713th home run baseball are unknown.
Given the time and circumstance, the ball arguably represents the most dramatic single game performance ever put forth by the greatest showman baseball has ever known. Although Ruth must have known, to a man, that his playing career was nearing an end, he did not retire after the Pittsburgh game. Against the advice of teammates and friends who pleaded with Babe to leave the game after such an historic performance, Ruth pressed on, appearing in only a handful of additional games. Randy Moore, Ruth's pal and teammate, pulled the living legend aside and begged him to retire that day, wishing for Ruth to give a fitting end to the greatest career in baseball history. Ruth's confidence prevailed as he said to Moore, "Aawww Kid, I'll hit twenty more before the end of the year." That said, the events that unfolded that day in Pittsburgh beg the question if Ruth had "known" that the 7th inning would be his last at bat. The home runs hit that day, by all accounts, were uncommonly Ruthian, as he had not been hitting previously that season. Historic home run baseballs from this era are exceedingly rare with the offered baseball possessing comprehensive accompanying documentation that is unprecedented. Incredible historic artifact which is among the most significant milestone baseballs ever offered at public auction. Includes LOA from JSA (autographs) and letter of provenance from the family: Ball: VG-EX, Ruth signature: VG |
| Estimated Price: ($100,000.00-$200,000.00) |
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