Auction Item Details
Lot 151
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Lot Number: 151
Description: Remarkable Babe Ruth Presentational Money Clip: Ruth’s Lucky 1922 Silver Dollar Gifted To Ruth Before 1923 Yankee Stadium Debut. Since Babe Ruth's entry into the Major Leagues with the Boston Red Sox in 1914 no figure within the history of the game, before or since, has captured the adoration of fans with a unique aura that transcended the game itself. Young boys sought out anything the Babe endorsed and waited for hours outside of countless stadiums or hotels for the chance to catch a glimpse, or perhaps, an autograph of their hero. While the Bambino was greeted with great fanfare and personal success for his first two seasons with the Yankees in 1920 and 1921, his 1922 season was by all measures brutally disappointing. He began the season with a 33 game suspension along with his teammate Bob Meusel for barnstorming in the off season, lost his team captain status just days into the tenure for throwing dirt at umpire, suffered several uncommonly prolonged batting slumps, and ended with a losing effort in the 1922 World Series with a dismal .118 batting average. Entering Spring Training for the 1923 American League season, the Babe was determined to come back even better than ever with special anticipation toward the Yankees home opener in their new stadium. Previously, Ruth and the Yankees had shared New York's Polo Grounds with their NL rival New York Giants. Ruth recognized that the new Yankee Stadium was 'built' for him and would serve as the theatre by which Yankees fans would enjoy his operatic performances for years to come. Ruth knew the fate of the team, stadium, and it's fans were tied to his success and welcomed the responsibility albeit with some understandably weighted trepidation. On April 18, 1923 Babe Ruth belted the first home run in the history of Yankee Stadium off of pitcher Howard Ehmke in the third inning. The inaugural round tripper was the beginning of a magical year for Ruth in which he would rebound to enjoy one of his finest statistical seasons and lead the New York Yankees to their first World Championship. As quoted during the day after the 1923 home opener, Ruth remarked, "I wanted to be the first to hit a homer in our new park." During that very same press statement as distributed by Ruth's agent Christy Walsh on April 19, 1923, the Babe relayed an equally charming and prophetic account of a meeting he had just before his Yankee Stadium debut, "I guess I better give Hendrik Van Loon, the fellow who wrote "The Story of Mankind", some credit. We had lunch the other day and he gave me a silver dollar that he said would bring me good luck. You'll get a homer in the third inning with two on base, he promised me. He sure did keep his promise." While undoubtedly the specific inning and runners on base mention by Ruth bore all the markings of his trademark satirical embellishments the meeting with author Van Loon was in fact apparently meaningful enough to include within limited remarks made after the biggest accomplishment of his career thus far. Like many baseball players, superstition was well attached to the Ruth's storied career. Upon joining the New York Yankees in 1920 so began the fabled "Curse of the Bambino" that would effectively cost the Red Sox 85 years to capture their next World Series title. Ruth too was known to carry certain superstitions onto the diamond to include retaining a carved totem pole in his locker and not allowing any of his teammates to use his bats for fear of taking hits out of them. Fellow 1939 inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Collins was interviewed about baseball superstitions by "Every Week Magazine". Among other players, he commented of Ruth as such, "Babe Ruth has a locker full of charms, fetishes and tokens; fastened to the door is a wooden horseshoe with a four-leaf clover carved on it, and on top stands a totem pole and other curious objects guaranteed by enthusiastic donors to bring luck.” During the final few years of his life, Babe ended up growing quite close with Jim Chapman through his representation within the Ford Motor Co. American Legion program. Chpman was one of the very few trusted friends with Ruth during his final days at the hospital in New York. Barely one month before his passing, the Babe took his coveted lucky silver dollar and had it fashioned into a gold money clip engraved to Jim Chapman himself. The coin is a 1922 US silver dollar that shows extensive surface wear from handling and presumably countless instances where the Bambino felt its luck was needed. The coin also shows several small round indentations that based on Chapman family history were relayed by Ruth to have been from "shooting buck shot at the coin". Custom gold money clip backing is engraved, "To Jim Chapman A wonderful guy and a real friend. Babe Ruth 7-17-48". Marked 14K on the back clasp with light general surface wear. In his final few years, Ruth had relayed to numerous stories to Chapman about his earlier days with the Yankees including this very coin and its having been involved with Giants manager John McGraw. While we are not able to specifically document that the offered coin was in fact the same one presented to Ruth by author Van Loon in 1923 it is almost certainly that precise example. Ruth's friendship with Jim Chapman was very important to him during an extremely challenging point in his life and is well evidenced by the presentation of this incredible artifact shortly before his passing. Throughout Jim Chapman's accomplished career he held the gift from his friend of many years ago in the highest regard. Almost unbelievably, yet appropriately, Chapman actually lost the money clip on two separate occasions separated by years only to 'luckily' retrieve it in both cases. With regard to provenance, dating period, and its unique nature this presentational item from Babe Ruth is without question one of the most significant of its type to have been offered at auction. One can only marvel at the possibilities where Ruth had brought this very coin including the period account of this very piece being a part of his historic first home run at Yankee Stadium. A remarkable and unique gem of the highest degree of desirability. Includes letter of provenance from the Chapman family and photo of Chapman with Babe Ruth: EXEstimated Price Range: ($50,000-$100,000)
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