A rare photo of the Boston Red Sox 1918 World Series championship team, including young outfielder-pitcher Babe Ruth leads off RMY Auctions’ June Premier Auction, which is now underway and continues through June 21.
Measuring 5 1/2″ x 8″, our Photo of the Day was taken by a local Boston photographer named W.W. Somers, whose name is stamped on the reverse.
Ruth, just 23 years old at the time, is seated third from the right in the middle row on the photo, which features 19 uniformed players and a bat boy. He led the American League in home runs and slugging percentage that season and served as one of Boston’s starting pitchers. He won two games in the World Series against the Chicago Cubs in a campaign shortened by World War I.
His subsequent sale to the New York Yankees launched what some called the Curse of the Bambino and the 1918 season would mark the final time the Red Sox would win a World Series until 2004.
Led by Ruth’s hitting and a strong pitching staff that also featured Carl Mays, Bullet Joe Bush, Sad Sam Jones and Dutch Leonard, the Red Sox finished 2 ½ games ahead of Cleveland, then dispatched the Cubs in six games.
The Type I photo has been authenticated by PSA/DNA and does carry a reserve.
It’s one of more than 1,200 lots in the auction, 18 of which feature Ruth at various stages of his life and career.
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