The Roaring Twenties were perfect for Babe Ruth. The man who became a household name around the world was a star in an era that demanded them. He was more than up to the task of helping turn baseball into the huge business it was becoming.
Our Photo of the Day from RMY Auctions dates from his most famous season. Taken during that season and stored in a newspaper archive ever since, the 8×10 photo shows Ruth demonstrating his swing for the camera.
There is a date stamp on the back of the photo.
Ruth and the Yankees were an unstoppable force in ’27. They clinched the American League pennant on Labor Day, winning 110 games. Ruth and Lou Gehrig staged an epic battle for home run supremacy, with neither giving an inch until the season’s final days, when Ruth landed famously on 60—a number that seemed almost comical compared to home run totals just a decade before.
He wasn’t just home runs, though.
Ruth hit .356, slugged .772 and drove in 164 runs.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were no match in the World Series, falling in four games.
The photo shows some wear but the date stamp on the back and the uniqueness of the image is expected to keep the interest of bidders until the auction comes to a close on August 12.
See this photo and more than 350 others in RMY’s online auction here.