I will always love that NR card. Probably my favorite of all his.
That's a great copy.
Thanks for the kind words. I watched Ryan pitch in person many times as I live 20 minutes from Angel stadium. Best game I watched him pitch in person was in 1979. He shut out the Yankees and Ron Guidry 1-0. This was the year following Guidry's legendary 25-3 season and also the last year for Thurmon Munson.
Here is my recent purchase. I regretfully sold a beautiful 1954 Topps Ted Williams #1 PSA-6.5 to a board member...and wanted at least one (1) Splendid Splinter in my collection. Most likely...the second best hitter in MLB history when you look at career batting average and homers. Having served in the military during World War 2 and the Korean War...the five (5) years lost in MLB cut down on his career homerun totals...and Ted Williams likely would have surpassed Willie Mays at 660 and approached 700 HRs with a career batting average in the .340s
I saw this card on eBay...and really liked the centering, color, and corners for the assigned grade. It is from his playing days...during the iconic/historic 1941 baseball season in which Ted Williams batted .406...the last player to hit .400 or above...84 years and still counting. I plan to have the card re-holdered in a new PSA slab.
@mintonlypls said:
Here is my recent purchase. I regretfully sold a beautiful 1954 Topps Ted Williams #1 PSA-6.5...and needed at least one (1) Splendid Splinter in my collection. Most Likely...the second best hitter in MLB history when you look at career batting average and homers. Having survived military surface during World War 2 and Korean War...the five (5) years cut down on his career homerun totals...and likely would have surpassed willie Mays at 660 and approached 700 with a career batting average in the .340s
I saw this card on eBay...and really liked the centering, color, and corners for the assigned grade. It is from his playing days...during the iconic/historic 1941 season in which Ted Williams batted .406...the last player to hit .400 or above...84 years and counting.
Great card. Who in your opinion is the greatest hitter?
Of course that's the correct response and nobody is even close. Check out his power numbers in 1921 and compare his home run total to other teams HR totals. He was hitting more home runs then entire teams were.
In 1921 he hit 59 homers, scored 177 runs, had 204 hits, 16 triples, 168 RBI, hit 378 and had a 512 OBP and walked 145 times. He also stole 17 bases.
Plus as a pitcher he was 94-46 with an ERA of 2.28 and a WHIP of 1.15.
Here is my latest purchase...a recently graded (965xxxxx) iconic card in mid-grade condition from 1941. I sacrificed centering here for all four (4) corners, two (2) or even three (3) grades, higher than the assigned grade of PSA-5. Besides the sharp corners...what appeals to me is the nice color and strong registration for the issue. It is from 1941 during that baseball season in which Joe DiMaggio went on a 56-game hitting streak...a mark which still stands and will be difficult to break. The next closest is 44 games most recently by Pete Rose. Here is a 1941 Play Ball Joe DiMaggio who was a 13x All-Star in his 13 seasons in MLB. He also served three (3) years during World War 2.
I want to correct a statement of mine regarding Babe Ruth and inside the park home runs made earlier in this thread. During his career... the Babe hit eleven (11) inside the park homeruns including four (4) at Yankee Stadium...and the first player to hit one in a World Series game.
my only July purchase. wanted a nicely centered, blue auto which was in the middle of the card and found one. don't care about the grade (which is due to a upper right corner crease).
I want to correct a statement of mine regarding Babe Ruth and inside the park home runs made earlier in this thread. During his career... the Babe hit eleven (11) inside the park homeruns including four (4) at Yankee Stadium...and the first player to hit one in a World Series game.
Have you ever seen video of Babe Ruth running? To do something like hit an inside the park home run these days, the guy has to be seriously moving. Maybe guys back then guys couldn't really throw though. I dont know if you get credit if there's an error on the play?
I want to correct a statement of mine regarding Babe Ruth and inside the park home runs made earlier in this thread. During his career... the Babe hit eleven (11) inside the park homeruns including four (4) at Yankee Stadium...and the first player to hit one in a World Series game.
Have you ever seen video of Babe Ruth running? To do something like hit an inside the park home run these days, the guy has to be seriously moving. Maybe guys back then guys couldn't really throw though. I dont know if you get credit if there's an error on the play?
By most accounts Babe was rather fast on his spindely legs couple that with many outfields being spacious. Inside Parkers were not uncommon back then.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
I want to correct a statement of mine regarding Babe Ruth and inside the park home runs made earlier in this thread. During his career... the Babe hit eleven (11) inside the park homeruns including four (4) at Yankee Stadium...and the first player to hit one in a World Series game.
Have you ever seen video of Babe Ruth running? To do something like hit an inside the park home run these days, the guy has to be seriously moving. Maybe guys back then guys couldn't really throw though. I dont know if you get credit if there's an error on the play?
Some of this is part of my “Fat Shaq Theory” and some of it is film speed.
The ‘Fat Shaq’ theory is based on experiences with younger basketball fans who only saw Shaq play at the tail end of his career and general fans who thought Shaq hung on to long. Similar to Kareem’s last few seasons with the Lakers, at the end both men were still really solid basketball players but they were also no longer the ridiculous athletes they were when the began their careers. As such, people remember them as these lumbering big men, and specifically not as big men who could move with guard like speed, agility and quickness when they entered the league and during the early part. For Shaq or Kareem, there isn’t much of a problem finding Magic or Bucks footage to clear up misconceptions or jog the memory.
But for Babe Ruth, there isn’t much, period. We have a few grainy films where because often the film reel* speed is often not adjusted, it looks off plus they’re usually of a home run trot around the bases, not him legging a single to a double at age 22. Plus, as with every technology, it becomes used increasingly over time. But the footage from pre 1930’s is scant so we get a lot of the shots that are 1930’s Babe (and later).
Most people don’t picture this Babe Ruth in their head…
…they tend more often to picture this one:
*Posted before but this is pretty cool if you’ve never seen it:
@mintonlypls said:
I want to correct a statement of mine regarding Babe Ruth and inside the park home runs made earlier in this thread. During his career... the Babe hit eleven (11) inside the park homeruns including four (4) at Yankee Stadium...and the first player to hit one in a World Series game.
I love your posts on these boards and you have cards that others dream about but Ruth never hit an inside the park homerun in the World Series , much less being the first . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside-the-park_home_run
" In a time of universal deceit , telling the truth is a revolutionary act " --- George Orwell
Pretty amazing that there was an inside the park home run in the first World Series. What are the odds.
When I said I believed the poster here over the wiki article. I just assume people posting on this board have some better reference and are more knowledgeable about sports and sports hero history than the average wiki poster.
Inside the park home runs were likely more common when there weren't always walls in the outfield.
✅ Reliable Sources Confirming Ruth Never Hit an Inside-the-Park HR in the World Series: SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)
SABR maintains highly detailed, vetted records of World Series stats and individual game recaps.
Their box scores, play-by-play logs, and game capsules show every Ruth home run as a standard over-the-fence HR. Retrosheet (https://www.retrosheet.org)
Has every World Series game with play-by-play data and event types.
You can look at each of Ruth’s 15 HRs. None are classified as inside-the-park.
Also shows fielding errors, batted ball types — it's definitive.
Baseball-Reference World Series Logs (https://www.baseball-reference.com)
Breaks down every Ruth postseason appearance.
Lists all HRs by pitcher, date, and type. No inside-the-parkers noted, and their HR entries link to full box scores. MLB.com Historical Stats Database MLB itself has never credited Ruth with an inside-the-park HR in World Series play.
Newspaper Archives (New York Times, Sporting News, etc.)
Game recaps of each HR (especially 1923, 1926, 1928, 1932) describe towering fly balls, shots to the bleachers, and fence-clearing hits — not inside-the-park sprints.
Where the misinformation usually comes from:
Reddit: a user might conflate Ruth's HR in a regular season Polo Grounds game (where inside-the-park HRs were semi-common due to deep center field) with a WS moment.
Wikipedia (unverified edits): can cite non-sourced claims — and unless you chase their footnotes, you might never notice.
YouTube/TikTok baseball trivia content: plenty of overconfident “Did you know…” stuff without citations.
Books relying on anecdotes: older baseball bios may repeat myths that predate easy stat-checking.
🚫 Common Misinformation:
“Ruth hit an inside-the-park HR in the 1923 World Series.”
❌ Nope. All 3 HRs that Series were documented fence-clearers. Box scores and write-ups prove it.
“He legged one out at the Polo Grounds in the World Series.”
❌ Possible in the regular season, not postseason. Polo Grounds’ center field was 480+ feet — Ruth did get inside-the-park HRs there in other games.
Final Word — From SABR:
While there isn’t a “Ruth’s World Series HRs” article explicitly stating "none were inside-the-park", the fact that SABR's game logs and HR charts never mark one as such is a de facto confirmation. SABR doesn’t miss on stuff like this.
Can I definitely confirm any of this? Hell no! It's the internet. 😎
@yankeesman said:
Absolutely incredible set you're building there. How many more do you have to find?
Thank you. I have just over 50 percent of the set completed. It is a fun project. When I first created the registry set it was just me but now there are 2 other collectors creating sets as well.
Comments
Got a few nice kicks on Route 66.
Farewell Ozzy.
This came today.
That Ryan is a BEAUTY!! - WOW!!
Pop 2. Nice set with the first card of Hershiser in it too
Here is my recent purchase. I regretfully sold a beautiful 1954 Topps Ted Williams #1 PSA-6.5 to a board member...and wanted at least one (1) Splendid Splinter in my collection. Most likely...the second best hitter in MLB history when you look at career batting average and homers. Having served in the military during World War 2 and the Korean War...the five (5) years lost in MLB cut down on his career homerun totals...and Ted Williams likely would have surpassed Willie Mays at 660 and approached 700 HRs with a career batting average in the .340s
I saw this card on eBay...and really liked the centering, color, and corners for the assigned grade. It is from his playing days...during the iconic/historic 1941 baseball season in which Ted Williams batted .406...the last player to hit .400 or above...84 years and still counting. I plan to have the card re-holdered in a new PSA slab.
Great card. Who in your opinion is the greatest hitter?
The Babe...
Having researched Play Ball cards...I did not realize Gum, Inc. became the Bowman Co. in the late 1940s.
Of course that's the correct response and nobody is even close. Check out his power numbers in 1921 and compare his home run total to other teams HR totals. He was hitting more home runs then entire teams were.
In 1921 he hit 59 homers, scored 177 runs, had 204 hits, 16 triples, 168 RBI, hit 378 and had a 512 OBP and walked 145 times. He also stole 17 bases.
Plus as a pitcher he was 94-46 with an ERA of 2.28 and a WHIP of 1.15.
During his career…the Babe had four (4) inside the park home runs.
Babe Ruth was the only player who didn't need to work another job to make ends meet.
ON ITS WAY TO NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658
Been after this bad boy for years . . .
Late 60's and early to mid 70's non-sports
Beautiful Landry! Congrats on reeling this catch in....
That's crazy. Those parks must have been huge back then because I don't recall him really being a speedster around the bags.
Couple of 70’s pickups for my PC.
Keith…nice centering on the ‘73 Clemente. I know the ‘75 Ryan is high end!
Beautiful card Monte. A card from the season he hit .406 is tough to beat!
75 Ryan looks great - awesome pickup.
Of all the people on the board, you would have the best firsthand knowledge on the Ryan card!😉
ON ITS WAY TO NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658
National starting early for my budget. Hard to pass this one up - love the color and centering and saved
about $6-7k in this grade versus a PSA 8.
I'd love that in a PSA 9 better. I'm here checking out Rod but they wont catch me and Maggie Mae on the Jumbotron.
Totally agree Keith - very smart looking card buddy. I'm a fan.
Thank you Mike. Will you be in Chicago for the National this year?
Hiya Keith - no unfortunately - due to health issues traveling is out but I'll enjoy any photos. 👍
Just won this card tonight.
Here is my latest purchase...a recently graded (965xxxxx) iconic card in mid-grade condition from 1941. I sacrificed centering here for all four (4) corners, two (2) or even three (3) grades, higher than the assigned grade of PSA-5. Besides the sharp corners...what appeals to me is the nice color and strong registration for the issue. It is from 1941 during that baseball season in which Joe DiMaggio went on a 56-game hitting streak...a mark which still stands and will be difficult to break. The next closest is 44 games most recently by Pete Rose. Here is a 1941 Play Ball Joe DiMaggio who was a 13x All-Star in his 13 seasons in MLB. He also served three (3) years during World War 2.
Yankees70...gorgeous '73 Seaver! Congrats! Would you show the back?
I want to correct a statement of mine regarding Babe Ruth and inside the park home runs made earlier in this thread. During his career... the Babe hit eleven (11) inside the park homeruns including four (4) at Yankee Stadium...and the first player to hit one in a World Series game.
my only July purchase. wanted a nicely centered, blue auto which was in the middle of the card and found one. don't care about the grade (which is due to a upper right corner crease).
myslabs.to/smzcards
Absolutely
.> @mintonlypls said:
Have you ever seen video of Babe Ruth running? To do something like hit an inside the park home run these days, the guy has to be seriously moving. Maybe guys back then guys couldn't really throw though. I dont know if you get credit if there's an error on the play?
By most accounts Babe was rather fast on his spindely legs couple that with many outfields being spacious. Inside Parkers were not uncommon back then.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Yankee Stadium (Opened 1923):
Left Field: 318 feet
Center Field: 490 feet
Right Field: 314 feet
Plenty of room for a ball to roll around for awhile, not to mention the length of a throw once chased down.
Some of this is part of my “Fat Shaq Theory” and some of it is film speed.
The ‘Fat Shaq’ theory is based on experiences with younger basketball fans who only saw Shaq play at the tail end of his career and general fans who thought Shaq hung on to long. Similar to Kareem’s last few seasons with the Lakers, at the end both men were still really solid basketball players but they were also no longer the ridiculous athletes they were when the began their careers. As such, people remember them as these lumbering big men, and specifically not as big men who could move with guard like speed, agility and quickness when they entered the league and during the early part. For Shaq or Kareem, there isn’t much of a problem finding Magic or Bucks footage to clear up misconceptions or jog the memory.
But for Babe Ruth, there isn’t much, period. We have a few grainy films where because often the film reel* speed is often not adjusted, it looks off plus they’re usually of a home run trot around the bases, not him legging a single to a double at age 22. Plus, as with every technology, it becomes used increasingly over time. But the footage from pre 1930’s is scant so we get a lot of the shots that are 1930’s Babe (and later).
Most people don’t picture this Babe Ruth in their head…
…they tend more often to picture this one:
*Posted before but this is pretty cool if you’ve never seen it:
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/l0hNwQ00Qi4
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
So, basically the Babe started out as Stan Musial and ended his career as Bartolo Colon?
I think he began as Shohei Ohtani and finished as Steve Balboni.
Farewell Ozzy.
That's a sweet card Dennis! Super centering to boot...
Thank you.
I love your posts on these boards and you have cards that others dream about but Ruth never hit an inside the park homerun in the World Series , much less being the first . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside-the-park_home_run
I read that wiki thing too. I just assumed the wiki article was wrong.
I believe the story about Ruth being the first in WS , came from a Reddit post from 10 years ago .
I was curious about this.
Jimmy Sebring, in 1903, is credited with the first IPH in the World Series.
https://sabr.org/journal/article/inside-the-park-home-runs/#:~:text=Babe Ruth, who had ten,also hit inside the grounds.
Pretty amazing that there was an inside the park home run in the first World Series. What are the odds.
When I said I believed the poster here over the wiki article. I just assume people posting on this board have some better reference and are more knowledgeable about sports and sports hero history than the average wiki poster.
Inside the park home runs were likely more common when there weren't always walls in the outfield.
✅ Reliable Sources Confirming Ruth Never Hit an Inside-the-Park HR in the World Series:
SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)
SABR maintains highly detailed, vetted records of World Series stats and individual game recaps.
Their box scores, play-by-play logs, and game capsules show every Ruth home run as a standard over-the-fence HR.
Retrosheet (https://www.retrosheet.org)
Has every World Series game with play-by-play data and event types.
You can look at each of Ruth’s 15 HRs. None are classified as inside-the-park.
Also shows fielding errors, batted ball types — it's definitive.
Baseball-Reference World Series Logs (https://www.baseball-reference.com)
Breaks down every Ruth postseason appearance.
Lists all HRs by pitcher, date, and type. No inside-the-parkers noted, and their HR entries link to full box scores.
MLB.com Historical Stats Database
MLB itself has never credited Ruth with an inside-the-park HR in World Series play.
Newspaper Archives (New York Times, Sporting News, etc.)
Game recaps of each HR (especially 1923, 1926, 1928, 1932) describe towering fly balls, shots to the bleachers, and fence-clearing hits — not inside-the-park sprints.
Where the misinformation usually comes from:
Reddit: a user might conflate Ruth's HR in a regular season Polo Grounds game (where inside-the-park HRs were semi-common due to deep center field) with a WS moment.
Wikipedia (unverified edits): can cite non-sourced claims — and unless you chase their footnotes, you might never notice.
YouTube/TikTok baseball trivia content: plenty of overconfident “Did you know…” stuff without citations.
Books relying on anecdotes: older baseball bios may repeat myths that predate easy stat-checking.
🚫 Common Misinformation:
“Ruth hit an inside-the-park HR in the 1923 World Series.”
❌ Nope. All 3 HRs that Series were documented fence-clearers. Box scores and write-ups prove it.
“He legged one out at the Polo Grounds in the World Series.”
❌ Possible in the regular season, not postseason. Polo Grounds’ center field was 480+ feet — Ruth did get inside-the-park HRs there in other games.
Final Word — From SABR:
While there isn’t a “Ruth’s World Series HRs” article explicitly stating "none were inside-the-park", the fact that SABR's game logs and HR charts never mark one as such is a de facto confirmation. SABR doesn’t miss on stuff like this.
Can I definitely confirm any of this? Hell no! It's the internet. 😎
Absolutely incredible set you're building there. How many more do you have to find?
www.questfortherookiecup.com
Whoa!!!! "Mint Only" going all mid-grade on us..... I like it. Awesome selection of iconic cards. Congratulations.......
Thank you. I have just over 50 percent of the set completed. It is a fun project. When I first created the registry set it was just me but now there are 2 other collectors creating sets as well.