Babe Ruth 1948 Leaf and
Joe Jackson 1940 Play Ball are Examples
BY TROY KIRK
Can someone please explain to me why the price guides list such astronomical prices for a 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth card and for a 1940 Play Ball Joe Jackson card? Sure, these were two of the greatest players of all time, but when they appeared on these cards they had both been in retirement for many years.
Take a look at the 1992 Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide by Dr. James Beckett. A 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth card is listed at $2,200. Babe Ruth died in 1948, and he had been retired for 13 years at the time this card was issued. To me, this card is no different from the many other cards of Babe Ruth that have been issued in the years since his retirement. Cards that were issued after his retirement all have their appeal because they feature Babe Ruth, but their historical value is minimal.
1948 LEAF
1940 PLAY BALL
The historical value of a baseball card can be measured in two ways. The first is based on the player pictured and the year in which the card was produced. A card of Babe Ruth from his playing days is very historical and should be highly valued as a piece of memorabilia that is related to his career. A card of Babe Ruth after he retired still has value because it pictures Babe Ruth, but it no longer has the direct link to Ruth that the card from his active days has.
The second historical measure of a card is based on the card set itself and any unique characteristics of that set. There are some historical or rare card sets in which every player pictured is worth good money just because of the set itself. The 1952 Topps set is a good example of this. Every card in the set is valuable, with the superstars worth particularly large sums.
The ’48 Leaf Babe Ruth card is a failure when judged against these two historical measurements. The card fails the first test since Ruth was not active at the time of the issue and fails the second because 1948 Leaf is not a particularly significant card set. Though there are some rare cards in 1948 Leaf, Ruth is not one of them.
1933 GOUDEY
1923 W572 (left) ~~ 1928 YUENGLINGS (right)
1915 CRACKER JACK
What makes the 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth card even more ludicrous is that there are cards from Ruth’s playing career that are valued significantly lower. The Beckett Price Guide lists both a 1928 Yuenglings Ruth card and a 1923 W572 Ruth at $500 each. These cards provide a much closer link to Ruth, yet they are valued at less than a quarter the price of a 1948 Leaf.
The 1940 Play Ball Shoeless Joe Jackson card is another example of a high-priced card that fails the historical significance test. When this card was issued, Jackson had been retired for 20 years, yet it is priced at $2,000. It’s difficult to understand how a card of a retired player can be valued that highly.
I can understand more easily the high price tags on Babe Ruth and Shoeless Joe Jackson cards from their playing days. Goudey Babe Ruth cards from 1933 are valued from $3,500 to $4,500, and a 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson card is valued at $4,500. Even though these prices are pretty high, they are much more understandable.
I hasten to add that the great majority of all-time great retired player cards can be purchased for very reasonable prices, which makes the high-priced exceptions even more difficult to understand. For example, if you want a retired card of Babe Ruth, you can purchase a beautiful 1972 Kellogg’s 3-D card for $5, a 1989 Pacific Legends card for 90 cents, or one of 10 special Babe Ruth cards in the 1962 Topps set for $14 to $16. You can buy a pack of 1992 Babe Ruth Collection cards from Megacards in the $1-$2 range and be assured of getting 10 cards featuring Ruth.
When I try to think of explanations as to why some cards of retired greats are priced so high, the only thing that comes to mind is collector ignorance. Maybe the collectors who are willing to spend $2,200 for a 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth or $2,000 for a 1940 Play Ball Joe Jackson card don’t know the players were retired when those cards were issued. After all, the 1940s were a long time ago.
We all have to decide how much to spend on our card purchases. For some collectors, maybe that $2,200 for a 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth is a drop in the bucket and it doesn’t matter to them when the card was issued. But if I ever spend $2,200 on one card, I’m going to make sure the player I buy was active when the card was issued.
• • • • • •
• Originally Published in Feb. 1993 “Baseball Hobby News” •
THIS ARTICLE FROM “BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS” MAGAZINE IS REPRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF BOTH THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR. IT HAS BEEN RETYPED, BUT NO CONTENT HAS BEEN CHANGED (EXCEPT FOR VERY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS, CORRECTIONS TO TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND CHANGES TO GRAPHICS). COMMENTS OR INFORMATION IN THE ARTICLE MAY BE OUT-OF-DATE.
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