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- What've you got?
What I got here is a very rare Babe
Ruth Boston Red Sox team photo from his 1915 rookie season.
That is cool.
I love Babe Ruth.
The guy had a really interesting life.
Did you know, apparently, at seven years old,
he was so bad that his parents put him into reform school.
Didn't want anything to do with him at seven years old, which I
think is probably bad parents.
Yeah, correct, correct.
[ball hits bat]
[cheering]
I bought the photo at an auction about seven years ago.
There are only about five or six in existence
of this type 1 variation.
I'm asking 12,500, but the least I'll take is probably 9,000.
A lot of people don't know that in 1914,
1915, to sign a legal document, it wasn't 18, it was 21.
Correct.
So the Red Sox more or less had to be his guardian.
And I think the Yankees paid, like,
$200,000 for him, which was just an enormous amount of money
back then.
I guess they thought he was that good.
Right. Right.
But next thing you know, the biggest rock star.
I don't think there's ever been anyone as big as Babe Ruth.
He transcends generations and generations.
And this was a publicity photo of some sort?
Correct.
They put these in the newspapers.
These are very rare.
They tell me there's about six of this type
1 variation in existence.
But the other one I've seen has pinholes in it.
Anything Babe Ruth from this time period
is worth money, if it's real.
Over the years, there's been a lot of fake Babe Ruth stuff
that's tried to sneak onto my shelves.
I have to be extremely careful here.
And what are you looking to do?
You're looking to sell it?
I need to sell it.
I'm asking a very reasonable $12,500.
OK.
I see you had it authenticated.
Yes.
A professional sports authenticator.
OK.
Why in the world did you open it up?
A side is opened, which means you
can pull the photograph out and replace it with something else.
This came straight from the auction house in this sleeve.
I said, I don't want it encased because I
might want to frame it.
OK.
Do you mind if I have a friend look at it?
- Have at it. - OK.
Hang out.
I'll be back in a few minutes.
You got it.
He can call an expert, but I verified my information.
I pretty much know all there is to know.
But yeah, he can go ahead and call whoever he wants.
Man, 1915 Boston Red Sox?
Mm-hmm.
20-year-old Babe Ruth.
That's right.
That is really cool.
I mean, who could have possibly imagine what history
had in store for this guy?
With baseball being in its infancy,
and Babe Ruth came into the sport,
there's only a very few media outlets covering it.
So having anything related to Babe Ruth surviving 100
years later is an amazing find.
So I mean, one of the biggest urban legends
in baseball, as you know, how did Babe
Ruth get the name The Babe?
The story goes back to his days when
he was in the minor leagues with the Baltimore Orioles.
A guy by the name of Jack Dunn kind of took him under his wing
since he was under age at the time,
and really took care of him.
So his other teammates kind of busted his balls
a little bit about it.
You know, oh, he's Jack's newest babe and everything.
And it kind of stuck after that.
Cool.
Here's my concerns.
OK.
It's open.
And everything I see PSA is generally sealed up.
Sometimes.
With PSA, you can have discretion
as to whether you want it encapsulated or just stickered.
In this case, it has just the sticker on it.
And in looking at this one, I mean, the sticker, the letter,
the condition--
everything is authentic on this.
OK.
That's cool.
OK, so the big question.
What do you think it's worth?
I can't emphasize how exceedingly rare
it is to find an image of Babe Ruth, especially
from his rookie years.
So these are actually a really big deal.
And honestly, man, in this kind of condition, on a good day,
I'd say you could sell this for about 10 grand.
OK.
Thanks, man.
You got it, man.
When we're talking about a photograph from his rookie
season, 100 years old, there are far less of those
out there than there are autographed
baseballs or other items.
I don't think it would last long in any retail setting.
Well, verified.
Hey, what's your best price on it?
What about 12,000?
There's no way in the world that's
going to happen because I don't think
I can get that much out of it.
You heard Jeremy.
On a good day, I can sell it for 10,000.
So I'll give you seven grand.
Seven grand.
Wow.
You heard what the man said.
They rarely come up.
I think it will sell fast.
I really do.
11,000.
No.
I will go seven.
I take all the risk.
I have stuff all over the place in here
that I thought would sell real quick.
Will you do 8,500?
No.
I will do 7,000.
That's what I can do.
I've come down.
You haven't bumped up, not even a nickel.
I won't bump up a dime.
Yeah, I don't think I can let it go for that price.
But thanks anyway. - All right.
Thanks for coming in, though. - All right.
OK.
I'm disappointed he didn't budge from 7,000.
I thought he would at least come up 500.
It looks like it's back to the auction houses
and see if I can get a little more money for it.