Lot # 1010: 1919 Boston Red Sox at Washington Nationals Scorecard with #22 Babe Ruth - Last Season in Boston

If you give up a guy like "Babe" Ruth, you deserve to be cursed and worse. Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee was lucky he wasn't ridden out of town, tarred and feathered on a rail, after selling Ruth to the New York Yankees following the 1919 season. The Sox won the World Series in 1915, 1916, and 1918, with Ruth on their roster, and it would be eighty-six years until they won their next championship in 2004.

From Ruth's final season with the Red Sox, comes this 1919 scorecard. Issued for a game at National Park, with the Sox visiting the Washington Nationals, this antique gameday souvenir lists the "Bambino" as number 22 on the unused Red Sox scoring grid page. Limited to just seventeen games on the mound, Ruth saw more time in the outfield during the 1919 campaign, when he enjoyed a breakout season at the plate, setting a then astonishing MLB record of 29 home runs. He also led the AL in runs scored and RBI, while posting a 9-5 record in his fifteen pitching starts.

Despite reporting in FR-GD condition, this century-old scorecard remains reasonably attractive, with distinct graphics and text throughout. In addition to Ruth, the rosters list Hall of Famers Harry Hooper and Herb Pennock for the Red Sox, and Walter Johnson and Sam Rice for the Nationals. Other stars of note listed are Red Sox Otis Strunk, Wally Schang, "Stuffy" McInnis, Jack Barry, Joe Bush, "Sad Sam" Jones, and Carl Mays; and Nationals Joe Judge, Clyde Milan, and Val Picinich.