Monster Card Monday: 1920 Babe Ruth

Pastor Rich sent this 1920 Babe Ruth card to me last week.  I know I’ve done the Babe before on MCM but this is one of my favorite monster cards of all time.  To me, it’s what defines a monster card for a full time player.

Offensively, 1920 was a groundbreaking year for Ruth and really, baseball hitting in general.  It was the first year he broke the 30-homerun barrier, doing it in style hitting 54 dingers.  He also had never had more than 150 hits before, rapping 172 hits in 1920.  His previous high was in 1919 with only 139.

[Speaking of which (and this is going off topic a little), his 1919 stats are a bit of an anomaly.  Ruth’s offense was pretty amazing considering the amount of hits he had. He scored 103 runs and drove in 114 while only collecting those 139 hits.]

It’s amazing to me that as good as this card is (and I think it’s one of the best for a full time player), he doesn’t have a hit number past the 35-9.  The reason is, of course, the inordinate number of 14s.  I told Pastor Rich that my favorite part of this card was the four 14s in first column alone.  Ruth’s 1920 card has a total of nine 14s.

That’s not to take away from Ruth’s power for sure.  His 1-1-1-3-6-6 is unparalleled.  Ruth is also rated Fast which according to accounts is pretty accurate.  Despite his body frame, he was actually a decent baserunner.  Based on his 14 steals, he has the rare 15-10/ 45-14* combination.  Note that he was also caught stealing 14 times so his Master Game rating may not be as good.

Ruth is rated as an OF-2.  It’s interesting to note that he played a significant portion of games at all three outfield spots in 1920.  From left to right, he played 32/25/86 games.  He’s also rated as a 1B-3 and a DW pitcher.

For those wondering, Ruth started one game, gave up two runs in four innings and got the win in 1920.  As a matter of fact, starting this game, every pitching appearance Ruth would make, he would win. Spanning 14 years, he would go 5-0 on the mound in five appearances.

Finally, a heartfelt thanks to the anonymous supporter who sponsors Babe Ruth’s page on Baseball Reference.  I don’t know who this person is but I know Babe Ruth’s page must cost a pretty penny to sponsor.  Rather than get some free publicity (let’s face it Babe Ruth’s B-R page is probably one of most popular), the sponsor is content to let his money go toward funding one of the better baseball stats websites out there.