I displayed this card extra large well, just because.
Babe Ruth has the record for the most Monster Cards on The APBA Blog, appropriately so. I’ve posted his 1920 card, his 1927 card, and his 1930 card. Statistically though, his 1921 season may have been one of his best years in baseball, though.
A person can judge an offensive season in a lot of different ways but Ruth’s 1921 season had a lot of things that really made it shine. The first thing that stuck out at me was the number of total bases. Ruth had 457 that year which is not only the best of all time but eclipsed second place Rogers Hornsby of 1922 by a huge amount of 27 total bases. Ruth only surpassed 400 total bases one other time when he reached 417 in 1927.
The Babe also drove in 171 runs in 1921. That was his career high and ranks 7th of all time A side note, teammate Lou Gehrig drove in more runs than that three times. That’s probably a product of Gehrig batting fourth in the lineup. Not only that, Ruth scored 177 runs also his career high. That ranks 3rd all-time and is the best since 1900.
There is, of course, the 59 homeruns in 1921, too. A lot of attention is paid to Ruth’s 1927 season when he hit the magic number of 60 but he out hit and out slugged his ‘27 numbers by a significant margins. His OBP was much higher too.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 Totals | 152 | 693 | 541 | 177 | 204 | 44 | 16 | 59 | 168 | 17 | 13 | 144 | 82 | .377 | .511 | .845 |
Ruth’s 1921 card is one of his best. It’s one of the most powerful cards of all time. He has power numbers 1-1-1-3-6-6 with hit numbers 8-8-9-9-10-10. Not only that, he has eight tasty 14s.
Fun numbers: 33-1, 55-6, 24-14
As was typical of Ruth’s early years, he was rated a Fast baserunner.
Aside from his OF-2 rating, Ruth also was rated as a 1B-3. As a pitcher, he started one game and relieved one game with a record of 2-0. Unfortunately, he had an ERA of 9.00 so Ruth ends up with a DW grade.
Grade D Pitcher. Still a bum. But “his 1921 season may have been one of his best years in baseball” is an understatement (easy when you’re talking about Ruth) – it’s one of ANYBODY’S best years in baseball, bested only by Bonds 73-HR 2001 season (which I don’t believe you’ve featured here).
Steve, I think it was you who commented on a previous Babe Ruth monster card and said something to the effect of “the 1921 card is better”.
Touche’
(dangit, now I gotta find the 2001 Bonds card :) )
I know that I have said this before, but it is still so bizarre to see cards that I physically hand-marked in 1988, floating abound the internet. LOL
How great was Babe Ruth’s 1921 season?
Well; in the 92 seasons that have followed (2013), which include a greatly inflated offensive period known as “The Steroid Era”; the following single season statistics from Babe Ruth’s 1921 season…
Extra-Base Hits: 119
Runs: 177
Total Bases: 457
…ARE ALL STILL SINGLE SEASON RECORDS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN BROKEN!
The closest for each…
Extra-Base Hits: 119
Pre-WW II: 117 – Lou Gehrig (1927)
Post-WW II: 107 – Barry Bonds (2001)
Runs: 177
Pre-WW II: 167 – Lou Gehrig (1936)
Post-WW II: 152 – Jeff Bagwell (2000)
Total Bases: 457
Pre-WW II: 450 – Rogers Hornsbyg (1922)
Post-WW II: 429 – Stan Musial (1948)
Just Amazing!
If I had the 1st of 2nd pick, I would pick either the 1927 Lou Gehrig Original GTOP card or the 1921 Babe Ruth All Time A card.
And so appropriate to post it extra-large, exactly the way the man was living, particularly in 1921. Recently finished reading “The Big Bam” by Montville. Nice bio.
I have him on the table in my 1930 replay, and it is a thrill to roll the dice for the Babe and see him knock one out.
This card is THE monster
How much is that card worth