1920 Babe Ruth W516-1 Strip Card. First Issue as Yankee. Pitcher. Rare. SGC 1

A scarce early Babe Ruth issue from the 1920 W516-1 strip card series, graded SGC 1. Ruth is shown in a pitching pose with the New York Yankees—an especially compelling image given that 1920 marked his transition away from pitching following his historic sale from Boston to New York for $100,000 on December 26, 1919. Making this one of the first cards ever issued to represent Babe Ruth as a Yankee!

Strip cards were originally issued with several cards on one panel and intended to be hand-cut. Children mainly cut them, making clean and well-proportioned examples exceptionally difficult to find. As a result, relatively few receive numerical grades. Almost every example is deemed "Authentic" only. This example stands out as a fully bordered, properly cut specimen—a very uncommon attribute for the issue.

As one of Ruth’s earliest playing-days cards, the W516-1 originates from a period with virtually no mainstream card production. This period came after the 1914–15 Cracker Jack era—which predated Ruth’s emergence—and well before the widely collected 1933 Goudey set in his later years, his most iconic issue featuring four different cards. As a result, collectors pursuing early Ruth material must rely on strip, candy, or exhibit cards, with the W516-1 standing out as both scarce and comparatively undervalued. Population data further underscores its rarity. Across PSA and SGC, roughly 200 examples have been graded. By contrast, the four 1933 Goudey Ruth run totals approximately 7,000 graded examples.

Condition-wise, this card exhibits strong color with rounded corners and multiple creases consistent with the assigned SGC 1.

The W516-1 set consists of 30 cards measuring approximately 1-1/2” x 2-3/8”, issued by the International Feature Service. Each card features a colorized illustration with hand-lettered style captions identifying the player. The checklist includes a deep roster of Hall of Famers such as Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Rogers Hornsby, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Tris Speaker, among others.

Given the fragile, hand-cut nature of strip cards, surviving examples are rarely found in clean, original form. This graded Ruth represents a key early-career piece and a meaningful addition to any advanced Babe Ruth collection.

Population Notes:

• PSA: 122 total (only ~20 received numerical grades)
• SGC: 70 total (only ~30 received numerical grades)
• Accounting for crossovers and resubmissions, the true population is likely closer to 100–150 total copies.