This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2003.
Babe Ruth was legendary in every aspect of his life, whether he was crushing home runs, gorging on hot dogs, or downing large quantities of whiskey. The two scorecards offered here show that bowling was no different for the Babe and come from the 29th Annual Metropolitan Bowling Championships, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the American Bowling Congress and took place from March 1st to April 7th, 1946. The Pape's Bowling Alley scorecards measure approximately 20" x 18" and come with a 22" x 19" red backing. Each has the scoring for two games filled out in red crayon. One was filled out completely by Ruth and, accordingly, has "Babe" signed twice for the player name. The other scorecard was filled out by another player. Ruth won three out of the four games included on the scorecards with scores of 191, 196, 141, and another 191 (only to lose to "Jack" with 209). Ruth also autographed each scorecard in the bottom right, also in red crayon, with two of the largest Babe Ruth signatures we have ever seen. The two huge "Babe" signatures and these two "Babe Ruth" signatures rate 8 or 9--as good as red crayon signatures get--and are joined by signatures from fellow bowlers Russ Millett and Jack Salveson, a former major leaguer. In one of the games listed here, the Bambino rolled four strikes in a row; what better matches this than four magnificent "Babe" signatures? The autographs come with a PSA/DNA letter of authenticity.