Incredibly Rare Photograph of MLB Legend With Baltimore Orioles Going Up for Auction

A one-of-a-kind item featuring an MLB legend early in his career with the Baltimore Orioles is up for auction.

Feb 17, 2019; Sarasota, FL, USA; A general view of the Baltimore Orioles logo on the practice fields at Ed Smith Stadium. / Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Over 100 years ago, the Baltimore Orioles changed the trajectory of multiple franchises in baseball. Still operating as a minor league team in the International League, they had a player named Babe Ruth on their roster.

Midseason of the 1914 campaign is when his contract was sold to the Boston Red Sox. As the old saying goes, the rest was history.

The Curse of the Bambino was created six years later as he became one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen with the New York Yankees.

There aren’t a lot of people who even knew that Ruth was part of the Orioles organization, and there are even fewer pieces of evidence showing that. However, there is one photo that has hit an auction block recently of a team picture from 1914 that features him with his Baltimore teammates.

Over at Lelands Fall Classic Auction, the photo is up for bidding for any baseball fan looking for an incredible piece of memorabilia. It is one of the only images, according to the release. 

As shared in the release, “The 1914 Orioles team photo featuring Ruth is the earliest known original image of The Bambino as a pro player and the only one in existence… This remarkable Ruth photo – which was previously sold by Lelands for a world-record $190k in 2019 – is one of the most historically significant baseball photos in the hobby.”

The original buyer, who bought it from private hands in 2019 at the Lelands Spring Classic Auction, has co-signed the item directly to this auction.

The opening bid for the photograph opened at $50,000. There have been eight bids made at the time of writing, with the price going over $70,000. Based on how much it sold for the first time, that price is likely to continue climbing.

As shared in the lot description, this is truly a one-of-a-kind item. There are very few pieces of Ruth in an Orioles uniform, and this is the oldest one.

“Aside from this photo, the only other images we have seen of Ruth as a member of the Baltimore Orioles are on his 1914 Baltimore News rookie card and as part of a newspaper article that appeared in the March 22, 1914 issue of The Baltimore Sun. Therefore, this is the earliest known original photo of Ruth as a professional player.”

Bidding on the lot will be allowed through October 19. Lelands is the world’s first sports memorabilia and card auction house. Previously, they have sold several record-setting Ruth items.

Babe Ruth's 1927 Yankees World Series ring ($2.09 million), Ruth’s 1919 "Curse of the Bambino" signed contract ($2.3 million), and a 1920 Ruth Yankees jersey ($4.5 million) have all gone through their auction house.