This payroll check was received by Babe Ruth on September 1, 1925. One of the earlier examples to enter the hobby, this piece is freshly graded and encapsulated by the experts at PSA/DNA. On the check you will see that the Yankees compensated their larger-than-life superstar $4,598.84 for his services rendered through August 31.
The Bambino earned $52,000 in 1925, a season best remembered for his arrival at Spring Training grossly overweight at 270 lbs. forcing him to miss the first two months recovering from an ulcer. All the drinking, eating, partying and womanizing had finally caught up to the 30-year-old, yet his raucous off-the-field escapades did not stop. "Day and night, broads and booze," recalled his teammate, Joe Dugan. Two collapses later, Ruth wound up in a hospital bedridden for a month. When he finally did put on the pinstripes in June, it took some time for him to get back to true form. For the month of August when he earned this paycheck, Ruth smacked four homers with 9 RBI and 10 doubles against the Indians, Tigers, White Sox, Senators and Browns. He finished the season with a .293 batting average, 25 homers and 67 RBI in 98 games, a far cry from the monster numbers he typically put up during the Roaring Twenties.
The payroll check (3 1/4” by 8-7/8”) presents in outstanding condition with only slight toning and minor evidence of handling (mild wrinkles and light fold marks), exceptionally well-preserved for a near-century old bank check. Ruth’s clean fountain pen endorsement of “George H. Ruth” on the back, along with the ever-important signatures of Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert and the team's de facto GM, Ed Barrow, on the front, have been assessed a NM-MT 8 grade by PSA/DNA. One of the most impressive examples we've ever had the privilege of representing.