DALLAS, TX.- Babe Ruth is still considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time, the “Sultan of Swat” who crushed towering home runs as the biggest star on the best team in baseball: the New York Yankees.

Of course, he did not begin his legendary career in pinstripes. Before he was the burly outfielder who launched pitches — even during the Dead Ball Era — into the cheap seats, Ruth was an exceedingly talented lefthanded pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, a gifted hurler who compiled a 94-46 record and a solid earned run average of just 2.29; he boasted the American League’s best ERA in 1916, and finished in the AL’s top three twice in just five seasons on the mound.

A magnificent card of the southpaw legend will be in play when a 1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy Babe Ruth #147 SGC EX 5 crosses the block in Heritage’s Summer Sports Card Catalog Auction July 11-12.

“Babe Ruth is one of the legendary figures in the history of sports, and cards of him as a young player with the Boston Red Sox are scarce,” says Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage. “What drives the interest even more is that this card, considered to be his rookie, is one of just thirty-five E135 Ruth cards known, and the only blank-backed specimen in the entire SGC population.”

Another treasure from the trove of 1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy offerings in the auction is the only known Joe Jackson (Blank Back) #82 SGC EX 5, which is one of Shoeless Joe’s rarest cards. Featuring the most famous member of the Chicago White Sox’s “Eight Men Out” scandal, this card is alone at the top of the SGC populations for both blank- and advertising-backed version.

Other Collins-McCarthy highlights in the auction include, but are not limited to:

• A Blank Back Near Set (191/200) that is fresh to the hobby
• A Rogers Hornsby Rookie (Blank Back) #80 SGC EX 5

Another set that is featured in the auction is a trove of Sport Kings cards that includes the second-highest-graded 1933 Sport Kings Babe Ruth #2 SGC NM-MT+ 8.5 (as well as an SGC NM 7 version of the same card) that depicts The Babe in his more familiar New York Yankees uniform. The set represented a massive gamble by the Goudey Gum Company, which responded to the Great Depression by launching the Sport Kings set of high-profile athletes from across numerous sports, including football, golf and track and field. The offered card ranks second among just 18 out of more than 4,600 submitted to SGC from the Sport Kings set that earned grades of Mint 9 or better.

Other top Sport Kings offerings in the auction include:

• A Red Grange (Football) #4 PSA NM-MT 8 — trailing just four other examples

• A Ty Cobb #1 SGC NM-MT 8 — the only example with this grade, and just two higher

• A Jim Thorpe (Football) #6 PSA EX 5

Conversations about early cards often evoke images of tobacco and bubble gum packs, and rightly so, but another important set represented in the auction is the 23-lot trove of 1910 Novelty Cutlery cards out of a total of just 258 graded by PSA and SGC. The group that features some of the game’s most historic names, including Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

Those who would like to make big — literally — additions to their collections can consider the Exhibit cards offered in the auction. The Exhibit Supply Company’s oversized cards go back 100 years or more, creating a legacy still appreciated and pursued by modern collectors. Exhibit’s first baseball card release was in 1921, when a group of postcard-sized cards reached the collecting market and influenced the hobby for years. Exhibit highlights in the auction include, but are not limited to:

• A 1921 Baseball Complete Set (64) that is ranked No. 2 all-time and currently No. 1 on the PSA Set registry

• A 1927 Baseball Complete Set (64) that also is ranked No. 2 all-time and currently No. 1 on the PSA Set registry

• A 1926-29 Exhibits Baseball Postcard Back Near Set (56/61) that ranked No. 3 all-time

A 1964 Topps Baseball PSA Graded Complete Master Set (589) that currently is ranked as the third-finest is bursting with stars from the time many consider baseball’s Golden Era. The set’s 589 cards included six that boast a grade of PSA Gem Mint 10, and 554 coming in strong with Mint 9 grades. The names in the set read like a Who’s Who of the game’s biggest stars of the era, including Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Brooks Robinson, Warren Spahn, Frank Robinson, Yogi Berra, Lou Brock, Ernie Banks, Don Drysdale, Tommy John, Duke Snider, Harmon Killebrew, Juan Marichal and so many more.

The sale also includes a complete offering of one of the most iconic sets in collecting: the 1933 Goudey issue. All 239 cards are present including legends like Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Jimmie Foxx and all four of Babe Ruth’s entries — some of the most coveted Bambino cards in the industry.

One athlete whose profile and popularity are soaring is exceedingly well-represented in the 71 lots featuring Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. Among the cardboard featuring the WNBA’s most famous sharpshooter:

• A 2024 Panini Instant WNBA Caitlin Clark (Draft Night-Autograph) Rookie #DN1 PSA Gem Mint 10 - #'d 81/99

• A 2023 Bowman U Chrome Caitlin Clark (Sharpshooters Autograph-Red) #SSACC PSA Gem Mint 10, PSA/DNA Auto 10 - #'d 1/5

• A 2023 Bowman U Best Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese (Dual Autograph-Geometric Red) #DACA PSA Mint 9 - #'d 1/5

No elite sports auction is complete without Michael Jordan, with more than 50 different varieties of his cardboard classics in this event. The NBA Hall of Famer appears on a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie #57 SGC Gem Mint 10 that is recognized as his true rookie card and is considered a cornerstone of modern basketball card collecting. This is a magnificent example of one of the most sought-after rookie cards in the hobby.

Other offerings featuring “His Airness” include, but are not limited to:

• A 2005 Upper Deck SP Game Used Michael Jordan (By the Letter) #BL-MJ PSA NM 7 - #'d 3/6 featuring an oversized game-used relic patch of the letter “R” from the back of his jersey

• A 1997 Upper Deck SPx Michael Jordan (Grand Finale) #6 BGS NM-MT+ 8.5 - #'d 14/50

• A 1984 Star Co. Michael Jordan #101 PSA EX-MT 6