Sincerely, Babe Ruth:
The PSA/DNA Mint 9 Cut
That Stands Alone

There are signatures, and then there is this. A cut from an index card — hand-trimmed, preserved across decades, submitted to the most rigorous authentication process in the hobby — bearing the name Babe Ruth in bold, fluid, unmistakable blue ink (uncommon on cuts, as they are almost always black). PSA/DNA graded it Mint 9, and it is something of a travesty. PSA relies on technical grading criteria and does not account for aesthetic appeal. I had a conversation with PSA's former president, Steve Sloan — a genuinely nice guy — about exactly this. To me, aesthetic beauty could be reliably incorporated into their grading criteria. Using the law's "reasonable person" standard as a governing tenant, this autograph is most certainly a Gem Mint 10. I have seen numerous other Ruth Gem Mint 10 cuts, and only a very small handful look as nice or nicer than this one. This is truly one of the finest examples of a Babe Ruth cut signature you will ever encounter. Nonetheless, Mint 9 is the grade that separates a great signed piece from a transcendent one, and on a Ruth cut signature, it is genuinely rare.

The piece reads "Sincerely, Babe Ruth" — a formal valediction that places this signature in the context of personal correspondence, a fan response, or a signed courtesy card from the man himself. Ruth signs the cut carefully and unhurried, almost certainly at home or in an office setting. The sentiment is perfectly Ruth: generous, direct, larger than life on even a small piece of paper. The "B" of Babe sweeps with confidence. The "R" of Ruth anchors the piece with authority. There is no hesitation, no fading, no crowding. The PSA/DNA grade of Mint 9 reflects exactly what the eye sees — even if the aesthetics belong squarely in Gem Mint 10 territory.

What PSA/DNA Mint 9 Actually Means on a Ruth Cut

To understand why the grade matters here — and based on my own extensive knowledge of Ruth autographs, this signature lands squarely in the early 1940s era, making the cut almost certainly older than 80 years — it helps to understand what PSA is actually grading when it assesses a cut signature. Unlike a card grade, which evaluates corners, surface, centering, and edges, an autograph grade on a cut is evaluating the signature itself: ink boldness, flow, completeness, placement, and overall preservation of the signing surface. Finer details matter too — ink transference, a streak within a character, missing ink — all of it factors into the final grade.

A grade of 9 (Mint) from PSA/DNA means the signature exhibits no fading, no smearing, no skips in the ink flow, no crowding or truncation at an edge, and no degradation from age or humidity. The pen pressure was consistent throughout. The autograph is complete and fully legible. On a modern signer who controlled their signing conditions, a 9 is achievable. On Babe Ruth — who died in 1948, whose signed material has been in circulation for three-quarters of a century, and who was not known for careful archival practices — a Mint 9 is a genuine achievement of preservation.

The PSA/DNA population for Ruth cut signatures skews heavily toward lower grades — 6s and 7s are the norm, reflecting the reality that most Ruth signatures have experienced some combination of ink fading, paper toning, creasing from handling, or edge damage from the original cutting process. Fountain pens in particular are far harder to achieve higher autograph grades. This is due to the quality of the pen itself, the ink, the atmosphere, the signing angle, hand pressure, and even the cleanliness of the ink nib. Ruth signed constantly, and for an autograph to look as nice as this, many things had to go just right in the moment of signing alone. Now factor in 80-plus years of careful storage, passing through various hands of ownership, to finally land in a PSA slab — the sheer number of variables that had to align becomes truly incredible. A grade of 8 is strong. A 9 is exceptional. And this one carries cert number 84153250 — a traceable, verifiable identity that can be confirmed directly in PSA's online database at any point in the chain of ownership. In my opinion, the autograph is aesthetically a Gem Mint 10 — the only thing preventing that grade being a small area of lesser ink at the top of the "A" in "Babe," the result of Ruth's natural hand pressure shifting ever so slightly mid-stroke. On any objective visual assessment, it is a distinction without a meaningful difference.

The Signature Itself: A Close Read

The inscription "Sincerely" appears on the first line in a flowing, slightly informal cursive — relaxed but deliberate, the kind of word Ruth wrote often enough that his hand knew its shape automatically. It also tells us something about the signing context: this is not a rushed ballpark autograph or a hurried hotel lobby signature. Ruth took his time. The careful, unhurried quality of the inscription points to a private setting — home or office — with no crowd pressing in and no reason to rush.

Below it, "Babe Ruth" takes over the lower portion of the card with the confidence of a man who understood exactly what his name meant. The "B" in Babe opens wide — a large, sweeping uppercase letter that dominates its line and establishes the register for everything that follows. The lowercase letters maintain clean connection through the word, the ink flowing evenly and without interruption. There is one area worth noting: a small reduction in ink saturation at the top of the "A" in "Babe," the result of Ruth's natural hand pressure shifting ever so slightly mid-stroke — the only technical blemish on an otherwise perfect signature, and the sole distinction between this piece and a Gem Mint 10 in PSA's technical framework.

The "R" in Ruth is the anchor of the piece. Ruth's capital R is one of the most distinctive letterforms in the canon of celebrity signatures, characterized by a strong downstroke and a looping return that flows directly into the "u." The "th" closes cleanly, the final stroke finishing with a subtle rightward flick that is characteristic of authentic Ruth examples. That terminal flick — consistent across known genuine examples — is one of the details authenticators look for, and it is present here without ambiguity.

The ink throughout is blue — a detail worth pausing on, because the overwhelming majority of Ruth cut signatures were signed in black ink. Blue is genuinely uncommon on Ruth cuts, and it lends this piece a visual immediacy that black ink rarely achieves. Under examination, the saturation is bold and consistent from the first stroke of "Sincerely" to the final flick of the "th." No fading in the terminal strokes, no ink bleed suggesting poor surface or humidity exposure, no truncation at the cut edges, no pen skipping or hesitation anywhere in the signature. This is a Ruth signed at his best, in good conditions, on a clean surface — and kept that way for over 80 years. The PSA/DNA Mint 9 reflects the technical reality. The eye sees a 10.

The Population: How Rare Is a Ruth Cut at Mint 9?

Babe Ruth is among the most collected signatures in the history of American sports memorabilia. His name appears on baseballs, bats, photographs, index cards, letters, contracts, and personal correspondence. The volume of Ruth-signed material in the market is substantial — but volume does not equal condition. The population of Ruth cut signatures graded by PSA reflects a consistent pattern: the overwhelming majority of examples grade in the 5–7 range, with 8s representing a meaningful step up, and 9s representing a tier that serious collectors pursue specifically. Given the Gem Mint 10 features of this signature, this is not an autograph that sells for PSA Mint 9 money — it sells for Gem Mint 10 money. I challenge anyone to find even most certified 10s that present nicer than this Ruth. The grade on the label is a technicality. What is in the slab is not.

PSA Grade	Description	Relative Frequency on Ruth Cuts	Market Position
10 — Gem	Perfect	Essentially nonexistent	—
9 — Mint	This piece	Rare — top tier of market	Premium demand
8 — NM/MT	Near Mint/Mint	Uncommon — strong examples	Strong market
7 — NM	Near Mint	Common — typical collector piece	Solid market
6 — EX/MT	Excellent/Mint	Very common — most examples	Entry level
5 and below	Lower grades	Very common	Reduced demand

The practical reality for a serious collector or investor is straightforward: this piece performs above its label. A PSA 9 with the visual presentation of a 10 is an arbitrage that the market will recognize and price accordingly. The cert is traceable, the grade is defensible, and the signature itself makes the argument better than any documentation can. Buyers who know Ruth will see it immediately. Buyers who don't will be told — and the photograph alone closes the case.

Bustin' Babes and Larrupin' Lous

Following the 1927 World Series — in which the New York Yankees swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games, capping one of the most dominant seasons in baseball history — Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig embarked on one of the most celebrated barnstorming tours the sport has ever seen. The two greatest hitters in the game took their act on the road, splitting into rival squads for a series of exhibition games played across the country from late October into November. Ruth's team was christened the Bustin' Babes. Gehrig's, the Larrupin' Lous — "larrupin'" being period slang for a powerful, lashing blow, a word that fit Gehrig's quiet, methodical devastation at the plate as well as any.

The tour covered more than 20 cities across 21 days, drawing enormous crowds in markets that rarely if ever saw major league caliber baseball. Small towns, minor league parks, civic fields — it didn't matter. When Ruth and Gehrig came to town, people came. The 1927 Yankees had just gone 110-44 in the regular season, outscored their opponents by 376 runs, and featured what many still consider the single greatest lineup ever assembled. The barnstorm let the country see why in person.

Ruth was 32 years old and at the absolute apex of his powers. He had hit 60 home runs that season — a record that would stand for 34 years. Gehrig had driven in 175. Together they were not merely teammates; they were the two poles around which American baseball orbited. The Bustin' Babes and Larrupin' Lous tour was, by any measure, the greatest barnstorming exhibition in the history of the game — a victory lap taken by two men who had just done something that had never been done before and would not be done again for a generation.

It is in that context that this cut signature carries particular resonance. "Sincerely, Babe Ruth" — written in careful, unhurried blue ink, most likely in the early 1940s as Ruth's public life wound toward its close — is a direct thread back to the man at the center of all of it. The Bustin' Babes name lives on as the identity of the eBay store where this piece is currently offered, a $50,000 buy-it-now listing that reflects exactly what the market understands a PSA 9 Ruth cut of this visual caliber to be worth.

The Finality of 1948

George Herman Ruth died on August 16, 1948. He was 53 years old. His death, like Tony Gwynn's in 2014, was heartbreaking. For all the contrast between Babe Ruth and Tony Gwynn — and the contrast is considerable — they shared one thing: a heart made of pure gold. Ruth was deeply flawed, but he loved, fought, and hurt as much as the most passionate people alive. Tony Gwynn was the very embodiment of a decent human being and an honorable man. A faithful husband and fantastic father, Gwynn might be one of the finest human beings in the history of professional sports. The passing of both men created an absolute ceiling on their respective authenticated signature markets — no new examples can ever be created. Every Ruth signature in existence was produced during his lifetime, and the supply is finite and diminishing as pieces are lost, damaged, or otherwise removed from circulation over time.

What makes the Ruth market different from most deceased signers is the sheer scale of cultural weight attached to his name. Ruth is not merely a Hall of Famer — he is the figure against whom all of baseball is still measured. The market for his authenticated material reflects that status, and a Mint 9 cut that presents like a 10 represents the kind of piece that holds value across market cycles precisely because the grade is scarce, the aesthetic is undeniable, and the name is permanent.

The Numbers Behind the Name

Any serious treatment of a Babe Ruth signature demands a reckoning with what that name actually represents on the field. The statistics are not merely impressive — they are, in several cases, so far ahead of their era that they still hold up as remarkable against modern players with vastly superior nutrition, training, and sports science behind them. Ruth's career OPS of 1.164, on-base percentage of .482, and slugging percentage of .690 are all the highest in MLB history — untouched to this day. He is also the only player in the history of the game who would be a credible Hall of Famer as a pitcher alone, having posted a 2.28 ERA across 163 starts before converting to a full-time outfielder. What follows is the complete season-by-season record.

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1914	BOS	5	10	1	2	0	2	0	.200	.200	.300	.500
1915	BOS	42	92	16	29	4	21	9	.315	.376	.576	.952
1916	BOS	67	136	18	37	3	15	10	.272	.322	.419	.741
1917	BOS	52	123	14	40	2	12	12	.325	.385	.472	.857
1918	BOS	95	317	50	95	11	66	58	.300	.411	.555	.966
1919	BOS	130	432	103	139	29	114	101	.322	.456	.657	1.114
1920	NYY	142	458	158	172	54	137	150	.376 ★	.532	.849	1.382
1921	NYY	152	540	177	204	59	171	144	.378 ★	.512	.846	1.359
1922	NYY	110	406	94	128	35	99	84	.315	.434	.672	1.106
1923	NYY	152	522	151	205	41	131	170	.393 ★	.545	.764	1.309
1924	NYY	153	529	143	200	46	121	142	.378 ★	.513	.739	1.252
1925	NYY	98	359	61	104	25	66	59	.290	.393	.543	.936
1926	NYY	152	495	139	184	47	146	144	.372 ★	.516	.737	1.253
1927	NYY	151	540	158	192	60 ★	164	137	.356	.486	.772	1.258
1928	NYY	154	536	163	173	54	142	137	.323	.463	.709	1.172
1929	NYY	135	499	121	172	46	154	72	.345	.430	.697	1.127
1930	NYY	145	518	150	186	49	153	136	.359	.493	.732	1.225
1931	NYY	145	534	149	199	46	163	128	.373 ★	.495	.700	1.195
1932	NYY	133	457	120	156	41	137	130	.341	.489	.661	1.150
1933	NYY	137	459	97	138	34	103	114	.301	.442	.582	1.023
1934	NYY	125	365	78	105	22	84	104	.288	.448	.537	.985
1935	BOS (NL)	28	72	13	13	6	12	20	.181	.359	.431	.790
Career	—	2,503	8,399	2,174	2,873	714	2,214	2,062	.342	.482	.690	1.164

★ 1927 single-season HR record stood for 34 years. Career OBP (.482), SLG (.690), and OPS (1.164) are all MLB all-time records. Career HR (714) ranks 3rd all-time behind Barry Bonds (762) and Hank Aaron (755). Career WAR of 182.5 is the highest ever recorded for a position player.

The Research Conclusion

A Babe Ruth PSA/DNA Mint 9 cut signature, cert #84153250, inscribed "Sincerely, Babe Ruth" in bold blue ink, represents one of the cleanest examples of Ruth's authenticated signature available in the current market. The grade is real, the cert is verifiable, the ink is bold, and the inscription is complete. It is not a baseball or a photograph — it is the signature itself, stripped of all other context, standing entirely on its own. And it is more than enough.

I believe the market for cuts is going to steadily climb as baseball autographs from 80-plus years ago fade and leather succumbs to the elements. The balls yellow and crack. The bats splinter. The photographs silver and ghost. But a well-preserved cut — sealed in a PSA slab, graded and certified — holds. These perfectly preserved cuts will come to be recognized for what they truly are: the last surviving moments of a life steeped in myth and legend, rendered in ink, on paper, by the hand itself.

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Research methodology: PSA population data referenced from PSA's online certification and population report databases. Market context derived from auction house realized price records including Heritage Auctions, Robert Edward Auctions, and Goldin. Authentication standards per PSA/DNA published grading criteria. All claims reflect research conducted as of 2026. Cert #84153250 verifiable directly through PSA's online lookup at psacard.com.