The NBA has Michael Jordan, golf has Tiger Woods, football has Jim Thorpe, hockey has Wayne Gretzky, and baseball has the best of them all – Babe Ruth. He has so much influence in the sport, that he even inspired his own adjective. The recent sale of his 1920 game used jersey for over four million dollars was truly a RUTHIAN accomplishment, and it sets the bar for all other sports memorabilia.

Even in the hobby, Ruth’s cards have a special place, and collectors have had the chance to own small pieces of his game used material for years. They arent cheap, and after this sale, it could become even more difficult to buy his stuff.

Check out some of the recent sales:

2002 Leaf Certified Materials Babe Ruth Jersey Card / 10

2010 Topps Sterling Babe Ruth Quad Swatch

2004 Donruss Elite Passing the Torch Babe Ruth Patch /25

2003 Donruss Classics Babe Ruth / Lou Gherig Dual Jersey Card

Ruth will be the most famous baseball player of all time for years to come, as the game is what it is because of his career dominance. Not only that, but most of the worth of high end products continue to be based on the company’s ability to include content from players of this era. Basically, its tough to succeed in high end baseball without Ruth, Cobb, Gherig, Mantle and company. There is just too much they bring to the table.

Back in 2005, Donruss gained national news attention for cutting up a game used Ruth jersey for their products, and because of its larger size, the yield lasted them for a few years. His cards in 2005 Absolute remain the largest swatch of game used Ruth material available, and they routinely sell for close to three grand. Outside of the 2005 Absolute jumbos, Upper Deck has done a number of Ruth cut and jersey combination, but they havent gained the same iconic status as some of his other cards.

I often wonder how someone can spend 25K on a guy like Stephen Strasburg, especially because you can get a Ruth or Mantle item for much less than that. Secondarily, its rare that the best player of an era plays for the most widely collected team in the league, which is a little of the reason why the Yankees’ pre-war and post war stuff sells like its pure gold.

Even if guys like Pujols, A-Rod and other guys eventually pass the statistics that Ruth put on the back of his cards, they will never have the same type of status. Its almost impossible to believe that there will ever be a player that gains the same amount of notoriety, no matter how ridiculous the accomplishments he has.