Evan Kendall

“The House That Ruth Built.” On April 18, 1923, Yankee Stadium hosted its first game, a 4-1 win for the home team over the rival Red Sox including a 3-run homer by The Great Bambino himself. When I picked up this 1933 Goudey Ruth #53 last year, my favorite of the four in that set, it felt like a different kind of special.

When I was a kid, I remember reading Dan Gutman’s “Babe and Me,” one of the books in a series where a young boy holds vintage baseball cards and transports back in time to see those players and experience life in their era. I loved that book (and the others in the series) for their ability to combine baseball cards, history, and adventure, which are so much of what makes collecting meaningful to me. While on the surface this is just a small piece of cardboard from nearly 100 years ago, what it represents — and the stories that it holds — is so much more. It’s the story of a superstar, larger-than-life figure who, in many ways, saved the game of baseball through The Great Depression. It’s the story of a kid who grew up in an orphanage, faced adversity in his early life, and overcame it all to become the greatest player of his time and, arguably, of all time. And it’s the story of a gum company producing small pieces of cardboard to sell their product, inadvertently setting in motion a hobby that so many of us are lucky enough to enjoy.