1920 W516-1 Babe Ruth

This authentic strip card of Babe Ruth is special for a few reasons:

First, it shows Ruth as a pitcher. It's hard to imagine that the Babe was a great pitcher before he became the game's greatest homer run hitter. Actually, in my book, he was the game's greatest player, period.

The card also shows Ruth during his first year as a Yankee. In 1920, he hit 54 homers with 137 RBI while batting .376.

Not bad for a pitcher.

If you're not familiar with strip cards, these blank-back cards were sold as strips with many cards coming on a strip. The cost: usually a penny. The cards were then hand cut and separated. Every know-and-then you may see a full strip for sale, but it's rare.

Strip cards used to be an affordable alternative to tobacco cards. But today, their value has grown significantly. They were printed on super-thin card stock, almost paper-like and were often simple line drawings.