[refz]

Originally Posted by BobC

Don't disagree at all. But as I said, I thought I remember it was Beckett that at one time characterized Ruth's Goudey card(s) as his rookie card(s). And if memory serves, I thought Beckett's definition of a rookie card had something to do with it being a player's first card issued as a major leaguer in a nationally recognized and distributed set. Here's an online quote I quickly found of Beckett's at least one-time definition for a rookie card.

Quote "Beckett’s official definition of the rookie card (“RC”) states that a “rookie card” must come from a fully-licensed, nationally distributed set that is primarily focused on current professional players. It must be a base card and cannot be an insert, parallel or redemption card, and players can only have one RC per set." Unquote

https://www.bing.com/search?q=becket...ANNTA1&PC=HCTS

And in fact, as I am typing this, I'm looking at an old April 2012 Beckett Baseball guide I still have, and in the price guide section showing the 1933 Goudey set, every one of the Ruth cards listed has the "RC" designation following the card number and his name. So at least through 2012, Beckett was still listing and claiming Ruth's 1933 Goudey cards were his rookie cards.

So I'll ask once again, how much of that demand for '33 Goudey cards of Ruth may be due to mistaken identification of them as his supposed rookie card(s)?

In my honest opinion, I don’t think it’s the rc tag… it’s that damn popular. Take an average joe collector for instance. They will recognize the Goudey over any other issue Ruth period.