Bank of Washington Heights counter check, 6.25 x 2.75, filled out and signed by Roger Peckinpaugh, "R. T. Peckinpaugh," payable to Geo. H. Ruth for $1000, August 4, 1921, endorsed on the reverse by Babe Ruth, "Geo. H. Ruth." In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
Babe Ruth and Roger Peckinpaugh were teammates on the New York Yankees in 1920 and 1921, just as Ruth emerged as baseball's premiere home run hitter. On the day Peckinpaugh wrote this check, the Yankees squared off against Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers at the Polo Grounds. Detroit took an early lead, but Peck and the Babe mounted a comeback effort in the eighth inning. The New York Times colorfully reported: 'Peckinpaugh was the first man up, and he wheedled a pass out of Dutch Leonard. Babe Ruth carved the turf in right field with a hot shot good for a pair of bases, Peck stopping at third. Frank Baker flayed the ball to right for a single so vigorous that it scored both Peck and Ruth.' The Yanks nevertheless came up short, falling 8-3 in one of their few home losses that season. Ruth would finish out the year by breaking his own single-season home run record, and the Yankees would go on to take the 1921 American League championship.
Provenance: The Roger Peckinpaugh Family.
