Christy Walsh emerged as one of the earliest sports agents in the 1920s, building what the Baseball Hall of Fame described as a “ghostwriters’ syndicate” and signing the likes of Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.
Walsh and his crew of ghostwriters penned books, tutorials and articles on behalf of his clients for distribution in newspapers across the country, in addition to assisting in securing sponsorship and endorsement deals.
Of course, Ruth was Walsh’s biggest coup.
The story of how Walsh originally signed the Yankees great is likely apocryphal, though oft-repeated. As MLB.com reports, Walsh told his brother he found Ruth’s hotel room number, climbed up a fire escape, snuck in through a window, and, finally, after coming face-to-face with Ruth in bed with a woman said, “I want to represent you.”
According to the Hall of Fame, “Ruth made almost half a million dollars in endorsements and investments alone,” thanks to Walsh. Walsh was reportedly the brains behind the PR stunt that landed Ruth’s name on the front page of the New York Times in 1926: “Babe Ruth Catches Ball From Airplane; Seventh Attempt Gives Him World’s Record.”
One of the countless money-making endeavors Walsh assisted Ruth with over their long working relationship was a column in newspapers such as the New York Evening Journal, which was written by Walsh’s writer Ford Frick, who would later become the commissioner of baseball.
RR Auctions sold a letter written by Ruth to a contest winner in 1930 for $7,499 this week. In the letter, Ruth announced he would be on the “staff” of the New York Evening Journal, writing two columns each week.
“This looks like a big year in baseball,” Ruth writes in the letter, dated three days prior to the opening day of the 1930 season, in which Ruth would hit 49 home runs, bat .359 and collect 153 RBIs.
The letter previously sold for $3,750 at Sotheby’s in 2013. RR has placed a pre-sale estimate of $5,000 and up on the letter, which is signed by Ruth and is matted and framed next to a photo.
Documents connecting Ruth and Walsh have long been desirable collectors items, with the first partnership agreement signed by the duo in 1921 selling for $21,510 in 2010 and a letter from the same year from Ruth to Walsh regarding the column nabbing $20,400 in May.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.