From the exclusive personal collection of Hall of Fame slugger Mike Schmidt, this enchanting piece of royal hardware is among baseball’s most coveted awards and was presented to Schmidt by the Maryland Professional Baseball Players Association after the 1974 season. Created in 1956 in honor of Maryland’s favorite son, Babe Ruth it was originally called the “Sultan of Swat Award” to honor the player with the greatest “slugging average”—combining home runs and runs batted in, it has been presented to some of the greatest hitters in the game’s history including Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and Johnny Bench. In his third full season, Schmidt led the National League in home runs for the second consecutive year with 38 and drove in 95 runs.

     This grand and glorious looking crown is truly fit for a king with six be-jeweled baseball diamonds circling the golden metal headband and crushed red velvet center head covering. The Maryland Professional Baseball Association’s diamond shaped logo is affixed to the golden diamond on the front of the crown just above the engraved raised text reading: “Babe Ruth Crown Presented to Mike Schmidt for Outstanding Batting Achievement 1975 Maryland Professional Baseball Players Association.” This award appears to have been presented to Schmidt in 1975 in honor of his accomplishments during the previous season. There are three sections of engraved text on the back of the crown reading: “1974 Batting Average .282 Home Runs – 36 Runs Batted In - 116,” “Played in 1974 All-Star Game,” “Most Valuable Philadelphia Phillies Player 1974 Major League All Star Team 1974 3rd Base.” This is the actual award given to Mike Schmidt, it is not a replica and no duplicates were ever authorized by Schmidt. This piece de resistance from Schmidt’s private collection comes with a notarized letter of authenticity from Mike Schmidt.

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