1939 Lou Gehrig "Luckiest Man" Game Used Bat - Given to Batboy w/Tremendous Provenance (PSA/DNA GU 10)

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Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

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1939 Lou Gehrig "Luckiest Man" Game Used Bat - Given to Batboy w/Tremendous Provenance (PSA/DNA GU 10)

Fresh to the market, never before seen or offered Lou Gehrig Game Used Bat and autograph book. Perfect ten game used bat (PSA/DNA GU 10) was used in his last season ever, when he famously ended his 2,130 consecutive game streak in a blaze of dignity and courage. The Iron Horse was to pass away only two years later from the disease later named for him - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), aka Lou Gehrig's Disease. This was also the centennial year of baseball (1839-1939) commemorating the first professional baseball team in 1869, the historic Cincinnati Red Stockings. Creating an unmatched historical backdrop, this birthed one of the most memorable events in history. An event that quite literally transcends the game.The back story of this pantheon piece is incredible. A local young Texan boy was invited to be the bat boy for the mighty New York Yankees when they faced the Houston Buffaloes in an exhibition game on April 2, 1939. The boy was given two bats for the Yankee captain, one of which was cracked during the game and this being the other. This bat had been carried over from the previous season, hence it was actually made in 1938. Generosity ruled the day and the boy was given the bat after the game and we have the documentation to prove it! The lot comes with a scrapbook of autographs that were obtained that day and most importantly comes with a newspaper article detailing the day's events leading up the starring performance of it here in this auction. According to the article "We are told that one (hometown kept confidential) boy got a big thrill Sunday. (Name kept confidential) was down at Houston to see the world champion New York Yankees play, and was offered the chance to be their bat boy for the game against the Buffs. It must have been quite an experience for the boy to associate with such sports heroes. As if that wasn't enough, he got a good bat and a broken one for his services."The scrapbook is a piece of great weight in its own right, containing signatures of Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Earle Combs, Joe Gordon, Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez, Powell, Beggs, Jorgens, Ferrell, Knickerbocker, Gallagher. These sigs have a matching handwritten date of April 2, 1939. There are other signatures dating from the previous year: Ford Frick, Carl Hubbell, Bob Feller, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr, Earl Averill, Sam Leslie and other NY Giants & Cleveland Indians for a total of 32 signatures.Barrel stamped with Lou Gehrig's facsimile signature as well as some minor grain swelling on back of the barrel from repeated ball contact. It measures the correct 35", weighs 34.5oz, with "35" on the knob. According to the PSA LOA the bat exhibits outstanding use with many ball marks, ball stitch impressions on the right, left and back barrel and green bat rack marks on the front and back barrel. Cleat impressions can also be seen on the front and back barrel.PSA also came to conclude that in light of the date of manufacture, Gehrig used this bat between July 1938 and April 2, 1939. Going further into detail, based on the weight of bats ordered by Gehrig in September 1938 and April 1939, PSA attributed the majority of the use to July and August of the 1938 season.It has been graded a PSA 10 making it one of the few in the world to be considered along with the best of the best Lou Gehrig game used bats. This is one of the last bats Lou Gehrig ever used. If you win this consider yourself the luckiest person on the face of the earth.