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1948 "The Babe Bows Out" Original Negative
Offered is the negative of a photo (taken by an unknown person) of the illustrious Babe Ruth tipping his hat to the crowd at Yankee Stadium on June 13, 1948, during a celebration to mark the 25th Anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth Built," and also a day on which Ruth's uniform No. 3 was retired. Also, scheduled that day was a game between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, plus a two-inning old-timers' game, but of primary interest to the spectators was the pregame ceremony honoring Babe Ruth. The Bambino had been seriously ill with throat cancer, and many persons had the feeling that this day would be his last appearance at Yankee Stadium. The premonitions of many were correct: The Babe died two months later, and this day turned out to have been his final public appearance. The offered negative is from a photo taken either right before or after the infamous "The Babe Bows Out" photo was taken by Nat Fein, of the <em>New York Herald Tribune</em>. In that photo, often considered the most well-known sports photo of all time, Fein won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography by capturing Ruth, leaning on a baseball bat as if it were a cane, facing the crowd, wearing his famous No.3 jersey, retired on this day by the Yankees. Joe Trimble, of the <em>New York Daily News</em>, wrote of those moments, "As he [Ruth] stood out there [on the Yankee Stadium field], he was as magnificent as ever - the top showman of them all." One can see a group of photographers crouching down and taking photos of Ruth, and Fein is most likely one of them. The displayed negative measures 5x7", and enclosed is a 4x5.5" photocopy of a photo made from the negative. The negative has approximately a 1-inch section of a serrated border, but the border is not part of the actual negative image, and overall, the negative is in excellent condition. The original negative captures a poignant moment during the great Ruth's final visit at Yankee Stadium. <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Pleasenote: the positive image seen on our website is for illustrative purposes onlyand does not accompany the negative; only the negative is offered in this lot.</span>
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