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Matched Pair of 1920's Lou Gehrig & Babe Ruth Signed Photographs
Two marvelous individual photos of Ruth and Gehrig, signed in vintage fountain pen ink next to their image. The Gehrig is authentic, the Ruth is secretarial. The photos capture the Bambino and the Iron Horse in a hitting and fielding pose, respectively, in spring training sometime in the '20s. Each man is hatless and wearing a sweatshirt instead of a Yankee jersey, and Gehrig takes a throw to first with the carefree image of palm trees in the background. Both photos were signed for and given to James J. McDonnell, manager of Marshman's Cigar Store in Springfield, Massachusetts, who became something of a local legend for his friendships with big league players in his side job as ticket sales manager for the local Eastern League team and during March for the Yankees on their barnstorming trips through the South. The enclosed newspaper obituary of McDonnell, who died in 1950, explains the relationship in detail. As for the signatures, the Babe's is secretarial and reads, "Sincerely yours, 'Babe Ruth'", while Lou's, which is penned in his own hand, is more personal and reads "To my good friend Jimmy McDonnell, Sincerely, Lou Gehrig." The Gehrig signature grades a 5/10, and the Ruth signature grades the same with a crease running throuigh it. The photos themselves are somewhere between Good and VG. Super-sharp images they are each 4 1/2 x 6 1/2". Verso of the photos are stamped "Thorne Photo" for the dedicated and talented Yankee official photographer. Rarely if ever do you see a "matched pair" such as these.
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