Before he was the Iron Horse, Gehrig was known as Columbia Lou. He attended Columbia College from 1921 to 1923, playing both football and baseball. After his sophomore year, Gehrig signed with the Yankees for a $1500 bonus against the wishes of his beloved mother. In later years, Gehrig recalled why he had abandoned his intention to go on from Columbia to become an engineer: "There's no getting away from it," he told the New York Times in 1939, "a fellow has to eat. At the end of my sophomore year my father was taken ill and we had to have money. I had been playing on the college ball team and I had had eight offers to join professional clubs. So when there was no money coming in there was nothing for me to do but sign up." As first baseman for the New York Yankees for seventeen seasons, Gehrig played in 2,130 consecutive big league games (a record that would stand for more than fifty years), batted .361 in seven World Series, and broke many other major-league records. Known for his remarkable endurance, Gehrig was a four-time Most Valuable Player, earned a lifetime batting average of .340, and hit 493 home runs, including 23 grand slams, a record that still stands today. In 1939, stricken by a rare form of paralysis now widely known as Lou Gehrig's disease, he retired from the Yankees with the most graceful and moving speech ever uttered by an American athlete. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in a special election in 1939, and was the first baseball player ever to have his uniform number retired.
This bat, one of the three earliest Gehrig specimens documented by PSA/DNA, dates from Lou's formative first seasons in the big leagues. Its 1924-25 labeling period coincides with the first chapter of a career that plays out like an epic novel. Manufactured by Hillerich & Bradsby, the 36 inch, 36.8 ounce war club shows evidence of outstanding use with a handle crack and back barrel checking, both of which have been repaired. Many ball marks are visible on the right, left and back barrel. Also visible on the bat are cleat marks on the handle and barrel and the remains of a shipping label. Evidence of a single tape ring is visible on the on the handle. Such an application is a documented Gehrig trait. An area on the left barrel has been planed to receive factory side writing. Today the side writing is not legible. Written on the right side of the upper handle is ‘9/13 Jim.’ While there is no question the bat was manufactured for Lou Gehrig and shipped to him by the manufacturer for his use, this handle notation suggests the bat was likely adopted later by another player who returned it to its birthplace to be replicated. It is important to consider, however, that the possible candidates for ‘Jim’ in that period are James Ferguson, Jim Marquis and James ‘Bob’ Shawkey all pitchers on the 1925 Yankees. Given that these “Jims” were all pitchers in 1925, combined with the fact that Gehrig likely had a very limited supply of custom manufactured game bats in his arsenal at this early stage of his career, leads us to speculate that the majority of use this bat endured was at the hands of Gehrig. Additional consideration of the tape ring, a known Gehrig trait, bolsters that belief. Given the quality, appearance and era of this Lou Gehrig gamer, it would be a centerpiece in even the most advanced collection of world-class baseball artifacts.
LOA from John Taube of PSA/DNA (Graded GU7).