This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/20/2011
This remarkable photograph captures the spirit of the most famous barnstorming tour in baseball history. The 1927-28 "Bustin' Babes" and "Larrupin Lou's" tour was wildly successful and provided fans in cities without major league teams a rare opportunity to see the great Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in action. A largely profitable trip it is said that Lou Gehrig earned more on these barnstorming trips than he made while playing for the Yankees. Most of the barnstorming games ended early because there was such spectator pandemonium from fans rushing the field for an autograph or attempting to circle the bases alongside Ruth. This panoramic photo comes from an engagement in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 17—just nine days after the Yankees won the 1927 World Series. Ruth and Gehrig appear front and center, along with their agent and tour promoter Christy Walsh. They are flanked by exactly nine "BB" and "LL" team members, plus three men on the far right in their regular Des Moines threads. Cursive white captioning denotes the game's date, location, star visitors and local photography studio. Minimally perceptible edge faults and light surface rippling are the extent of wear to the sepia, 6-3/4" x 25-1/2" photo, which is "floated" (its perimeter fully on view) in a handsome, 10-1/2" x 29" frame. This is one of only two Ruth/Gehrig barnstorming panoramas of its kind known to exist.
Includes a LOA from PSA/DNA (Type 1).