This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/5/2022
This image is widely known in the industry as The Greatest Yankee Team Photo to exist. What makes it so spectacular is of course it being their 1st Championship Team and even more important the scarcity of it because of the limited time the fellow sitting in the first row, third from the left: Lou Gehrig had played for the team that year. The Yankees had signed Gehrig after he finished his college season with Columbia, and he played a total of thirteen games that year scattered in June and July at which time he was sent back to Hartford for more seasoning. After hitting 24 home runs, the Yankees brought him back up in late September for the remainder of the games he would play that year in hopes he would be eligible for the upcoming World Series against the Giants which he was not. When the Yankees won the Pennant there was a team photo taken that Gehrig was not in. That image is much more common and much more widely seen than this presented image.
As such this was likely taken some time in June or July when he was with the team for the limited mid-season run. This is one of the earliest photos you will ever find with Gehrig in a Yankees uniform. Possibly being the finest in terms of condition that makes this particular photo absolutely stunning on so many levels. The 4-1/2” x 9” original Type I photograph exhibits crisp edges and displays beautifully. The reverse shows toning throughout along with three Brown Brothers stamps, various pencil notations including “World Series,” and “Yankees 1923” in blue pen. It should be noted also that this image was used for the ultra-rare 1925 W504 Universal Toy trading card issue. The photograph has been encapsulated and graded Type I by PSA/DNA.