(LOT 290)
1939 Lou Gehrig, Postmaster General James Farley & Joe McCarthy PSA Type I Encapsulated ACME Newspictures Photo – Measures Approx. 7" x 9"
No one could possibly contemplate the unmeasurable shock experienced by the baseball community and its associated fanbase when Lou Gehrig ended his 2,130-consecutive game streak; pulling himself out of the lineup in Detroit on May 2, 1939. Even more earthshattering was the incomprehensible sadness that swept across the country after the Mayo Clinic's report revealed that Gehrig was suffering from the incurable ALS disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) that would eventually claim the life of this Yankee icon. Now forever stricken to the bench, Gehrig would remain with the team straight thru the end of the season in his "Captain" roll and see his Yankees claim their fourth consecutive world championship. Gehrig's final exalted moment would come on July 4, 1939 when before a packed house on "Lou Gehrig Day", he would deliver his incomparable "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" farewell speech at Yankee Stadium that will forever reside as our National Pastime's "Gettysburg Address". As a momentous heirloom from Gehrig's 1939 campaign, presented here is an extremely significant photo of Lou Gehrig standing in the dugout alongside famous Postmaster General James Farley as well as Hall of Fame manager Joe McCarthy.

Measuring approximately 7" x 9", McCarthy's left sleeve reveals the significant 1939 patch, with Farley donning his period-style formal attire. One of America's popular political figures, in 1933 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt named Farley the new U.S. Postmaster General, a position he held until 1940. While Farley did give a legendary speech at Yankee Stadium on Lou Gehrig Day, the fact that he and other fans in the background are wearing heavy coats would rule out the possibility of this being a July 4th game. That said, the prospect certainly exists that it could have been an October World Series contest (Games number 1 or 2), with this image possibly taken during one of Lou Gehrig's final games at Yankee Stadium (we have seen other versions of this photo, one of which includes a gentleman holding what appears to be a 1939 World Series program). The sparkling clarity, an ACME NEWSPICTURES credit stamp and the hallowed Gehrig, Farley and McCarthy pencil scripted names on the verso are the final superlatives for one of the Iron Horse's most eclectic and historic photos extant!

MIN BID $300
_