This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/31/2012.
The annual tradition of inviting former players back and paying homage to their careers began at Yankee Stadium on the final day of the 1947 regular season. The Yankees had held individual days to celebrate the lives of Lou Gehrig (July 4, 1939) and Babe Ruth (April 27, 1947), but it was Larry MacPhail, then-general manager of the Yankees, who popularized the inviting of numerous former players for a day at the ballpark. On September 28, 1947, with the Yankees having already clinched another World Series birth, Larry MacPhail assembled a great collection of old-time stars to play two innings of baseball before the scheduled game against Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. MacPhail held Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium for the benefit of the Babe Ruth Foundation and the team turned over the day’s gate receipts to the Foundation. A grateful, yet visibly ill Babe made an appearance and waved to the crowd of 25,000 fans but he could not suit up for the exhibition game. On July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, an exhibition game was held that featured Lou’s 1927 Murderer’s Row teammates. The game was never referred to as an “Old-Timers’ Game” until the annual tradition was started eight years later; the ’39 affair was then referred to as “the first” and the ’47 gathering “the second annual”. The Old-Timers’ Game at Yankee Stadium featured a team of Yankee greats like Frank Baker, Duffy Lewis, Wally Schang, Wally Pipp, Herb Pennock, Bob Meusel, Earle Combs, Waite Hoyt, Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing, Red Rolfe, George Selkirk, Roger Peckinpaugh, Buddy Hassett and Johnny Sturm managed by Joe McCarthy. Connie Mack managed a squad of former All-Stars including Tris Speaker, Al Simmons, George Sisler, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove, Chief Bender, Cy Young, Ed Walsh and Ty Cobb. Nineteen Hall of Famers’ signatures adorn this near mint OAL Harridge baseball. Yankees on this ball include Babe Ruth, Red Ruffing (sweet spot), Frank “Home Run” Baker, Earle Combs, Waite Hoyt (x2), Joe Dugan, Aaron Ward, Herb Pennock and Bob Shawkey. The remaining signatures include Jimmie Foxx (signed boldly over the “American League Harridge” stamp), Cy Young, “Chief” Bender, Ty Cobb, George Sisler, Ray Schalk, Ed A. Walsh, Lefty Grove, Red Faber (x2), Harry Hooper, Tris Speaker, Chas Gehringer, and Mickey Cochrane. All signatures are done in blue steel tip fountain pen and rate an overall 7-8 with the Babe Ruth signature being the strongest sig on the ball rating an 8-9. The ball itself is extremely clean rating a 9. Other signatures include Joe Judge, John Sturm, Wilcy Moore, Wally Pipp, Bob Meusel, Roger Peckinpaugh, Jack Coombs, Duffy Lewis (ss), Jack Barry, Red Rolfe, Everett Scott, and Mark Koenig. This is the nicest and most historic Old-Timers’ ball we have ever seen. Accompanied by a full LOA from JSA and backed by a LOA from PSA/DNA. A tremendous collection of Hall of Famers together on one incredible baseball.
The photo seen at left is from NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 28, 1947. Eight Old Time Pitching stars pose together in Yankee Stadium before the start of the last game of the 1947 season in New York. (L-R) the players are Cy Young, Lefty Grove, Jack Coombs, George Earnshaw, Ed Walsh, Stan Coveleskie, Urban 'Red' Faber, and Chief Bender. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images)