Lot # 7: 1948 Babe Ruth Type 1 Photo - "The Babe Bows Out"

Category: Featured Items

Starting Bid: $250.00

Bids: 12 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Fall, 2017 Ringside and Premier Auction",
which ran from 11/9/2017 4:44 AM to
11/26/2017 10:12 AM



June 13 1948 was the date that baseball was dealt perhaps its greatest blow; the date that Babe Ruth said goodbye to Yankee fans and the date the Yankees out of respect for Ruth's greatness officially retired the Babe's uniform number. The Pulitzer prize-winning photo by Nat Fein depicting the Yankees hero once impossibly strong leaning on a borrowed bat for support illness ravaging his body is clearly the most famous image from that somber day. However it is this well-known photo from that same day that possibly captures the pride and gratitude of the Home Run King doffing his cap one last time in front of a stadium of adoring fans. The composition of the photo is an interesting contrast to the Pulitzer winner each depicting Ruth on the left side of the frame with the grandstand at the right. However while the Fein photo depicts Ruth a shell of a man back turned to the lens this one shows a different Ruth: one basking in the glory of his achievements one last time a look of boyish gratitude on his face. This is not a shell of a man; this is Babe Ruth. We like this one better. The photo itself measures 8x10" and exhibits significant wrinkling and wear most notably a horizontal crease that traverses across the entire photo. The quality of the image however remains strong and vivid the picture's considerable wear not detracting from the importance of its subject a striking metaphor for the man in the photo itself. LOA from PSA/DNA.

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