Lou Gehrig/Babe Ruth at Cleveland's League Park, 1927

Description

Gehrig and Ruth at Cleveland’s League Park, 1927
Print Detail:
This limited print, which measures 7.6” x 9.5”, was printed on to canvas and mounted on to an acid-free 11” x 14” beveled mat. The mat is attached to a 4-ply, acid-free backing board and is protected with a removable, Krysta Seal transparent plastic covering. The mat is intended to protect the print, but it can be framed as is, or can easily be disassembled without harming the underlying canvas print or matting material. Please note that the mat opening is 7.5” x 9.5” and does not perfectly match the opening in the pre-cut mat.
Image Source:
Louis Van Oeyen
Image Subject:
Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth at League Park, July 1927.
One source claims the image location is the 1927 World Series at Forbes Field, but the inscription on the back of the original photo dates the image as July 1927. The Yankees did not face the Pirates in July 1927, but they did play in Cleveland from July 12 through July 15. Also, photographer Louis Van Oeyen is from Cleveland. For these reasons, I believe this image of Lou and Babe is before a game in Cleveland.
Fun Fact:
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig formed the most feared batting twosome in the history of baseball. Batting third and fourth, they served as the heart of the great Yankee teams that won three World Series between 1927 and 1933. Despite their heroics, Ruth and Gehrig played a different type of baseball, led decidedly different lives, and had different personalities. But they had one thing in common; they hit home runs.
Lou Gehrig was quiet, dignified, soft-spoken, college educated and modest to a fault. Even when he hit a home run, Gehrig was almost modest, keeping his head down as he ran the bases. Doing this cost him a home run crown in 1931, when he passed Lyn Lary on the bases after hitting an apparent game-winning homer. Lary, seeing the ball clear the fence, went from third base to the Yankees dugout but Gehrig, deep into his trot, was ruled out when he passed the spot Lary left. Given a triple instead of a home run, Gehrig finished the year with 46, sharing league leadership with Ruth.
Babe Ruth was loud, brash and had a larger than life personality. He skipped school, smoked, drank, overate, committed petty crimes and hit home runs – lots of them. Ruth once said, “The fans would rather see me hit one homer to right than three doubles to left.”
He also was a charismatic showman that magnetically drew adoring fans to him. A telling quote from sportswriter Tommy Holmes goes:
"Some 20 years ago, I stopped talking about the Babe for the simple reason that I realized that those who had never seen him didn't believe me. "
Original Painting Detail (Not this Print):
Printed on 13” x 19” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Acknowledgement:
Gehrig’s Image Endures, 75 Years after the ‘Luckiest Man’
, Dan Schlossberg. Baseball Hall of Fame website, baseballhall.org.
Additional info, go to:
baseballoncanvas.com