Winter Auction 2016 Closing January 30th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/31/2016
From one "President" to another: this "Annual Pass to All Grounds" allowed U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (and his "Party") access to any and all American League games during the 1944 season. This was an official gesture from the League. Roosevelt was a great friend of the National Pastime. He threw out the sport's ceremonial Opening Day first pitch on eight occasions (more than any other Chief Executive), and he famously encouraged the Major Leagues to continue operating – as an important morale booster – under wartime duress. The barely circulated pass is still encased in its original wallet, which in turn is housed in a 28" x 23-1/2" framed display along with two photographic images: one of these shows Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith presenting an A.L. pass to Roosevelt, and the other captures Opening Day at Washington D.C.'s Griffith Stadium in 1933 , where FDR is conversing with Walter Johnson.