Summer Premium Live and Catalog Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/14/2016
Late in the careers of Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, two long time outfielders who began their careers in the early part of the 20th Century, Cobb in 1905 and Speaker in 1907, finally joined forces as members of Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s. They were the elder statesmen to the New York Yankees duo of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, who debuted in 1914 and 1922, respectively. Not only were Cobb and Speaker older, but they were much different players than the Yankee tandem, who crushed the baseball out of the park and bludgeoned their opponents; Cobb and Speaker singled, double and stole bases on their way to winning games. So, it was great for baseball to see the two elder players team up on Connie Mack’s last great group of Philadelphia A’s teams for the 1928 season. The Yankees were just coming off their historic 1927 season, while the A’s had youngsters Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons and Jimmie Foxx and teamed them up with Cobb and Speaker (plus HOFer Eddie Collins, too!).
During an early season series at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, one enterprising photographer convinced all four to pose for this photo, making it an instant classic. We say early season due to the heavy jackets and undershirts worn by the four players. This image was likely snapped on Opening Day of 1928, when the four were ready to begin their season long competition. THE Yankees kept ahead of the A’s all season, winning the American League by 2.5 games over the A’s, and winning their second straight World Series.
The photo measures 6 x 8 inches, has a tiny clipped upper right corner, a small stain along right border and has several areas of warping along the edges, which is normal for photos of this era. The reverse exhibits The International Newsreel stamp, handwritten editor notes, and remnants of the original paper caption, which is missing.
This image is one of the few which features all four of the legendary Hall of Famers, and was likely taken on Opening Day of 1928. While the Yankees did win in 1928, some of Cobb and Speaker’s teachings pushed the young A’s to win the American League Championships in 1929, 1930 and 1931. These two franchises won seven straight AL titles, largely due to the talents and teachings of the four men pictured here. This photograph comes with a full LOA from PSA/DNA (1P04931) authenticating this as a Type 1 photo.