Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
To the best of our knowledge and research, only two Conlon Keelers have come up at auction in the past decade. One of them was a slightly larger version of this same portrait that sold for over $5,000 in 2006. The offered example features spectacular image clarity from Keeler's encroaching crow's-feet lines to his individual graying hairs to the texture of his wool brim. The 40-year-old legend had retired as a player after the 1911 season and swiftly took a coaching job in Brooklyn under his old Superbas teammate Bad Bill Dahlen. Of note, this is perhaps the most iconic image of Wee Willie, and it has been used as his definitive likeness on Baseball-Reference, the SABR Bio Project, and Perez-Steele's Hall of Fame Art Postcard Set.
Size: 4-1/4" x 6-1/2"
Reverse: Conlon's handwritten notations; Sporting News Collection hologram.
Authentication: PSA/DNA Type I LOA.