Gehrig signature on famous photo fetches big price

Posted Dec 22, 2011 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Dec 22, 2011 at 09:49 PM

I am a big Lou Gehrig fan. And contrary to what my kids might believe, no, I never watched the Iron Horse play.

But I did read Paul Gallico’s biography, “Lou Gehrig: Pride of the Yankees.” It was one of the first sports books I’d ever read. So while my baseball heroes growing up were Mickey Mantle and his center field successor, Bobby Murcer, I played first base — so Gehrig was someone to look up to. I just couldn’t hit for power like he did.

Gehrig’s famous “Luckiest Man” speech on July 4, 1939, is one of baseball’s signature moments. And the photograph of Gehrig, head bowed as he listened to the waves of applause cascading from the Yankee Stadium stands, captures a poignant moment.

Already suffering from the disease that bore his name and would cause his death less than two years later, Gehrig did not sign many autographs after his retirement. However, a personalized note and autograph on the “Luckiest Man” photo does exist, and it was one of the marquee items up for bid at a Leland’s auction held Saturday.

There were 41 bids on the photo (which was an original print), and when the auction ended it had sold for a staggering $108,169 (actually, the winning bid was $90,518, but the final figure included the buyer’s premium added by Leland’s).

The photo was signed “To Patsy, With Kindest Personal Regards, Cordially, Lou Gehrig.” The ink had faded a little bit but was still legible on the photo.

It is one of baseball’s cruelest ironies that the player known for his durability was felled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spine that control voluntary muscle movement. Cal Ripken Jr. broke Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games played on Sept. 6, 1995, but Gehrig’s legacy lives on.

And some collector doled out a huge chunk of cash for a rare signature.