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1927 New York Yankees Team Signed Photograph with 45 Autographs!...
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Sold on Aug 23, 2025 for:
$122,000.00
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Description
The most comprehensive Murderers' Row autographed item known!
1927 New York Yankees Team Signed Photograph with 45
Autographs! With the clarity of hindsight, the lopsided
dominance of this most fabled edition of New York Yankees rosters
seems as if it should have been apparent from the very start, but
public sentiment (or at least that of leading oddsmakers and
sportswriters) leaned south to Philadelphia on Opening Day of 1927.
To be fair, Connie Mack's newest creation looked unbeatable on
paper, the signing of three veteran legends--Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins
and Zack Wheat-bolstering a roster already heavy with future
Cooperstown talent. But the Yanks would set a blistering pace from
the starting gun, winning their first six games to lead the
American League from wire to wire, finishing a stunning nineteen
games ahead of Connie Mack's second place club at the close of the
regular season.During that memorable spring and summer, as the nation marveled at Charles Lindbergh's historic trans-Atlantic flight and the cruel fate of Dempsey's "Long Count" error, a thrilling subplot to the Yankee season slowly emerged. As any hope for a competitive American League pennant race grew progressively dimmer, fans nationwide fixed their collective gaze upon the twin engines of the Yankees' offensive juggernaut. All the way through August, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig traded round-trip clouts, each reaching forty-five before the latter broke stride, leaving Ruth to march that final mile to baseball history alone. The Babe would hit three homers in the final two games to reach an even five dozen and reaffirm his status as the king of the baseball world. His sidekick Lou Gehrig would settle for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
A four-game World Series sweep of the National League Champion Pittsburgh Pirates served as the fitting punctuation mark to close this historic campaign, just the second of twenty-seven seasons to date that saw the Yankees claim the title. It remains the most famous and celebrated edition of that tally, thus arguably the most important team in the history of American sports.
This extraordinary keepsake found the reigning American League Champions on the brink of destiny, a notation at lower right corner reading, "Princess Martha, March 24th, 1927." The royal name is that of the St. Petersburg, Florida hotel occupied by the team during spring training. This preseason image features a roster not yet trimmed down to regular season size, all forty-three subjects signing on straight lines applied in pencil to maintain order. Hall of Fame executives Jacob Ruppert and Ed Barrow bring the final tally of signers to forty-five.
Hall of Famers are Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Miller Huggins (the only secretarial signature), Earle Combs, Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock and Tony Lazzeri. Also signing are Urban Shocker, Johnny Grabowski, Mark Koenig, Bob Meusel, Wilcy Moore, Ray Morehart, Ben Paschal, George Pipgras, Dutch Ruether, Pat Collins, Joe Dugan, Cedric Durst, Mike Gazella, Walter Beall, and Benny Bengough. Coaching and team staff signatures include Art Fletcher (coach), Doc A.C. Woods (team doctor), Elias Rowe (masseur), Fred "Boots" Lawson (bat boy), and Eddie Bennett (the famous hunchbacked bat boy). Additional signatures include Spencer Adams, Hooks Wiltse, Hank Severeid, Johnny Neun, Virgil Davis, Fred Merkle, and others associated with the team during spring training. Signatures at upper half of the 8x10" image are applied in black fountain pen ink, while those in the darker lower half are executed in white. Most are 7/10 or superior, and all are very readily legible.
The photo entered the hobby over twenty years ago through the family of the girlfriend of pitcher Hank Johnson--note the heart drawn around his head by the smitten young lady. Johnson pitched seven seasons for the Yanks between 1925 and 1932, although he'd end up spending this 1927 season playing Double-A ball for the Milwaukee Brewers. Verso of photo is stamped, "Photo by Ray Williams" and bears handwritten notations from both Johnson and his girlfriend. Condition of the silver gelatin image is just as impressive as the roster of signers, with only a couple of slight, inconsequential wrinkles near upper edge. Full LOA from PSA/DNA. Full LOA from Beckett Authentication Services.
Auction Info
2025 August 23 - 24 Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction #50079 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
August, 2025
23rd-24th
Saturday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 7
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,141
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
22% of the successful bid per lot.
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