Massive vintage matte-finish 16.75 x 20.75 photo of the New York Yankees legend exiting the batter's box at Comiskey Park in the 1930s, his eyes trailing the flight of a baseball almost certainly headed beyond the outfield wall, signed and inscribed in fountain pen, "To a Lovely couple and dear friends, Din and Joe Brown, From Babe Ruth, 5-1-48.” Handsomely matted and framed to an overall size of 26 x 30. In very good to fine condition, with creasing to the background area to the left of Ruth.
The recipient, Joe L. Brown (1918-2010), spent a month with Ruth in his capacity as a sports publicist for the 1948 film The Babe Ruth Story. The two became close friends during this time, and Brown would later attend the retirement ceremony of Ruth's number "3" at Yankee Stadium, and the Babe's funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Brown’s career in baseball evolved and in 1955 he became general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, serving through the end of the 1976 season, and helping the Pirates win world championships in 1960 and 1971. A magnificent photo of Ruthian proportions, further augmented by its association with a pillar of Pittsburgh baseball and its close proximity to the Babe’s passing—Ruth died three-and-a-half months later at the age of 53 on August 16, 1948.
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