SOLD Walter Johnson/Smoky Joe Wood photo from Johnson Estate
$1,550. shipped. 8" x 10". Taken before their famous pitching duel at the new Fenway Park on Sept. 6, 1912, this photo captures the two legends in their prime. Wood, who would go on to win 34 games that season with Johnson close behind at 33, had won 14 straight games to challenge The Big Train's American League record of 16 set earlier that year. Washington manager and part owner "Foxy" Clark Griffith came up with the idea to promote this game like a boxing match, presenting the two world-class fastballers as going mano a mano for the record. It didn't hurt that Wood's great Red Sox team and the upstart Senators were competing for the pennant. One of the largest crowds in the history of Fenway turned out to witness the event, so many that hundreds were allowed to stand in the outfield and on the sidelines during the game. The game itself met all expectations, with Wood besting Johnson, 1 to 0, the winning run for the Red Sox coming via a ground-rule double by Tris Speaker into the overflow crowd standing behind the roped-off outfield. Several participants immortalized by Larry Ritter's classic "The Glory of Their Times" talked about this game as rivaling a World Series in drama, with Hall of Famer Harry Hooper, a veteran of several of them, telling Ritter that this regular-season contest was the "most exciting I ever played in or saw." Smoky Joe would go on to tie Johnson's record of 16 straight before losing, still the record today although since tied by two other pitchers, amazingly. As for the photo itself, it classifies without question as a Type 1, with wonderful contrast and definition and only a few minor imperfections, the most notable being chips at both top corners, presumably the result of being pinned up at some point. The real kicker to this wonderful piece of baseball memorabilia comes in the provenance of having originated from the scrapbooks of Walter Johnson himself, and just so nobody would have to guess, the great pitcher went to the trouble of identifying his opponent in bold handwriting on the photo itself. A letter attesting to both the provenance and the legitimacy of the "autograph" of Wood by Johnson, by Henry W. Thomas, Johnson's grandson and biographer, will accompany the item. Checks, money orders, and PayPal (if you want to pay the 4% they charge me) accepted. Mailing will be according to the buyer's requirements.
Last edited by Hankphenom; 10-14-2020 at 09:49 AM.
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10-13-2020, 05:36 PM
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