DATE: 1935 ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 1 Original - Printed from the original negative within about 2 years of when it was shot TEAM: Chicago White Sox SUBJECT: Luke Sewell PHOTOGRAPHER: George Burke APPROXIMATE SIZE: 4"x6" MARKS / STAMPING: George Burke photographer's stamp with NRA code subtext. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was an agency established by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt. NRA coding was enacted on June 16, 1933, and ceased on May 27, 1935 when overturned by the Supreme Court, dating this particular print of Burke's image to that approximately 2-year period. NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: James Luther Sewell was born in 1901 in Titus, AL and died in 1987 in Akron, OH. He went to college at the University of Alabama. He played major league baseball from 1921 to 1942 as catcher for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, and the St. Louis Browns, appeared in the 1933 World Series, and was selected in 1937 as an All-Star. After his retirement as a player in 1939, Sewell became a coach for the Indians. In the middle of the 1941 season, he was appointed manager of the St. Louis Browns. Sewell's major league managerial record was 606-644, a .485 winning percentage. His most significant managerial job took place with the St. Louis Browns from 1941 through 1946 where he managed 850 games and had a 432-410 record. He led them to an AL pennant – the team's only championship in its 52 years in St. Louis—in 1944, although they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the all-St. Louis World Series. After that, he joined the Reds in 1949 as pitching coach and succeeded to the manager's job later in the season. He remained there until mid-1952 when he was replaced by Rogers Hornsby. In December 1953, Sewell was hired as manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He led the team to the league championship in his first season and to a second-place finish in 1955. The team had a .622 winning percentage over his two years as manager. George C. Burke was born in 1874 in Pennington Gap, VA and died in 1951 in Chicago, IL. A case of mistaken identity made by the Chicago Cubs resulted in George Burke becoming the official photographer for the Chicago Cubs. In 1929, Cubs manager Joe McCarthy and Gabby Hartnett sought out the ballclub's previous photographer. They could only remember his last name, Burke, so they looked him up in the phone book. A listing leapt out at them: studio photographer George C. Burke, whose office was near Wrigley Field. Thus began the baseball photography career of George Burke, who had no prior sports experience whatsoever, and thus ended the career of photographer Francis Burke - the Cubs' time-honored official cameraman and an unwitting victim of mistaken identity. To undertake his new "big league" endeavor, Burke hired the young (age 15) baseball-knowledgeable George Brace as his assistant, and the two soon became a Chicago institution. Ever-present at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park, Burke and Brace shot not only for the Cubs, but also for the White Sox and football's Chicago Bears. They also endeavored to amass a complete portfolio of player portraits - a daunting task made possible by the fact that Chicago was the only city with both an American League and a National League franchise from 1929 all the way until Brace's retirement in 1993. As the official photographer for the Chicago Cubs, Burke quickly became renowned for his candid pre-game photos and thought-provoking portrait depictions, and his posed portraits and action photos were published in The Sporting News, Who's Who in the Major Leagues, and Baseball Digest as well as other publications, and provided the necessary photos for numerous 1930's and later baseball card and premium issues. SKU: GB6027
Item: GB6027
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