Taken at an unidentified "Old Timers Day" event. DATE: 1970s ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Original - Printed from the original negative in the time period in which it was shot TEAM: New York Yankees SUBJECTS: Ralph Kiner, Casey Stengel, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg, Yogi Berra APPROXIMATE SIZE: 11-3/4"x8" 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: Ralph McPherran Kiner was born in 1922 in Santa Rita, NM and died in 2014 in Rancho Mirage, CA. He played major league baseball from 1946 to 1955 as outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and a single season with the Cleveland Indians, was selected 6 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. Many of Kiner's homers were hit into a shortened left-field and left-center-field porch at Forbes Field, originally built for Hank Greenberg, and known in the press as "Greenberg Gardens"; the porch was retained for Kiner and redubbed by the media as "Kiner's Korner".(Lost Ballparks, Lawrence Ritter, Penguin Books, 1992, p.66-67) Kiner would later use "Kiner's Korner" as the title of his post-game TV show in New York. A quote variously attributed to Kiner himself, as well as to teammates talking about Kiner, was "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs and singles hitters drive Fords." Footage of Kiner hitting a homer in Forbes Field can be seen in the 1951 film, Angels in the Outfield. In 1961, Kiner made his way into the broadcast booth with the Chicago White Sox. The next year, Kiner, along with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy, started announcing the games of the expansion New York Mets on WOR-TV in New York. The trio rotated announcing duties on the Mets' radio broadcasts, as well. Among Kiner's jobs on WOR-TV was to host a post-game show known as "Kiner's Korner". Despite a bout with Bell's palsy, which left him with slightly slurred speech, Kiner is still broadcasting, entering his 46th year of doing Mets broadcasts as of the start of the 2008 baseball season, though only as an occasionally guest analyst. He is the only broadcaster to survive all of the Mets history. Kiner's traditional home run call -- "it is gone, goodbye" or "that ball is gone, goodbye" -- is a signature phrase in baseball. Charles Dillon Stengel (The Old Perfessor) was born in Kansas City, MO and died in 1975 in Glendale, CA. He played major league baseball from 1912 to 1925 as outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Superbas, Brooklyn Robins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants and the Boston Braves, appeared in the 1916, 1922 and 1923 World Series, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. his major league career started, he acquired the nickname "Casey", which originally came from the initials of his hometown ("K. C."), which evolved into "Casey", influenced by the wide popularity of the poem Casey at the Bat. Stengel became better known for managing than for playing, having managed the 1934-36 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1938-43 Boston Braves, 1949-60 New York Yankees, and the 1962-65 New York Mets. Stengel is the only person to have worn the uniform (as player or manager) of all four Major League Baseball teams that played in New York City in the 20th century (while each team was in New York City): The New York Giants (as a player), the Brooklyn Dodgers (as both a player and a manager), the New York Yankees (as a manager), and the New York Mets (also as a manager). The Casey Stengel Plaza surrounding Shea Stadium is named after him, as is the New York City Transit's Casey Stengel Depot across the street from the stadium. Joseph Paul DiMaggio Jr. (Joltin' Joe or The Yankee Clipper) (born as Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio) was born in 1914 in Martinez, CA and died in 1999 in Hollywood, FL. He played major league baseball from 1936 to 1951 as outfielder for the New York Yankees, appeared in 10 World Series, was selected 13 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. Touted by sportswriters as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Shoeless Joe Jackson rolled into one, he made his major league debut on 3 May 1936, batting ahead of Lou Gehrig. The Yankees had not been to the World Series since 1932, but, thanks in large part to their sensational rookie, they won the next four Fall Classics. In total, DiMaggio led the Yankees to nine titles in 13 years. In January 1937, DiMaggio met actress Dorothy Arnold on the set of Manhattan Merry Go-Round. They married at San Francisco's St. Peter and Paul Church on 19 November 1939 as 20,000 well-wishers jammed the streets. Even before their son was born though, the marriage was in trouble, and shortly after he enlisted in the Army and was sent to Hawaii, she filed for divorce. DiMaggio enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces on 17 February 1943, rising to the rank of sergeant. He was stationed at Santa Ana, California; Hawaii; and Atlantic City, New Jersey as a physical education instructor. He was discharged in September 1945. Dorothy reportedly promised Joe she would wait for him to return from 1946 training camp, but married another man while he was gone. On 7 February, 1949, DiMaggio signed a record contract worth $100,000 ($70,000 plus bonuses), and became the first baseball player to break $100,000 in earnings. He was still regarded as the game's best, and hardest working player, but injuries plagued him so much that he could no longer take a step without pain. A sub-par 1951 season and a brutal scouting report by the Brooklyn Dodgers that was turned over to the New York Giants and leaked to the press combined with his injuries, led to him announcing his retirement on 11 December 1951. When remarking on his retirement to the Sporting News on December 19, 1951, he said "I feel like I have reached the stage where I can no longer produce for my club, my manager, and my teammates. I had a poor year, but even if I had hit .350, this would have been my last year. I was full of aches an pains and it had become a chore for me to play. When baseball is no longer fun, it's no longer a game." Joe DiMaggio had always been a leader by example through his hard work and devotion. When he felt he could no longer lead his team, and that he was not able to enjoy his life as an athlete, he felt his time as a ballplayer was over. According to her autobiography, Marilyn Monroe did not want to meet DiMaggio, fearing he was a stereotypical jock. Both were at different points in their lives: the just-retired Joe wanted to settle down; Marilyn's career was taking off. Their elopement at San Francisco City Hall on January 14, 1954 was the culmination of a courtship that had captivated the nation. The relationship was loving yet complex, marred by his jealousy and her ambition, and she filed for divorce on grounds of mental cruelty 274 days after the wedding. DiMaggio re-entered Marilyn's life as her marriage to Arthur Miller was ending. On 10 February 1961, he secured her release from Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic. She joined him in Florida where he was a batting coach for the Yankees. Their "just friends" claim did not stop remarriage rumors from flying. Reporters staked out her apartment building. Bob Hope "dedicated" Best Song nominee "The Second Time Around" to them at the 33rd Academy Awards. According to Maury Allen, Joe was so alarmed at how Marilyn had fallen in with people he felt detrimental to her (including Frank Sinatra and his "Rat Pack"), he quit his job with a military post-exchange supplier on 1 August 1962 to ask her to remarry him; she was found dead on August 5. Her death was deemed a probable suicide but has been the subject of endless conspiracy theories. Devastated, he claimed her body and arranged her funeral, barring Hollywood's elite. He had a half-dozen red roses delivered 3 times a week to her crypt for 20 years. Unlike her other two husbands or others who knew her (or claimed to) he refused to talk about her publicly or otherwise exploit their relationship. He never remarried. Following lung cancer surgery on October 14, 1998, DiMaggio fell ill again December 11, and died on March 8, 1999. In his eulogy, Dom DiMaggio declared that his brother had everything "except the right woman to share his life with", a remark seeming to confirm the family's disapproval of Monroe. Richard Ben Cramer told the New York Times that Dom cooperated with him on his controversial biography, and got other family members to do likewise. In an eerie coincidence, Joe DiMaggio's estranged son, Joe, Jr., died later that same year. There have been numerous mentions and references to DiMaggio in pop culture, including songs, movies, television shows, broadway plays, and even in Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea. At the time of his retirement, he had the fifth-most career home runs (361) and sixth-highest slugging percentage (.579) in history. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak (May 15–July 16, 1941). A 1969 poll conducted to coincide with the centennial of professional baseball voted him the sport's greatest living player. Henry Benjamin Greenberg (Hammerin' Hank) was born in New York, NY and died in 1986 in Beverly Hills, CA. He played major league baseball from 1930 to 1947 as 1st baseman and outfielder for the Detroit Tigers and the Pittsburgh Pirates, appeared in the 1934, 1935, 1940 and 1945 World Series, was selected 5 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956. He was the American League MVP in 1935 and 1940. Greenberg was the first Jewish baseball superstar in American professional sports. He garnered national attention in 1934 when he refused to play baseball on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, even though the Tigers were in the middle of a pennant race. The Detroit draft board initially classified Greenberg as 4F for "flat feet." Rumors that he had bribed the board, and concern that he would be likened to Jack Dempsey, who received negative publicity for failure to serve in World War I, led Greenberg to be reexamined, and he was found fit to serve. Although drafted in 1940, he was honorably discharged after the United States Congress released men aged 28 years and older from service, being released on December 5, 1941, two days before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Greenberg re-enlisted and volunteered for service in the United States Army Air Forces. He graduated from Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a first lieutenant. He eventually served overseas in the China-Burma-India Theater, scouting locations for B-29 bases. In Greenberg's first game back after being discharged, he homered on July 1, 1945. That year, he set the major league record with 11 multi-homer games. Greenberg retired from the field to become the Cleveland Indians' farm system director and two years later, their general manager and part-owner along with Bill Veeck. During his tenure, he assembled more African American players than any other team executive in the Majors. Greenberg's contributions in finding and developing talent contributed to that team's successes through the 1950s, though Bill James wrote that Greenberg should also be given partial credit for the Indians' late 1950s collapse due to questionable personnel decisions. When Veeck sold his interest, Greenberg remained as general manager and part-owner until 1957. He was the mastermind behind a move to Minneapolis for the Indians, but that was vetoed by the rest of ownership at the last minute. Greenberg was furious and sold his share soon afterwards. In 1961, the American League announced plans to put a team in Los Angeles. Greenberg immediately became the favorite to become the new team's first owner, and persuaded Veeck, who had sold off his majority interest in the White Sox due to poor health, to join him as his partner. However, when Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley got word of these developments, he threatened to scuttle the whole deal by invoking his exclusive rights to operate a major league team in Southern California. In truth, O'Malley wanted no part of having to compete against an expansion team owned by a master promoter such as Veeck, even if he was only a minority partner. Greenberg wouldn't budge, and pulled out of the running for what became the Los Angeles Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). He later became a successful investment banker, briefly returning to baseball as a minority partner with Veeck when he repurchased the White Sox in 1975. Greenberg married Caral Gimbel (of the New York department store family) on February 18, 1946, three days after signing a $60,000 contract with the Tigers. Their son Glenn runs a $4 billion dollar hedge fund called Chieftain Capital. Their son Glenn runs a $4 billion dollar hedge fund called Chieftain Capital. Their son Stephen played 5 years in the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers organization. In 1995, Steve Greenberg co-founded Classic Sports Network with Brian Bedol, which was purchased by ESPN and became ESPN Classic. He was also the Chairman of CSTV, the first cable network devoted exclusively to college sports, which was purchased by CBS in 2006. Lawrence Peter Berra was born in 1925 in St. Louis, MO and died in 2015 in West Caldwell, NJ. He played major league baseball from 1946 to 1965 as catcher for the New York Yankees and a few games with the New York Mets, appeared in 14 World Series, was selected 18 as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Berra also managed the 1964 New York Yankees, the 1972-75 New York Mets, and then the Yankees again from 1984-85. He has become a beloved figure in American sport, which in some ways has obscured his immense talents as a competitive athlete. Berra, who quit school in the eighth grade, has a tendency toward malapropism and fracturing the English language in highly provocative, interesting ways. Simultaneously denying and confirming his reputation, Berra once stated, "I didn't really say everything I said." In 1999, Berra appeared at No. 40 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and fan balloting elected him to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. At the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, Berra had the honor of being the last of the 49 Hall of Famers in attendance to be announced. He received the loudest standing ovation of the Hall of Famers due to playing and managing both New York ballclubs. SKU: XP13238
Item: XP13238
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