DATE SHOT: 1934 SUBJECT: Red Rolfe PHOTOGRAPHER: George Burke APPROXIMATE SIZE: 3-1/2"x5" COMMENTS / CONDITION: Offered is a 3-1/2"x5" colorized Burke photo (commonly known as a Bra-Mac photo) of Red Rolfe, pictured in his New York Yankees uniform circa 1934. This is photo #70 in a series of 300 such photos produced by George Brace. See scans for further details including condition. BIO: Robert Abial Rolfe was born in Penacook, NH and died in 1969 in Gilford, NH. He went to college at Dartmouth College. He played major league baseball from 1931 to 1942 as shortstop and 3rd baseman for the New York Yankees, appeared in the 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1942 World Series, and was selected 4 times as an All-Star. Rolfe also was an Ivy Leaguer: a graduate and then long-time athletic director of Dartmouth College, and (from 1943-46) baseball and basketball coach at Yale University. Rolfe also managed the 1949-52 Detroit Tigers. Rolfe then returned to Dartmouth as the athletic director of his alma mater from 1954-67. The college's baseball diamond is named Red Rolfe Field in his honor. 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: L09787
Item: L09787
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