TAKING IT EASY BEFORE THE BIG GAMEWalker Cooper (left), catcher, and Max Lanier, pitcher, both of the St. Louis Cardinals prepare for tonight's All-Star game by taking it easy in their hotel room here this afternoon.
DATE: 7-13-1943
ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 3 - Second or later-generation photo, printed from a duplicate negative or wire photo process, within about 2 years of when it was shot
TEAM: St. Louis Cardinals
SUBJECTS: Walker Cooper, Max Lanier
APPROXIMATE SIZE: 8-1/8"x11-3/4"
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: William Walker Cooper (Walk) was born in 1915 in Atherton, MO and died in 1991 in Scottsdale, AZ. He played major league baseball from 1940 to 1957 as catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs, appeared in the 1942, 1943 and 1944 World Series, and was selected 8 times as an All-Star. After his daughter, Sara (Miss Missouri 1957), married Cardinals second baseman Don Blasingame, he noted, "It's time to quit when you've got a daughter old enough to marry a teammate." He managed the Indianapolis Indians (1958-59) and Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers (1961) of the Triple-A American Association and was a coach for the Kansas City Athletics (1960) before leaving the game.
Hubert Max Lanier was born in Denton, NC and died in 2007 in Lecanto, FL. He played major league baseball from 1938 to 1953 as pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and the St. Louis Browns, appeared in 1942, 1943 and 1944 World Series, and was selected 2 times as an All-Star. Lanier, along with a dozen other major leaguers, defected to the Mexican League in 1946 after being offered a salary nearly double what he was making with the Cardinals. Disappointed by poor playing conditions and allegedly broken contract promises, he tried to return to the Cardinals in 1948, but was barred by an order from commissioner Happy Chandler, imposing a five-year suspension on all players who had jumped to the Mexican League. In response, Lanier and teammate Fred Martin, as well as Danny Gardella of the New York Giants, sued Major League Baseball in federal court, challenging baseball's reserve clause as a violation of U.S. antitrust law (anticipating the similar suit by Curt Flood some 25 years later). The dispute was settled when Chandler lifted the suspensions in June 1949 and the players dropped their suits. He was also the father of Hal Lanier.
SKU: L20292
Item: L20292