CHICAGO, ILL. -- Buckling down to the shin-punishing task of repairing the sod of Wrigley Field after the successive savages of football and winter, groundskeeper Bud Carlson dons an old pair of catcher's shin guards he found in the Chicago Cubs locker room. The protective pads, still serving a useful purpose, were once worn by Gabby Hartnett. DATE: 4-8-1954 ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 1 Original - Printed from the original negative within about 2 years of when it was shot TEAM: Chicago Cubs SUBJECT: Gabby Hartnett APPROXIMATE SIZE: 7"x9" MARKS / STAMPING: United Press stamp. Stamped file date of Apr 20 1954. Original paper caption dated 4/8/1954 affixed. 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: Charles Leo Hartnett was born in 1900 in Woonsocket, RI and died in 1972 in Park Ridge, IL. He played major league baseball from 1922 to 1941 as catcher for the Chicago Cubs and a single season with the New York Giants, appeared in the 1929, 1932, 1935 and 1938 World Series, was selected 6 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. On September 28, 1938, with the Cubs trailing Pittsburgh by only half a game, he experienced the highlight of his career. The lightless Wrigley Field was gradually being overcome by darkness in a hard-fought game with the Pirates, the score tied 5-5; if it had become too dark, the game would have needed to be replayed from the beginning. With two out in the bottom of the ninth, two strikes on him, and the umpires ready to end the game, Hartnett launched a shot into the gloom and haze which would be remembered as his "Homer in the Gloamin'". The Cubs were now in first place, culminating a tremendous 19-3-1 September run, and the pennant would be clinched three days later. Hartnett's bat and catcher's mask were the first artifacts sent to the newly constructed Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938. In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. In 1999, he was named as a finalist to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. SKU: L10405
Item: L10405
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