Books and Manuscripts

1948, likely printed ca. 1950. Gelatin silver print, mounted to board. Signed by Nat Fein in silver pen, bottom right, 1998. 15 3/4 x 19 in. (400 x 483 mm). Numerous surface abrasions; board warped, left side; extremities worn; in mat, worn, 20 3/4 x 24 in. (527 x 610 mm). With a COA from "The Photographic Collection of Nat Fein."

Photographed by Nat Fein on June 13, 1948, the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium and the day Babe Ruth's number 3 was to be retired; a frail Ruth is shown emerging for the last time from the dugout wearing his old uniform. Ruth died only two months after Fein took this Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, on August 16, 1948. The photo originally appeared in the evening edition of the June 13 New York Herald Tribune, lost in the sports section, but the following day it was printed on the front page, leading to its recognition as one of the greatest sports photographs of the 20th-century.

This image is often cropped when printed. This example clearly shows legendary Yankees announcer Mel Allen (1913-96) at right (often cropped out) standing on home plate.