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Lot # 536: Huge 1920 Cleveland Indians Photograph Presented to "Smoky" Joe Wood

Category: Cleveland Indians

Starting Bid: $1,000.00

Bids: 4 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Masters17",
which ran from 9/27/2017 10:00 AM to
10/27/2017 10:00 PM



Pictures of this type were presented to the players, in this case the members of the 1920 World Series champion Cleveland Indians. Measuring 29x40" on heavy board, this team photo was by L. VanOeyen and captioned "Cleveland American League Base Ball Club Champions 1920" printed at bottom border. The inset is a photo of fallen teammate Ray Chapman (who died as the result of being hit by a pitch) at the top left corner, and all the players are wearing black armbands in his memory. There's water staining at the bottom that goes about three inches up but in no way affects the images of the players. Originally from the Smoky Joe Wood Estate, this was obtained from his son, Bob Wood, who was a well known fixture as a dealer in the New England sports memorabilia circuit and flea markets like Brimfield back in the 1970s-90s. The 1920 Indians are one of the most storied teams in baseball history. After having one of their own killed in Major League play (the only one before or since), they were part of the World Series with three of the post-season's more notable events, all of which occurred in Game 5; Bill Wambsganss' unassisted triple play, Elmer Smith hitting the first WS grand slam, and pitcher Jim Bagby's homer.

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