Ultra rare negative of Josh Gibson (the ones in this sale are the only ones we know to exist), looking a little out of it, with two Santurce teammates and the team's batboy in 1939, the 1st-ever season of the Puerto Rican Winter League. At the time, such a respite under the palms seemed just the ticket for Josh, who had begun to hit the bottle as hard as he hit the baseball and intended to dry out on the island. However, he never quite got around to temperance, since the island offered so many pleasures and varities of cerveza, drawing him back regularly in the years to come. Legends abound of Josh letting down his hair down there, not to mention his fly, but also of him wandering around in a haze and in the nude. Still, on the field he always saw straight enough to pound the ball, though on this day he may have had a bit of trouble focusing his eyes. The 4 1/4 x 6 3/4" negative is pristine and a great marker of Gibson as only insiders saw him. Perfect image from a less than perfect time.