Auction Item Details
Lot 442
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Lot Number: 442
Description: Professional model baseman's mitt with attribution to Lou Gehrig c.1931-39. James Barton (1890-1962) was born in New York to parents who were Vaudeville actors, and began acting himself at the tender age of four. Barton would go on to star in dozens of stage and screen productions, most notably with Marilyn Monroe in "The Misfits," and as Kit Carson in "The Time of Your Life". He married a long time Ziegfield Follies girl by the name of Kathryn (Kay) Penmant. James Barton was among the more notable comedic actors of the period and counted Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig among his many prominent New York friends. In fact, it was Barton who introduced Babe Ruth to a young woman by the name of Claire Merritt Hodgson at a Yankees/Senators game in Washington in May of 1923. She was on tour with "Dew Drop Inn", a show starring James Barton, who took her and a girl friend to the Senators-Yankees game. When Ruth came over to their box to greet Barton, the two were introduced. Ruth was impressed, as he often was by a pretty girl. He later sent a note to the theater asking Claire to dinner. He suggested his hotel suite, and she reacted coldly. "I can't go out to a restaurant," he explained. "I always get mobbed." Ruth would remain in close contact with Claire, eventually marrying her some years later. Another acquaintance of Barton's was James Cagney, who was also a Vaudeville stage and screen actor. Cagney's brother, Ed, lived in Queens, NY next door to Stephan and Marion Hogan. When James Cagney became one of the nation's biggest film stars, his brother followed him to California. On the occasions when Ed Cagney returned to New York, he would stay with the Hogans, who would drive him to visit old friends, including the aforementioned Kay Penmant-Barton. As the trips progressed, Stephan and Marion, along with their two daughters, became dear friends with Kay Barton. Barton had no children of her own, and accepted the Hogan girls as her surrogate family. As personally recalled by Kerry Hogan, visits to the Barton home were akin to a door into time. The home was decorated with all manner of period memorabilia accumulated during the Bartons' careers in New York in the 1930-40s. Along with the other baseball artifacts offered within this portion of the catalogue, Kerry clearly recalls seeing two pieces in particular on display in the Barton home: Lou Gehrig's game worn New York Yankees jersey and an accompanying baseman's mitt. In the 1980s, Kerry Hogan opened a bed and breakfast called "The Rose and Thistle" in Cooperstown, New York. Given the obvious baseball connection, Kay Barton suggested that Kerry take the baseball items to display, including the jersey and glove. When Kerry retrieved the Babe Ruth signed photos, additional photos, and glove, she discovered that the jersey was missing. Given the Kay Barton's advanced age, Kerry did not want to alarm her by suggesting that the jersey may have been stolen, and never raised the issue. In the end, Kerry felt the items were too valuable to keep on display, and placed them in storage instead. The items have never previously been offered for public sale and have descended directly from Kay Barton to Kerry Hogan. The glove attributed to Lou Gehrig is a high quality Spalding left handed model #4P, retaining its period lacings, and exhibiting heavy overall use. The back of the glove features a horseshoe shaped reinforced backing with uncommon single back strap design bearing a period patent stamping which dates to 1931 or later. The Spalding label, while tattered, remains intact and affixed to the back of the glove pocket. Overall condition is quite good with a small portion of the original lacings missing from the web area and the backstrap stitching is loose. The leather surface and patination is fully original, remaining as used in the period. The glove's attribution to Lou Gehrig is founded on several bases, not including the most obvious and possibly most substantive, which is that it was presented with Gehrig's New Yankees game jersey to James Barton by Gehrig. The patent date on the glove indicates that it could not have been produced, let alone used, before 1931. With the exception of a scant handful of games in which Gehrig was replaced for an inning or two, the Iron Horse manned first base every day from 1931 through April 30, 1939. The glove's heavy use, coupled with the lack of game play by any other Yankees first baseman, only enhances the attribution to Gehrig. Furthermore, through comparison to like exemplars of Lou Gehrig game used gloves in the Hall of Fame, it has been confirmed that he used similar Spalding model baseman's mitts. Period photographic comparison (such as the pictured image) also shows nearly identical Spalding model gloves with a similar "horseshoe" pattern reinforcement on the back of the pocket. While period game used gloves are clearly the most difficult type of equipment to fully authenticate, the offered glove represents a fine example with clear attribution to Lou Gehrig. The unimpeachable direct provenance and corroborating evidence create a compelling case that this very mitt was likely used by Gehrig himself. Includes LOA from Hunt Auctions, letter of provenance from Kerry Hogan, color copy of the Babe Ruth signed photograph offered as Lot 439 in this catalogue which was signed to Kay and Jim Barton, and a color copy of a period photograph picturing Kay Barton signed, "To the guy & gal I love Steve and Marion, Love Kay" which was signed to Stephan and Marion Hogan: VG-EX
Estimated Price: (Estimate Upon Request)
