Opening Day Auction Closing May 9th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/10/2015
Although he was overshadowed by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and later Joe DiMaggio, many Yankees considered the scrappy second baseman the most valuable player on the team. From 1926 to 1937 Lazzeri's bat was a part of what the Yankees' terrified opponents dubbed "Murder's Row". His glove work around second base led to him being considered the best at his position during the era his career spanned. When they played the first All-Star Game in 1933 it was only natural Tony Lazzeri was the AL's second baseman. To this day Lazzeri is the only man in baseball history to hit a single, double, triple and grand slam home run in that order in one game and was the first in history to hit two grand slams in one game. Lazzeri retired in 1939 and being that this was long before anyone thought to collect game used equipment, anything used by a pre-war Hall of Famer is exceedingly rare. That this is a game used glove worn by a Hall of Famer of Lazzeri's stature is extraordinary. Since players of Lazzeri's era used the same glove year after year until it fell apart, we can't nail down an exact season it dates from. The model itself is a 1920's professional model and by the Spalding label and existing photos we can narrow it down to the late 1920's through 1937. The glove shows heavy game use and all the webbing and laces are 100% intact. The webbing between the thumb and fore finger carries a custom application of white adhesive tape, a personal player trait of the Yankees Hall of Famer that helps date the glove further. MEARS thoroughly examined this glove and found many photos of Lazzeri using a glove customized in this exact fashion. Existing photos taken after 1937 show the adhesive modification absent from his gloves. Through further photo research it should be possible to find and exact photo match for this glove. As it stands now, the glove has rock-solid provenance from the estate of Tony Lazzeri and a signed LOA from his son. It's awe-inspiring to think that this glove was there, on the same ball field with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and its webbing snagged line drives off the bats of the superstars of baseball's Golden Era. Letter of Authenticity from MEARS as well as PSA/DNA