(Baseball)

Photograph of Joe Dimaggio and Joe Louis posing playfully together

Black-and-white gelatin print. 8 x 6 inches (image); 10-1/2 x 6-3/4 inches (mount), N.p: n.d. [1940s?]. Mounted to stiff card, captioned at top in ink "Joe Dimaggio = Joe Louis", and at bottom with typed slip, "Joe Louis Slugging Outfielder & Joe Louis." Narrow, light vertical stain through the length of the image, slight overall toning.

Rare photograph of the two legendary athletes posing playfully side by side, Dimaggio grinning with his bat cocked over right shoulder, Louis standing with his fists clenched, ready to land a right to Dimaggio's chin. According to biographers Engelberg and Schneider, Joe Louis was Dimaggio's first boxing hero: "Dimaggio saw several of Louis's fight, including his first fight with Billy Conn. It took place at the Polo Grounds in New York one month into Dimaggio's monumental hitting streak [in 1941] ... " (DIMAGGIO: SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT, p. 369)

Item #234945       Price: $850.00