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Lou Gehrig, as "Harry Lewis", plays baseball in 1921...
Lou Gehrig, as "Harry Lewis", plays baseball in 1921...
Item # 699117
June 08, 1921
SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN, Massachusetts, June 8, 1921
* Lou Gehrig plays professional baseball as a 17-year-old...
* Four years before his New York Yankee debut
* Played under the name "Lou Lewis" for Hartford Senators
The sports page (page 10) has a very intriguing report on the early career of famed baseball player Lou Gehrig. See the paragraph below from Wikipedia on how he used an assumed name to (illegally) play early baseball:
"...He then studied engineering at Columbia University for two years, finding the schoolwork difficult before leaving to pursue a career in professional baseball. He had been recruited to play football at the school, earning a scholarship there, later joining the baseball squad. Before his first semester began, New York Giants manager John McGraw advised him to play summer professional baseball under an assumed name, Henry Lewis, despite the fact that it could jeopardize his collegiate sports eligibility. After he played a dozen games for the Hartford Senators in the Eastern League, he was discovered and banned from collegiate sports his freshman year. In 1922 Gehrig returned to collegiate sports as a fullback for the Columbia Lions football program...".
Note the report headed: "Hillies Forced to Bow After 12-Inning Battle" on the game between the Hartford Senators and the Pittsfield team. Note the box score which lists "Lewis" as the first baseman.
This report is likely only to be found in a New England newspaper.
Sixteen pages, irregular at the spine margin from disbinding, a few minor margin tears, generally good condition.
Note: The National Baseball Hall of Fame has a nice article about this: GEHRIG’S PRO CAREER STARTED FOUR YEARS BEFORE HE BECAME YANKEES’ FIRST BASEMAN.
Category: The 20th Century
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