[JLange]

One of my favorite pickups from a few years back was this 11x14 van Oeyen photo of Bob Feller in a pitching pose, with inscription and facsimile autograph in the bottom right hand corner,

"In appreciation" Sincerely Yours, Bob Feller 7/10/1941

It turns out this was issued as a keepsake for fans attending a special "Bob Feller Night" at the old Municipal Stadium on that July 10th 1941 night.

The event was sponsored by the Cleveland Baseball Federation, and in attendance were nearly 5,000 "sandlotters" who played organized little league baseball in Cleveland. Feller was honored with a trophy from the CBF, and a plaque from The Sporting News as the Player of 1940.

Feller pitched the tribe to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia A's that night, and sparked the offense with two hits of his own including an RBI single in the 2nd inning and a triple in the 9th. Lou Boudreau knocked in the game winning run (Feller) later that inning.

Baseball-Reference.com shows the attendance at 32,820 for that game, but the club expected nearly 50,000 for this game, so they may have had that many printed. Hard to say, though, and judging by how infrequently one of these photos comes up for sale, it sure seems like not nearly as many survived to today.