[leftygrove10]

When I was 10 or 12 years old, my mother bought me three pictures of Lefty Grove. One of the pictures is below. The picture shows left to right: Jack Dempsey, Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez and Tommy Gibbons. Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons were boxers. Lefty Grove and Lefty Gomez were baseball players. Dempsey and Gibbons fought for the heavyweight title on July 4, 1923. Dempsey beat Gibbons in 15 rounds by unanimous decision. The picture shows Dempsey and Gibbons pretending to fight and it shows Grove and Gomez pretending to try to get them to stop. It is really an amazing photo!

I always wondered how in the world two boxers and two baseball players ever ended up posing for a picture together. It really seems like the collision of two different worlds.

On eBay last week, I found a program. I sort of stumbled upon it by accident. For some reason, it didn't show up in any of my normal eBay searches. I won the auction. The program is from July 25, 1957. It was a "stag" event put on by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in New York City. The program listed several famous men that were in attendance. Dempsey, Grove, Gomez and Gibbons were among those that attended. Of course I saw this and thought, "This is where this picture was taken!" All I had to do was to tie the name tags shown on Dempsey, Gomez and Gibbons to this event in 1957.

Tonight, the seller of the auction messaged me. His dad went to this event in 1957. We messaged back and forth several times. Just a few minutes ago, he sent me pictures of the name tag that his dad wore to that event. It was a direct match. So that proves that this picture was taken at this event in New York City in 1957.

After their fight in 1923, Dempsey and Gibbons became friends and were friends until death. (This comes from Gibbons' grandson, who I corresponded with 15 years ago.) Gibbons died in 1960, just three years after this picture was taken.

Collecting can be very, very rewarding.... sometimes like putting a puzzle together! I guess that is why it is so addictive!