Help on identifying Tabacalera La Morena card
 

Hey guys - I picked up this Tabacalera La Morena #117 card recently, on the basis that I'm quite positive it is Ruth on home plate. But now that I have the card and see it up close, I believe that the player to the left is Lou Gehrig. Assuming this was a Ruth homer and Gehrig was on deck, this would make sense. Without too many period cards issued picturing both Ruth and Gehrig, it would be nice to add this one to the list. Anybody agree or disagree with my Ruth/Gehrig ID on this one?

Thanks!
Mark

Hey Mark
 

I tend to agree it is Gehrig on deck. Here is a card from the series which denotes it on the back....and, to me, it looks like the same type game scene....I assume the back of yours doesn't denote Gehrig?

also, your card has the same color of uniform that Gehrig is wearing in this one. It's sort of got a blue'ish tint to it......

http://luckeycards.com/ptunc1927taba...ruthgehrig.jpg

Definitely look like Gehrig.

The only strange thing is that both Ruth and Gehrig are looking back towards 2nd base or the outfield and Gehrig seems to be signaling somebody... Maybe Gehrig got a double or triple and that's Bob Meusel?

Yes, unfortunately it is one of the backs that only lists "Yankees and Cards" instead of identifying the players.

I actually think it is Gehrig with his hand outstretched "high fiving" Ruth for his homer (instead of Meusel signaling to a runner).

That was my initial thought as well, with Ruth and the Cards catcher just watching where the ball landed (I wonder if fans scuffled for home run balls 80 years ago?!). But I can also see possible validity in Matt's comments.

This really is a crazy little set with the randomly tinted portions - gotta love the one random red tinted spot left of the dugout on Leon's. I thought maybe it was a fan wearing a baseball cap... then realized that fan sports apparel wasn't really in fashion then, so I have no idea what Leon's red spot is!

How about this one from the same set-it has always been sort of an enigma. The back states "#111 P. & Lee Todd"

http://www.geocities.com/rhettmatthew_37/toddmorena.JPG

After having the card for a while and thinking about the possibilities I think it may actually picture Phil Todt and Dud Lee. I haven't tried to confirm that w/ photos yet but what are your thoughts? If a bigger picture is needed I can rescan later tonight. Both players were together with the Red Sox between 1924-1926.

-Rhett

What are they watching? Was the ball hit so high and Ruth so swift that he was able to round the bases and then turn back to see it land?

my two cents
 

Please allow my imagination to run wild.

It is Meusel, not Gehrig. My problem with it being Gehrig, and this may be picky, is that it seems a left-handed batter would not be "greeting" Ruth in the right-handed batter's box. I also doubt very much that it is a high five a) because I believe the low five/handshake was the norm, b) the players are too far apart for Ruth to high five and then veer in such a short space to cross the plate at that angle, and c) Ruth was running, not trotting as was his style if he parked it.

Now how about this. It's a card from the 1928 World Series. Although these teams also met in the 1926 series and Meusel actually batted between Ruth and Gehrig then, Ruth's pic clearly denotes "Yankees", which the team did not wear on their road uniforms until 1927. Yanks swept the '28 series, so only wore the road uniforms in games 3-4. Game 4, Ruth scored three times, but all were via his own home run, and again, this does not appear to be a HR trot. Game 3, Ruth twice scores, once on an error by the catcher at the plate, and the other on an inside-the-park HR by Gehrig described by Baseballreference.com as a line drive to CF. Could this not be that hit? Everyone watching to see where the ball is and how it is being chased/fielded while Lou runs around the bases?

Note: I even wondered if the other Ruth/Gehrig Tobacco La Morena card might be part of the same photo sequence, taken after Lou completed his circuit, as he looks particularly jubilant in that photo. However, I do not see the Yankees name across the unis in that shot, which would rule against it.

If it's from 1928 it is not unlike the newly found footage of Ruth from September 1928. And that too had Gehrig batting third and Meusel fifth.

Hmmm... In looking at some other pics of Meusel, it looks like Bob was a mighty skinny guy, and I am not convinced the guy on the card is nearly that scrawny???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bo...el_cleaned.jpg

well
 

unless you want to believe that someone batted between Ruth and Gehrig, against the Cardinals and after 1926, I don't have any other ideas. Ruth, Gehrig and Meusel batted 3-4-5 in the '28 World series, and there is definitely action on the field, such that it not a HR trot, so how did Ruth score? Maybe it was a post-season barnstorming game with a different batting lineup? A pre-season game? Okkonen has his uniform info screwed up and the Yankees really did wear those uniforms in 1926? I dunno.