When you need someone to honor a games played streak and you’re in New York, who else would you want but Lou Gehrig?
In 1934, the New York Rangers were honoring some of their own as the team played its 400th NHL game. Veteran Murray Murdoch had played in all 400 and Gehrig dropped by Madison Square Garden , where news photographers snapped pictures of Gehrig presented rings to Murdoch and the other players.
Issued by Acme News Service, the 7×9” photo of that moment has a full paper caption with date on the back as well as a file date stamp. Interestingly, Gehrig is described as the Yankees’ “Iron Man” in the description. At that point, he had played in 1307 of his 2130 consecutive games. In cooperation with RMY Auctions, the image is our Vintage Photo of the Day.
Three Rangers and their Hall of Fame coach Lester Patrick, who had led the team to a second Stanley Cup the season before, are pictured with the newly-married Gehrig, looking dapper in a suit.
Gehrig was coming off a 1933 season in which he hit 32 home runs, drove in 140 runs and hit .334. Three months after the photo was taken, he would launch a monster Triple Crown campaign that saw him belt 49 homers, drive in 165 runs and hit .367.
Recently uncovered in a news archive, the photo is among over 1,200 up for bid at RMY Auctions through Saturday, November 15.
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