It’s not quite “Dewey Defeats Truman” but the newspapers got ahead of themselves during the pennant race of 1934. Oh, the New York Giants looked like a sure thing all right. With 14 games left in the season, they still held a 5 ½ game edge on the St. Louis Cardinals.
Sometime in the days leading up to the end of the regular season, a photographer for International News Service snapped a photo of slugger Mel Ott taking a practice cut. The caption indicated the Giants slugger was “getting ready for the World Series”.
Poor Mel would have to follow it in the newspapers like everyone else.
The Giants blew a three-game lead with five left to play and the “Gashouse Gang” went on to face the Detroit Tigers in the Fall Classic. While Ott led the league in homers, RBI and OPS, he struggled during those final days.
The RMY Auctions Photo of the Day is one of more than 400 up for bid through Saturday.
Interestingly, the 6 ½” x 8 ½” image not only includes Ott’s classic swing pose and folks in period clothing standing around nearby, it also pictures him wearing a black armband. The Giants wore them that season, memorializing their former manager, John McGraw, who had died of uremic poisoning at age 60, just days before the start of spring training.
To see all of the vintage photos up for bid, visit the RMY Auctions website.
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Original News Photo of 18-Year-Old Mel Ott Headlines RMY Auction
