This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/8/2017
While avid vintage collectors are quick to identify the rookie card of just about every legendary Hall of Famer from Ruth to Mantle to Ryan, most get stuck at the mention of "The Iron Horse" Lou Gehrig. That's because Gehrig came along at a time when no mainstream set existed, well past the Sporting News and Cracker Jack sets but nearly a decade prior to the Goudey series. Gehrig's introduction to the sports card world came in, you guessed it, the 1925 Exhibits series, and the featured card is one of the rarest rookie cards of all-time with just 30 having been graded by PSA (fewer than even the T206 Honus Wagner card). While fellow Columbia University alum Eddie Collins was still a driving force in the American League at age 36, Gehrig had a mere 38 career at-bats under his belt over two late-season call ups. But Lou's big break came during that 1925 season when Wally Pipp asked for a day off due to a headache. Unfortunately for Pipp, Gehrig wouldn't leave the field again for the next 13 years, leading the American League in runs scored four times, home runs three times (topping the 40 homer mark five times) and runs batted in five times (topping the 150+ RBI mark an incredible 7 times), all while posting a career .340 batting average and leading the league in walks and slugging percentage for three consecutive seasons. Imagine the type of numbers Gehrig could have put up if he had Babe Ruth batting behind him instead of the other way around! And although he was 36 years old when diagnosed with ALS and forced to retire, he hit 29 homers, drove in 114 and batted .295 the previous year. Graded PSA 4 (MK), a light marking that says "1st B" above the nameplate accounts for the qualifier and moderate rounding at the endpoints place it squarely in VG/EX range, but the image of the up and coming 22-year old slugger is a true classic. The blank reverse is free of any significant problems and appears much like it did close to a century ago. While the 1925 Exhibits Gehrig rookie card wasn't much of an attraction in its day, it now stands as one of the single most difficult issues to find in any grade.