This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/12/2019
It's difficult enough to find repectable team photos of major league baseball teams from the early 20th century, but when you come across a rare treasure like this, your collection advances from "world-class" to "museum-quality." Many of the great Cuban and black baseball players, equal if not superior in ability to the major league icons forever etched in the annuls of American history, bounced around between the Negro Leagues and other squads based in Cuba, Mexico and South America, often playing for local teams as "hired guns" when the situation presented itself. The presented real photo postcard is from the late 1920s and features an unidentified Cuban team, highlighted by the appearances of baseball legends Martin Dihigo and Jud Wilson. Each player in the photo sports a "G" on their jersey save for Dihigo (second row, third from left wearing a uniform with an "H", Wilson immediately to his right) and noted Negro Leaguers Oscar Levis (far left) and Julio Rojo (far right), who have "Leones" on their jerseys. All four players are thought to have played on the same Habana Leones team during the latter half of the 1920s. The 5 1/4" x 3" postcard displays numerous light to moderate creases and a few small edge tears that run perpendicular from the perimeter. Even with these obvious signs of wear, the piece presents remarkable well due to the depth of the contrasting colors. Given the significance of this incredible piece and its ability to provide at least a small amount of information from a time period when Cuban league teams went relatively unknown, it's a fabulous addition to any collection. Measures 9 1/2" x 7 1/2" in frame.