Penny Marshall and Lou Gehrig’s Alleged ‘Last Glove’
From SABR member Peter J. Nash at Hauls of Shame on June 15:
Penny Marshall’s alleged 1999 purchase of Lou Gehrig’s “Last Glove” for a record price of $387,500 has been reported in articles published by the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times and even showed up in a 2003 book called Glove Affairs. But only one account published in 2006 came from a reporter who actually interviewed the director of A League of Their Own fame and best known for her sitcom roles as Myrna in the Odd Couple and Laverne in Laverne and Shirley. … Earlier this month, uniform and equipment expert Dave Grob issued a report on the MEARS website challenging the authenticity of that same alleged ”last glove” used by Gehrig and presented compelling evidence illustrating that the genuine Gehrig glove was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame by Gehrig’s mother as part of her last will and testament.
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[New York] Daily News reporter Bill Madden was the first in the press to report the discovery of Babe Dahlgren’s alleged “Last Glove” of Lou Gehrig in his memorabilia column of June 16, 1979, for The Sporting News. In that column entitled, “Dahlgren Still Carrying Lou Gehrig’s Glove” Madden described how Dahlgren originally sent a letter to UPI sports editor Milton Richman and revealed to him how he had in his possession gloves once used by Gehrig and Yankee Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri.
Madden quoted from Dahlgren’s letter, which was written after the ex-Yankee listened to a talk show about baseball card values and said, “I must be sitting on a small fortune having the gloves of both Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri.”
Read the full article here: http://haulsofshame.com/blog/?p=7459
Originally published: June 16, 2011. Last Updated: June 16, 2011.