1927 Yankees Team Photo Brings $350,000

A PSA/DNA-certified, Near-Mint condition photograph signed by 30 members of the legendary “Murderer’s Row” 1927 New York Yankees team has been purchased for a record $350,000. The price is the most ever paid for a vintage sports photograph and is nearly 70 percent higher than the last time this autographed picture was sold in an auction less than three years ago. The purchase by an anonymous buyer from an unidentified seller was brokered by Memory Lane Inc. The company first sold the autographed photo for $206,000 in a December 2006 auction.

“The team-signed photograph of the 1927 Yankees players was purchased by a New York metro area collector who told me he now wants to share it with other fans and make arrangements for publicly displaying it at the new Yankee Stadium,” said Joe Orlando, president of PSA/DNA. Signatures include Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Earle Combs, Benny Bengough, Bob Meusel and Miller Huggins, the team manager.

“The signatures and the photo are in outstanding condition; an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s a classic team photo with the players in their pinstripes and posing behind home plate,” said Orlando. The autographs were originally obtained by Yankees pitcher George Pipgras, who won 10 games that season, and then passed down to his daughter, LeMorn Pipgras Simpson. She later sold it for $80,000.