On June 1, 1925, Lou Gehrig pinch-hit for the Yankees' shortstop, Paul Wanninger. The next day he started at first base in place of Wally Pipp. He did not miss a game for nearly fourteen years, and the official count of the streak begins with that pinch-hit.
The official count of the streak begins with a pinch-hit on June 1, 1925. This is the card from that summer.
That season he hit .295 with 20 home runs in 126 games, and the Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago put him in its set. Exhibit's cards were not packed with candy or gum or tobacco. They were the product, sold over the counter and from arcade vending machines, and in 1925 the company is credited as the first to make trading cards that were neither advertising nor a premium. The 1925 set had 128 players, its largest yet.
They are big cards, 3 3/8 by 5 3/8 inches, close to a postcard, printed in black and white with blank backs and no numbers. For the first time the name and team sat in a small box on the front. On this card it reads HENRY L. GEHRIG, Infield, New York, A. L., with “Made in U.S.A.” beneath. Gehrig is at the plate in Yankee pinstripes, taking a warm-up swing.
It is generally recognized as his rookie card. Exhibit used the same picture again in 1926, and the two are nearly identical; collectors tell them apart by tint, a light gray tone for 1925 and a slight blue for 1926.
Rounded corners, creases, small edge tears and paper loss on the back are the usual condition story, and some copies show fine vertical lines in the lower left that came from the original printing.
