LARAINE DAY - EPHEMERA UNSIGNED - HFSID 292261

[LARAINE DAY] [LEO DUROCHER]
Unsigned but noteworthy baseball mementos from Laraine Day's years as wife of Hall of Fame manager Leo Durocher, during which she was called "the First Lady of Baseball". Items are from Day's personal collection.
Collection of baseball items, including: 1) Ephemera, unsigned from the 1994 Hall of Fame ceremony which saw the enshrinement of player and manager Leo Durocher, Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto, and Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton, 1¼x1¼, metal pin. Fine condition. 2) Typed poem, unsigned, 1 page, 7¼x10½, Heavily creased and toned. Minor notches at edges. Otherwise, fine condition. On stationery of Leo Durocher, a 9 stanza poem about the language of baseball. Was it written by Dahl, or by Durocher with assistance from Dahl? 3) Photograph, unsigned. B/w, 7¾x5, Surface creases. Lightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition. Shows Durocher in his New York Giants uniform (#2), apparently teaching the art of bunting to Dahl, dressed in sports jacket and baseball cap. 4) Photograph, unsigned. B/w, 7¾x5, Surface creases. Ink stamp on verso. Otherwise, fine condition. Image of 8 bearded men with baseball gloves, wearing uniforms of the Battling Beavers, and posed in front of an old-style baseball grandstand. LARAINE DAY (1917-2007) reached stardom as Nurse Lamont opposite Lew Ayres in a series of six Dr. Kildare films (1939-1942). Other starring roles for Day included Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (1940), The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), My Dear Secretary (1948) and The High and the Mighty (1954). LEO DUROCHER (1905-1991) spent his first full major league season with the 1928 World Champion Yankees, and played thereafter for the Reds, Cardinals and Dodgers. He was captain of the "Gashouse Gang" Cardinals, World Champions in 1934. Durocher was player-manager of the Dodgers in 1939-41, 1943, and 1945. He guided the Dodgers to the NL pennant in 1941, and to second-place finishes in 1940, 1942, and 1946. He managed the New York Giants (1947-1955, interrupted by a 1-year suspension by the baseball commissioner) to the NL pennant in 1951 and the World Championship in 1954, a 4-game sweep of the heavily favored Cleveland Indians. He retired among the all-times leaders in games managed (3740) and wins (2,010), and was voted posthumously into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. Day and Durocher were married from 1947 to 1960, during which time Day had a New York TV show, My Day with the Giants. The couple had many friends from the worlds of show business, professional sport and politics, including Presidents and First Ladies. Laraine Day was married to theatrical producer Michael Grilikhes from 1961 until his death in 2007, a much longer marriage than to Durocher. After her divorce from Durocher, Day claimed that she had never liked baseball, but three years after his passing, she attended his enshrinement ceremony at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. She received the pin (#1 above) on that day. Four items.