Description:
Baseball great Babe Ruth, in uniform, addressing crowd and press during final appearance at Yankee Stadium (shortly before death). This rare color image of Babe Ruth leaning on his bat for his final appearance at Yankee Stadium on June 13, 1948. Ruth’s #3 uniform was retired during this appearance, which was also the 25th anniversary of Yankee Stadium, known as “The House That Ruth Built.” Ruth died of throat cancer at age 53, shortly after this photograph was taken. Since LIFE Magazine only published one page of color pictures in 1948, the magazine did not print this photograph. This image was first seen on a 2002 HBO television special about famous sports photos, but this is the first time this photograph has been printed. This image is also on page 46 of "One Hundred Years: New York Yankees The Official Retrospective." This is a LightJet laser print on Fuji Crystal Archive® photographic paper.