This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/9/2022
1969 Chicago Cubs
This unique, one of a kind, and historic collection features the work by Chicago artisan, Robert M. Proce. The artist document the journey of this mask project via this passage:
“Back in the summer of 1969, I spent some time in the Cubs locker room at Wrigley Field casting Life Masks of nine of the ball players.
They were: Banks, Santo, Williams, Holtzman, Hundley, Jenkins, Kessinger, Regan, and Beckert. These masks were part of a promo that was scheduled for the players that year.
What I have kept all these years, are the original molds that I made and the first pull castings of the players. along with the original photos that I took in the locker room of the players for sculpting purposes.
The players received the second pull from those castings, that I presented to them at home plate. Well, I've had these items for almost fifty-three years, and now I think it's about time to show them to all those great Cubs fans out there. So what we are showing here are the finished casts, made from the original pull, and the original casts.
I cast the original molds and face masks in solid plaster. These life masks are also in the original frames that I put them in all those years ago.
These items are of great historical interest of the Cubs organization, and captures a moment in history of these great athletes.
The auction includes all the framed Life Masks, original casts, all the photos and original newspaper articles.
The 1969 Chicago Cubs season was the 98th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 94th in the National League and the 54th at Wrigley Field. The season involved the Cubs gaining renown as "the most celebrated second-place team in the history of baseball." In the first season after the National League was split into two divisions, the Cubs finished with a record of 92–70, 8 games behind the New York Mets in the newly established National League East. Caustic 64-year-old Leo Durocher was the Cubs manager. The ill-fated season saw the Cubs in first place for 155 days, until mid-September when they lost 17 out of 25 games.
Even with the heartbreaking loss, the fans of Chicago forged a special place in their hearts for this team, and the 1969 Cubs remain sentimental favorites to the city to this very day. ***PICK UP ENCOURAGED. ADDITIONAL SHIPPING DUE TO WEIGHT, SIZE, FRAGILITY OF ITEMS***
(66P0863)