Lou in the Shade

The third page of Lou Gehrig's official website begins: "Thriving in the shadow of the Babe..." and goes on to speak of him later playing in the shadow of DiMaggio.

I don't think I would have taken this photo of a photo, much less noticed the original on the west wall of the Noah's Bagels on Bush at Battery, if I hadn't been turned on by Vermeer to the possibilities of shadow and shade.

So I saw DiMaggio, beautifully lit by sunlight streaming in from a window on the left, eclipsing Gehrig.

And then, googling "Gehrig DiMaggio," to see when they played together, I found Gehrig's homepage.

That's how art history, at its finest, works.

BTW, only two players in modern baseball ever led the league in both homers and steals. Chuck Klein was one. You'll never guess the other one.