Monday, August 24, 2009

the old brawl game

The title and date of this 1960s commercial tempera illustration are unknown, as is the periodical for which it was assigned (possibly LIFE or LOOK magazine). The mise-en-scène depicts historic incidents and major league baseball players associated with Busch Stadium (a.k.a. Sportsman's Park), home of two St. Louis baseball teams: the luckless Browns (1902-53) and the perennially contending Cardinals (1920-66). The ballpark was replaced by Busch Memorial Stadium in 1966, an event which this illustration probably commemorates. (The Browns franchise moved east in 1954 to become the Baltimore Orioles.)

The detail above represents about one-third of the full 16-1/4" x 16-3/4" work, which is stored in the Flora family archives.

4 comments:

J.D. King said...

They're on steroids!

Ernie said...

Stealing bases...I like that.

Bill Ross said...

This sure looks like Al Jaffee. Is Flora awesome or WHAT?

Unknown said...

This illustration and others related were published in LOOK magazine April 15, 1958 issue.