Before the season in 1954, Al Kaline the new Detroit Tigers bonus baby posed for photographers. On a particular day a photographer from the International News asked the youngster to kneel and lean on his bat and the session worked out great. The result was so good that the Topps company took one of the images and used it on Kaline's now famous 1954 Topps rookie baseball card. At first glance, you would proclaim "that's it, the rookie card image" but on extremely close inspection, there are couple of subtle differences. It is our belief that the photographer took a few shots of Kaline in this pose and this one was the snap of the lens directly before or after the famous Topps image. It is still an important piece of photography and quite possibly the finest image of a young Kaline ever taken. Clean and crisp, this is off the original negative and presents well with this example being one of only two we have seen in any form. Aside from a corner clip done during the editorial process and a staple hole on the edge, the photo is a nearly perfect specimen.

Size: 7x9
Designation: Vintage 1
Condition: 3/5
Quality: 5/5
Overall Grade: 8/10