Offered here is a S&W .44 Hand Ejector 1st Model Triple Lock revolver purportedly once owned by the great Chicago Cubs baseball catcher Charles Leo “Gabby” Hartnett (1900-1972). Hartnett played for the Chicago Cubs starting in 1922 and remained with the Cubs as a catcher for nearly his entire Major League Baseball career. His final season was with the New York Giants as a player coach in 1941. When he retired, Hartnett held the career records for catchers in home runs, runs batted in, hits, doubles and in most games played as a catcher. His best career moment occurred in the 1938 season when he hit a late season game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th inning as darkness fell on Wrigley Field. Hartnett’s game winning hit put the Cubs in first place, and the event became known as the Homer in the Gloamin’, one of the most famous walk-off home runs in baseball history. Hartnett was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. Hall of Fame manager Joe McCarthy “rated Gabby the perfect catcher. He was super smart and nobody could throw with him.” Accompanying this revolver is a January 21, 1992, dated handwritten note by Ed Sauber stating that this revolver was “given to Ed Sauber from Leo 'Gabby' Hartnett in 1934.” The revolver later passed to Ed Sauber’s son where it has remained until now. A photograph showing Hartnett and Ed at Gabby’s Hall of Fame Dinner is included. The photo resides in a photo folder which has been signed by eleven of the 12 people in the photograph on the inside cover and includes signatures by Hartnett and Ed. An included photocopy of a signed photo of Hartnett indicates that Hartnett was acquainted with the Sauber family. Hartnett’s inscription reads, “To Mr. & Mrs. Paul Sauber & family, always my best wishes to you. Always your friend. Gabby Hartnett Chicago Cubs 1937.” A Spalding baseball signed by Hartnett and the members of the 1969 Cubs finishes the archive. As explained by the Sauber family, this ball was obtained by Ed when he and Hartnett attended a game together in 1969, a season that saw the Cubs holding on to first place for 155 days and then blowing a 9 game lead to the New York Mets. The 1969 season is perhaps the most infamous pennant collapse in Major League Baseball history. The revolver has standard S&W markings, pearl grips, matching serial numbers on the butt, ejector shroud and cylinder and matching assembly numbers on the yoke and crane. A factory refinishing date of "7-22" is stamped on the left side of the grip frame. The accompanying October 1977 dated factory letter states that this revolver was shipped on October 23, 1908, and delivered to Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. of Chicago, Illinois.

Fine as factory refinished. The revolver retains 85% of the mostly frosted nickel finish showing some minor flaking and a cylinder drag line. The undersized grips are also fine showing a missing flak of pearl at the top (right panel). Mechanically excellent. Nearly all of the signatures on the baseball are clear.