Red Sox Locker Room, 1957

Red Sox Locker Room is also known as The Rookie. It depicts Ted Williams and team members Sammy White, Frank Sullivan, Jackie Jensen and Billy Goodman during spring training in Sarasota, Florida. Exaggerating the contrast between the rookie and his veteran teammates, Rockwell portrays the newcomer as gangly and awkward. He selected his model from among students lunching in the Pittsfield High School cafeteria. One reader, unhappy with the rookie's "appearance and stature," called the picture "a disgrace to Organized Baseball." Others questioned the identity of the players, and their confusion was warranted. Because Williams wasn't free to pose, still photos of him were sent to Rockwell. But these couldn't be used because they didn't show Williams in the necessary pose. Instead, Rockwell substituted Frank Sullivan's profile from one of the photos taken of him. This discrepancy plagues baseball fans to this day, accustomed as they are to Rockwell's high standards of authenticity.

Red Sox Locker Room, Norman Rockwell, 1957.
Oil on canvas
Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 2, 1957
Private Collection