BASEBALL ALL-STARS - EPHEMERA SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: VIDA BLUE, RONALD LEFLORE, BILL MADLOCK JR., AMOS "A.O." OTIS, BERT CAMPANERIS, DONN CLENDENON, JIM "MUDCAT" GRANT, WILLIAM "BILLY" NORTH, DANNY "OZARK IKE" OZARK, TUG (FRANK) MCGRAW, BOBBY THOMSON, FERGUSON JENKINS, BILL "MAZ" MAZEROSKI, BRIAN JORDAN, ROYCE CLAYTON - HFSID 277341

BASEBALL ALL-STARS: BILL MAZEROSKI, FERGUSON JENKINS, BOBBY THOMSON and others.
Fifteen stars of the diamond sign a base.
Baseball Base signed: "Bill Mazeroski", "Bert Campaneris", "26 Amos/Otis", "Royce Clayton", "Tug McGraw [drawn smiling face]", "Brian Jordan", "Bill North", "Fergie Jenkins #31", "Danny Ozark", "Donn Clendenon", "Ron LeFlore", "Bobby Thomson", "Vida Blue", "Jim 'Mudcat' Grant" and "Bill Madlock". Regulation Franklin 13½x13½ white cloth base with MLB logo, signed on the top in 4 different colors of ink. BILL MAZEROSKI, one of the best defensive second baseman in history led the National League in assists nine times, fielding percentage three times, and double plays eight times. A 10-time All-Star and capable batter with 2,016 career hits, "Maz" achieved hero status in Pittsburgh's 1960 Fall Classic against the Yankees when he became the first player ever to end the World Series with a home run. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. BERT CAMPANERIS was a key contributor to the Oakland championship teams of 1972-1974. "Campy", one of baseball's all-time top base thiefs, stole 649 bases to rank seventh all-time on his retirement and led the AL six times, including his first four full seasons (1965-68). He was voted All-Star in 1968, 1972-75 and 1977. AMOS OTIS starred as Kansas City's center fielder from 1970-1983. Otis was named Royals' Player of the Year three times and won three Gold Gloves (1971, 1973, 1974). A 5-time All-Star who also played for the Mets and Pirates, Otis led the league in doubles (1970, 1976) and stolen bases (1971) and stroked a series-leading 11 hits in the 1980 World Series. ROYCE CLAYTON has played for 11 Major League clubs in 17 seasons through 2007. That's because his fine glove makes him an ideal reserve infielder. An All-Star in 1997, Clayton made postseason appearances for the Cardinals (1996) and Rangers (1998-1999), and was a member of the 2007 Red Sox World Championship team. TUG McGRAW (1944-2004) played 20 Major League seasons, evenly divided between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. The star relief pitcher, an All-Star once with each team, also played a key role in a World Series win for each. McGraw coined the slogan, "You Gotta Believe," which helped motivate the Mets in a surge from last place to a World Series victory in 1973. For Philadelphia, he struck out the last Royals hitter in the 1980 World Series, the only World Championship in Phillies history. He was the father of country music star Tim McGraw. In a 15-year Major League career, outfielder BRIAN JORDAN played in the postseason once for the Cardinals (1996) and four times for the Braves (1999-2001, 2005). He made the All-Star team with Atlanta's pennant-winning 1999 squad. All of BILL NORTH's eleven Major League seasons were spent with California ball clubs: the A's, Giants and Dodgers. He played for Oakland in the 1974 World Series and for Los Angeles in the 1978 contest. The fleet-footed outfielder led the league in stolen bases twice (1974, 1976), including 75 successful swipes in the later year. In 19 Major League seasons (1965-1983), right-handed starting pitcher FERGUSON JENKINS won 284 games, including 6 consecutive seasons with the Chicago Cubs in which he won 20 or more games while striking out 200 or more. National League Cy Young winner in 1971, he led the league in wins twice, made the All-Star team twice, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991. DANNY OZARK played and managed in the Dodgers minor league system before becoming a coach with the parent club (1965-1972). Then he took over as manager of a last-place Philadelphia Phillies team and led them to 3 consecutive Division titles in 1976-1978). He was Manager of the Year in 1976, and was interim manager of the Giants in 1984. DONN CLENDENON (1935-2005) declined contract offers from the NFL Cleveland Browns and basketball's Harlem Globetrotters to play baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, his team from 1961 through 1968. It is as a New York Met that Clendenon is best remembered, however. Platooned at first base during the regular season, Clendenon was the Most Valuable Player of the "Miracle Mets" upset victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series, hitting .357 with three homers and four runs batted in. In the sixth inning of the fifth game, Cleon Jones was awarded first base when Mets manager Gil Hodges pointed to shoe polish on the ball, proving that Jones had been hit by Dave McNally's pitch. Clendenon then homered, beginning the Mets rally from behind to win the game and the Series. RON LeFLORE, an All-Star in 1976 and the AL's stolen base leader in 1978 and 1980, played in the Major Leagues from 1974-1982, his best seasons coming with the Detroit Tigers. LeFlore's rise from prison to Major League stardom was dramatized in the 1978 TV movie One in a Million: the Ron LeFlore story, starring LeVar Burton as Ron LeFlore. BOBBY THOMSON (1923-2010), hit what is perhaps the most famous home run in baseball history. His dramatic "shot heard 'round the world" on October 3, 1951, a three-run, ninth-inning homer off Brooklyn pitcher Ralph Branca, capped the Giants' historic comeback to win the NL pennant. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, the Staten Island Scot hit 24 or more homers six times in his seven full seasons with the Giants and 21 more for the 1958 Cubs. A star pitcher with two teams in the Bay Area (Oakland and San Francisco), VIDA BLUE won both the American League's Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player - rarely given to a pitcher - in 1971. That year he went 24-8 for the A's, with a league-leading 1.82 ERA and 8 shutouts, plus 301 strikeouts. In a career stretching from 1969 to 1986, Blue won 209 games. JIM "MUDCAT" GRANT pitched for seven Major League teams in his 14-year career. An All-Star in 1963 and 1965, Grant's 21-7 mark led the 1965 Minnesota Twins to the American League pennant, and he won two games and hit a home run in the Twins 7-game losing World Series effort against the Dodgers. Grant has become a leading historian of African-Americans in the sport of baseball. His 2006 book, The Black Aces, was honored at a White House ceremony in February 2007. During 15 Major League seasons (1973-1987), BILL MADLOCK, primarily a third baseman, led the National League in hitting four times (1975-1976, 1981, 1983). He starred for the Pirates during their World Series victory of 1979. A three-time All-Star, he was the only right handed hitter to lead the NL in hitting between 1971 and 1989. Fine condition.