BOSTON RED SOX - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED BASEBALL CO-SIGNED BY: JIM LONBORG, BERNIE CARBO, MEL PARNELL, JIMMY PIERSALL, WILLARD NIXON, IKE DELOCK, RALPH HOUK, FRANK MALZONE, RICH GEDMAN, JOHNNY PESKY, TED WILLIAMS, EDDIE PELLAGRINI, BOBBY DOERR, PETE RUNNELS, GENE STEPHENS, LUIS TIANT JR. - HFSID 291198

BOSTON RED SOX
Great collection of beloved Red Sox from the 1940s to the 1980s. Signers include Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr, as well as Sox legends Luis Tiant, Johnny Pesky, Pete Runnels, Jim Lonborg, Mel Parnell and Frank Malzone. In all 17 signers.
Baseball signed: "Ted Williams" (sweet spot), "Luis Tiant", "Bernie Carbo", "Willard Nixon", "Ike Delock", "Frank Malzone", "Ralph Houk", "Gene Stephens", "Eddie Pellagrini", "Johnny Pesky", "Rich Gedman", "Pete Runnels", "Mel Parnell", "Jim Lonborg", "Bob Doerr", "Jim Piersall"  and one unidentified signer. Rawlings Official American League Baseball, Bobby Brown, President. In all 17 signers. Collection spans nearly half a century of Fenway Park history, beginning in 1937, and includes participants in the 7-game World Series of 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986. TED WILLIAMS (1918-2002) played outfield for the Boston Red Sox from 1939-1960, taking off time to fly fighter planes in World War II and Korea. Combining keen vision with quick wrists and a scientific approach to hitting, he was the last to hit over .400 (.406 in 1941), and led the American League in hitting six times. His lifetime batting average is .344 with 521 home runs. He won two Triple Crowns, two MVPs, six American League batting championships and 18 All-Star Game selections. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966. BOBBY DOERR (1918-2017) was second baseman for the Boston Red Sox from 1937 to 1951 and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986. Doerr hit .288 lifetime and .409 in the 1946 World Series, driving in 100 runs six times, with a high of 120 in 1950. Doerr also held the American League record for handling chances without an error (414) and frequently led second basemen in double plays, putouts and assists. He was signed on the same scouting trip that netted Ted Williams, who became his good friend. JOHNNY PESKY (1919-2012), a contact hitter with a .307 career batting average, played most of his Major League career with the Boston Red Sox (1942-1952, with three years out for military service) before finishing with Detroit and Washington. An All-Star in 1946 and good fielder who could play 3B and 2B as well as shortstop, Pesky called himself the "goat" of the 1946 World Series. Red Sox fans still debate whether Pesky did or did not hesitate on a relay throw from the outfield, allowing Enos Slaughter to score the Cardinals' Series-winning run in game seven. Pesky later managed the Bosox and covered them in the broadcast booth. The tall, yellow foul pole down the right field line in Fenway Park is nicknamed "Pesky's pole." MEL PARNELL  (1922-2012) played his entire major league career (1947-1956) with the Boston Red Sox. A southpaw who defied the claim that lefties could not win in Fenway Park, he was voted to two All-Star teams (1949 and 1951). Parnell's best year may have been 1949, when he led the American League in wins, complete games and home runs per nine innings and had a personal best win-loss percentage (.781) and ERA (2.77). He left the majors with a 123-75 record and a 3.50 ERA with 20 shutouts and 732 strikeouts. JIM LONBORG (b. 1942) is mainly remembered for his gutsy performance in the 1967 WS, after a Cy Young 22-9, 246-strikeout career season. Lonborg and Triple Crown hitting star Carl Yastrzemski led the Sox to the pennant in a race settled on the final day of the season. In the WS, he won games 2 and 5, allowing only 5 hits total, and running up a 17-inning scoreless streak. By the seventh game and on only two days' rest, however, Lonborg finally gave out, losing a 7-2 decision. After the dream season, Lonborg suffered repeated injuries, starting with a ski accident, and was largely ineffective, winning just 27 more games for the Red Sox in the next four years. He pitched for the Phillies through 1979. A Cuban-born pitcher with an eccentric windup, LUIS TIANT, JR. (1940-2024) led the American League in Earned Run Average in 1968 with the Cleveland Indians, and then recovered from injuries to become a fan favorite and 3-time twenty game winner for the Boston Red Sox in the 1970's. Fenway Park echoed with Red Sox fans chanting, "LOO-EEE, LOO-EEE." Tiant, who threw 4 consecutive shutouts in 1966, won 229 Major League games. His father, Luis Tiant, Sr., was a great pitcher who threw for the Negro League New York Cubans in the summer, and for the Cuban national team in the winter. He traveled to the US under a special exit visa in 1975 to watch his son star in the 1975 World Series. (Luis won Game One, shutting out the Big Red Machine, and again in Game Four. He pitched again in Game Six, won by the Sox in extra innings.) Tiant marketed a cigar brand bearing his nickname, "El Tiante." Singles hitter PETE RUNNELS (1928-1991) was the AL batting champion with the Boston Red Sox in 1960 (.320) and 1962 (.326) and a 3-time All-Star. First a Washington shortstop, he ultimately played 644 games at first base, 642 at second base and 463 at shortstop. A graceful fielder, he led the AL in fielding at second base in 1960 and at first base in 1961. In 1966 Runnels managed the Red Sox for 16 games (8-8). Outfielder JIM PIERSALL (1929-2017) played for the Boston Red Sox (1950, 1952-1958), and also for the Indians, Senators, Mets and Angels through 1967.Piersall's early career was interrupted by a nervous breakdown, recounted in his book, Fear Strikes Out, which was later made into a movie starring Tony Perkins. Piersall was diagnosed with bipolar disorder; despite this illness, he maintained a 17-season baseball career. Sometimes forgotten amidst the stunts was Piersall's talent as a ballplayer: he was a good hitter, an exceptional centerfielder, and a two-time All-Star. Outfielder BERNIE CARBO (b. 1947) played for the Reds, Cardinals, Brewers, Cardinals and Pirates as well as for the Boston Red Sox (1974-1976, 1976-1978). In the 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Carbo tied a Series record with two pinch homers. The second was a two out, two strike, three-run shot which tied the score in the eighth inning of Game Six, setting the stage for Carlton Fisk's dramatic 10th inning home run. RALPH HOUK (1919-2010) played in 50 games for the New York Yankees over 7 seasons as Yogi Berra's backup. Houk replaced Casey Stengel as Yankee manager in 1961, winning World Championships his first two seasons and adding a pennant in 1963. Kicked upstairs after the Dodgers swept the '63 WS, he served as Yankee vice president and general manager until May 1966. Back on the field, Houk managed the Yankees (1966-73), the Tigers (1974-78) and the Red Sox (1981-84). In Boston, "the Major" handled the transition from retiring or departing 1970s stars (Yaz, Tiant, Fisk, Lynn, etc.) to a new generation of talent (Clemens, Boggs, etc.) who would lead the Sox to another fateful WS rendezvous in 1986. Third baseman FRANK MALZONE (1930-2015) played in the majors for from 1955 to 1966, mostly with the Boston Red Sox. An eight-time All-Star and three-time Golden Glove, he was the first third baseman to receive a Golden Glove when the prize was started in 1957. Malzone placed in the top 10 in the American League for runs twice, for hits, doubles and RBIs four times and for total bases thrice. He has a career batting average of .274, and eight seasons with 100 or more hits. In 1957 he tied an American League record by recording 10 assists in one game. WILLARD NIXON (1928-2000) pitched his entire career (1950-1958) for the Red Sox. While his career record was only 69-72, Nixon had a deserved reputation as a "Yankee killer," whipping the pinstripes six straight times in 1954-1955. He later scouted for the Sox. IKE DELOCK (b. 1929) pitched all but the last few games of his big league career for the Red Sox (1952-1963). Delock could start or relieve, leading the AL in relief wins (1956) and winning 13 consecutive games as a starter in 1958. His 322 games is the seventh highest total for a Red Sox pitcher of any era. GENE STEPHENS (b. 1933) played 693 of his 964 Major League games for the Red Sox (1952-1953, 1955-1960), dividing the rest among the Orioles, A's and White Sox. In 1953, he became the first 20th century batter to get 3 hits in one inning, a feat not matched until Johnny Damon did it for the Red Sox in 2004. Often used in a platoon or backup role, Stephens was often a late inning defensive substitution for Ted Williams, earning the sobriquet "Ted Williams' caddy". Infielder (2B, 3B, SS) EDDIE PELLAGRINI (1918-2006, born in Boston) played the first of two of his eight Major League seasons for the Red Sox (1946 and 1947), including the 1946 pennant winner, hitting a homer in his first at bat. After leaving the majors, he became baseball coach for Boston College from 1958 to 1988, leading the Eagles to three College World Series appearances. RICH GEDMAN (b. 1959) was a Red Sox catcher for a decade (1980-1990), appearing in two All-Star Games and catching all 14 games of the 1986 ALCS and World Series. In the new century he remains in Massachusetts baseball, managing the Worcester Tornadoes (2005-2010) and coaching the Lowell Spinners. A great item for any member of Red Sox Nation. Lightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition.