CURT FLOOD - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED BASEBALL CIRCA 1993 CO-SIGNED BY: MINNIE (SATURNINO ORESTES) MINOSO, TOM LASORDA, ROY FIRESTONE - HFSID 320866

CURT FLOOD, MINNIE MINOSO, TOM LASORDA and ROY FIRESTONE
All four signed this Rawlings 1993 Golden Glove Award baseball
Baseball signed: "Curt Flood" (sweet spot), "Minnie Minoso", "Tom Lasorda" and "Roy Firestone". Official Rawlings Third Annual Golden Glove Award, November 18, 1993. CURT FLOOD (1938-1997) played Major League Baseball from 1956 to 1969, and made a brief reappearance in 1971. Flood was a reliable hitter who topped .300 three times in an era when pitching dominated the game. But Flood's greatest talent was in centerfield, which he roamed for the St Louis Cardinals, beginning in 1958. One of the finest defensive players of any era, Flood had 223 consecutive games without an error, and made no errors at all in 1966. A three-time All-Star, he won seven consecutive Gold Glove awards. He played in all seven games of three World Series for the Cardinals: victories over the Yankees and Red Sox in 1964 and 1967, and a loss to the Tigers in 1968. He was one of only four Cardinals to appear on all three teams. After the 1969 season, the Cardinals traded Flood to the Phillies. Flood refused to go, and challenged the "reserve clause" which had long denied players the right to negotiate with multiple teams for the best offer. He sat out the 1970 season, taking his suit against Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bowie Kuhn all the way to the Supreme Court. The Major League Players Association endorsed his suit, but not one active player was willing to appear in court on his behalf. With former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg as his lawyer, Flood lost by a 5-3 vote in the Supreme Court. He made a brief return to baseball with the Washington Senators in 1971, but his skills were gone, and he soon retired. Flood fought law suits and the Internal Revenue Service for the rest of his life. He twice tried to organize a new baseball league, but was unsuccessful. In 1975, an arbiter voided the reserve clause in cases involving two other players, and the era of free agency began. Flood had been five years ahead of his time. Hall of Famer TOM LASORDA (1927-2021) has claimed, "My heart bleeds Dodger blue," during his seven decades in the Dodger organization. Lasorda compiled a 98-49 record in nine years with Montreal of the International League, the Dodgers' top farm club. He received only two brief trials with the Dodgers, having to make room for Koufax. Lasorda became a Dodger scout in 1961 and then a minor league manager in 1965. As Dodger manager for two decades (1976-1996), he won 4 pennants and 2 World Championships, and was twice named Manager of the Year (1983, 1988). He is 18th on the list of all-time managerial wins (1, 599). Lasorda remained in the Dodgers front office after leaving the dugout, and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1997. On May 1, 1951, in a game against the Yankees, young Cuban speedster MINNIE MINOSO (1922-2015) became the first black player to don a White Sox uniform. Minoso finished his rookie year as the AL leader in stolen bases (31) and triples (14); his .326 batting average was second only to Ferris Fain's .344, and his 112 runs fell one short of Dom DiMaggio's league-leading 113. Minoso was TSN's Rookie of the Year. He led the AL in stolen bases again in 1952 and 1953 and in triples in 1954, and tied for the league lead in steals in 1956 and in doubles in 1957. He would do whatever was necessary to get on base, including getting in the way of fastballs. In 16 AL seasons, he set the league record by being hit by a pitch 189 times. Minoso, only the second Major Leaguer to play in five decades (1940s-1980s), began in the Negro Leagues and later played in the Mexican League. ROY FIRESTONE (b.1953) is an American sports commentator and journalist who is the host of HDNet's Face to Face with Roy Firestone and AOL's Time Out with Roy Firestone. He's also made guest appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman, Married with Children and Jerry Maguire (1996). Firestone is also frequenter on ESPN. A die hard Baltimore Orioles fan, Firestone was given the honor in 2012 to unveil the Brooks Robinson statue at the Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Fine condition.