CURT FLOOD - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED BASEBALL CO-SIGNED BY: JOE TORRE, TONY OLIVA, BO JACKSON, ANDY CAREY, CLETE BOYER, BOB GIBSON, DICK "MULE" DIETZ, BOB FELLER, BILL VIRDON, LOU BROCK, BROOKS ROBINSON, SMOKY BURGESS, JAKE GIBBS, ROY HOWELL, BOBBY THOMSON, FRANK BOLLING, ROBIN ROBERTS, RALPH GARR, JIM PERRY, JOHNNY "DOUBLE NO-HIT" VANDER MEER, RICK BOSETTI - HFSID 291298

CURT FLOOD, ROBIN ROBERTS, JOE TORRE, LOU BROCK, BOB GIBSON, BOB FELLER, BROOKS ROBINSON, BOBBY THOMSON, TONY OLIVA and OTHERS
Toronto Blue Jays baseball signed by 24 players active from the 1950s to the 1980s. Includes 6 members of the Hall of Fame (Roberts, Torre, Brock, Robinson, Feller and Gibson)
Baseball signed: "Lou Brock", "Joe Torre" (sharing the sweet spot), "Ralph Garr", "Bob Gibson", "Bobby Thomson", "Brooks Robinson", "Frank Bolling", "Andy Carey", "Dick Dietz", "Tony Oliva", "Robin Roberts", "Rick Bosetti", "Bo Jackson", "Clete Boyer", "Bob Feller", "Roy Howell", "Bill Virdon", "Curt Flood", "Jim Perry", "Jake Gibbs", "J Vander Meer", "Smoky Burgess" and 2 unidentified signers. In all 24 signers. LOU BROCK (1939-2020) spent 20 years in the Majors, the last 16 with the St Louis Cardinals. (The transaction that sent him from the Chicago Cubs to the arch-rival Cardinals in 1964 makes most lists of all-time one-sided trades.) A 7-time All-Star, Brock was baseball's all-time leader in stolen bases from 1974 until1982, with 938. He set a major league record by stealing over 50 bases 12 times and a NL record with 118 steals in 1974. Brock led the NL in stolen bases 8 times. He collected 3,023 hits during his 19-year career and holds the World Series record with a .391 batting average in 21 post-season games for the Cardinals. Only 27 players in baseball history of reached 3,000 Major League hits. Brock entered the Hall of Fame in 1985. In an 18-year Major League career beginning in 1961, JOE TORRE (b. 1940) made the All-Star nine times, playing for the Braves (in both Milwaukee and Atlanta), Cardinals, and Mets. In 1971 with St. Louis, he was the National League's Most Valuable Player. The versatile Torre caught 903 games, while playing 787 at 1B, 515 at 3B, and two in the outfield. Beginning in 1977, Torre managed the same three teams he had played for. Then, in 1996, he took over the reins of the New York Yankees, leading them to six pennants and four World Championships through 2006. In the first half of the 2007 season, he passed Miller Huggins (1,796) and Casey Stengel (1,851) to become the second longest-reigning Yankees manager (1,862 at mid-season), trailing only Joe McCarthy (2,348 games). Declining a new Yankees contract at a reduced salary, Torre became manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008, taking the club to the National League Championship series in each of his first two seasons. Outfielder RALPH GARR (b. 1945) played 13 seasons for the Braves (1968-1975), White Sox (1976-1979) and Angels (1979-1980). In 1974, Garr led the National League in batting (.353), hits (214) and triples (17) and made the All-Star team. A free-swinging leadoff hitter who enlivened clubhouses with his antics, Garr was nicknamed "the Road Runner" for his base running skills, stealing over 25 bases four times. BOB GIBSON (1935-2020) holds the major league record for lowest single-season ERA: 1.12 in 1968, the year he was the National League's Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award-winner. He also won the Cy Young Award in 1970. In his 17-year career, spent exclusively with the St. Louis Cardinals, Gibson won 251 games, including 56 shutouts. He was the first pitcher to strike out at least 200 batters in nine seasons and, in 1974, became the second pitcher in Major League history to strike out at least 3,000 batters in a career (he joined Walter Johnson, who first notched 3,000 Ks way back in 1923!). Gibson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1981, his first year of eligibility. 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. Thomson had a comeback season for the Cubs in 1958, when he hit 21 homers and collected 82 RBI while batting .283. BROOKS ROBINSON (b. 1939) played 23 seasons for the Orioles (1955-1977), setting major league career records for games, putouts, assists, chances, double plays, and fielding percentage. A clutch hitter as well as the best defensive third sacker in the game's history, Robinson hit 268 career home runs, at one time an American League record for the position. Robinson earned the league's MVP Award in 1964 and the World Series MVP in 1970, when he hit .429 and made a variety of sparkling plays in the field. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983. FRANK BOLLING (1931-2020) played six seasons each with the Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1954-1966). A fine defensive second baseman, Bolling won a Gold Glove in 1958 and was an All-Star in 1961 and 1962. When his brother Milt joined the Tigers in 1957, Frank became one of only four pairs of brothers to play middle infield together. (Cal and Billy Ripken are another pair who have done so.) Bolling hit a grand slam homer off Sandy Koufax in 1965. ANDY CAREY (1931-2011) spent most of his 11 major league seasons playing third base for the New York Yankees (1952-1960), for whom he also occasionally played shortstop, second base, and in the outfield. Carey, who played in four World Series with the Yanks (1955-1958; two wins, two losses, including a start in Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956), later played for the Kansas City Athletics (1960-1961) and Chicago White Sox (1961) before finishing his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1962).  DICK DIETZ (1941-2004) caught in the National League for eight seasons (1966-1973), mostly for the San Francisco Giants. His best season was 1970, when he hit .300 with 22 homers and 107 RBIs and homered in the ninth inning of the All-Star game. Dietz was involved in one of baseball's most controversial calls in 1968. With the bases loaded, Dietz was apparently hit by a pitch from Don Drysdale, which would have denied Drysdale a fifth straight shutout, tying a record set in 1904. The umpire ruled, however, that Dietz had not tried to get out of the way of the pitch. Outfielder TONY OLIVA (b. 1938), who played 15 seasons (1962-1976) with the Minnesota Twins, retired with 1,917 hits and a .304 career average. An 8-time All-Star, Oliva the only player to win batting titles in his first two seasons, and led the league in hits five times. Oliva was the 1964 American League Rookie of the Year. Arm and knee injuries hobbled Oliva in the latter half of his career, shortening what would probably have been a Hall of Fame career. ROBIN ROBERTS (1926-2010) ranks as the winningest right-hander in Phillies history. In his first full season, Roberts won 15 games. In 1950, he helped pitch the Phillies to their first pennant in 35 years, going 20-11. When he won his 20th on the final day of the season at Brooklyn, in a pennant-deciding, 10-inning game, he became the Phillies' first 20-game-winner since Grover Alexander in 1917. He was an All-Star 1950-1956 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976. Center fielder RICK BOSETTI (b. 1953) played in the Major Leagues from 1976 to 1982, with his best seasons in Toronto (1976-1981). He led AL outfielders in putouts in 1978, and in putouts and assists in 1979. Bosetti achieved his goal of urinating in the outfield of every Major League ballpark. BO JACKSON (b. 1962) won college football's Heisman Trophy in 1985 and was voted MVP of the 1989 baseball All-Star Game. In 1988 and 1989, he started for both the American League Kansas City Royals and the NFL's Los Angeles Raiders. Jackson severely injured his left hip in the NFL playoffs on January 13, 1991. He was waived by the Royals, but signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1991. Jackson missed the entire 1992 season recovering from hip surgery but returned to play for the White Sox in 1993 and the Angels in 1994 before retiring. CLETE BOYER (1937-2007) ranked as a top AL defensive third baseman during his eight years with the Yankees, overshadowed only by Baltimore's Brooks Robinson. In the 1962 World Series, he batted .318 against the Giants, including a home run in the opening game. When he homered in the seventh game of the 1964 World Series two innings after his brother Ken had homered for the Cardinals, it marked the only time that brothers had connected for home runs in the same World Series game. He holds the World Series record for most career assists by a third baseman (66). Traded to the Braves after the 1966 season, he enjoyed his best offensive year in 1967, with 26 homers and 96 RBI. He led NL third basemen in fielding in 1967 and 1969. BOB FELLER (1918-2010) has the most wins of any pitcher in Cleveland Indians history, and was the first pitcher since charter member Walter Johnson to be elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility (1962). Though regarded as the fastest pitcher of his day, he himself attributed his strikeout records to his curve and slider. Feller set a Major League record with 208 walks and led the AL in both strikeouts and wins from 1939 to 1941. He was voted an All-Star in 1938-41, 1946-48 and in 1950. ROY HOWELL (b. 1953) was a Major League third baseman for 11 seasons (1974-1984), breaking in with the Texas Rangers and finishing his career with the Milwaukee Brewers. He played for the Blue Jays from 1978 to 1980 and was an All-Star in the first of those years. In 2011, he was named manager of the Road Warriors of the Atlantic League, a team that plays exclusively on the road. Outfielder/first baseman AL OLIVER (b. 1946) played for 7 Major League teams, but is best remembered for his decade with the Pirates (1968-1977) He batted over .300 nine straight times, and is among the Pirates' all-time leaders in doubles, home runs and extra-base hits. He won the NL batting crown with the Montreal Expos in 1982. Oliver was the first player to amass 200 hits and 100 RBI in a season in both the AL and the NL. ROY HOWELL (b. 1953) was a Major League third baseman for 11 seasons (1974-1984), breaking in with the Texas Rangers and finishing his career with the Milwaukee Brewers. He played for the Blue Jays from 1978 to 1980 and was an All-Star in the first of those years. In 2011, he was named manager of the Road Warriors of the Atlantic League, a team that plays exclusively on the road. BILL VIRDON (1931-2021) played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1955-1956) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1956-1965, 1968). He was Rookie of the Year in 1955 when he hit 17 home runs with 68 RBIs (both career highs) and batted .281. Virdon managed the Pittsburgh Pirates (1972-1973), New York Yankees (1974-1975), Houston Astros (1975-1982) and Montreal Expos (1983-1984), winning the NL East in 1972 and the NL West in 1980 and 1981 (second half). He is the only modern manager of the New York Yankees never to win a game in Yankee Stadium; they played at Shea Stadium in 1974 and 1975 while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. CURT FLOOD (1938-1997), who roamed the St Louis Cardinals outfield from 1956 to 1969, was one of the best defensive center fielders of all time, once playing 223 consecutive games without an error. A 3-time All-Star and 7-time Gold Glove winner, he played in all seven games of three World Series for the Cardinals. His challenge to the "reserve clause" was unsuccessful, by a 5-4 vote in the U.S. Supreme Court, but helped pave the way to free agency five years later. A three-time All-Star, JIM PERRY (b. 1935) won the Cy Young Award with the Minnesota Twins in 1970. In 17 big league seasons (1959-1975), he won 215 games, which combined with brother Gaylord's total, ranks the pair a close second behind the Niekros, who remain the winningest pitching brothers in MLB history (the Perry brothers have 529 wins, while the Niekros brothers recorded 539). JAKE GIBBS (b. 1938) spent his entire 10-year Major League career with the New York Yankees (1962-1971). Mostly a backup catcher, he was primary catcher for two years between the departure of Elston Howard and the arrival of Thurman Munson. A quarterback at Mississippi and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Gibbs returned to Ole Miss as baseball coach for 19 years. A 6-time All-Star, Forest "SMOKY" BURGESS (1927-1991) caught for six Major League teams (1949-1967). Always a fine hitter, the stocky Burgess became primarily a pinch hitter late in his career, accumulating the second highest total of career pinch hits (145) in Major League history. In 1959, he caught the famous game in which Harvey Haddix pitched a perfect game for 12 innings, losing 1-0 to the Braves in the 13th. JOHNNY VANDER MEER (1914-1997) threw back-to-back no-hitters for the Cincinnati Reds in 1938, the only Major Leaguer ever to accomplish this unusual feat. He pitched an unequaled 21 consecutive hitless innings. A four-time All-Star, Vander Meer was a fastball/sinkerball pitcher who led the National League in strikeouts for three consecutive years (1941-1943). Signatures light and beaded, but still legible. Otherwise, fine condition.