CURT FLOOD - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED BASEBALL CO-SIGNED BY: ART DITMAR, DON MONEY, JOE TORRE, DAVEY LOPES, DICK "MULE" DIETZ, RICK WISE - HFSID 297448

CURT FLOOD, ART DITMAR, DON MONEY, JOE TORRE, DAVEY LOPES, DICK DIETZ and RICK WISE
Seven famous players sign a Rawlings Official American League baseball (Brown)
Baseball signed: "Curt Flood", "Dick Dietz", "Joe Torre", "Don Money", "Art Ditmar", "Rick Wise" and "Davey Lopes" and one unidentified signature. Rawlings Official American League baseball, Bobby Brown, President. 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. 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. 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. DON MONEY's nickname, Brooks, is a tribute to his fielding prowess but, like Robinson, he was also a productive hitter whose offensive capabilities were often overlooked because of his excellent glove work. In 1970, Money batted a career-high .295 with 14 HR and 66 RBI in 120 games. He saw his average drop into the .220s in the next two seasons, but he started playing every day in 1972 and led NL third basemen in putouts, double plays, and fielding. In Milwaukee, his average rebounded to the .280s as the Brewers' leadoff batter, and he stole a career-high 22 bases in 1973 (and 19 in 1974). He led AL third basemen in fielding in 1973 and 1974. Moved to second base in 1977, Money had his best year, reaching career highs in HR (25), RBI (83), and runs (86). ART DITMAR (born in 1929), an American League pitcher for 9 seasons, was on the familiar Kansas City - New York shuttle of the era, gaining experience with the Kansas City A's, then being traded to the Yankees, and returning to the A's when his best years were over. With the Yankees he was fourth and then third in the AL in earned run average (1959-1960), and went 15-9 in 1960. He pitched for the Yankees in three World Series (1957, 1958 and 1960). RICK WISE pitched in the Major Leagues for nineteen years, winning most of his games for The Philadelphia Phillies but having his best season (19-12) for the pennant-winning Boston Red Sox. The two-time All-Star had double-digit wins in tens seasons, winning a total of 188 Major League games. On June 23, 1971 Wise, a very good hitter for a pitcher, threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds while hitting two homers in the game. One of the most effective thieves in a base-stealing era, DAVEY LOPES stole five in a game on August 24, 1974 to tie a 70-year-old NL record and in 1975 he set a since-broken ML record with 38 consecutive successful steals. He was the league leader in 1975 (77) and 1976 (63), and he stole five in the 1981 LCS and added four more in the World Series. He set the NLCS career record of nine, and his ten in the WS ranks third. He stole 47 bases at age thirty-nine and 25 at forty. His career total of 557 stolen bases ranked 10th all-time as the 1980s ended. Lopes won the 1978 Golden Glove at second base and had excellent power for his position. He was voted All-Star in 1978-1981. Some ink signatures lightly smudged. Otherwise, fine condition.