CURT FLOOD - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED BASEBALL CO-SIGNED BY: VIRGIL TRUCKS, AL "MR. SCOOP" OLIVER, DALE LONG, MANNY MOTA, WILLIE STARGELL, MICKEY VERNON - HFSID 297734

CURT FLOOD, VIRGIL TRUCKS, AL OLIVER, DALE LONG, MANNY MOTA, WILLIE STARGELL and MICKEY VERNON
Curt Flood, Hall of Famer Stargell and five other players from the 1950's and 1960's sign a Rawlings Official National league baseball (Giammati)
Baseball signed: "Curt Flood", "Al Oliver", "Willie Stargell", "Dale Long", "Mickey Vernon", "Virgil Trucks" and "Manny Mota", Rawlings Official National league baseball, A Bartlett Giammati, President. 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 US Supreme Court, but helped pave the way to free agency five years later. Hall of Famer WILLIE STARGELL (1940-2001) hit 475 career homers during his 21-year big league career with the Pirates. His inspirational leadership contributed to two Pirates' World Championships. Stargell was 61 when he died on April 9, 2001, Opening Day for the new Pittsburgh Pirates stadium, PNC Park. Two days earlier, a 12-foot bronze statue of Stargell was unveiled at the entrance to left field, where he roamed for more than a decade as a Pirates player in Forbes Field and then Three Rivers Stadium before he moved to first base. Outfielder/first baseman AL OLIVER (b. 1946) played for 7 ML 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. The 6'4", 205-lb DALE LONG (1926-1991) turned down a contract from the NFL Green Bay Packers to play pro baseball. He stuck with the Pirates in 1955 after 11 minor league seasons (2 as a home run champ) and led the NL in triples. In May 1956, Long hit eight homers in eight consecutive games and was voted All-Star. Traded to the Cubs in 1957, he found cozy Wrigley Field to his liking, hitting 55 HR over the next three seasons. In 1958, Long caught two games using his first baseman's mitt, becoming the first left-handed catcher since 1906, and in 1959, tied a then-NL record by hitting back-to-back pinch homers. A four-decade player (1939-1960), the consistent, hardy MICKEY VERNON (1918-2008) set the major league record for most games played at first base (2,237). He set the AL mark for most lifetime assists (1,444) and collected 2,495 lifetime hits, an average of more than one per game. Vernon won the American League batting crown twice (1946, 1953). He led the AL in doubles in 1946, 1953 and 1954, and drove in 80 or more runs 11 times, with a high of 115 in 1953. The five-time All-Star played for five teams, but mostly for the Washington Senators. (He was President Eisenhower's favorite player.) Vernon later managed the Senators (1961-1963). He lived long enough to throw out a first pitch on Opening Day when Major League Baseball returned to Washington, D.C. in 2007. VIRGIL TRUCKS (b. 1917) led the American League in strikeouts once (1949) and shutouts twice (1949-1954). He is only one of five big league pitchers to toss two no-hitters in one season; he has written the dates on the bat. In 17 Major League seasons he won 177 games, 114 of them in Tiger uniform. Baseball's all-time pinch-hit leader, with 150, the Dominican MANNY MOTA had seven .300 seasons in eight years. Hindered by a lack of power and fielding ability, Mota's only season of more than 400 at-bats came with the 1970 Dodgers. Amid a 1974 youth movement, he emerged as a pinch hitter extraordinaire. He had ten or more pinch hits six straight seasons; 250 of his last 309 at-bats came off the bench. His .315 batting average is the best (1,800 or more at-bats) in Los Angeles Dodger history. Fine condition.