DON LARSEN - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED BASEBALL CO-SIGNED BY: LUKE APPLING, MEL PARNELL, BOB FELLER, WHITEY FORD, MINNIE (SATURNINO ORESTES) MINOSO, JOSE CARDENAL, EARLY WYNN - HFSID 164722

DON LARSEN CO-SIGNED BY: LUKE APPLING, MEL PARNELL, BOB FELLER, WHITEY FORD, JOSE CARDENAL, MINNIE MINOSO and EARLY WYNN
Eight baseball greats sign a Dudley Dixie Youth Baseball
Baseball signed: "Don Larsen", "Luke Appling", "Mel Parnell", "Bob Feller", "Whitey Ford", "Jose Cardenal", "Minnie Minoso", "Early Wynn" and two unidentified signers. Dudley - Dixie Youth Baseball, leather 5 oz.-9 in.  Yankee pitcher Don Larsen (1929-2020) was immortalized by his World Series perfect game on October 8, 1956 (witnessed by 64,519 fans). This was the only perfect game ever pitched in the World Series. Named the MVP of the series, Larsen, who had been knocked out in the second inning of Game Two, started Game Five. The Yankees would go on to become champs after beating the Brooklyn Dodgers by four games to three. Luke Appling (1907-1991) retired with a lifetime batting average of .310, hitting .388 in 1936, the highest ever for a shortstop. In 1949, at age 42, he was the oldest regular shortstop in baseball history. Mel Parnell (1922-2012), played his entire major league career (1947-1956) with the Boston Red Sox. His career was hampered by Fenway Park, considered to be a hitter's park. Even so, 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 record (.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. Bob Feller (1918-2010) has the most wins in Cleveland Indians history, in 1962 "Rapid Robert" became the first pitcher since charter member Walter Johnson to be elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Whitey Ford, (1928-2020), was the "money pitcher" on the great Yankee teams of the 1950s and early 1960s, earning him the moniker "Chairman of the Board". The wily southpaw's lifetime record of 236-106 gives him the best winning percentage (.690) of any 20th Century pitcher. He paced the American League in victories three times, and in ERA and shutouts twice. The 1961 Cy Young Award winner still holds many World Series records, including 10 wins and 94 strikeouts, and once pitched 33 consecutive scoreless innings in the Fall Classic. Ford has the most career wins in the history of the New York Yankees with 236. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Jose Cardenal played for nine teams during eighteen seasons in the Major Leagues (1963-1980) and later coached with four teams. Cardenal was a speedy base runner with good range and a strong arm in centerfield. 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. The vanishing breed of scowling, intimidating pitchers is best typified by Hall of Famer and 300-game-winner Early Wynn (1920-1999). He was thirty-nine-years old when he won the Cy Young Award as he led the 1959 White Sox to the World Series. Wynn had a 300-244 lifetime record in his 23-year career, during which he pitched for the Washington Senators (1939-1948), Cleveland Indians (1949-1957) and White Sox (1958-1962). Fine condition.