THE CHICAGO CUBS - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED BASEBALL CO-SIGNED BY: DUSTY BAKER, COREY PATTERSON, LA TROY HAWKINS, TODD WALKER, JEREMY BURNITZ, ARAMIS RAMIREZ - HFSID 274840

CHICAGO CUBS (2005)
Manager Dusty Baker and six players sign a Babe Ruth League ball.
Baseball signed: "Dusty Baker/'05" (in sweet-spot), "16/Aramis Ramirez", "Corey Patterson", "Jeremy Burnitz", "7/Todd Walker" and "LaTroy Hawkins/32" . Rawlings Ripken Baseball, a division of Babe Ruth League, Inc. Someone has written "Cubs" on the ball. DUSTY BAKER played 19 Major League seasons (1968-1986), mostly with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. A Gold Glove-winning outfielder (1981) and two-time All-Star, Baker could hit for average and power and steal an occasional base. Since leaving the field he has managed the San Francisco Giants (1992-2002) and Chicago Cubs (2003-2006). While with the Giants he earned NL Manager of the Year honors three times and fell only one game short of a World Championship in 2002. Slugging third baseman ARAMIS RAMIREZ, who reached the Major Leagues with Pittsburgh in 1998 and was traded to Chicago during the 2003 season, made the All-Star team in 2005. That season he logged offensive averages of .302 .358 .568 in his second of three consecutive seasons of 30+ home runs. Ramirez played in all 15 postseason games for the Cubs in 2003 and 2007. COREY PATTERSON had his best season for the Cubs in 2004, with 24 homers, 32 stolen bases and a .452 slugging average, but injuries cut down his range, and he had a poor 2005 season, split between Chicago and AAA baseball. He was traded to the Orioles in 2006. JEREMY BURNITZ played in 160 games as Chicago's right fielder in 2005, his only season with the Cubs. He retired in 2006 after hitting 315 home runs in 14 Major League seasons. His best years came with the Milwaukee Brewers (1999-2001), and he was an All-Star in 1999. At retirement, Burnitz had played more games without a postseason opportunity (1,694) than any active Major Leaguer. TODD WALKER, a college star at LSU, reached the Major Leagues with Minnesota in 1996. The second baseman joined the Cubs in 2004 despite a strong regular season and playoff performance for the Red Sox in 2003. In 2006, with the Cubs out of contention, he was traded to the playoff-bound San Diego Padres. His 2007 season with the Oakland A's may have been his last. LaTROY HAWKINS was a starting pitcher for the Minnesota Twins in the late 1990s, moving to the bullpen in 2000. Traded to the Cubs in 2004, he logged 98 relief appearances for the team before being traded to San Francisco in mid-2005. Plagued by injuries all season, the 2005 Cubs could manage only a 79-83 record in 2005. Fine condition.