THE DETROIT TIGERS - BASEBALL BAT SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: DENNY McLAIN, GEORGE KELL, VIRGIL TRUCKS, HAL "PRINCE HAL" NEWHOUSER, CHARLIE GEHRINGER, AL "MR. TIGER" KALINE, SPARKY ANDERSON - HFSID 290565

DETROIT TIGERS GREATS: GEORGE "SPARKY" ANDERSON, CHARLIE GEHRINGER, HAL NEWHOUSER, GEORGE KELL, VIRGIL TRUCKS, DENNY MCLAIN, and AL KALINE
A World Championship manager and six of the team's greatest players signed this special commemorative bat
Baseball Bat signed: "Hal Newhouser", "Chas. Gehringer", "Denny McLain/31-6 1968", "George Kell/HOF 83", "Al Kaline", "Sparky Anderson", "Virgil Trucks/2-No Hitters 1952/5-15-52 - 8-25-52". In all 7 signers. Special commemorative Cooperstown Bat, imprinted with the image and brief history of Tiger Stadium, signed in blue felt tip by all 7. Tiger Stadium, previously named Navin and then Briggs Stadium for early owners, was home to the American League Detroit Tigers from 1912 to 1999. The NFL Detroit Lions also played there from 1938 to 1974. The stadium was demolished in 2009, but the playing field is intact, maintained by a coalition of Tiger fans, neighbors and historic preservationists. Among the beloved old ballparks, only Chicago's Wrigley Field and Boston's Fenway Park still survive. All seven signers here helped make Tiger and baseball history in Tiger Stadium. George "Sparky" Anderson (1934-2010) playedfor the Philadelphia Phillies in 1959. It was his first and only year in the majors. In 2000, Anderson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, obviously not for his record as a player. He managed the Cincinnati Reds from 1970-1978 winning five Western Division and four National League Championships and two World Series. As manager of the Detroit Tigers (1980-1992), Anderson won two Eastern Division Championships and one World Series. He was skipper on the team's fourth World Championship team in 1984. Second baseman Charlie Gehringer (1903-1993) played his entire 19-year Major League career (1924-1942) with the Detroit Tigers. A six-time All Star (1933-1938), he was MVP in 1937. "The Mechanical Man" entered the Hall of Fame in 1949. For three years in the mid-1940s, Hal Newhouser (1921-1998) was the dominant pitcher in baseball, the only pitcher to win two consecutive MVP awards (1944 and 1945). The lefty's trademarks were pinpoint control of his fastball and overhand curve, which he used to win the seventh-game clincher in the 1945 World Series against the Cubs. He was All-Star from 1942 to 1944 and from 1946 to 1948 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992. George Kell (1922-2009) batted over .300 nine times and topped American League third basemen in fielding percentage seven times, in assists four times, and in putouts and double plays twice each. In 1949, Kell dramatically captured the American League batting title when he edged out Ted Williams by less than two ten-thousandths of a point. His 13 strikeouts that year is the lowest total for a batting champion in big league history. A 10-time All-Star, Kell entered the Hall of Fame in 1983. He was a Tigers broadcaster for nearly forty years. While with the Tigers in 1952, Virgil Trucks (1917-2013) tossed a pair of no-hitters against the Senators and the Yankees, joining such luminaries as Johnny Vander Meer, Allie Reynolds, and Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers to accomplish this feat in a single season. The burly right-hander also had four no-hitters in the minors and a near-miss with the White Sox in 1954. The control pitcher returned from military service in 1945 and appeared in the World Series against the Cubs, winning 4-1. He had appeared in only one game during the regular season. After a decade in Detroit, Trucks arrived in Chicago via St. Louis in 1954. He recorded eight straight victories en route to his first and only 20-victory season that year. Over the course of his 17-season career as a player, Trucks totaled 177 wins, 1,534 strikeouts, and one World Series win (1945). After he retired from the field, he became a coach with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he won a second World Series Championship in 1960. In 1968, Denny McLain (b. 1944) was the American League MVP, going 31-6 with a 1.96 ERA with 28 complete games and 280 strikeouts. He was the first 30-game winner since Dizzy Dean in 1934 and helped the Tigers to their first World Championship since 1945. He was a three-time All-Star and won the Cy Young Award in 1968 and 1969. Since leaving baseball, McLain has not fared well, spending two long terms in prison for crimes including racketeering, extortion, narcotics, conspiracy, theft, money-laundering and mail fraud. Al Kaline (b. 1934), known as "Mr. Tiger", hit more home runs and played in more games than any other Detroit Tiger. He played for the Tigers from 1953-1974 and won 10 Gold Gloves (1957-1959, 1961-1967). Kaline led the American League in batting in 1955, ending at .340 with 27 home runs, 102 RBIs and 121 runs; that year he became the youngest AL batting champ, shading immortal Tiger Ty Cobb for the honor. Kaline was a 15-time All-Star (1955-1967, 1971 and 1974) and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980; he was only the 10th player to be voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Fine condition.