Addendum: Please see recent update below from PSA/DNA.
The 1953
Brooklyn Dodgers posted the best winning percentage (.682) in franchise history, going 105-49 to win the National League pennant by 13 games over the runner-up Milwaukee Braves. A star-packed lineup led by Hall of Famers Jackie
Robinson, MVP Roy Campanella, Duke Snider and Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges (who certainly deserves HOF consideration) and Batting Champion Carl Furillo, had Chuck Dressen's club atop all of Major League Baseball in runs scored, home runs and batting average. Though they would drop a tough six-game Fall Classic to their cross-town rival New York Yankees, the ’53 campaign was a
memorable one for “Dem Bums.”
This lot
features a 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers N.L. Champion team-signed
ONL (Giles) baseball. The cream colored ball with a little spot toning and some white scuff marks holds what looks to be 25 total signatures in 4-6/10 faded blue or black ink. The 22 we can recognize are: Bill Antonello, Joe Black, Jackie Robinson (5/10), Roy Campanella (5/10), Rube Walker, Jim Hughes, Billy Herman (SS), Dick Williams, Preacher Roe, Johnny Podres, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese (6/10), Bobby Morgan, Wayne Belardi, Don Thompson, Clem Labine, George Shuba, Carl Erskine, Russ Meyer, Duke Snider (5/10), Billy Cox and Erv Palica. Manager Chuck Dressen's autograph has been deemed Clubhouse by PSA/DNA (he rarely signed team balls). All other signatures are authentic.
Full LOA from PSA/DNA (Dressen only CH). Letter of provenance from consignor.
Provenance: "This ball was presented to my great uncle, Judge Herbert E. Millen, the first African American judge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and thirteenth in the United States. It was presented to him sometime between 1953 and 1956. He became the first African American judge in Pennsylvania in October 1947, several months after Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League Baseball. My great uncle passed away in 1959."