This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/19/2012
Chicago native William Joseph Skowron signed to play baseball for the Yankees in 1951 for a $25,000 bonus. He won the Minor League Player of the Year award in 1952. But the Yankees wanted him to get more seasoning and had him wait until 1954 before they brought him up to the big show. Moose (the nickname came from his grandfather, who thought Skowron looked like Mussolini and contracted Mussolini's name) batted over .300 in his first four seasons with the New York Yankees, hit more than twenty home runs three straight seasons (1960-1962), and drove in eighty or more runs in five different years. A five-time All Star, number 14 was a stalwart Yankee, a dependable fielder at first base, a clutch hitter who helped the Bronx Bombers win seven pennants and four world championships. As the one and only example of Skowron’s 1954 Topps rookie card to earn PSA’s GEM MINT 10 grade amongst 639 copies reviewed by that firm, it presents a feast for the eyes. Distinguished foremost by shimmering surface gloss, the well-detailed dual renderings of the great Yankees first baseman are stunning against the deep, vivid red background. The corners and edges reflect no evidence of wear or disturbance. With the finest qualities of preservation, this special and condition-scarce Skowron memento is unarguably the best of its kind.