This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/11/2018
Tris Speaker, a member of Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team, was a superb center fielder and prolific hitter for all four teams on which he played: the Boston Americans/Red Sox, the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics. While in Boston, he led the Red Sox to the World Series championship in both 1912 and ’15 and once traded to the Indians, he led the Tribe to a World Series title in 1920. During his time in Cleveland, Speaker served as both a player and manager. Speaker retired after the 1928 season with a career batting average of .345 and 3,515 hits to his credit.
This lot features a Wilson Official American Association baseball sporting Speaker’s signature in blue ink across a side panel. The ball is slightly toned with some of the manufactured print fading, but Speaker’s signature remains bold fully legible, rating about 6/10. Although almost invisible, there is faint evidence of additional writing on an opposite panel. Speaker was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937 as part of Cooperstown's inaugural class, and passed away at the age of 70 in 1958.
Full LOA from PSA/DNA