Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Winter 2020
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/26/2020
Roberto Clemente’s forever-in-demand signature has not often surfaced on a ball from his lone season with the Montreal Royals of the Triple-A International League, rendering this fabulous find tantalizing and tempting indeed! The Brooklyn Dodgers failed in their attempt to hide Clemente on their top minor league affiliate in 1954 and he was chosen with the first pick of the rookie draft after the season by the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he played his entire Hall of Fame career in the majors. Clemente’s signature on this 1954 Royals team-signed official IL Spalding baseball is the farthest to the left on the panel with commissioner Frank Shaughnessy’s facsimile signature in the middle. Comes with a JSA LOA.
Clemente’s lightly faded blue ink signature is one of the most legible autographs of the 15 accounted for on this 1954 Montreal Royals team-signed baseball. Others who have signed include Rocky Nelson, Dixie Howell, Chico Fernandez, Ed Roebuck, Dick Young, Wally Hood, Joe Carbonaro, Ronald Owen, Ken Lehman and Jack Cassini.
Brooklyn Dodgers scout Al Campanis signed Clemente for a $10,000 bonus in 1953 after Clemente was first noticed playing winter ball in Puerto Rico alongside Willie Mays. The Dodgers however were unable to fit him into a star-studded outfield that featured Duke Snider and Carl Furillo, and the rules of the time required a team signing a player for a bonus, including salary, of more than $4,000 to keep him on the major league roster for two years or risk losing him in an off-season draft. Nevertheless, the Dodgers chose to have Clemente spend the 1954 season with Montreal, even though it meant they could lose him at the end of the year. Pittsburgh discovered Brooklyn’s hidden gem and drafted him in 1955.
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