Jackie Robinson 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers Team Signed Game Used Baseball JSA COA
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$3,995.00
There are TWO historically important barrier-breakers on this ball. Jackie Robinson was nearing the end of his career, while Tom Alston—who broke the color line for the Cardinals—was a hot-prospect rookie. New team owner August Busch had acquired Alston from the PCL's San Diego Padres for $100,000 (plus four additional players!) in an effort to finally integrate the Cardinals roster with talented black ballplayers. As SABR biographer Warren Corbett has described, "The Cardinals made their acquisition of Alston a media event. The team rented a suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Hollywood, and Busch himself came out to sign the contract. Sportswriters sipped Budweiser with caviar on the side." Alston soon replaced Steve Bilko at first base and batted over .400 for a brief stretch, but mental-health issues derailed his career and ultimately spiraled into chronic fatigue, violent-crime charges, a suicide attempt, two cases of arson, and long-term care in a psychiatric institution. For all these reasons, his autograph is rare in general and rarer still (if not unique) in being connected here to that of Robinson.
This Official National League (Giles) game used ball features a mix of Dodgers and Cardinals with Jackie Robinson joined by Harvey Haddix and Bill Sarni on the west panel; Tom Alston located below Duke Snider on the north panel; Sal Yvars, Dick Schofield and Russ Meyer on the south panel; and Bill Greason (the Cards' second black player), Carl Furillo and Tom Poholsky on the east panel. Poholsky's notation of "6/7/54" corresponds to an extra-inning 7-5 win in which Snider homered. Full LOA from JSA.
D#61
