1968 Detroit Tigers World Series Champs Team Signed Baseball Beckett COA
$1,495.00
This Official American League (Joseph E. Cronin) baseball has been signed in ink by 24 members of the 1968 World Champion Detroit Tigers. Manager Mayo Smith signed his name over the Official stampings on the highly presentable, off-white sphere. Hall of Famer Al Kaline's signature appears alone on the sweet spot, and additional autographs include those of 1968 A.L. MVP and Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain, plus Norm Cash, Mickey Stanley, Don Wert, Gates Brown, Joe Sparma, John Wyatt, Daryl Patterson, Wayne Comer, Willie Horton, Mickey Lolich and others. The ball comes with an LOA from Beckett Authentication for the signatures.
The Detroit Tigers missed the 1967 playoffs by one game, but started their 1968 season by winning nine of their first 10 games. Never looking back, the team rode 31-game-winner Denny McLain all the way to the AL Pennant. For the opposing Cardinals' Bob Gibson, fresh off his dominating 1967 World Series MVP performance, 1968 was a record-setting year! Going 22-9 with 13 shutouts, his ERA of 1.12 is still a modern-era record. Thus, the stage was set for pitching matchups of Denny McLain, winner of 31 games, still a modern-era record, and Bob Gibson, owner of the ERA record during the regular season. Both pitchers won their respective Leagues' 1968 Cy Young Awards. The two hurlers met in Games 1 and 4 of the 1968 World Series, with Gibson dominating both games, striking out 17 and 10 batters respectively, and allowing only one run in two complete games. His 17-strikeout Game 1 remains a World Series record. Down 3-1, Detroit won Game 5, and McLain won Game 6 on 2 days rest, setting up a Game 7 showdown between Gibson and the complete-game winner of Games 2 and 5, Mickey Lolich. The final day ended with a 4-1 Tigers victory. The club was just the third team in history to overcome a 3-1 World Series deficit.
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