Lot # 776: 1946 World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals Team-Signed Baseball with Dean, Slaughter & Musial - Full JSA LOA

It was a heck of a decade for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s. While baseball was seriously depleted by WWII, the Cardinals kept fielding winning teams. The 1942, 1944, and 1946 seasons saw the Redbirds win the World Series. The Cardinals also captured the NL pennant in 1943, and the throughout the rest of the decade, they finished second five times, and third once.

Recall the 1946 World Champions, with this Cardinals team-signed baseball. Though this period-signed ONL/Frick baseball has darkened considerably, (18) signatures are visible under a coating of shellac, and the factory labeling stamps retain barely enough integrity to discern the ball model type. Remarkably, the signatures remain very bold, though a few have minor ink breaks due to cracks in the shellac coating. (15) Signatures were provided by members of the Cardinals organization, and the other (3) were provided by New York Giants.

Facing the Boston Red Sox, the Cardinals turned in a memorable performance in the 1946 World Series. This hard-fought contest went the distance, with Enos Slaughter scoring the winning run in Game 7, on a play known as the "Mad Dash". Slaughter is joined in the signing of this baseball with three other Hall of Famers, including Stan Musial, "Dizzy" Dean, and the Giants Ernie Lombardi.

Featured are:

North panel: Johnny Grodzicki, Freddy Schmidt, Walter Sessi, "Red" Barrett, Ernie Lombardi (HOF, NYG, d.1977);

South panel: Murry Dickson, Howie Krist, Ken Burkhart, "Dizzy" Dean (HOF, radio sportscaster, d.1974);

East panel: Stan Musial (HOF), Enos Slaughter (HOF), Johnny Beazley, Eddie Dyer (manager, d.1964), Mickey Witek (NYG), "Bubber" Jonnard (NYG coach, d.1977);

West panel: Joe Garagiola (rookie season), "Whitey" Kuroski, Clyde Klutts (d.1979).

Full LOA from James Spence/JSA.

It should be noted that the JSA LOA notes the subject as St. Louis Cardinals / New York Giants (circa 1946)