Lot # 158: 1955 Pittsburgh Pirates Team-Signed Baseball With Roberto Clemente Rookie (PSA NM-MT 8 • Vern Law Collection)

Category: Baseball

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Displayed is a 1955 Pittsburgh Pirates' team-signed baseball with twenty-five (25) signatures, including the rookie signature of Hall of Fame right fielder Roberto Clemente. The Pirates' team-signed ball is a Spalding Official National League Ball (Giles). The signatures are in blue ballpoint ink. Clemente signed on a side panel as "Bob Clemente." Signing on the sweet spot are manager Fred Haney and an unknown name. Other signatures: Dick Groat, Elroy Face, Bob Friend, Dale Long, Toby Atwell, Dick Cole, Eddie O'Brien, Johnny O'Brien, Frank Thomas, Preston Ward, Jerry Lynch, Dick Littlefield, Ron Kline, Max Surkont, Dick Hall, and more. Pittsburgh finished with a record of 60-94 in '55, in last place in the National League, but general manager Branch Rickey was building the core of a team, including Clemente, Friend, Law, and Face, that would win the 1960 World Series. Clemente batted .255 in his rookie campaign, but he would go on to amass exactly 3,000 hits before tragically dying in a plane crash when he was on a mission to deliver emergency supplies to victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake on New Year's Eve in 1972. Clemente batted .317 for his 18-year career, all with Pittsburgh, and he won 12 Gold Gloves and two World Series. The team-signed ball comes with a PSA/DNA Letter of Grading and Authenticity (Cert. Number AC09888). The Pittsburgh team-signed ball has a PSA Overall Grade of 8, an Autographs Grade of 8, and a Baseball Grade of 7.