Marty Marion 1942 St. Louis Cardinals Signed Baseball

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

Marty Marion St. Louis Cardinals 1940-50 and St. Louis Browns 1952-53 OML Allan H. Selig Autographed Baseball w/ COA THIS ONE IS A BEAUTY! Great looking single signed baseball by former 3x St. Louis Cardinal World Champion...Marty Marion. Marty, whose nickname was "The Octopus", began his career in 1940 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He played with the Cardinals 1940-50 and St. Louis Browns 1952-53. During his career, he played in 1572 games and banged out 1448 hits (including 272 doubles, 37 triples and 36 HR's) in 5506 at bats for a .263 batting average. Marty drew 470 walks, batted in 624 runs and scored 602 runs. Marty was named to eight consecutive NL All-Star teams (1943-50), was awarded the 1944 NL MVP Award and was a member of the 1942, '44 and '46 World Champion St. Louis Cardinal teams. Marty signed the sweet spot of this OML Allan H. Selig baseball with a blue ballpoint pen and he also inscribed underneath the stitching on the sweet spot, "42-44-46 World Champs", to note his affiliation with the great Cardinal teams. He signed this baseball on Sunday July 1, 2007. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia... Martin Whiteford Marion (born December 1 , 1917 in Richburg, South Carolina ) is a former shortstop and manager in Major League Baseball . He batted and threw right-handed.Marion played with the St. Louis Cardinals between 1940 and 1950. He took over managerial duties in 1951, and joined the St. Louis Browns as a player-manager in 1952, then non-playing pilot in 1953. At the end of the 1954 season he was promoted to manager of the Chicago White Sox , serving until his retirement in 1956.In a 13-season career, Marion posted a .263 batting average with 36 home runs and 624 RBI in 1572 games . He made All-Star Game appearances from 1943-44 and 1946-1950 (T was no All-Star Game in 1945). In 1944 he earned National League MVP honors. As a manager, he compiled a 356-372 record. His older brother, Red Marion , was briefly an outfielder in the American League and a long-time manager in the minor leagues .As a shortstop, Marion was synonymous with St. Louis baseball until the appearance of Ozzie Smith . It's clear that Marion wasn't flashy as Smith, but at 6 ft 2 in and 170 pounds (77 kg), he disproved the theory that shortstops had to be small men. He brought the same grace to his position that Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly brought to the stage and films . Nicknamed "Slats", Marion had unusually long arms which reached for grounders like tentacles, prompting sportwriters to call him "The Octopus".From 1940-50, Marion led the National League shortstops in fielding percentage four times during his reign as the glue of the Cardinals infield, despite several players moved around the infield during these years. If Gold Glove Awards had been awarded during his career, Marion would have earned his share. In 1941 he played all 154 games at shortstop (also a league-high) and in 1947 he made only 15 errors for a consistent .981 percentage.Beside this, Marion was a better-than-average hitter for a shortstop. His most productive season came in 1942, when he hit .276 with a league-lead 38 doubles . In the 1942 World Series , one of four series in which he participated with the Cardinals, he helped his team to a World Championship with his amazing glove. In 1943 he batted a career-high .280 in the regular season and hit .357 in the 1943 World Series , which was more than respectable considering his value in the infield.He played with many second basemen throughout his career but perhaps his favorite was Frank "Creepy" Crespi. Marion commented after the '41 season that Creepy's play was the best he'd ever seen by a second baseman - but their bond went deeper than that. Creepy once took on Joe Medwick on the field (during a game) when he was trying to intimidate Marion. They remained friends until Creepy's passing in 1990.In 1951 Marion managed the Cardinals and was replaced by Eddie Stanky at the end of the season.... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.