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HSC: 1949 Leon Day Signed Player's Contract PSA/D

Currency:USD Category:Sports - Cards & Fan Shop / Sports - Autographs (Original) Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,500.00 USD
HSC: 1949 Leon Day Signed Player's Contract PSA/D
<B>1949 Leon Day Signed Puerto Rican League Baseball Contract.</B></I> We have great respect and admiration for collectors of Negro League memorabilia, both for the service they do in keeping the history of this woefully under-documented league alive, and for the courage it takes to enter a field of collecting that offers such difficulty in the acquisition of artifacts. And so we are very pleased to present this remarkable piece, the very contract that signed the Hall of Fame Negro League pitcher to a season of winter ball in Puerto Rico. As of the time of the signing, the star of the Newark Eagles and Baltimore Elite Giants was already a celebrity in the island nation, having established a Puerto Rican league record in 1941 by fanning nineteen batters in a single game. The listed salary of $150 a week plus transportation, room and board was steep money in those days, particularly for a man of African descent. The contract opens to offer a marvelous 10/10 signature from Day, who adds his New Jersey address and even a right thumb print from the hand that delivered a fastball many claimed was superior to Satchel Paige's. In every regard the contract remains in wonderful condition, with no tearing or staining, and only the slightest hints of creasing that do nothing to detract. <I>LOA from Steve Grad & Zach Rullo/ PSA DNA.</B></I>