SIGNED BY ROOKIE-ERA WILLIE MAYS AND 11 OTHER BASEBALL GREATS OF 1951

(MAYS, Willie) BLOODGOOD, Clifford. Who's Who in Baseball. New York: Baseball Magazine Company, 1951. 12mo, original staple-bound paper wrappers; pp. 96. $750.

First edition of this 1951 baseball guide, an exceptional copy signed by rookie-era Willie Mays on the rear cover, and by Al Corwin, Chuck Diering, Herman Franks, Dave Koslo, Sal Maglie, Don Mueller, Ray Noble, Wes Westrum, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dave Williams, and two others.

To Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays was "the closest you can come to perfection." "An American icon whose athletic brilliance and stylistic bravado contributed to the assimilation of blacks during the turbulent civil rights era, a distinctive figure of ambition, sacrifice and triumph who became a lasting cultural touchstone for a nation in search of heroes" (Hirsch, Willie Mays). This is the 36th annual edition of Who's Who in Baseball, a player-by-player directory for 1951 that lists each player with statistics from previous seasons. Grobani 4-84.

Near-fine condition.