1941 Ray Brown Signed Puerto Rico League Contract - PSA/DNA and Beckett GEM MINT 10 Signature

Sold For:

$43,200

Year:

1941

Auction:

2025 Spring

Lot #:

2412

Category:

Autographed Baseballs/Flats/Photos

Four-page fold-over contract, dated November 21, 1941, between Raymond Brown and the Ponce Base-Ball Club of the Liga Semi-Profesional de Base-Ball de Puerto Rico. Signed in blue fountain pen by "Raymond L. Brown" (Beckett has graded the signature GEM MINT 10) and in black fountain pen by the president of the club, and two witnesses. The one-year agreement, for the winter-league season of 1941-1942, calls for Brown to receive a salary of $60 per week "plus expenses for him and his wife." Brown, like many Negro League players from that era, earned extra money during the winter by playing for teams in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. The Puerto Rico Semi-Pro Baseball League was founded in 1938 and was very successful in acquiring the services of many of the top Negro League players at the time, including Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. Brown was one of the pitching mainstays of the legendary Homestead Grays, one of the most powerful Negro League teams of the era. In addition to being the son-in-law of team owner Cum Posey, he was the team’s one-man army on the mound. Brown joined the Grays in 1932 and remained with them for fourteen consecutive years. During that time he helped lead the club to eight pennants in nine seasons (1937-1945). Equipped with a dazzling array of pitches, including a devastating curve ball, Brown once reeled off sixteen consecutive victories in 1943-1944. He also pitched a perfect game against the Chicago American Giants in 1945. Today, Brown is credited with a lifetime winning percentage of .704, the second-best mark in Negro League history. He also ranks fifth in wins (105) and ninth in shutouts (13). Brown passed away in 1965 at the age of fifty-seven. He was one of the seventeen Negro Leaguers elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006, finally achieving the baseball recognition he richly deserves as one of the game's true immortals. The rarity of Brown's signature cannot be overstated. This is just the fourth Ray Brown signature we have ever handled. Baseball contracts of Hall of Fame players, especially those dating from their respective playing careers (let alone those of the greatest Negro League stars), are rare and the offered example is no exception. The contract (8.5 x 11 inches), which has the official League stamp on the front, displays a couple light creases, four punch holes at the top, and an irregular hand cut along the top edge. In Very Good to Excellent condition overall. Full LOA from PSA/DNA. Full LOA from Steve Grad and Brian Sobrero/Beckett Authentication Services.