Auction Item Details
Lot 30
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Lot Number: 30
Description: Highly Significant 1950 Willie Mays Birmingham Black Barons Negro American League player's contract. Original foldout player's contract issued to Willie Mays for the 1950 season with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. The printed contract displays handwritten terms in black fountain pen by team president Tom Hayes, Jr. who also signed the third page of the agreement. The contract was to pay Mays a sum of $400 per month from May 7, 1950 through September 4, 1950. Willie Mays had been playing for the semi-pro Chattanooga Choo-Choos when he was discovered by Barons' player Piper Davis who signed him to play for Birmingham in 1948 at the age of 17. This very 1950 agreement was to be the final of Mays' career with relation to his short but important tenure within the Negro Leagues as his contract was famously sold to the San Francisco Giants in June of 1950. Original Negro League contracts, of any type, are extraordinarily scarce with examples related to notable players noted as exceedingly so. The offered Mays contract easily ranks among the most significant of its type to have been offered publicly. Includes certificate of provenance from the Willie Mays Collection: EX-MTEstimated Price Range: ($25,000-$50,000)
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