Richie Ashburn's 1955 Signed Uniform Player's Contract

• Sold For: $2,350
• Year: 1955
• Auction: 2011 January
• Lot #: 6
• Auction Category: Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

Prior to the 1955 baseball season and two weeks shy of his 28th birthday, Don Richard Ashburn signed the offered Uniform Player’s Contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. The contract paid Ashburn $22,500 for the upcoming season, a season in which he won the first of his two NL Batting titles. Player contracts appear sporadically on the open market, and locating one of this quality and magnitude is truly an opportunity worth investigating. In 1955, Ashburn was known as a great defensive and speedy outfielder, but by the end of the season, he had solidified himself as one of the best in the game. Finally in 1995, Ashburn got the deserved call to Cooperstown. The two-page foldout contract was signed on March 5, 1955 by Ashburn (“8”) and George A. Fletcher (of the Phillies, “9”) in blue ink; a Warren Giles stamped signature was added on April 5, 1955. The contact is in incredible condition with common creases where the contract was folded in thirds. Further details are available on our website.Note:The signatures in the “Richie Ashburn Collection” section of our catalog were all obtained by the life-long collector/consignor of the collection. This person knew Ashburn personally. All signatures are guaranteed authentic (although no official LOA is being issued with the signed items). All of the signatures have a 60-day return policy if any of the signatures are deemed non-authentic by JSA or PSA.