Marvin Williams Autographed National League Baseball

Though he never made it to the big leagues, Marvin Williams had an accomplished 19-year baseball career. He started playing semi-pro ball and was picked up by the Negro Leagues in 1943, then went onto leagues in Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Canada, until he landed back in the U.S. playing in the Minor Leagues until his retirement in 1962. Williams, also known as "Tex", was a hitter and often ranked among the top 10 players in homers, doubles, runs batted in and runs scored throughout his career; in today's game, he would have been offered a multi-million dollar contract. In 1945, Williams, along with Sam Jethro & Jackie Robinson, became the first Negro League players to try out for an all-white Major League team, the Boston Red Sox. None were offered a contract, and it was determined it had been a token tryout, and the Red Sox never had any intentions of integrating their roster. Marvin Williams passed away in 2000 at the age of 80. This Rawlings official National League baseball has been hand signed by Marvin Williams. Each autograph includes an individually numbered TRISTAR Authentic hologram.