Description:
Offered here is a 1947 Who’s Who in the Major Leagues (15th Edition), edited by Chicago Daily News sports editor John P. Carmichael and published by B.E. Callahan, Chicago. This hardbound edition covers the 1946 Major League Baseball season, the first full campaign after World War II — and the year Stan Musial led the St. Louis Cardinals to victory in the World Series and earned his second National League Most Valuable Player Award.
This copy is personally signed and inscribed by Stan Musial, reading:
Stan Musial – 1946 National League MVP.
The signature is large, fluid, and executed in blue ballpoint ink on the front endpaper. It remains bold and legible — a strong, example from one of baseball’s most admired Hall of Famers.
The Who’s Who in the Major Leagues series, published annually from the 1930s through the 1950s, served as baseball’s premier illustrated player register — the closest thing to a yearbook or media guide of its era. Each edition profiled active players, managers, and rising stars with up-to-date career summaries, team rosters, and extensive photographic coverage.
The 1947 edition (15th Annual) is a 96-page, photo-rich publication covering the 1946 season in both the American and National Leagues. Photography throughout is by famed Chicago baseball photographer George C. Burke, whose portraits are among the finest ever taken of mid-century players. The volume features sharp black-and-white headshots and composite team lineups arranged in diamond-shaped layouts, along with editorial features and statistical summaries.
Among the greats prominently featured in this edition:
Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox) – 1946 American League MVP, profiled alongside Hal Newhouser as the AL’s “Most Valuable Pair.”
Stan Musial (St. Louis Cardinals) – 1946 NL MVP, with portrait, season recap, and 1946 Cardinals team photo.
Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, and Tom Henrich (New York Yankees).
Enos Slaughter, Marty Marion, Terry Moore, Howie Pollet, and Joe Garagiola (Cardinals’ 1946 World Champions).
Bob Feller (Cleveland Indians) – “curve-and-speed king,” with writeup on his strikeout records.
Mel Ott, Leo Durocher, and Connie Mack, all profiled as legendary managers.
Walter Johnson memorial tribute — a full-page feature honoring the passing of the Hall of Fame pitcher in 1946.
Complete 1946 “All-Star Team” photo montage with players in action poses, including Williams, Musial, Slaughter, Reese, and others.
The 1947 edition thus captures one of baseball’s most historically significant seasons — the first peacetime year after the war, the return of DiMaggio and Feller, and the Cardinals–Red Sox classic seven-game World Series.
This book is accompanied by a James Spence Authentication (JSA) Auction House Letter of Authenticity issued through Huggins & Scott Auctions.
How an Auction House LOA Works:
A JSA Auction House LOA is a recognized document issued for autographed items consigned through major auction houses such as Huggins & Scott.
JSA examines each signature prior to the auction and provides an opinion of authenticity for that specific sale.
The letter is valid for that item and lot number and reflects JSA’s opinion at the time of examination.
While not upgradeable to a full premium LOA without a new submission, it confirms that JSA reviewed and deemed the signature authentic before sale.
Huggins & Scott Review Process:
Before submission to JSA, every signed item undergoes Huggins & Scott’s in-house screening by experienced authenticators. Only those pieces passing visual and stylistic review are then forwarded to JSA for verification.
The result is a two-tier authentication — first by the auction house specialists, then by JSA — a standard recognized across the sports memorabilia industry.
This Stan Musial autograph exhibits multiple traits consistent with his authentic hand-signed examples:
Signature flow: Smooth, unbroken pen movement with even pressure — no signs of hesitation or tremor.
Characteristic “S” and “l” shapes: The tall, looping S in “Stan” and rounded l in “Musial” are textbook Musial traits seen in his mid-career signatures.
Spacing and slant: Slight rightward lean and balanced spacing between first and last name — typical of his natural signing rhythm.
Ink toning and paper aging: Blue ballpoint ink has aged evenly with the surrounding page, showing period authenticity rather than a modern addition.
Contextually appropriate inscription: The “1946 National League MVP” inscription directly references the content of this exact 1947 edition, which celebrates that achievement — an inscription Musial was known to personalize for collectors in later signings.
Combined with the JSA and Huggins & Scott review, the autograph displays every hallmark of a genuine Musial signature.