This is an official 1950 spring training program of the Boston Red Sox that was signed on the cover by Ted Willams and other Boston greats from the Red Sox. There are ten signatures altogether, including two baseball Hall of Famers, Ted Willams and Joe McCarthy, who managed the Yankees and Red Sox; McCarthy’s last major league game was June 18, 1950 and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1957. Ted Willams was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1966 and was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. The program was also signed by Walter Masterson, pitcher for the Sox, and Matt Batts, catcher for the team; by Bobby Doerr, second baseman who was elected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995; Johnny Pesky, whose number 6 was retired in 2008; Vern Stephens, and outfielders Billy Goodman, Al Zarilla, and Dom DiMaggio, Joe DiMaggio’s brother. The team was part of Florida’s Grapefruit League, a baseball league for teams who practiced in Florida during the spring time; Payne Park was a baseball field in Sarasota, Florida where the Red Sox practiced for spring training; the ballpark was built in 1924 and torn down in 1989, then converted into a public park for recreational events. Before 2004, the last time the Red Sox were World Series champions was in 1918, and we believe the statement on the back of the program which says “World Champions in 1950” was an aspirational one, not a misprint - they wanted to be World Series champions again in 1950 - but not to be. There was a pep song inside the program - Tropicana Welcomes Our Boys - and that’s why we believe the statement is an aspirational one, and not a misprint. For history buffs, Williams stayed in Room 406 at the Terrace Hotel in Sarasota when he was in spring training. Payne Park was just across the street from the Hotel, and it only cost 10 cents to get in to a spring training game in 1950. Size: 9 x 6 in.