Martin Luther King Jr., signed items relating to baseball are exceedingly scarce. Offered here is one of those rarities, which is just the second such example we have ever seen: a Brooklyn Dodgers ticket stub signed by MLK on the reverse. PSA has encapsulated the ticket stub and certified the signature as Authentic. King's signature, "M. L. King," has been scripted in blue ink on the reverse of the stub, with the signature grading 5/10.

The ticket was issued for a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Ebbets Field on July 18, 1957. King was in town that day at the request of evangelist Billy Graham, who invited King to deliver the invocation at "Billy Graham's New York City Crusade," held at Madison Square Garden. Obviously, while in New York, King took time to catch a game in Brooklyn. Lelands recently offered another ticket to this game, also signed by Martin Luther King Jr., which appeared as Lot 951 in our 2023 Spring auction. That former ticket was handed down to our consignor by his grandfather, who attended the game and personally had King sign it for him. Unbeknownst to us at the time, the grandfather had two tickets signed by King that day, with the second ticket going to a different family member. This is that second ticket, consigned directly by the other family member. 

Very few items have such outstanding "crossover" appeal as this piece, as it touches upon several different areas of collecting, including baseball, politics, civil rights, religion, and pop culture. The stub (1.25x2.75") displays a moderate-to-heavy horizontal crease and a few tiny areas of surface paper loss on the reverse (not affecting the signature).