Presented is a 1925 Fred Merkle signed New York Yankees payroll check which also features the signatures of Yankees business manager Ed Barrow and owner Jacob Ruppert. The former Yankees first baseman has signed his name in black pen on the endorsement line on the back of the white paper check dated October 3, 1925 in the amount of $604.92.  The front of the check from the account of “The American League Base Ball Club of New York, Inc.” at Manufacturer’s Trust features black type and red and white stamped text. Barrow has signed his name at the front left margin of the check in black pen, while Ruppert has signed his name in black pen in the front lower right corner. Merkle played his first Major League game at the age of 18, with the New York Giants in 1907. He was still the youngest player in the National League, and used mostly as a pinch hitter, at the time of his infamous base-running "boner" in 1908. Merkle played  for the Giants from 1907 to 1916, for the Brooklyn Robins (1916-1917), the Chicago Cubs (1917 to 1920), then spent over four years in the minors before he returned to the Major Leagues in mid-1925, when he was acquired by the Yankee, but appeared in only seven games with the Yankees that year and one in 1926. This item has been authenticated and encapsulated by PSA/DNA (84138221) and the signatures are graded Authentic.

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