Bob Elliott broke into the big leagues in 1939 and exceeded rookie limits in 1940. He then began a 11-year run of excellence. An All Star in 1941 and ’42, Elliott then drove in 100 or more runs in 6 of the next 8 seasons. He joined Pie Traynor as the second third baseman in MLB history to post at least five seasons of triple-digit RBI totals.
His finest year came in 1947 when he slashed .317/.410/.517. Elliott put up career best numbers in hits, RBI, total bases, and OPS+. For his work Elliott received the Most Valuable Player Award.
In 1951, Elliott was named to his sixth and final All Star team. Seven times during those 11 seasons he earned MVP consideration.
Elliott led all Major Leaguers in runs batted in for the decade of the 1940s, retired with 2,061 hits and finished his career as the all-time leader in homers and slugging percentage among big league third baseman.
Defensively, he led the league in assists three times, putouts and double plays twice each. At the time of his retirement he was in the top ten among NL third basemen in career games, assists, total chances and double plays.
Elliott died in 1966 at the age of 49 after suffering a ruptured windpipe and undergoing surgery for internal hemorrhaging.
In the collection is this postcard signed by Bob Elliott in 1948. See the next image for more explanation about the medium on which the autograph appears.