Monte Stratton hand picked Jimmy Stewart to portray him in the 1949 Academy Award winning film, “The Stratton Story”. The love story was based on the pitcher’s life, centering around his relationship with his wife.
It featured his rise to the big leagues and the hunting accident that cost him his leg at age 26. Stratton’s indomitable will enabled him to return to professional baseball. After the amputation, Stratton pitched in the minors until he was 41 years old.
Stratton was a willing signer through the mail for autograph collectors. Though examples of his autograph are plentiful, the one shown above is quite desirable.
Here’s the backstory: In 1909 Louis Heilbroner founded Heilbroner’s Baseball Bureau Service, the first commercial statistical bureau dedicated entirely to baseball. Heilbroner gathered biographical information on players using 3×5 cards. This is one such card.
Stratton filled out and signed this before the lanky right-hander threw his first big league pitch in 1934. The front of this card shows Stratton’s birthplace, height, and weight and his preference of pitching and hitting from the right side. The former All Star Stratton has neatly signed the bottom of the card.