United States Congressman & Senator from Kentucky

Member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame

In 1964, he pitched only the 7th perfect game in MLB history at that time!

Signed United States Senate Card

(1931-2017) Born in Southgate, Kentucky, he graduated from Xavier University in 1953. Bunning, a baseball pitcher, signed a professional contract with the Detroit Tigers, and pitched his first game in the major leagues on July 20, 1955. During his 17 year professional career, from 1955 to 1971, he pitched for the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Los Angeles Dodgers. When he retired in 1971, he had the second-highest total career strikeouts in Major League history, and currently ranks 22nd all time. Bunning pitched his first no-hitter on July 20, 1958, for the Tigers against the Boston Red Sox, and as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, he pitched the seventh perfect game in Major League Baseball history, on June 21, 1964, the first game of a Father's Day doubleheader at Shea Stadium, in New York, against the New York Mets. It was the first perfect game in the National League since 1880! As of 2023, there have been only 24 perfect games in MLB history, and that includes both the American & National Leagues since the 1800's. During Jim Bunning's illustrious MLB career, he was selected to 9 All-Star teams, he led the American League in wins in 1957, with 20, as a member of the Detroit Tigers, he led the American League in strikeouts twice, in 1959 and 1960, with the Tigers, and the National League once, in 1967, with the Philadelphia Phillies. His uniform number 14 has been retired by the Phillies, and in 1984, Bunning was elected to the Philadelphia Phillies Baseball Wall of Fame. He was elected into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown in 1996. His career statistics include 224 wins, 2,855 strikeouts, and an earned run average of 3.27. He served as a Kentucky State Senator, 1980-84; a United States Congressman, from Kentucky, 1987-99; and was a United States Senator, from Kentucky, serving 1999-2011. During his time in the U.S. Congress, he served on the following committees: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Committee on the Budget; and the Committee on Finance. Jim Bunning died in Edgewood, Kentucky, on May 26, 2017, aged 85, following a stroke he had suffered. He was buried at St. Stephen Cemetery in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was the only Major League Baseball athlete to have been elected to both the United States Senate, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame!

Card Signature With Title as U.S. Senator: 5 x 3 card, partially imprinted, and signed in ink. "Jim Bunning." Printed below his beautiful autograph is Jim Bunning, United States Senator. Choice condition. Very desirable.