Monford Merrill "Monte" Irvin (February 25, 1919 – January 11, 2016) was an American left fielder and right fielder in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who played with the Newark Eagles (1938–1942, 1946–1948), New York Giants (1949–1955) and Chicago Cubs (1956). He grew up in New Jersey and was a standout football player at Lincoln University. Irvin left Lincoln to spend several seasons in Negro league baseball. His career was interrupted by military service from 1943 to 1945.When he joined the New York Giants, Irvin became one of the earliest African-American MLB players. He played in two World Series for the Giants. When future Hall of Famer Willie Mays joined the Giants in 1951, Irvin was asked to mentor him. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. After his playing career, Irvin was a baseball scout and held an administrative role with the MLB commissioner's office. At the time of his death, Irvin was the oldest living former Negro Leagues player, New York Giant and Chicago Cub. He lived in a retirement community in Houston before his death.

Irvin played for the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League in 1938. Larry Doby, the first player to break the color barrier in the American League, was Irvin's double play partner with Newark at one time. After hitting for high batting averages of .422 and .396 (1940–41), Irvin asked for a raise before the 1942 season. When that was denied, he left the Negro leagues for the Mexican League, where he won a triple crown; he had a .397 batting average and 20 home runs in 63 games.

Following the 1942 Mexican League season, Irvin was drafted into military service. Joining the army's GS Engineers, 1313th Battalion, for the next three years, Irvin was deployed to England, France, and Belgium, and he served in the Battle of the Bulge. Irvin said that while many black soldiers had been treated badly by their white counterparts, the situation improved for black soldiers as many white soldiers realized the contradiction in an oppressed group being sent to Europe to fight for the oppressed people in other countries. Irvin's military service left him with ringing in the ears, which affected his coordination.

After World War II, Irvin was approached by Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey about being signed for the major leagues, but Irvin felt he was not ready to play at that level so soon after leaving the service. The Newark Eagles business manager, Effa Manley, would not let Rickey sign Irvin without compensation. Rickey had already obtained Jackie Robinson without paying for his rights to his Negro league clubs. Said Irvin, ... from a purely business standpoint, Mrs. Manley felt that Branch Rickey was obligated to compensate her for my contract. That position probably delayed my entry into the major leagues ... Mrs. Manley told Rickey that he had taken Don Newcombe for no money but she wasn't going to let him take me without some compensation. Furthermore, if he tried to do it, she would sue and fight him in court ... Rickey contacted her to say he was no longer interested released me ... the Giants picked up my contract.

Irvin earned MVP honors in the 1945–46 Puerto Rican Winter League. He returned to the Newark Eagles in 1946 to lead his team to a league pennant. Irvin won his second batting championship, hitting .401, and was instrumental in beating the Kansas City Monarchs in a seven-game Negro League World Series, batting .462 with three home runs. He was a five-time Negro League All-Star (1941, 1946–1948, including two games in 1946). He spent the winter of 1948–49 in Cuba.

In 1949, the New York Giants paid $5,000 for Irvin's contract. He was one of the first black players to be signed, as Jackie Robinson had only broken the MLB color line in 1947. Assigned to Jersey City of the International League, Irvin batted .373. He debuted with the Giants on July 8, 1949, as a pinch hitter. Back with Jersey City in 1950, he was called up after hitting .510 with ten home runs in 18 games. Irvin batted .299 for the Giants that season, playing first base and the outfield.

In 1951, Irvin sparked the Giants' miraculous comeback to overtake the Dodgers in the pennant race, batting .312 with 24 homers and a league-best 121 runs batted in (RBI), en route to the World Series (he went 11–24 for .458). In the third game of the playoff between the Giants and Dodgers, Irvin popped out in the bottom of the ninth inning before Bobby Thomson hit the Shot Heard 'Round the World. That year Irvin teamed with Hank Thompson and Willie Mays to form the first all-black outfield in the majors. Later, he finished third in the NL's MVP voting.

During that season, Giants manager Leo Durocher asked Irvin to serve as a mentor for Mays, who had been called up to the team in May. Mays later said, "In my time, when I was coming up, you had to have some kind of guidance. And Monte was like my brother ... I couldn't go anywhere without him, especially on the road ... It was just a treat to be around him. I didn't understand life in New York until I met Monte. He knew everything about what was going on and he protected me dearly." Irvin later replied, "I did that for two years and in the third year he started showing me around."

Irvin suffered a broken ankle during a spring training game in Denver in 1952, jamming his ankle on third base while sliding. "It was a horrible thing to see," reported Mays. However, Irvin returned in time to be named to his only Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1952. He appeared in only 46 games that season, hitting .310 with four home runs and 21 RBI. Irvin hit .329 with 21 home runs and 97 RBI in 1953, finishing 15th in the league MVP voting. The following season, he hit .262 with 19 home runs and 64 RBI, with the Giants winning the pennant and facing the Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series. Irvin was in left field when Mays, playing center field, made "The Catch" on a deep drive off the bat of Vic Wertz in Game 1. The Giants went on to win the Series in four games, with Irvin collecting two hits in nine at bats.

This Monte Irvin Autographed New York Giants 8x10 photograph is certified Authentic by JSA COA #I79832 and REM Fine Collectibles. 

https://www.spenceloa.com/verify-authenticity/results?certificateNumber=I79832