1962 Stan Musial St. Louis Cardinals Signed Game-Used Road Jersey - Rare Name-on-Back Jersey - MEARS A10

Sold For:

$66,000

Year:

1962

Auction:

2017 Spring

Lot #:

2033

Category:

Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

St. Louis Cardinals road jersey worn by Hall of Fame outfielder/first baseman Stan Musial in 1962. Graded A10 by MEARS. This jersey holds the special distinction of displaying Musial's name on the reverse, which makes it one of the rarest of all Musial game-used items. 1962 was the first season in which the Cardinals began the practice of putting player names on its jerseys. Since Musial retired after the 1963 season, very few examples bearing his name on the reverse exist. (If teams did issue only two home and road jerseys each season, then fewer than ten such jerseys were ever produced for Musial.) It's rarity notwithstanding, this is also one of the finest Musial jerseys we have ever handled and one that is well deserving of its lofty grade of A10 by MEARS. The gray flannel jersey features the Cardinals team logo embroidered on the front, with the number "6" on the left breast and reverse. "Musial" is lettered on the reverse directly above the number. All letters and numerals are appliquéd in red on blue felt. The name "Musial" and the year, "62," are chain-stitched in red on the left front tail, above which is a "Rawlings 44" label. Located on the left interior front tail are a laundry tag and an adjacent flag tag reading "Set 1 1962." Musial has signed the jersey in black marker (grading "7") on the right front tail. The jersey is original as issued and displays heavy wear, which is evenly distributed throughout the garment. As noted earlier, 1962 was Musial's penultimate season in the majors and even after twenty seasons, "The Man" proved he was still one of the top hitters in the game. Playing in 135 games, Musial batted .330 with 19 home runs and 82 RBI, with his average ranking third best in the league. Few players in the game have ever equaled Musial's skill at the plate. A seven-time National League batting champion and three-time MVP Award winner, he ranks in the top ten in a number of important offensive categories including runs, hits, doubles, total bases and runs batted in. He retired in 1963 with a career average of .331 and the reputation as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. High-grade Musial jerseys are scarce. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of only five Musial jerseys ever graded A10 by MEARS and the only Musial road jersey we have ever seen dating from 1962. LOA from MEARS and auction LOA from James Spence/JSA. Pre certified by Steve Grad and Brian Sobrero/Beckett Authentication. Opening Bid $10,000. Estimate $40,000+.