1936-1937 Dizzy Dean St. Louis Cardinals Game-Used Road Jersey MEARS A9 - Newly Discovered

Sold For:

$114,000

Year:

1936

Auction:

2024 Summer

Lot #:

2486

Category:

Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

One of the finest baseball jerseys to ever come to the marketplace, let alone as a new find to the collecting world. Presented is a 1936-1937 St. Louis Cardinals road flannel jersey worn by Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean. Graded A9 by MEARS. The flannel pullover jersey is embroidered “Cardinals” across the chest in red with blue trim, with the team’s famous logo (a black bat with a cardinal on either end) embroidered directly above. “Dizzy Dean” is stitched in red on the left front tail. Dean’s number “17” appears on the reverse in red felt with black trim. A “42” size tag is in the collar, below the red silk Rawlings manufacturer’s label. Red with blue piping runs around the neckline, down the button front, and also appears at the end of the sleeves. The jersey, which is completely original, is unaltered and displays heavy use. This jersey has for decades been a keepsake of a family who has no connection to the world of organized collecting. The jersey was obtained back in the 1940s from a gentleman who owned a Spalding Sporting Goods store in Long Beach, California. The store owner needed foot surgery and met with our consignor's dad. As a token of appreciation after the surgery, he gave the doctor's son (our consignor) the jersey. As far as baseball uniforms of the era of the 1930s are concerned, only those of Ruth, Gehrig and DiMaggio would be considered by most advanced collectors to be more desirable than that of Dizzy Dean. It is also the case that there are more examples of Ruth and Gehrig jerseys, and many more examples of DiMaggio jerseys, than that of Dizzy Dean. To the best of our knowledge there are only four Dizzy Dean jerseys known to exist (two road and two home), and the offered example is the only 1936 Dizzy Dean St. Louis Cardinals road jersey known to exist. This is an extremely rare style jersey, which was worn by the Cardinals only during the 1936 and possibly the 1937 seasons. Dean’s pitching career began in 1932, and was brief but spectacular. Between 1932 and 1936 he won 120 games, including thirty in 1934. He was also one of the game’s most popular and irrepressible characters, and the central figure of St. Louis’ legendary “Gas House Gang” of the 1930s. Turning to the radio booth after his playing days, he delighted thousands of listeners with his homespun humor and unique take on the English language. Dizzy Dean earned his place in baseball history and the Hall of Fame on the diamond, but also made a lasting and powerful impression on popular American culture with his personality. Armed with the wisdom of Will Rogers, the communication skills of Yogi Berra, and possessed by the rowdy spirit of the Gas House Gang, Dizzy Dean is one of baseball’s few larger-than-life personalities whose popularity and legend transcends the game. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1953. This Dizzy Dean jersey is an extraordinary find. It is one of the collecting world’s most desirable baseball jerseys, and one of the greatest treasures of baseball memorabilia of any kind that could possibly exist from the 1930s. It is an honor for Robert Edward Auctions to present this exciting and fresh-to-the-organized-collecting-world find. Graded A9 by MEARS (base grade of 10, but minus a point for fraying to numeral/wear to collar tag/staining). Full LOA from MEARS. Opening Bid $20,000.