DODGER JERSEY FOR THE AGES: JACKIE ROBINSON'S Jackie Robinson's No. 42, now retired from baseball, is in Grey Flannel Auction's Dec. 5 sale. The opening $50,000 bid is expected to jump quickly into six figures. Visit www.greyflannelauctions.com.
News-Antique.com - Nov 06,2007 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 5, 2007
For more information contact:
Richard Russek, President & CEO, (631) 288-7800, ext. 228
Michael Russek, Director of Operations, ext 230
T.J. Favila, Auction Director, ext. 221
DODGER JERSEY FOR THE AGES: JACKIE ROBINSON'S
WESTHAMPTON BEACH, N.Y. - Jackie Robinson's No. 42, now retired from all of baseball, is available as the premier lot in Grey Flannel Auction's Dec. 5 sale. The opening $50,000 bid is expected to jump quickly into six-figures.
Richard Russek, president and CEO of Grey Flannel, said Jackie Robinson jerseys available to the market are very rare. There is less than a handful known. Robinson, a baseball hall of famer and one of the most beloved Dodgers ever, was memorialized by Major League Baseball by having his No. 42 retired by all big league teams for his role as the player who broke the color barrier.
“This Dodger jersey, worn by one of the greatest athletes of all time, much less a stellar ball player, bears the script Dodgers brand, which with the New York Yankees is the greatest brand in sports,” Russek said. “Figure in the Dodger blue 42 worn by one of the most overall exciting players to wear a uniform and collectors have one of the most cherished pieces that could come to the auction block.”
Russek added that a significant percentage of the 900 lots, in keeping with a Grey Flannel tradition, are game-used jerseys. Among the most coveted pieces will be a Joe Morgan Houston flannel, an Early Wynn White Sox flannel jersey and one of Stan Musial's jerseys from 1962, when Musial's career was winding down.
“This jersey bears the Musial name across the back, something we take for granted today,” Russek explained. “But only in Stan-the-Man's last two years did teams add names, so this jersey represents not only one of baseball's great players and great jersey designs with the St. Louis Cardinals, but it marks a transitional time in sports fashion.”
Pitcher Bob Friend's 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates championship trophy also will be in the December sale. Of course, the '60 Series is remembered most for ending on Bill Mazeroski's home run over the left field wall, thus making it one of the most-remembered World Series ever. This trophy comes directly from Friend.
The sale is graced by numerous game-used jerseys by Who's Who from all sports. A Bobby Orr Boston Bruins road sweater from the early 1970s is particularly desirable. Other stars whose jerseys are represented in the sale are Gale Sayers, Joe Namath, Mark Messier and Hank Aaron.
'27 YANKS
A couple of items noting what many consider the greatest baseball team ever will be in the December sale. Two team-signed baseballs by the 1927 Yankees are will be sold in separate lots.
AMERICANA
The most infamous jersey in the sale is a piece of Americana, a bulletproof vest found in the home of notorious gangster Al Capone. The vest first came to market in 1992 during an auction of the Capone
