Consignments Wanted. Immediate need for Game Worn Jerseys, Game Used Bats, Autographs, Memorabilia of all categories. Collections big and small. Please contact Troy R. Kinunen at (414) 828-9990 or email troy@mearsonline.com
To view this lot and others in the MEARS February Auction please follow the below link…
http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.com/LotDetail.aspx?inventoryid=86587
Coming off his 1973 MVP Season, Reggie Jackson and the Oakland A’s continued to dominate and the franchise won its third straight World Championship, capped off one of the first modern era “Three Peats”.
By 1974 Reggie Jackson had established himself as one of the most featured hitters of all time. Having previously graced the cover of Sports Illustrated with less fanfare, this time the magazine editors christened Reggie with a new moniker.
With an image as big as his personality, the June 17, 1974 Sports Illustrated Cover featured Reggie sporting his flapless Oakland helmet. Wearing his gold, Alternate Uniform, the viewer sees all of the details of his ensemble including sun glasses, batting glove on right hand, green long sleeve undershirt, and white pants with yellow and green stripe.
Fitting of the man, the title of this magazine cover read, “Superduperstar”. A simple “super star” heading was inappropriate for a man of Reggie’s stature.
For this lot, MEARS proudly presents a complete uniform, identical to the one worn for this iconic cover shot. The jersey has been professional graded and evaluated by MEARS and the following facts have been determined:
Style: Shirt was issued as the gold pull over with rounded tail. Team logo, “A’s” and reverse “9”are green on white double tackle twill. “Jackson” appears on the reverse and is sewn directly onto the nameplate. Green and yellow elastic trims the sleeves and the metered “v” neck is green and white ribbed elastic. Comparison to available images confirms the style is correct.
McAuliffe is the manufacture. Examination of the blue bordered label confirms this shirt is of professional issue. Comparison to other known 1974 A’s shirts confirms McAuliffe as the correct supplier of 1974 A’s alternate shirts.
Size 42: Measurement of the actual shirt confirms it is consistent with the tagged size of 42. Comparison of this shirt to other period examples of Reggie Jackson game worn shirts confirms size 42 is correct for the era.
Game Wear: Shirt exhibits heavy game wear, an optimal amount for an alternate shirt. Heavy wear is evident to the tagging and lettering/numbering.
Autograph: The shirt is boldly autographed on the front by Reggie and reads, “1974 A’s, Game Jersey, Superduper Star Cover Jersey, Reggie Jackson”. A letter from PSA/DNA is included with this lot.
Provenance: The jersey originated from a member of Reggie Jackson’s entourage. Per the inscription by Reggie, he noted it was the same shirt as worn on the day he was photographed during the game that appears as the Sports Illustrated cover shot. Due to the lack of a reverse image to examine the back, MEARS cannot verify that statement and the memory of Reggie Jackson alone serves a provenance to the cover match.
Undershirt: The same style, long green sleeve McAuliffe undershirt with 9 in the collar is included.
Pants: The matching 1974 McAuliffe size 32 pants with Reggie’s #9 in waistband completes the uniform.
Final Grade 9.5: The shirt and uniform remain in exceptional condition. Some broken anchor stitching of the front A was the reason for a ½ deduction.
For the collector looking to add a “Superduperstar” Reggie Jackson jersey to your collection, this is the uniform for you.