1911 Jack Killilay Game Worn Boston Red Sox Jersey, MEARS A7....

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One of the earliest Red Sox jerseys known!

1911 Jack Killilay Game Worn Boston Red Sox Jersey, MEARS A7. Three days after Jack Killilay threw his final Major League pitch, in late September of 1911, shovels broke the dirt on a plot of land near Boston's Brookline Avenue for a ballpark that would be named for the Fenway neighborhood that surrounded it. Ahead was the greatest decade in Boston Red Sox history--four World Championships in a seven-season span--though Killilay would not enjoy the glory personally, instead returning to the midwest of his birth with this jersey in his satchel. Today it stands as one of just a tiny handful of Red Sox uniform exemplars to predate Fenway Park's grand opening, worn during an age when Ty Cobb, Frank "Home Run" Baker and "Shoeless Joe" Jackson tested Killilay's pitching nerve.

The garment is crafted from a heavy grey wool flannel that must have been pure misery in the dog days of summer, adorned only by three-inch block lettering announcing "Boston" in faded red felt on the chest. Attribution to Killilay appears in yellow thread at interior collar, just above a local Boston "Wright & Ditson" manufacturer's label. Killilay's single season of Major League service supplies the vintage.

Heavy game wear suggests a degree of post-MLB use, but the garment still presents wonderfully, the trimmed collar quite possibly a period player customization, and some bleeding of the identifiers on chest causing little distraction. MEARS notes also that the top button is replaced. Minor moth damage, only apparent upon close inspection, and a hint of age-toning, finalizes the point deductions in reaching the A7 rating. Certainly it should go without saying that any faults must be forgiven in light of the tremendous rarity and desirability of Dead Ball Era flannel, and this important relic falls well within the bounds of acceptable condition. LOA from MEARS, A7. LOA from Heritage Auctions.