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LOT #82121 |

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1965 Sandy Koufax Game Worn Los Angeles Dodgers Jersey, MEARS A10....

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1965 Sandy Koufax Game Worn Los Angeles Dodgers Jersey, MEARS A10.

"There are two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up," reported Al Campanis, the Dodgers scout who made one of the most significant pitching discoveries in the sport's history. "The first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the first time I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball." Though the University of Cincinnati southpaw would pitch seven seasons in the Majors before leading the National League in anything other than wild pitches, Koufax would develop into arguably the most dominant pitcher of any era, and come to epitomize the notion of "going out on top," closing his short but brilliant career with five consecutive seasons atop the Earned Run Average leaderboard, claiming three Cy Young Awards and an MVP in the process.

Three National League pennants and two Fall Classic victories during this period were likewise the spoils of war owed in large part to the sport's consummate hurler, and the provided home white flannel garment emerges from Koufax' final World Championship season, one awash in the bold black ink of Senior Circuit-topping statistics: victories (26), winning percentage (.765), ERA (2.04), complete games (27), innings pitched (335.2), strikeouts (382) and WHIP (.855), the final four tallies each a career-best for the 1972 first-ballot Hall of Famer. Willie Mays would nudge Koufax out of the 1965 National League MVP Award, but the Cy Young Award voting was a shutout victory for the unhittable ace, all twenty ballots cast in his favor.

The elite vintage and faultless MEARS rating establish the presented Koufax representation as the finest available in the hobby, and one of the most significant post-war game used articles ever made available to the collecting market. The style is classic and unmistakable, a blue scripted "Dodgers" rising over a red number "32" that struck fear into the hearts of National League batsmen. Number "32" is repeated in larger blue digits on reverse. Lower left front tail provides the proper "Tim McAuliffe Inc." manufacturer's label, softened from wear characterized as "light to moderate," with "'65" year and "44" size designator below. An embroidered white felt swatch reading "Koufax" in blue completes the assembly.

As the A10 rating underscores, the jersey survives in 100% original and unaltered condition down to the last thread and button, lacking any hint of the staining or moth damage typical of decades-old flannel. Much like the man who wore it during at the pinnacle of his career, it is a relic that finds no challenger in its supremacy, the only perfect ten-rated 1965 Koufax in the hobby. LOA from MEARS, A10. LOA from Heritage Auctions.