1968 Denny McLain Game Worn Detroit Tigers Jersey with Team Letter, MEARS A9.5....

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Thirty-one wins, Cy Young, MVP, World Championship season!

1968 Denny McLain Game Worn Detroit Tigers Jersey with Team Letter, MEARS A9.5.

UPDATE: It has been over fifty years since a pitcher won thirty games.

You'd have to go back to the early years of the Great Depression to find another thirty-win season, and in the past half-century the sport has only moved further away from any possibility such a feat could be repeated. In fact, it's arguably more likely that we'll see another .400 season, or another fifty-six-game hitting streak, before any Major League hurler will duplicate the victory tally of Denny McLain's masterpiece of 1968.

It's no hyperbole to put that season on the short list of the greatest ever supplied to American sports, as a review of the ace right-hander's trophy case would confirm: American League Cy Young, American League MVP, World Championship ring. The rare few relics to surface from that glorious campaign are highly coveted by advanced collectors, and this stunning garment ranks at the top of that thin supply.

Elegant in its simplicity, the home white flannel garment restricts its design features to the Old English logo "D" over the heart, McLain's number "17" on verso, and navy piping at the collar and button path. Lower left front tail provides the proper "Wilson [size] 42" label and the all-important "1968" embroidered year swatch. Solid, consistent game wear is evident throughout, and lower right tail bears a 10/10 black sharpie autograph from the jersey's superstar original owner. The half-point deduction in the MEARS assessment is for minor spotting on front.

Ironclad provenance is supplied in the form of a 1971 letter on Tigers letterhead from the public relations director for the team, who writes, in part, "The 1968 Tiger uniform shirt No. 17, which I am sending you, was worn by Denny McLain, the Tigers' right-handed pitcher, during the championship season." Also included in the lot is a PSA NM-MT 8 example of 1969 Topps #11 1968 Strikeout Leaders card. LOA from MEARS, A9.5. LOA from Heritage Auctions. Letter of provenance from Detroit Tigers, 1971. Full LOA from PSA/DNA (autograph).

Denny McLain