1950 Warren Spahn Game Worn Boston Braves Jersey, MEARS A8....

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Baseball's winningest southpaw leads the National League for the second consecutive season

1950 Warren Spahn Game Worn Boston Braves Jersey, MEARS A8. No left hander, and no pitcher who played even a single game after the Second World War, recorded more victories than the original owner of the presented garment. After earning a Purple Heart and a battlefield commission, the sturdy ace returned from combat to the Majors more grateful than ever for our National Pastime, telling reporters, "I felt like, wow, what a great way to make a living. If I goof up, there's going to be a relief pitcher coming in there. Nobody's going to shoot me."

"Goof ups" were few and far between this 1950, however, as Spahn led at Senior Circuit pitchers with twenty-one victories and 191 strikeouts, the latter a career-best for the 1973 Hall of Fame inductee. He'd earn his third of seventeen All-Star nods this year, and though Spahn would see no action in this Midsummer Classic, the National League was the visiting team at the Comiskey Park affair, suggesting the possibility that this was the jersey Spahn wore on the sidelines.

Considered by most uniform collectors as the most aesthetically impressive style in post-war baseball fashion, this jersey commands attention even before the number "21" on verso reminds the observer just who it was that once wore it. The scripted black and red felt "Braves" gives way to a gorgeously rendered tomahawk on the chest, with the replaced zipper on front keeping the design tight and complete. The Indian head patch is a masterpiece of design on the left sleeve that housed Spahn's million-dollar throwing arm. Interior collar is labeled "Horace Partridge Athletic Goods Boston [size] 42" above an embroidered "Spahn" swatch. A second embroidered swatch at interior rear tail provides the "'50" designation of vintage. Game wear is assessed as "Heavy" by the experts at MEARS, who deduct single points only for the aforementioned zipper replacement and scattered small fabric tears quite possibly attributable to game wear. Neither of these issues is a visual distraction. A few spots of foxing are likewise innocuous.

The jersey comes to us from a legendary figure in University of Michigan football circles, Jack Weisenburger, the "spinning" fullback best remembered for his three touchdowns in the forty-nine to zero destruction of USC in the 1948 Rose Bowl. Weisenburger was offered a contract with the Braves following his senior season and attended spring training in 1949, 1950 and 1951, befriending Spahn who was generous with his instruction and encouragement of rookies. The jersey was a gift from Spahn to Weisenburger after 1951 training, a form of consolation prize after the latter was informed he'd again be sent back to the minors. A matching pair of Braves pants are labeled "Extra '50" inside. Striped Braves stirrups complete the ensemble. His letter of provenance will accompany the jersey. LOA from MEARS, A8. LOA from Heritage Auctions .Letter of provenance from Jack Weisenburger.

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