This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/18/2014
Curious to consider that a jersey from a team that lost 120 games in a season might be a Holy Grail item for that franchise, but all bets are off when it comes to the 1962 New York Mets. Presented is an extremely rare and extraordinary flannel road jersey from the New York Mets' inaugural season of 1962. It has been graded a perfect A10 by MEARS. This is the uniform of Sherman Jones, whose 0-4 record in eight games, and impressive 7.71 era played a role in keeping the club on pace and helping the 1962 Mets achieve baseball immortality. It's a nice touch to note that Jones was the starting - and obviously losing - pitcher in the home opener at the Polo Grounds on Friday, April 13. In a notoriously superstitious national pastime, launching a home season on a Friday the 13th seemed like tempting fate, and so it turned out to be. With legendary figures like Casey Stengel at the helm and boasting a number of baseball greats (albeit well past their prime) such as Richie Ashburn and Gil Hodges, the Mets set a single-season record of ineptitude that remains to this day. The team began the year with nine straight losses, and as odd as it sounds, things went downhill from there. A befuddled New York press accustomed to singing the praises of the overachieving Yankees in the Bronx wasn't sure what to make of all this but eventually got on board as the legend of the "Amazin's" grew with each passing year. Spurned National League fans still mourning the departure of the their beloved Bums from Brooklyn five years earlier started a love affair with the Mets that at the time was bewildering in its intensity and fervor, but has only grown in mythology over the ensuing half century.
With such staggering historical import comes this offered flannel road uniform worn by one of the beloved original Mets.
It is all original, with no alterations, a 1962 gray road jersey with lettered "New York" across the front and features the number "36" on the reverse. All letters and numerals are appliquéd in blue felt on orange tackle twill. A circular New York Mets team patch adorns the left sleeve. The uniform number and year ("36-1962") are chain-stitched in black upon a gray strip tag in the collar. A "Wilson 46" label appears on the left front tail. The jersey displays light wear.
Includes Letter from MEARS A10.