This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/24/2016
Steve Carlton, a hard-throwing southpaw, was affectionately known as “Lefty” throughout his 24-year MLB career. He racked up an incredible 329 victories during his tenure, 15 seasons of which were spent with the Philadelphia Phillies. His early seasons, however, were spent pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1965 to ’71. His first 77 big league wins came as a member of the Cardinals, including 13 W’s from the 1968 season in which he struck out 162 batters over 232 innings pitched.
This lot features Lefty’s 1968 St. Louis Cardinals game-worn home jersey from that productive season. The offered jersey is stunning, in prime all-original condition yet showing remnants of game use. All its elements are simply sublime, from the pristine black-and-red felt letters and numbers on the front and back to the elegant chenille Cardinals two-bird logo above the cursive "Cardinals" on the front. The jersey carries the red Rawlings tag (size 44) on the front-left tail (shows some slight fraying of the edges), plus the cleaning tag at the bottom of the tail and a small adjacent flag tag with "Set 1 1968." Between the two tags is "Carlton 68" in scripted red stitching. The Baseball Hall of Famer has added a striking black Sharpie autograph to the front of the shirt beneath his number “32,” adding the inscription: "HOF 94." All seven original buttons on the front of the jersey remain intact. This is truly an exceptional piece of game-worn uniform from one of Major League Baseball’s most productive left-handers in history. Did you know he won four Cy Young Awards and struck out 4,136 batters?
Autograph is pre-certified by PSA/DNA.