Debut tickets are the latest craze in the hobby. Prices continue to climb to unforeseen heights for these significant timestamps due to an aggressive pursuit from passionate collectors presumably more educated nowadays thanks to greater transparency of circulation data readily available at one’s fingertips. Without question, there is no debut more important and culturally impactful in sports history than that of Jack Roosevelt Robinson. Proudly, we present to the market this exceptionally rare ticket stub from Jackie Robinson’s first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15th, Opening Day, of the 1947 Major League season.
That day, Jackie Robinson courageously broke baseball’s color barrier, righting a longstanding wrong by setting off on a long and treacherous journey toward equality amidst an endless array of racial slurs and death threats. Starting at first base and batting second in the Dodger lineup, Robinson went hitless in three official at-bats. He did reach on an error in the seventh and scored the eventual go-ahead run in Brooklyn’s 5-3 victory over the Boston Braves in front of an Ebbets Field crowd of 26,623. Of course, Jackie would go on to take National League Rookie of the Year honors and finish fifth in MVP voting after scoring 125 runs and leading the NL in steals.
Only eight stubs from this monumental game have ever been authenticated by PSA according to its population report, the highest being Good 2. This is one of five “Authentic” examples, yet it may be the most aesthetically pleasing of them all, including the three with number grades. Fully intact with no noticeable creasing, a clean surface, relatively sharp corners and smooth edges, the 75-year-old ticket displays just minor wrinkling and light handling wear on the front. It maintains its original pinkish glow, allowing the bold red text of “OPENING DAY 1947” and Branch Rickey’s black facsimile signature to really stand out. The blank reverse indicates the stub was either removed from a scrapbook or matted for display purposes at some point, hence its “Authentic” designation. One of the two PSA GD 2 stubs sold for $480,000 three months ago. There’s no denying that this one has even better eye appeal.