This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/29/2020
This jersey was worn by Randy Johnson during his college baseball career at the University of Southern California. Playing for legendary Trojans coach Rob Dedeaux and teammates with fellow future Hall of Famer Mark McGwire, "The Big Unit" struggled with control problems as a young pitcher at USC from 1983-85. Nevertheless, his flame-throwing abilities and overall upside were enough to get him drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 2nd round of the 1985 MLB Draft. It took Johnson several years in the big leagues to master his craft, but when the intimidating 6' 10" southpaw did develop command for his 95+ MPH fastball and devastating slider, opposing batters had little chance. When his professional career was all said and done, only Nolan Ryan had struck out more batters than RJ's 4,875 over 22 MLB seasons. Among lefties, has the most K's ever (by a lot) and the fifth most wins at 303.
The home white knit jersey has tackle twill "Trojans" scripted across the front in USC's famed Cardinal red outlined in gold. Johnson's famed No. 51 is sewn on the back in the same format. A size 46 Rawlings manufacturer's label appears on the front right tail. The collar and sleeve ends are accented in Cardinal red with a gold stripe. The button-down shirt displays solid and consistent wear with numbers and letters puckering, wear-and-tear to the 'an' letters of the front team name, and evidence of bleeding from repeated laundering. It appears all-original and comes in terrific shape. College gamers from baseball Hall of Famers are incredibly rare pieces to find in the hobby. We sold McGwire's 1984 USC road jersey (with the same exact tagging) for $6,544 back in 2014. This one comes with an LOA from Bob Case, a notable memorabilia collector and evaluator (especially SoCal sports teams).