Summer Premium Live and Catalog Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/4/2016
In 1976 Rod Carew hit .331, and didn’t win the batting title! Despite this lofty mark, Carew was beaten out by George Brett, who hit .333 and Hal McRae, who hit .332 in a batting race which came down to a controversial ending. It was during this 1976 bi-centennial season when Carew wore this white, home knit pullover Twins jersey. The front features the Twins name in script with paraph and his number “29” below, and as the only item on the reverse. The left shoulder contains the Twins team patch while the right shoulder is blank. A bold, black marker “Rod Carew” signature adorns the left chest. Within the collar is the “Wilson 42” manufacturers size tag while the lower front tail has a white strip tag with “76 Set 3” stitched in black thread. This Set 3 is significant as this was likely the final of three different home jerseys issued to Carew that season. Usually two jerseys are issued, Set 1 worn before the All Star break, and Set 2 after the break. This Set 3 would have been issued at the end of the year when the batting controversy occurred. Going into the final game of the season, Minnesota was playing at Kansas City.
Entering the contest, George Brett led the league with a .331 average, followed by McRae at .330 and Carew at .329. each batter had two hits until Brett came up in his final at bat, and hit an inside the park home run, which was “misplayed” by Twins leftfielder Steve Brye, a ball which seemingly could (and should) have been caught. McRae made an out in his final at bat, and Brett won the title. Carew did his part, going 2-4 to boost his average 2 points.
The jersey displays tremendous game use with light stains and overall wear, has all the proper tagging and is all original and unaltered.
In their Letter of Opinion, MEARS states “this is the only and highest graded 1970s Rod Carew Home jersey examined by our expert staff.” This jersey is extremely nice, and represents one of the nicest 1970s Hall of Famer game worn jersey available. This jersey comes with a full LOA from MEARS (Graded A10) and a LOA from PSA/DNA (AA06115) for the signature.