Following the 1978 regular season in which the Cincinnati Reds finished a mere two games in the loss column behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for second place in the National League Western Division, the Reds embarked on a goodwill exhibition tour of Japan. The Reds played 17 games against their Japanese counterparts, recording 14 wins and two losses and one tie and finishing the exhibition schedule with 12 straight victories.

Offered here is the very Cincinnati Reds road uniform – jersey and pants worn by Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson during the exhibition Tour of Japan. This is most likely the last ever Reds uniform worn by Anderson as he was fired on November 27th, 1978 only five days after returning from the Japan trip. The offered jersey is a size 40 Rawlings gray pullover with “CINCINNATI” and Anderson’s number “10” sewn on in red tackle twill. The back of the jersey has “ANDERSON” and “10” sewn on in red tackle twill. The V-neck collar has a red/white/red pattern and the sleeve ends are bordered in red and white. The Rawlings size 40 tag is sewn on the inside front center tail. The matching gray pants were also manufactured by Rawlings and features an expandable red/white/red waistband with a white draw string. The Rawlings logo patch is affixed to the upper right thigh and the Rawlings tag with “INSEAM 22”” and “SET 2 1978” flags is sewn on the inside back right.

This uniform set can be attributed to the Japan Tour based on Rawlings tags as the Reds jerseys and pants for the 1978 regular season were made by Wilson, who were the official supplier of the Reds between 1970 through 1984. The jersey displays mild wash and wear use, while the pants appear to be unwashed and unused with the tagging showing no wrinkling. Neither the jersey nor pants have any team repairs. This uniform set comes with a LOA from Sports Investors Authentication for the use. Additionally, there are photographs from the Japan Tour included with this lot.

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