In the 1970s, MLB’s all-time hit leader Pete Rose starred on the famous "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati teams that won back-to-back World Series championships in 1975 and 1976. Then, after signing with the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent in 1979, Rose helped the Phillies win the first World Series title in their franchise history in 1980. Rose also won three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, the Rookie of the Year Award and had 10 seasons with 200-plus hits and nine consecutive .300 hitting seasons. Any baseball fan in the 1970s will also remember Rose grabbing the national spotlight when he became the first, and currently only, player since Joe DiMaggio to hit safely in over 40 consecutive games when he went for 44 straight games in 1978.

While Rose’s career spanned 24 seasons, 1973 season was an extremely special year for Rose. He led the Major League in hits with 230 and the National League in batting average at .338 en route to his only MVP award. This offered size 44 Rawlings Cincinnati Reds home jersey was worn by Rose during his MVP 1973 season. The front of this white pullover jersey has Rose’s number “14” sewn on in red tackle twill and the Reds’ wishbone “C” logo sewn on in red tackle twill with white embroidery. The Rawlings tag is sewn on the inside front right tail. “W” is handwritten on the tag in black marker. The back of the jersey has “ROSE” and “14” sewn on in red tackle twill. The sleeve-ends have a red and white ribbed material and the V-neck collar has a red/white/red pattern. Rose has signed his name in black marker below the “1” on the back and inscribed “Hit King 4256 1963 NL ROY 1973 NL MVP”. This jersey displays moderate game use and comes with a LOA from Sports Investors Authentication (191213F7) for the game use and a LOA from JSA (BB36701) for the signature.

Auction Notepad