Babe Ruth 100th Anniversary Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/12/2014
The last Opening Day at the Old Yankee Stadium was Joe Girardi's first as the team's new manager. To ensure the day ending in a win, Girardi sent Manuel Rivera in to pitch the 9th and he performed his usual: 3 batters, 1 K, no hits, no runs, no runners reached base. Arguably baseball’s all-time greatest closer, Mariano Rivera has signed the jersey he wore that last Opening Day twice: once on the "2" on the back in white ink and on the front in black marker just below the "NY". Rivera added the notation "Game Used Opening Day 4-1-08 Last Opening Day at Original Stadium" to mark the historical occasion. The Majestic jersey is the team's timeless home white pinstripes and sports the famous intertwined "NY" in navy tackle twill on the left chest. The left sleeve of the jersey features a commemorative patch that reads “1923 2008” with the years separated by a home plate emblem and the words “Yankee Stadium” below. The right sleeve features a second special patch, “MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ALL-STAR GAME, N.Y.C., 2008” in honor of the Yankees playing host to the mid-season classic that year. The front tail of the white home pinstripe jersey features the Majestic label with added "2008" and "48" tagging. MLB hologram sticker BB 931191 and Steiner hologram 49189 is affixed to the Majestic label. The back has Rivera's number "42" in navy tackle twill. The jersey shows minimal game use and displays beautifully. This one-of-a-kind jersey comes with a Letter of Authenticity from PSA/DNA (V08328) and JSA (Y21859).