Legendary designated hitter and 500 Home Run Club member David Ortiz wore this Red Sox home jersey in 2003, his first season with the club after spending the first five seasons of his career with the Minnesota Twins. Ortiz, at the age of 27, had a breakout year in 2003, setting new career-highs with 31 homers and 101 RBI to go with a .288 batting average. “Big Papi” finished fifth in American League MVP voting, and led the Red Sox to the ALCS, where they fell to the Yankees in a brutal and thrilling seven game series, in which Ortiz clubbed another two home runs. Ortiz played the remainder of his career for the Red Sox, hitting 483 of his 541 career home runs in Boston before retiring at the end of the 2016 season. In 2017, the Red Sox retired Ortiz’s number “34”, placing him in a lofty pantheon next to players like Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski.

     This white, button down home jersey has “RED SOX” sewn across the chest in red and navy blue tackle twill. Ortiz’s number “34” is sewn on the back of the jersey in red and navy blue tackle twill. A MLB logo patch, albeit one with loose stitching, is sewn on the back outside collar of the jersey. Red piping accents the front of the jersey. Russell Athletic and “2003” tags are sewn on the front left tail of the jersey. Size “50”, “+2[inch] Body Length”, and “+2[inch] Sleeve Length” flags are attached to the Rawlings tag. This jersey comes with a LOA from MEARS, who have assigned an exemplary grade of A9.5 to the jersey. In addition, the jersey comes with a letter from the original consignor of the jersey stating he received the jersey directly from Ortiz when he was the director of sales at PC Richard & Sons Electronic Company. The letter states the jersey was given to him in exchange for state of the art electronic equipment. This provenance was also referenced in the Mears letter of authenticity when they graded the jersey an A9.5.

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