2019 Winter Auction Closing March 2
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/2/2019
Following his 4-year stint as manager of the New York Mets, Yogi Berra came home to serve as a coach for his beloved New York Yankees. Berra would spend eight seasons as coach in the Bronx, taking part in the World Series titles of 1977 and 1978. It was during the 1977 season that Berra donned this Wilson size 44 button-down pinstripe jersey. Featuring the iconic interlocking “NY” on the upper left chest and Berra’s number “8” on the back in matching blue tackle-twill, the jersey displays heavy game use. The manufacturer’s tag is found on the front left tail, and an ID strip tag on the interior collar reads “Berra 77 1”. Berra signed his name in black marker above the interlocking “NY” on the front of the jersey. This exceptional jersey worn by an all-time Yankee great is accompanied by a LOA from MEARS (314517) grading it a solid A9. Additionally, there is a LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication (A19462) for Berra’s signature.
Included in this lot are the game pants Berra wore during the second championship season of 1978. These pinstriped pants were manufactured by Wilson and have a waist size of 38. The Wilson tag is sewn on the inside back waist and the team tag, which reads “Berra 78 2 23”, is sewn on adjacent to the Wilson tag. These pants display moderate game use and have been authenticated by Mears, who authenticated these pants in conjunction with the above-mentioned jersey, but as a policy do not assign grades to game pants but deemed them as authentic.