By 1971, Hall of Famer Hank Aaron came into the season with 592 career home runs and was on the verge of becoming only the third player in history to reach the 600 home run mark, joining Babe Ruth and Willie Mays (who had hit 600 in 1970). By season’s end, not only had Aaron reached the 600-home run mark, he blew past it, clubbing a career-high 47 home runs to finish the season at the career total of 639. Now, at the age of 38, Ruth’s hallowed record seemed reachable.

There are many game used jersey to hit the auction block, but this offered jersey is in a class by itself. This 1971 home Atlanta Braves jersey was worn by Hank Aaron and comes from the season when the future Home Run King hit the most home runs in his Hall of Fame and legendary career. Like the player that wore it, this jersey is a classic-style flannel jersey. Manufactured by Wilson, this size 40 button-down cream-colored jersey has “Braves” sewn on across the chest in navy tackle twill and is original to the jersey. As was common in this era, teams would often send the jerseys after a season to the minor leagues for re-use. While this jersey has Aaron’s restored number “44” on the back in period-correct tackle twill. There are indications this jersey was stripped, but never re-numbered and the condition of this jersey indicates that it was spared the rigors of spring training or minor league use. The numbers on the back were professionally restored and placed over the original 44 on the jersey, with only a couple of small spots around the edges where the small pulls in the fabric are visible from the removal of the original numbers.

The Wilson size 40 tag is sewn on the bottom front left tail and a matching cream-colored flannel patch is sewn on the inside back collar with the black embroidered stitching “H Aaron 1971 Set 1”. The left sleeve has the “Laughing Brave” patch sewn on. This jersey displays excellent game use with wash wear and two team repairs of small holes – one on the left stomach and one on the top of the right sleeve. These repairs were done on a chain stitching machine and are nearly invisible as is typical for good team repairs. Adding to this already impressive jersey is the bold signature of Hank Aaron himself, who signed his name below the “B” on the front in black marker and added the inscription “GAME USED 1971”. This jersey comes with a detailed LOA from Sports Investors Authentication (200331C4) for the game use. There is also a letter of provenance from Bob Case, who states in his letter that he received this jersey directly from the Richmond Braves at the conclusion of the 1971 season when he managed Darrell Evans, who was a member of the Richmond Braves from 1968-71. According to Case “The jersey had a tag in the neck and evidence of a 44 outline where the number had been removed in preparation for minor league use by the team.”

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