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This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/18/2020
After being traded by the New York Mets to the California Angels in December of 1981, Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan’s career took off as he quickly established himself as one of the most dominant pitchers of the 1970’s and of all-time. Ryan retired as the all-time leader in strikeouts with 5,714 and no-hitters with seven. His first two no-hitters came during the 1973 season and he then added no-hitters 3 and 4 during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.
Both of those no-hitters came at home with the 1974 gem occurring on September 28th against the Minnesota Twins and the second one (fourth of his career) coming on June 1st against Baltimore. This offered California Angels home jersey was worn by Nolan Ryan during the 1974 and 1975 seasons. The front of this magnificent jersey has “Angels” and “30” sewn on in red and navy tackle twill, with a yellow halo over the “A”. This jersey was manufactured by W.A. Goodman & Sons and their size 44 tag is sewn on the front left tail. The V-neck collar and sleeve ends have navy/red/navy striping the Angels state of California logo is sewn on in red on the left sleeve. The back of this jersey has “RYAN” and “30” sewn on in red and navy tackle twill. The “30” on both the front and back are still in the McAuliffe-style font.
This jersey can be dated to the 1974 and 1975 seasons as the Angles wore McAuliffe made jerseys in 1973 and did not have names on the backs during the 1976 season. This jersey displays heavy game wear that is consistent with use during an entire season and possibly two. The wear was distributed evenly on both the front and back with heavy puckering to the letters and numbering, along with a heavy stain found at the bottom of the tail. This jersey has everything you would want in a gamer, great wear, great history (possibly 2 No Hitters!) and the Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan himself signing this jersey in black marker below his number on the front. This impeccable jersey comes with a LOA from the game used experts at MEARS (315288), who have graded this jersey a top grade of A9.5.