Tony Gwynn made his 13th All-Star appearance at the 1997 edition of the Midsummer’s Classic in Cleveland, Ohio. Gwynn was the starting designated hitter for the National League squad, finishing hitless in their 3-1 defeat to the Junior Circuit contingent. Gwynn had arguably the best season of his career in 1997, setting career-highs in home runs (17), RBI (119), and hits (220), while winning his eighth batting title with a .372 average. Gwynn retired after the 2001 season, and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.
The first item in this collection is Gwynn’s batting practice jersey from the 1997 All-Star Game. It is made of blue mesh, and has “NATIONAL” sewn across the chest in white and red tackle twill. A 1997 All-Star Game patch is sewn on the left chest, a Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary patch is sewn on the right sleeve, and a Padres logo patch is sewn on the left sleeve. “GWYNN” and his number “19” are sewn on the back of the jersey. The front of this batting practice jersey is accented with red piping. The next item in this lot is a two-toned Rawlings fielder’s glove. The body of the glove is dark brown, and a light brown leather pattern is sewn on the glove. “Tony Gwynn” is embroidered on the thumb of the glove in yellow. The third item are Gwynn’s game-worn size 11 Nike Zoom Air cleats. A 1997 All-Star Game logo patch is sewn on the tongue flap of each shoe, and each heel features a small insert. The sole of each shoe feature six metal cleats.
The next item is a black Louisville Slugger bat with the All-Star Game logo emblazoned on the barrel in gold. “1997 All Star Game / Tony Gwynn / Cleveland, Ohio” is etched on the barrel in gold text. There is a moderate amount of adhesive residue on the reverse side of the barrel from where the bat was previously mounted. Finally, a ball signed by many of Gwynn’s teammates on the National League team is offered. Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox has signed the sweet spot of this Official 1997 All-Star Game Allan H. Selig baseball, while other signatures include the Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez and recently elected Chipper Jones. Remaining signatures include Barry Bonds, Moises Alou, Darryl Kile, Curt Schilling, Kevin Brown, Shawn Estes, and several more. This lot comes with a LOA from Alicia Gwynn and the multi-signed baseball comes with a LOA from JSA.