This wonderful high grade road gray Boston Red Sox flannel ensemble speaks to the 1950s and the “Golden Age” of baseball…a time when there were just 16 major league teams and Sunday double headers were common. The jersey itself features customizations in both tail and sleeve length so it far from an off-the- shelf example. Original lettering and numbering are rare in uniforms of this vintage and the grade of A9 surely speaks to that.
Subject: 1953 Mickey McDermott Boston Red Sox Road Uniform
Size: Tagged as size 44 and this is the true size of the jersey. This was confirmed by both physical measurement and comparing the jersey on hand period McAuliffe Boston Red Sox Products in sizes 42 and 44.
As a point of reference, period sizing data for McDermott from the 1952 Boston Red Sox yearbook lists him at 6’, 2”; 170lbs. As such I would consider this jersey to be an appropriate sized one for McDermott at this point in his career.
Manufacturer: The jersey is identified as a McAuliffe product by the manufacturer's label (c1946-1965) in the lower front left of the jersey. Although the Tim McAuliffe Company never actually manufactured these uniforms, there was a distributor of uniforms to the Boston Red Sox dating back to the early 1940s.
Construction: The jersey is constructed of a professional grade wool blend flannel product (approx. 5 ounce fabric for the jersey; pants are more likely 8 oz flannel) and features a button down front. Sleeve style is Raglan. The supplemental tagging in the tail indicates “2 in” and this has been long thought to refer to additional length in the tail. My research indicates that that this annotation actually refers to sleeve length (See “Looking at Sleeve Lengths by Dave Grob; MEARS on Line). While this jersey does appear to feature additional tail length (torso measurement 37” as opposed to the normal 33”, or + 4 in tail length), examination of the sleeve length indicates sleeves of approximately 2 ½” inches in length. The applique of all lettering is straight stitch and this too is appropriate as well as the numerical font style and alignment of “BOSTON” with the button line. All of this was confirmed by looking at period on hand Boston Red Sox yearbooks.
Use/Wear/Condition: The jersey shows signs of moderate to heavy use and wear. The straight stitch applique of the navy felt used for the lettering and numbering permits the back side of the felt fabric to be examined. This backing was found to have toned and cracked in an appropriate manner for a garment of this vintage. The jersey is missing one button (second from the button), but all others are original and remain firmly affixed. The surface wear to all fabrics is even and consistent. There is a very minor 7mm stitch separation to the top of the rear numeral “9”. The jersey is mildly soiled in the rear collar area, more noticeable when viewed under UV lighting. The pants show commensurate use and wear and feature an original and fully functional Talon brand zipper.
Opinion: In my opinion this jersey possesses all of the characteristics you would expect to see in uniform distributed in 1953 by McAuliffe for use and wear by Mickey McDermott. The jersey is all original and free of any alterations as well are the pants.
The MEARS worksheet and grading criteria provides for 5 categories for which points may deducted. I found this reason to deduct points:
Category 3: -.5 Missing one button
Category 5: -.5 Broken anchor stitching on rear numeral “9”. Max deduction is 5 points but only one point was taken off based on size and location.
No seperate grade is provided for the pants as they are only deemed authentic.
Final Grade for jersey bearing hologram # 307852 is A9
Dave Grob
MEARS
PLATES I
MEARS LOA/Troy R. Kinunen
j0190
(MEARS LOA)