This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/4/2015
Offered for this lot is a 1972-73 knit of Pittsburgh Pirate legend Willie Stargell. Stargell’s career was defined during the 1970s, and this shirt is a key to any Pirates collection.
Style: White knit pull over, crew neck ribbed collar, ¾ sleeves with yellow/white/black striping and square tail. “PIRATES” & “8” (front/back) are black on gold double tackle twill. A 1973 left sleeve patch was to be applied but is no longer present. The style of the shirt matches period examples and available images.
Dating: This shirt offered a very unique set of circumstances which aided in the dating of the shirt. On the left sleeve was the stitch outline of a square patch which was worn by the team during the 1973 spring training in honor of Roberto Clemente who had died in the off season. This square patch was applied to the team’s 1972 shirts. For the start of the 1973 season, a circular 21 patch was added to the same left sleeve, and the outline of that patch is present also when reviewed with a light table. Therefore, this shirt was carried over from 1972 and worn during the 1973 season.
Manufacturer: The 1972-73 style of the Rawlings manufactures tag is present. The tag is all original and Rawlings was verified as being the correct supplier of 1972-73 Pirates home shirts.
Size (46): The shirt was measured and it was confirmed that the actual measurement matches the tagged size.
Game Wear: Shirt exhibits heavy game wear with some staining on the front and a single heavier stain on the left side.
Patch: The outline of both the spring training and regular season Roberto Clemente tribute patch can be seen on the left sleeve
Final Grade (MEARS A8): Minus ½ point for missing patch (due to the rarity of the patch, only a ½ point was deducted for the missing patch, per the MEARS grading criteria). Minus 1 ½ points for staining.
. (82J0156)
(MEARS Auction LOA)