This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/8/2016.
Willie Mays couldn’t just quit baseball cold turkey after his 22-year playing career with the New York/San Francisco Giants franchise. The 24-time All-Star, World Series champion, two-time NL MVP, 12-time Gold Glove Award winner and first ballot National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee was a hitting instructor for the New York Mets for multiple seasons. On the front right tail is a “Rawlings” size “42” manufacturer’s tag with washing instructions. On the inside of the rear collar fold is a strip tag with, “42 75 24” embroidered on it in blue chain-stitching. Across the chest reads, “Mets” and the coach’s number “24” appears on both the front and on the back. All numbering and lettering are done in blue on orange tackle twill sewn directly onto the pinstripe home jersey. On the left sleeve is the team’s “Mets” logo disc patch embroidered and below is a very rare black armband on the end of the sleeve for the passing of Joan Payson & Casey Stengel. The sides are custom tapered by the team to accommodate Mays' custom tailored preferences. This jersey is properly tagged, was presented to us as coach-worn and in our opinion shows appropriate wear.