This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 6/27/2021.
From 1946 to 1956, Hall of Famer “Stan the Man” Musial was an All-Star every year, was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player twice, won the batting championship five times, led in doubles six seasons and triples five seasons. In 1956, the year he was voted “Player of the Decade”, Musial set what was at the time an MLB record for career extra-base hits and went on to lead the National League with 109 RBI. This visually stunning Cardinals home flannel was worn by Musial during that season. Just for 1956, the Cardinals made a radical change from the traditional “birds on a bat” jersey and tried a more modern “Cardinals” in large red and navy script. Though very attractive, the design was a one-season only experiment. On the front left tail is the Rawlings manufacturer’s tag with an attached box tag reading the size “44”. Adjacent below reads the player name “Musial” in script and the year “56” both embroidered in red chain stitching. Inside the front left tail is a tag with washing instructions and an attached flag tag reading “SET 1 1956”. Across the chest reads “Cardinals” and on the back is the player number “6” both done in red on navy blue felt. On the left sleeve is a “Cardinals” team logo embroidered in red, yellow and navy blue. Musial signed the front right tail of the jersey in blue and in our opinion the signature rates a 5. A thorough evaluation by MEARS has determined that everything on the jersey remains original. Very minor baseball related staining is seen on the front. Photos of Musial taken in 1956 show him wearing the same style of sleeve and the 4 1/2” sleeve length as this offered jersey. This jersey is properly tagged, was presented to us as game-used and in our opinion shows excellent use. Accompanied by a MEARS LOA grading the jersey a perfect A10 and a PSA/DNA LOA for the signature.