This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2004.
The San Francisco Seals were part of a wonderful baseball organization, the Pacific Coast League, from 1903 to 1957. The PCL was easily baseball's strongest minor league providing skilled and exciting baseball to the West Coast before Walter O'Malley and Horace Stoneham moved the Dodgers and Giants westward in 1957. Many of the teams were owned by movie stars such as Gary Cooper, Gene Autry and Bing Crosby. Some of the greatest players ever to don Major League Baseball uniforms had their beginnings in the PCL. Among them were HOFers Paul Waner, Mickey Cochrane, Ted Williams, Ernie Lombardi, Earl Averill, and the incomparable Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio's career as a San Francisco Seal did not last very long. He joined the Seals in 1933 as an 18 year-old rookie. It was a bittersweet debut because Joe's arrival signaled his brother Vince's departure from the Seals. Vince would later sign with the Hollywood Stars and reach the majors with the Boston Braves in 1937. All "Joltin' Joe" did in his rookie season was hit .340 and set a PCL record by hitting in 62 consecutive games. Joe played two more seasons for the Seals batting .398 in 1935. In 1936 his contract was acquired by the New York Yankees. The rest is history. This 1933 rookie San Francisco Seals jersey of the great Joe DiMaggio comes from the Barry Halper collection. In the neck of the jersey is the "Wilson" label and adjacent is the size "44" tag. This jersey contains the earlier style Wilson tag which is totally different in fabric and design than the later Wilson tags. Below this is an autographed inscription reading "8/21/83 Joe DiMaggio (1933," written in blue Sharpie rating a strong 8. Across the front of the jersey is the name "Seals" in black embroidered letters and on the back is the player number "10" in black felt. Along with the jersey is an LOA from DiMaggio, stating, "To my friend Barry: this is my first uniform worn in organized baseball. It's amazing how you acquired this original uniform Joe DiMaggio." The jersey also comes with an autographed photo of DiMaggio and his teammates in 1933 wearing this exact same style jersey. Also included in this lot is a DiMaggio autographed Seals program from 1933 showing Joe wearing the number 10. Finally, there is a great letter from Barry Halper detailing the provenance of this jersey, and how he acquired it from Dick Bartell at the 50th All-Star Game in 1983. The provenance of this jersey is impeccable with rock solid documentation to support it. After carefully reviewing the data, our board of experts have unanimously decided because of all of the material evidence and vast provenance that without a shadow of a doubt this is Joe DiMaggio's 1933 Seals game-used rookie jersey. The jersey shows game-use and appears to have no alterations of any kind and comes with a letter from PSA/DNA. This jersey will also come with an additional letter of authenticity.