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Dan Hajducky
Over the weekend, Yogi Berra’s 1947 New York Yankees jersey, which was photo-matched to the second game of Berra’s rookie season, sold for $363,505, including buyer’s premium, at Grey Flannel Auctions.
Berra debuted in 1946 but played only seven games that season. He wore No. 38 and No. 35 during his debut season and 35 in 1947, while Bill Dickey, who won eight World Series titles as a Yankees catcher, wore No. 8. Dickey retired as a player following the 1946 season and Aaron Robinson, a 1947 All-Star, inherited No. 8 before Berra. The Yankees retired No. 8 in 1972 to honor both Dickey and Berra.
In that era, game-worn jerseys were often donated to local youth organizations like the Boys & Girls Club. In 1959, a boy named Sonny Marino reached into a box at the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem and selected a uniform at random. While the inner tag on the uniform’s back read «Berra» in cursive, the number — 35 — didn’t match Berra’s famous 8.
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In 2009, the Marino family brought the jersey to an autograph signing where the then-84-year-old Berra signed it below the Yankees logo. The jersey was subsequently displayed in the Yogi Berra Museum before it was consigned to Grey Flannel Auctions.
The lot included photo-matching certificates/letters of authenticity from Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA/DNA) and Sports Investors Authentication (SIA) pinning the jersey to Berra’s second game in the 1947 season — on April 17 against the Philadelphia Athletics. A separate letter of authenticity (LOA) from James Spence Authentication verifying the jersey’s signature was also part of the lot.
In the same auction, Berra’s road pants from the 1956 World Series and Don Larsen’s perfect game also sold for $188,564. SIA also photo-matched the pants to the Oct. 8, 1956 game.
«Having both Yogi Berra’s 1947 rookie jersey and his 1956 Perfect Game pants in a single auction is simply unprecedented,» said Grey Flannel Auctions’ director of operations, Michael Russek in a statement. «These bookend one of the greatest catchers in baseball history — from Berra’s first steps as a Yankee to the immortal image of him leaping into Don Larsen’s arms after perfection.»
Poetically, the record paid for a Berra item is the jersey from Larsen’s perfect game, which Grey Flannel Auctions sold in 2010 for $564,930.
