This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/3/2016
During his 5th major league season, Jackie Robinson was still going strong. When the season ended, Robinson batted .338, played in 153 games, stole 25 bases, and appeared in his third straight All Star Game. The Dodgers were still improving, and the team finished second behind the New York Giants. Memorabilia from Jackie Robinson is always in high demand, and this lot offers one lucky collector the chance to own a piece of baseball history.
The original owner, Fred Woelfe, was signed into Branch Rickey’s Dodgers organization by George Sisler. Though he never appeared in a game for the Dodgers, Woelfe did join the team at Ebbets Field to assist in the pre-game rituals. Expected to dress, he was outfitted with a Dodgers uniform and this game worn 1951 Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers game used cap.
MEARS has conducted a review of this cap, our findings:
Style: The cap is a six panel cap with same number of reinforced air holes on top. Each panel is sewn by a double row stitch. A blue button is found on the top. The blue button is important as the Dodgers also wore a white button. Period images (enclosed) support the team wearing caps with the blue button top. The brim has 8 rows of stitching. The interior has a green brim with brown leather head band. The style of the cap compares favorably to period images.
Manufacturer (Mac Gregor Goldsmith): MacGregor / Goldsmith is stamped into the leather headband. Examples of Dodgers wearing this brand cap can be found during the 1947-1951 period. Other examples have entered the hobby which supports MacGregor Goldmsith as the supplier of Dodgers caps during the era.
1947-1951 era Dodgers cap (MacGregor/MEARS database)
1947-1948 Pro Sport Collectors (MacGregor)
Size 7 1/8: stamped into the leather band is 7 1/8. This size is consistent with the following:
1949-50 Jackie Robinson (No size visible, measured to 7 1/8 – 4 ¼)
Therefore, the cap is within a range of another example of a Jackie Robinson cap evaluated by MEARS.
Player Attribution (42): Written on the inside front of the cap is “42”. Examination with a digital microscope confirms the writing appears to be period with signs of aging. The ink does not look fresh under examination and appears to be period to the cap.
Game Wear: Cap shows heavy game wear. Cracking to the leather hand band.
Provenance: In 1951, while the Brooklyn Dodgers were trying to sign me into their organization, (which they eventually did), I was asked to work out each day during the Dodger pre-game workout at Ebbets Field. Although I was a catcher, I not only caught some batting practice but pitched some also.
Each day the trainer would supply me with a Dodger uniform, which I turned back each day. On day I was putting on a uniform, I noticed I had no hat. I therefore notified the trainer, who went to a basket full of “dirty” uniforms and, after asking my size, threw me a hat and said, “Here, use this, Robinson won’t mind”.
Needless to say, when I dressed into street cloths and left the locker room to get to the stands to watch the game, I put the hat into my bag and took it home.
I kept it since then until I turned it over to you.
Sincerely,
Fred Woelfe (notarized)
The provenance is consistent with the fact that if he didn’t have a signed contract, it was reasonable to assume the Dodgers were not going to invest the money into issuing Woelfe a jersey until he had signed a contract. His recollection is plausible that he would have been given a different uniform for each day that he hung around the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.
Conclusion: Based on examination of the style of the cap, construction, manufacturer, size, game wear, and provenance, I feel the cap is consistent with what you would expect to have been worn by Jackie Robinson on the field during the 1951 timespan.
(92T0702)
LOA Troy Kinunen / MEARS
(MEARS Auction LOA)