(WWJ) - An almost century-old Detroit Tigers jersey considered the "most elusive" MLB uniform of its time sold for over $23,000 at auction last weekend.
The uniform is a one-year-only style Detroit Tigers home uniform -- which included both jersey and pants -- worn by pitcher Ownie Carroll in 1927.
According to New Jersey-based sports memorabilia auction house Lelands, the jersey is "possibly the rarest of all twentieth-century Major League baseball garments."
“This is the only example of this jersey we have ever seen, and it is important to note that it has never been offered at public sale until now,” Lelands said in a description of the uniform on its website.
The white flannel pinstripe jersey sold for $23,095.20.
According to the MLB, Carrolll, a right-handed thrower, made his MLB debut with the Tigers on June 20, 1925 after a stellar college career at Holy Cross in Mass. where he earned a reputation as the best pitcher in college baseball.
Carroll's standout season came in 1928 whern he went 16–12 while throwing 231 innings. In 1930, Detroit traded him to the Yankees for future Hall of Famer Waite Hoyt. He was traded two other times before his retirement in 1934, playing for the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn. Dodgers.
In his 11-year MLB career, Carroll was 64–90 in 1,330 innings pitched with an ERA of 4.43.
He went on to coach baseball at Seton Hall University in New Jersey from 1948 to 1972 where he led the Seton Hall Pirates to a winning record in 21 of his 25 years, as reported by the New York Times.
The Pirates' baseball field -- which is now grown into a multi-sport complex -- was renamed the Owen T. Carroll Athletic Field in his honor. In 2008, Carroll was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
According to Leland's, Carroll's Detroit jersey features a giant embroidered tiger's head, measuring 6.25x6.25", with the nearly 100-year-old threads still vivid in color and free of defects.
The jersey features a "Spalding" label in the collar with Carroll's name and a set number ("3") and year ("27") stitched into the rear right exterior tail.
The back of the jersey is blank as numbers didn't appear on Tigers uniforms until 1931, Leland's explained.
All six buttons are original and remain firmly anchored. The jersey displays minor wear and the only noticeable flaw is some looseness to the piping around the color area.
The matching white flannel pinstripe pants have many of the same features as the top, including the "Spalding" logo, Carroll's name and the same set of numbers sewn in. The pants have some light-red staining near the leg holes, but Leland's said "both garments remain in a remarkable state of preservation, with no tears, team repairs, heavy staining, or insect holes, which are so common to uniforms of this vintage.This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obtain perhaps the rarest and most attractive uniform ever worn at the Major League level, and one that would be the highlight of even the most advanced jersey collection. Accompanied by a photo of Carroll wearing the same style jersey in 1927.
"This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obtain perhaps the rarest and most attractive uniform ever worn at the Major League level, and one that would be the highlight of even the most advanced jersey collection," the auction house said.
The uniform was sold with a photo of Carroll wearing the same style jersey in 1927.
Back in 2011, a uniform worn by Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb during the 1922 season sold for a staggering $358,500 in Heritage Auctions’ Vintage Sports Collectibles Signature® Auction.