A Milwaukee Braves jersey donned by Hank Aaron during his rookie year in 1954 sold for $2.1 million at Heritage Auctions on Friday night, a blowing away the record for any Aaron jersey sold publicly.
With an estimate of $1.5 million placed on the historic piece of memorabilia by Heritage, it was described in the lot description as “one of the most significant post-war jerseys.”
Long before the hammer fell, it had already blown by the prior public sales record for an Aaron jersey, $540,000 paid in 2021 at Heritage for the jersey worn during the game when he recorded his 3,000th hit.
CLLCT'S FULL COVERAGE OF HERITAGE SUMMER PLATINUM AUCTIONS:
- Babe Ruth ‘Called Shot’ jersey sells for record $24.12 million
- Jackie Robinson 1951 jersey sells for record $5.52 million
- Mickey Mantle jersey from 1952-53 World Series sells for $3 million
- Jackie Robinson debut ticket sells for $324,000, third-highest price for unsigned ticket
- Michael Jordan jersey from 'Last Dance' season sells for $360,000
- Ty Cobb T206 card sells for near-record $870k
- Barry Bonds' record-tying 755th HR ball sells for $102k
The rookie jersey, which was previously sold by Heritage in 2011 for $167,300, displays the No. 44 on its back. This would seemingly suggest it was not in fact from his rookie year, as Aaron debuted wearing the No. 5, only switching to 44 the following year. However, a close look reveals a faint outline of a 5, indicating the embroidered numbers were swapped out.
Considering how few jerseys each player was issued in those years — only a couple road and home uniforms each season — there is a chance this jersey could be the very same worn by Aaron in his first MLB at bat.
The photo-match documentation included along with the jersey point to photos dated to August 1954 and spring training 1955 (it was standard practice to wear the past season’s jerseys in spring training), leaving open the prospect for even earlier wear.
The jersey was involved in a dispute prior to the auction, in which the Atlanta Braves issued a cease-and-desist letter to Heritage demanding the auction house remove the listing entirely, along with another jersey, hat and the bases and plate from Aaron’s 715th home run game.
Heritage eventually pulled the listing for the bases and plate, leaving the others up for sale and responding with a lawsuit of its own, accusing the Braves of defamation, among other acts which Heritage described as malicious.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct. You can follow him on X at @Will__Stern.