Joe DiMaggio Game Jersey Honors Babe Ruth

Several game-used jerseys will be a part of the Heritage Auctions’ annual Winter Platinum Night Sports Auction (Feb. 25-26), but only one of those features a memorial to legend Babe Ruth.

Heritage is offering a photo-matched 1948 Joe DiMaggio road gray New York Yankees flannel that includes a black armband on the left sleeve that honored The Babe, who had passed away August 16 that year.

The size-44 Wilson flannel is the only known jersey intact with the mourner’s armband. According to Heritage, other DiMaggio game jerseys of that period show some alterations made from the removal of the armband, which the team would have done to reuse the jersey. Heritage says the condition of the jersey is “so extraordinary, Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services has deemed it ‘complete, unaltered, all original, and show[ing] optimal wear while remaining in the same condition as last worn by player.”

“Game-worn offerings from the heroes of the game represent some of the most desirable memorabilia in the entire sports collectibles market, and we have dozens of amazing offerings in this Winter Platinum Night sale, this DiMaggio flannel chief among them,” Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage, said in a release. “It’s the centerpiece of an event filled with them, and we are honored to present this extraordinary jersey, as well as every other game-worn offering in this auction, to new owners who will cherish, protect and celebrate both them and the men who wore them.”