Eddie Bane jersey - Twins 1st game 1973?

[DakotaGuy]

Newbie here - first post! Have appreciated you guys' expertise and dedication as a lurker for a long time.

I purchased this 73 Twins jersey from Hartel Sports in 1987. (See ad attached, middle column, circled.)
The 40th anniversary of Bane's debut is this month.

Eddie was the Twins' number 1 pick (11th overall) in the June 1973 amateur draft. They put him on the fast track, as he skipped the
minor leagues and took the same direct route to the majors as 3 other players in the draft: #1 overall pick David Clyde of Texas,
Dave Winfield with San Diego, and Robin Yount with Milwaukee.

To sweeten the deal for Minnesota fans who hadn’t been turning out over the past few years, the team threw in an Eddie Bane
autographed picture giveaway and promised fireworks after the game. The promotion worked, as a then-Met Stadium record crowd
of 45,890 turned out for the July 4th game against the Royals. The game was delayed 15 minutes to allow the crowd, many who
had waited in lines to get into the parking lot and to get tickets, time to settle in.

Bane went 7 innings and left trailing 1-0. It was the highlight of his ML playing career, and frankly, one of the biggest highlights
of the decade for the Twins and their suffering fans (including me)...
All due respect to Carew chasing .400 and Killebrew's 500th homer!

Guys, any reason to believe this jersey I've had for over 25 years is not the jersey Eddie Bane wore that night in '73?
It was yellowed a bit when I bought it, but tags, buttons, lettering/numbering, and patch are all intact, and I see no evidence
of number change/alteration.
Thanks for all you do!

[indyred]

Looks like a sweet jersey. Must be photos from that game somewhere, love background story on game and player.

You should contact Clyde Dopener. Twins full time curator. With it being 40th Ann. of that game. Would make a cool display item if you wanted to loan it out to show off, if in fact it is real deal.

Here cool video of Twins archives room at Target Field he did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzzz7X3W8fA

Has another video with his own collection. He owns many Twins historic pieces. Will look for that one and post it.

[sox83cubs84]

I can't say 100% for sure that Bane wore it in that first game, but no doubt it's a 1973 gamer worn by him. Tags, fonts, designs all look good.

Dave Miedema

[harleighb]

I've got a photo of Bane from his first start. Send me your e-mail address and I'll pass it along. harleighb@hotmail.com