Carlton 1979 Tour Of Japan Jersey?

[hblakewolf]

Forum Readers-
I have been asked by several Forum readers to comment on a jersey currently offered by Hunt Auctions.

The jersey in question is a "1979 Steve Carlton Tour of Japan jersey". It is similar to the maroon Rawlings zipper front jerseys the Phillies wore for one game in 1979. The marron jerseys worn by the team are a thick material, zipper front with white numbers and letters. The name on back should be large block (not vertical arch) letters sewn on a maroon nameplate.

The jersey being offered by Hunt's is similar to the team worn maroon jerseys, however, the name on back is in vertical arch and is sewn directly on the jersey, not a plate. Likewise, I own 3 Carlton jerseys and have sold quite a few and have never seen one of his from this time frame in size 44. The Hunt's jersey is a 44. I have 2, 1979 maroon jerseys (Luzinski and McCarver), and both are sized the same as their regular Wilson brand game jerseys).

This particular jersey was offered to me several years ago by a collector. At that time, I informed the collector that not only could I not find any evidnece of this being issued to Carlton (who did not make the trip to Asia), the jersey was completely different than those worn by the Phillies in 1979. Since then, several dealers and collectors have been offered this jersey and asked my opinion. Dealers such as Ball Park Hereos (Kim Stigall) passed on the jersey, based on the fact that no evidence can be produced to support that this was issued to Carlton and also that it does not match known maroon 1979 Phillies jerseys. The other collectors/dealers also passed.

I welcome anyone to provide a photo or some type of documentation/evidence that would allow a LOA to be written indicating this was a game issued jersey for Steve Carlton to wear during the Tour of Japan in 1979.

I have contacted Hunt's to dicusss this, however, received no response.

FYI
Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

Lot 131

Description: 1979 Steve Carlton Phila. Phillies Tour of Japan jersey. Maroon knit shirt as issued to Carlton for his selection to a U.S. All-Star team that traveled to Japan for an exhibition series. Jersey retains original "32" and "P" on the front with "Carlton" and "32" on the reverse. 1979 MLB Tour of Japan patch is affixed to the left sleeve. Tail front has "44 79 1" chain stitched strip tag along with a Rawlings mfg. tag having "Set 1 1979" flag tag. While Carlton was selected to the team, he did not play in the series and as such, usage wear is minimal. Signed on the front by Carlton. Very rare and attractive Tour shirt from a HOF pitcher. Includes LOA's from Global/David Bushing, Lou Lampson, James Spence Authentication (signature), and Hunt Auctions, Inc: EX-MT Estimated Price: ($1,500.00-$2,500.00)

[lon lewis]

Howard I too have seen what I think is this jersey before. without photos of the front of the jersey and of the tagging, I can't be 100% sure but I'll go out on a limb and say that this is possibly the jersey that originated from Robert Kirk. I think you remember him. if this is the same jersey (or even if it's not) all of your points valid. I'd be interested to know if the maroon jerseys you own are of Rawlings mfr and if the strip tag is chainstitched or embroidered?

[hblakewolf]

Howard I too have seen what I think is this jersey before. without photos of the front of the jersey and of the tagging, I can't be 100% sure but I'll go out on a limb and say that this is possibly the jersey that originated from Robert Kirk. I think you remember him. if this is the same jersey (or even if it's not) all of your points valid. I'd be interested to know if the maroon jerseys you own are of Rawlings mfr and if the strip tag is chainstitched or embroidered?

Lon-
Good to hear from you after all of these years.

It is my understanding that Kirk had either this specific shirt or one exactly the same.

I've attached a few photos of my rare 1979 maroon Tim McCarver. Notice how the name is in block and also sewn on a plate. As I mentioned earlier, I've seen quite a few of these 1979 maroons and have NEVER seen one with vertical arch lettering or sewn directly on the shirt. What's also interesting is the fact that the shirt is being sold as Carlton's Tour of Japan shirt and shows "moderate use". Why would Carlton or MLB choose the maroon jersey when it was only worn for one game? Likewise, don't you think he would have worn his regular home white or road blue version? Regarding the use, how could it show ANY use when he never made the trip to Japan? It should be brand spanking new showing NO USE.

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[lon lewis]

Howard, thanks for responding. the jersey that I described in the previous post as having originated from Robert Kirk has some tagging problems one of which is that you can see where another Rawlings/strip tag was when viewed on a lightr table. The other being that the strip tag is embroidered not chain stitched and of the wrong size letters/numbers that Rawlings used. As you probably know Rawlings started using embroidery instead of chain stitching for their strip tags in 1985 so the Kirk jersey must have got a 6 year head start on the rest of the Rawlings jerseys from 1979-84. Aside from your valid observations this is one great jersey. I wonder what grade it recieved?

[hblakewolf]

Lon-
I believe Mitchell and Ness sold a reproduction of the 1979 Carlton. Given the fact that you indicate tags were removed/replaced on the one you saw, I'm curious to now see what the M & N version looked like? If my memory serves correct, it too had vertical arch lettering and the Tour of Japan patch. Possibly another reader can locate a photo of the M & N version and post it here.

Just a thought...........

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[hblakewolf]

Lon-
See the 1979 Mitchell and Ness Schmidt currently on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mitchell-Ness-19...ayphotohosting

It even has the same reproduction patch!

Thoughts?

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[hblakewolf]

Lon-
See the attached story about the 1979 tour. On the left side of the story, you will find 2 photos-Luzinski and Rose at the Tour wearing regular season jerseys, not the maroon.

Interesting!

http://stripes.com/article.asp?secti...7&archive=true

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[ironmanfan]

Howard...Great Link to the '79 MLB Japan Tour. It reminded that I have the original contracts from a few of the players from that tour (Molitor, Parrish, Kemp & Dennis Leonard). If anyone is interested in any of these neat contracts please let me know.

whhp72@yahoo.com

[lon lewis]

Howard,
I don't believe that the jersey I mentioned was a Mitchell and Ness repro as the M & N jerseys are easy to detect. I think it was originally either a blank Rawlings game jersey made up or a "retail jersey" made up. Either way, it was not a Carlton gamer U.S.,Japan or otherwise. If there was a photo of the front of the Hunt auction jersey I could probably nail it down further but I think with what you have stated regarding this jersey anyone who reads this post should get the message. One question though on your jerseys are the tags on the left or right side of the tail?

[hblakewolf]

Howard,

I don't believe that the jersey I mentioned was a Mitchell and Ness repro as the M & N jerseys are easy to detect. I think it was originally either a blank Rawlings game jersey made up or a "retail jersey" made up. Either way, it was not a Carlton gamer U.S.,Japan or otherwise. If there was a photo of the front of the Hunt auction jersey I could probably nail it down further but I think with what you have stated regarding this jersey anyone who reads this post should get the message. One question though on your jerseys are the tags on the left or right side of the tail?

Hi Lon-
If it was a blank Rawlings game jersey, then your earlier information may not support this. You indicated that it had embroidery on this Hunt jersey. Clearly, a spare 1979 Rawlings would have chainstitching like the McCarver I posted. Whatever it is, it's not the usual 1979 Maroon the Phillies wore. Likewise, do we really care what the front looks like? We've already determined that the NOB, tagging and size are incorrect-do we really need more evidence?

In regard to tagging location, they are on the right front bottom exterior portion of the tail.

I heard back from David Hunt. He is looking into this in greater detail. As of this post, the jersey remains listed with no changes to the description.

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

ALWAYS BUYING PHILLIES, PORTLAND BEAVERS AND PORTLAND MAVERICKS JERSEYS