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Eddie Brinkman played with the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees during his fifteen year playing career. Brinkman led the American League in games played twice, won a Gold Glove Award at shortstop, and had a career batting average of .224. Brinkman's batting average may have even been lower had it not been for Ted Williams given Brinkman hit .266 and .262 under the guidance of the all-time hitting expert when Williams managed the Washington Senators.
In 1972, he won the "Tiger of the Year" award from the Detroit baseball writers and finished 9th in American League MVP voting despite a .205 batting average. Brinkman earned the votes for his defensive prowess. Brinkman was awarded the Gold Glove in 1972 with a fielding percentage of .990. In 1972, Brinkman also had 233 putouts and 495 assists in 156 games at shortstop. On August 5, 1972, Brinkman committed an error that ended his record streak of 72 games and 331 total chances without a miscue. It was his dependable glove that made Brinkman a major leaguer from 1961 to 1975. He committed a then-record low seven errors in 156 games for the division-winning Tigers in 1972. Even with a .203 average, Brinkman was hailed as one of the team's most valuable players, and he won a Gold Glove that season.
Brinkman was a high school teammate of Pete Rose at Cincinnati's Western Hills High School. Paul "Pappy" Nohr, the baseball coach at Western Hills, described Rose as "a good ball player, not a Brinkman." Based on their performance in high school, scouts saw Brinkman rather than Rose as the future superstar. When he was a senior, Ed batted .460 and also won 15 games as a pitcher. Brinkman was paid a large (for the time) bonus of $75,000 by the Washington Senators in 1959. Brinkman later said: "Pete always kidded me that the Washington Senators brought me my bonus in an armored truck. Pete said he had cashed his at the corner store."
This is a very rare, possibly one-of-a-kind, game-used warm-up jacket worn by the Washington Senators' shortstop. This vintage apparel dates to 1966 and is sourced from the family of Hal Keller, a long-time front office executive of the Senators / Rangers (1961-78) and Seattle Mariners (1979-85) who also played catcher for Washington from 1949-52. This size 44 fully lined blue wool jacket grades as excellent. The embroidered, white-outlined red Senators name is emblazoned across the front of this jacket. The knit cuffs, waist, and neck are tight and unstretched. The jacket features a full zippered front and leather-trimmed front pockets. The Rawlings tag indicating the size "44" and chain stitched year tag "66" are stitched inside along side of the zipper. Brinkman's uniform number 11 is evidenced on the Rawlings tag in vintage marker.
The visual appeal of this jacket is unmatched, and it is unequaled as a display item. This is a very rare jacket from a storied period in Washington baseball history.View Lot Detail page