Jackie Robinson's rookie jersey fetches over $2M at auction
One of the rarest pieces of Jackie Robinson memorabilia was sold for a handsome sum earlier this week.
Robinson's jersey that he wore during his historic 1947 debut season while breaking baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers was sold by Heritage Auctions for $2.05 million, according to The Associated Press.
That price represents a record auction price for a post-World War II MLB jersey, trumping a Sandy Koufax rookie uniform that once sold for a little over $573,000, the AP reported.
In a letter of authenticity that came with Robinson's jersey, his widow Rachel wrote that Jackie brought the jersey home after the 1947 season and it remained in the family archives for several decades before the sale.
The jersey isn't the only piece of Robinson memorabilia to be auctioned off this year. In May, his 1949 Dodgers contract was sold for over $200,000, while a custom Dodgers hat - fitted with protective metal plates - which he wore to protect himself from intentional beanings long before helmets were mandatory - fetched $590,994 last month in a record auction sale for a baseball cap.
Robinson's first professional contracts with both the Dodgers and Triple-A Montreal Royals are also being auctioned off this month; it was reported in September that the documents are valued at $36 million.
After breaking the color line to become baseball's first African-American player in 63 years on April 15, 1947, Robinson went on to lead the Dodgers to that year's NL pennant while winning the league's inaugural Rookie of the Year award and finishing fifth in MVP voting.
Robinson, who died in 1972, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962 and had his No. 42 retired across baseball in 1997.