Most will recall Gil Hodges for his years as a slugging first baseman for the Brooklyn/L.A. Dodgers, or his managerial skills leading the 1969 "Miracle Mets" to their Cinderella World Series crown. Between his playing days in Dodger blue and four-year tenure as skipper in Queens, Hodges spent five seasons as manager of the American League's Washington Senators.

Presented here is a 1963 Senators game worn jersey and cap from Hodges' first year as skipper in our nation's capital. The road gray flannel made by Wilson is tagged on the left front tail with its size 46 label and "1963" chain-stitched strip patch. Gil kept his familiar  player number as he began his managerial career. "Senators" on the front and Hodges' famed No. "14" on the back are done in matching red-on-navy tackle twill. The classic button-up shirt exhibits moderate to heavy usage. The cap also made by Wilson comes in size 7-1/4 with quite a bit of sweat staining around the inner band. The Senators wore the same style caps at home and away in that era. (Their '63 home jerseys were pinstriped.)

Based on the outline of previous stitching on the back, it appears that this jersey may have belonged to either No. 20 (Ken Hunt) or No. 28 (Coates, Hamilton or Steve Ridzik) prior to Hodges. Re-purposing jerseys with number changes was a common practice back when equipment budgets were tight. A great combo of uniform articles attributed to the recently inducted Hall of Famer who, tragically, died of a heart attack in 1972 just two days before his 48th birthday.

Note: The apparent number change has been thorougly documented and we stand behind this as an authentic Senators game worn jersey very likely worn by Hodges as manager in '63. Third party authenticators tend to deduct points when grading jerseys with number changes. Please take this into consideration when bidding on this lot.