One year before Mark McGwire had conspired with Sammy Sosa to extinguish all conventional thought about predictable levels of home run consistency he offered some hints of the kind of fireworks to come though you might have got yourself committed had you postulated anything involving the No. 70. Still McGwire with free agency looming and 34 home runs already under his belt with only two thirds of the season gone got traded by the A's to St. Louis where he promptly socked another 24 home runs in 51 games leaving him a dual-league season total of 58. Those were giddy days indeed with the icky work stoppage of 1994 by then barely a memory. This amazing game-worn road jersey hails from that second half of the 1997 campaign from McGwire's initial season in St. Louis and comes with the appropriate Rawlings Authentic Collection tagging appearing on the inside of the left-front tail along with a Size 52 two separate flag tags denoting "2 inch Extra Length" and "3 inch Extra Length" and "Set 1 1997" flag tag. The elegant chenille stitching on the Cardinals script and "Bat and Birds" logo is superb with virtually no fraying of any of the stitching a pronouncement that applies even more forcefully to the No. 25 red tackle twill on black and "McGwire" in the same fashion on a gray nameplate. The Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary patch appears on the right sleeve. The historic shirt shows game use and is otherwise problem-free and without visible alteration of any description. McGwire has added a brisk blue Sharpie autograph on the front left below the Cardinals script. Yet another significant artifact from a key figure in 20th century postwar MLB history.

Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.