How cool it this a Ned Garver game-worn St. Louis Browns cap from his historic 1951 season when he set a boatload of major league records surrounding winning 20 games with a ball club mired in what we used to cheerfully describe as The Second Division. The question is rhetorical. Its really cool. Adding to the exotic nature of the historic artifact is the fact that the cap boasts the rare custom protective inserts described in a MEARS letter that accompanies the lot. Garver was an American League workhorse for the Browns and Athletics during the 1950s managing to win 129 games but the real magic came in 1951 when he compiled a 20-12 record for the woeful Brownies considering the Browns lost 102 games that year. Garver also posted a 3.73 ERA that season and out of the teams 52 total wins Garver accounted for nearly 40 percent of them. He also led the American League in complete games with 24 and when he pitched he often batted sixth in the order rather than the customary ninth compiling a .305 average with a home run. He also was also used as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. Garver remains the only pitcher in modern baseball history (post-1920) to win 20 or more games for a team which lost 100 or more games in the same season and the only pitcher to do so with a winning record. He was also the starting pitcher for the American League in the 1951 All-Star Game which was held in Detroit. Thats way more than enough historical oomph for any artifact. The cap boasts the famed StL interlocking letters on the front in orange embroidery with eight orange-embroidered vent holes on the crown and orange button on top. Garver has supplied a striking black Sharpie autograph on the top of the orange brim which like all elements is in superlative condition yet showing enormous usage and some dirt residue throughout. The three distinctive protective inserts are in place and intact; the appropriately aged and weathered Rawlings tagging appears at the back of the cap and the sweatband while ostensibly intact throughout has suffered considerable cracking and even the loss of small bits in some instances. The famed MEARS hologram is affixed to the bottom of the brim (301343) and a MEARS letter accompanies the lot. This is simply a fantastic tribute piece to one of the greatest and most overlooked accomplishments of the era.

Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.