Pair of rare vintage St. Louis Cardinals team jackets from the 1950's and 60's worn by George Kissell a mainstay in the Cardinals organization for almost seven decades. The definition of a "baseball lifer" Kissell spent 68 years in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Starting in 1940 he played three seasons in the minor leagues before serving in World War II. He then worked as a manager instructor and scout in the Cards farm system from 1946 to 1968 and coached at the big league level 1969-75. After that Kissell coached at spring training and directed winter instructional camps. He mentored many players and future managers most notably Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa who said Kissell touched as many lives as anybody who's ever been in uniform in this game. In 2005 the Cardinals named their spring training clubhouse in Jupiter Fla. after him. George Kissell was still serving as the teams senior field coordinator for player development in 2008 when he died at the age of 88.

Starting with the oldest of the two we have a circa 1950's red wool/cotton Cardinals jacket with a thick blue satin lining. The zipper-down style has two hand pockets (shaped like arrows) and navy stretch cotton at the neck tail and sleeves. Inside the bottom of the zipper is the Rawlings tagging. The Cardinals logo adorns the left chest. Number "14" is hand-sewn in navy on the left sleeve. Wear is evident inside and out as there is some dark staining around each pocket and more minor marks in a couple other areas. Remains in great shape considering how much it appears Kissell wore it before during and after games during his stint as minor league player/manager. Attached image shows Red Schoendienst wearing the same style (Getty 53046473).

The more modern jacket dating to the 1960's and later is just as rare and in better condition. The red-and-navy wool button-down features the Redbird batting logo embroidered to the left breast in bright colors and two front pockets whose openings are lined in appropriately colored leather. Red-white-and-blue striped stretch ribbed cotton lines the collar waistline and sleeve endings. The satin-lined collar is home to a hanger "KM CAP Co." label and size "44" tag. "George Kissell" is marked in black pen in the adjacent strip tagging. The jacket shows plenty of wear without any staining or markings on the outside. Both jackets were likely worn by Kissell at Spring Training instructional camps or Winter ball (i.e. colder climates) minor league games or during the latter part of the MLB season when players and coaches would join the MLB club for the stretch run. Hard to find one let along two jackets from such a classic era of Cardinals baseball.

Includes a Letter of Authenticity from the grandson of George Kissell.