Until the early 1930s teams did not issue team jackets for spring training or for those early or late season games. Rather they issued beautiful elaborate heavy knit sweaters usually with a team logo. These sweaters were of such high quality that no doubt players and other team personnel would keep them and wear them for years after. Some of the most striking team photos from 1905 to the 1920s are those of the entire squad sporting these sweaters. This is an unbelievable double knit example of the style utilized by the 1924-26 New York Yankees that belonged to Whitey Witt. Lawton Walter "Whitey" Witt played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics New York Yankees and Brooklyn Robins. In his career he hit 18 home runs and had 302 RBI. Prior to his passing away in 1988 at the age of 92 he was the last surviving person to have played on the 1923 New York Yankees team the first year the Yankees won the World Series. In fact photographs show that when the Yankees took the field on Opening Day of the 1924 season most players were wearing these sweaters during the 1923 championship flag raising ceremony and presentation of their championship pocket watches. The navy blue sweater is trimmed with a steel gray shawl collar and cuffs. There is an exquisite interlocking "NY" logo on the left breast in heavy gray felt. The pockets are one piece knit-in and are not separately attached. Produced by Bradley Knit Wear (whose tag appears in the collar) these must have cost a relative fortune even then. Sourced directly from Whitey Witt this is the only example of this Yankees team sweater we are aware of. This wonderful relic is in absolutely pristine condition.

Includes a LOA from Whitey Witt.