See the Jaw-Dropping 'Antiques Roadshow' Appraisal of a Red Sox Jersey Worn by Ted Williams
This week's episode of Antiques Roadshow goes to show that the market for antiques is still thriving, and even you might have an antique gem hiding somewhere in your attic. The Roadshow crew headed to Sturbridge, MA, this week, where they appraised their top item of season 28: an authentic Red Sox jersey, passed down for two generations.
Leila Dunbar, sports memorabilia expert, appraised the jersey at over $200,000 in its current condition. The Red Sox game-used jersey was worn in 1942 by Ted Williams, one of the most celebrated players in Red Sox history. During the 1942 season, Ted Williams won the Triple Crowd after leading the league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. The original owner of the jersey (aside from Ted Williams, of course) was a woman named Thelma, who was the man's grandmother-in-law. He explained that the jersey was a gift from a sportswriter in Boston, because Thelma was known to be fond of Williams.
"It's one the earliest known Ted Willams home jerseys," Dunbar explained. However, the jersey was altered to make it shorter, which decreases its auction value from between $400,000 to $600,000 to its actual value, with the alterations, of between $200,000 to $250,000. Dunbar recommended insuring the jersey for no less than a whopping half a million dollars.
"Quarter million, what do you do with that?" was the man's reaction to the appraisal. "I wonder where the other piece went. If we could find it and put it back on," he joked.
Fans on Instagram joked about his reaction to the huge appraisal value writing, "Dude, hop up & down with excitement just a little? That's 250K" and "he stared sweating when she gave the value 😂."
The full Antiques Roadshow episode featuring the Red Sox jersey is available to watch for free on YouTube. Tune in to new episodes on Monday nights on PBS.
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