Acquiring my Holy Grail
 

I admit that I thought the 1887 Kalamazoo Bats Pittsburgh team card WAS my holy grail until I knew this following item existed. Even when I found out about it, I didn't think I'd be able to purchase it because it's been in the family since day one. I'm from Kearny, NJ, birthplace of Dots Miller, who shares six of the same relatives with me, though we are not related. I'm a huge Pirates fan since I was five and now get to cover the Pirates for a living. So what you see here is the 1909 Dots Miller Pirates jersey and pants, which I believe were World Series worn because I have an old article saying he saved everything from the Series. I was able to purchase them today.

Incredible!

Congratulations man!!! This is what it's all about. I'm really happy for you. That is amazing. It belongs in a museum.

OMG . That is AMAZING!!!

I plan on taking good care of it for a long time, then leaving it to one of his relatives, putting it back into the family. I have three cousins related to him in their early 30's, so we will see if they have a kid who is big into baseball. If not, it will probably end up in a museum

Wow! That's a heck of a find! I hope you can post some other detail pictures when you get a chance. Glad it went to someone who really appreciates it.

That's unreal!!! :eek: Very happy for you John!

Sickest item i saw in a long time!

I should add one of thing and that was that the person I bought it from had another jersey he thought belonged to Dots Miller, so I said I'd look at it. It was from a local team from Kearny and I was able to tell him it was his grandfather's jersey, so that made it extra special to him.

He never thought to check inside for the name and he didn't know his grandfather played baseball, but I had an old newspaper article with him mentioned.

That is a fantastic item. :eek:

Congratulations to you! :)
And Thanks for sharing with us

Unbelievable, what an historical piece.

Nice John - I am happy to see that you finally got it!

How do you plan to display/store it?

WOW!!!! Awesome Acquisition!!!!! I love your dots collection! I'm putting you in my will...you should have my run someday!!!!!!:D

Great post!

That qualifies as awesome!!

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It's cool seeing the jersey on the cards, especially this one. BTW, they believe someone in the family has the famous "big glove"

Congratulations on the great pickup. I appreciate your intention of returning it to the family in the future. Very cool.

Best regards,

Joe

I'm really excited for you, that uniform is amazing. Congratulations!

Congrats John - that is an amazing piece!

I have to confess I thought it was going to be an N172 Madden/leaning on rock card though!

Johnny
 

congrats my great friend!

you are the one that hooked me on pre war..... I will come out and see you soon....:) I'm hanging in there..... again, stoked for you! :eek:

Holy smokes that is amazing!! So glad that stuff like this still exists! Congratulations!

Congratulations John! It is good that the jersey has found its' way into the hands of a knowledgeable, passionate collector such as yourself. As a member of the Miller clan I approve.
BTW, I have seen that a copy of the extremely rare Pittsburgh K-Bat team card is coming up in a Huggins and Scott auction later this year. Hopefully, that will also find its' way to you.

For the owner of the card's sake, I hope it doesn't but I'd begrudgingly accept it. I'm tapped out now. About to eat pop tarts for lunch and possibly dinner :)

Congrats! Amazing piece

I remember when you first posted that a while back. It was stunning then and remains so. Many many congratulations. Not just because of the value which is insane. Moreso the personal connection you have to it. Simply amazing.

Tom C

I had no idea of purchasing it when I posted those pictures last year. I knew of it's existence for years and just wanted to see it, didn't even ask to purchase it since it was in the family for 107 years at that point. I should say that I knew a jersey existed, didn't know it was a 1909 one though.

When the offer came up shortly after to buy it, I jumped on it and luckily they were willing to wait on full payment.

Crazy sick find

Absolutely incredible. As a uniform collector myself, I consider that one of the greatest pieces and finds that I have ever seen. Given your connection I can only imagine the exhilaration you are feeling. Priceless and historic. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

Holy cow, John, that's amazing.

Congrats. That's one of the coolest things I've seen in a while. Glad it wound up in the right hands.

-Al

Fantastic piece.

I was just going through my T206 cards today and Miller always stands out because of the name Dots

congrats on the purchase

Wow nice!!!

Simply awesome.

Rob M

John incredible pickup, Congrats!

John, you and Dot's uniform have restored my faith that there is still great 'stuff out there to be uncovered, which is something that drives us collectors ever onward IMO. I bet that fine museum in upstate NY would love to have a sniff. Congratulations.

Congratulations, a Wonderful piece to add to anyone's collect but to be in the hands of someone that also appreciates for exactly what ii is, a Great piece of baseball/Pirates history!

Lee

Any uniform is cool. Having one with that sort of story is amazing. If you owned nothing else, you'd have a great collection just owning that one uniform. Congrats!

Congrats John . . .

I too was really curious what the holy grail might be. Could have been any of the following:

• Dots Miller jersey
• Pittsburgh K-Bat team card

Or any of the following OJs:

• Deacon White w/ Pittsburgh
• Madden - leaning on rock
• New 3rd pose of Larry Corcoran

Great item John, neat to have something so historic, from your favorite team, and with a family connection. Congratulations!

Omg...to see that glove...with the uni...thats be something special. I might be disappointed if it is not in fact..."big!"

Incredible!

Sorry...

Wow, that glove really got exaggerated on the cards.

This is why this hobby is so cool. Stories like this. Congrats to you! What an amazing find. Glad to see it it in the right hands.

Holy balls, that's absolutely incredible. It's so amazing to see the ballclub initials on the sleeve in real life, too.

Bravo!!

Great pick up, congrats!

Was the peppermint candy cane undershirt available for purchase as well?

Truly a once in a life time find & what makes it even better is the item found it's proper home. Congratulations on this epic pick up!


Scott

Miller's stuff got split up among many family members, so that undershirt could be out there somewhere.

I read an article that said when he got home to Kearny, he said hi to his family, then went out and played baseball with neighborhood kids in the field right behind the house and he used a baseball from the World Series. D'oh!

Thanks for the kind words everyone! BTW, this is his house from back then, where the jersey was until around 2009.

Congrats John. I couldn't be happier for you. It is where it should be. :)

ps..can't help but be just a little disappointed in his glove size. The ladies said he had big hands, guess they were wrong DOH....

What a pickup! Congrats!

There's your jersey and look who it's rubbing against.

Rob M

Attachment 276987

Wow!

Congrats :)

They were actually really good friends, being a double play combo and those Germans stuck together :)

Honus Wagner was in that house pictured above numerous times I'm told, both during the off-season and when they played at the Polo Grounds. They also have postcards sent from Wagner to that house. Not sure how many, but I told them they could be worth a small fortune depending on content and the signature.

Congrats John!
 

Congrats John!

Glad you were able to acquire this awesome uniform!

Patrick

Incredible score. Great thread to read and congrats.

I usually don't hang out in pre-war, but your post caught my attention. What a terrific item to be able to acquire!

Have you looked into how to preserve the uniform? Maybe others here could offer insight to help you out!

Stuff like this strengthens my faith in the hobby. When an item (card, bat, uniform, whatever) winds up in the hands of a family member, it makes me feel all is right (at least temporarily, anyway) in the universe.

Hearty congratulations!

Absolutely amazing. Congratulations!

wow
 

John,

This is about as good as it gets.

Congrats!

Mark L

p.s. love your tweets about Pirates history.

Congrats! In case you're up for it Huggins & Scott has the Kalamazoo Pittsburgh team card in our August auction.

So, this thread led me to the question - why "Dots"?

From Wiki -

Reportedly, he got the nickname "Dots" after someone asked Miller's thick-accented teammate Honus Wagner where they could find John Miller. Wagner pointed to Miller and replied, "Dots (That's) Miller."

Rob M

You should have searched this site http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=199041

Lol, but Wiki is NEVER wrong!

Rob M

Stunning! Congrats and glad it didn't get lost at the Kearny sorting center. ;)

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That's funny you say that because I always like when I see my items go there first and everyone else hates it. I bought a Dots Miller Helmar stamp off of a board member earlier this year and it was taking a little long to get here. When I checked, it was in Kearny. I couldn't hate that.

Haha. Usually it's not a problem but some items go on vacation there for a week or so. I guess if it's a Dots item, it's just a little hometown visit.


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Fantastic item! Congrats!

Now, you just need to spend several thousand more dollars for a suitable display. :p

Wow, John. That is an INCREDIBLE pick-up. Congrats!!

Cheers,

Richard.

My sincerest congratulations. That is an incredible item!

I dribbled a little.

Amazing item.

That uniform has me in awe. My main focus is the 1909 Pirates and it doesn't get much better than that. Congrats!


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Congratulations John, I'm speechless.

It can't get better than that as a centerpiece to your collection!

So sick. Congrats.

Is there a proper way to store- In a sealed bag, etc?

I haven't figured out yet how I'm going store/display it, but I've been asking around, gathering ideas.

I'll take better pictures of the jersey sometime soon. The poor pants get no love :)

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I truly meant it when I said I'm not sure what could top that particular jersey for me. The year/player/team with that iconic PBC symbol. Of course Wagner, Clarke or Willis would be more valuable if they existed, but I'd still take Miller because of the family/birthplace connection.

I'd focus on preservation, rather than display. IMO, it's better to keep it properly stored, and occasionally bring out to show off...I personally wouldn't have it framed or displayed, honestly. Keep out of light, etc.

Question- I know it's sacrilegious to clean game worn jerseys, so I'm NOT saying to clean it...BUT, in the game worn uniform collecting arena, are there acceptable ways to LIGHTLY "clean" a bit, without damaging value or use?

My recommendation, unsolicited of course, would be to get a mannequin and dress that thing up with the uniform. I'd take pictures with a great camera and lighting...then frame those up with some other period pieces (think baseball cards, photos and other related items. Then preserve that sucker like you would a wedding dress.


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Might try contacting the Hall of Fame and see what the do for their jerseys. Whatever you do let us see the final result.

Agreed. The hof acfually sends their jerseys out to have cleaned as the dirt and debris breaks down the fibers. They then keep them in archival boxes(acid free) and wrap them in acid free archival paper. Handling is also important(how you fold and pick up).

Dots
 

Great Item John. Congrats on such a fabulous find.
Hope to meet up with you again soon and talk baseball.
Best Regards
John P

With regard to questions about storage or display, I recommend you contact Dave Grob, a poster here whose ID is his name. I haven't read through this entire thread, so I'm not sure if he has already replied. The one piece of advice I would give is to not frame it in the traditional sense -- sandwiched between glass and a backing of some sort. I don't recommend entombing game worn jerseys in that way, losing the 3D nature of the item, losing view of a lot of the jersey, losing any feel of the jersey, and damaging the jersey through creasing. If you want to use a frame of sorts, I'd recommend a frame that is basically a box with a glass door that allows the jersey to hang and be removed whenever you want. I believe those are available for game worn jersey display, but I'd think you may want one custom made so the look is appropriate to the era. Of course, using a hanger may be a bad idea for a jersey this old so I'd defer to the game worn jersey preservation experts on that.

Beautiful
 

What a beautiful piece of history! I really dig the interlocking red and blue letters on the sleeve that you see in so many caramel cards circa 1910.
I know I'm a month late on posting, but again congrats!
Tim Kindler

Wow, fantastic to see, especially being a Buccos fan too. Thanks for sharing!