Famous Chambliss jersey on auction block

Posted Nov 15, 2011 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Nov 15, 2011 at 06:51 PM

If you are a Yankees fan and remember New York’s turbulent American League champions of the mid-1970s, then try this auction on for size.

Beginning Nov. 23, the 8D Network will conduct an online auction, and one of the key pieces of memorabilia on the block will be the jersey worn by first baseman Chris Chambliss on the night he smashed the pennant-winning homer in Game 5 of the 1976 ALCS at Yankee Stadium.

Chambliss’ homer, a shot into the right-center field stands on the first pitch delivered by Kansas City Royals reliever Mark Littell, gave New York a 7-6 victory and its first pennant since 1964. It ignited a fan stampede that was so intense, Chambliss was knocked down rounding second and actually did not touch home plate (he came back onto the field a few moments later and “tagged” the area where the plate was — souvenir hunters had uprooted it — to make it official).

If you have the cash, the site is www.8DNetwork.com. The auction runs through Dec. 15, and the opening bid has been set at $25,000.

It’s one of the more famous walk-off homers in major-league history. From a memorabilia standpoint, it ought to fetch a good price. For example, the bat used by Kirk Gibson for his Game 1 walk-off homer in the 1988 World Series got a winning bid of just under $576,000, according to public relations guy Marty Appel. Marty, by the way, knows a thing or two about Yankees history, having been the PR director for the Yanks on the night Chambliss homered. So I trust his claim that the uniform is authentic (video sourcing from the game was a key piece of evidence).

It was a cold night in New York on Oct. 14, 1976, and the game had been held up briefly as the Yankee Stadium grounds crew was clearing debris off the field. The game was being announced on ABC by Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell.

I have personal memories of the game. I was a sophomore at the University of Florida, and was watching the game in my room along with dorm resident and fellow Yankees rooter Mike Simolo (who would go on to a career in coaching, mostly in the Orlando area, where he would mentor a young player named Johnny Damon). 

And this is the truth. As the game went into the bottom of the ninth I looked at Mike and said, “watch Chambliss hit one out.” And you know, laughs all around — until Chambliss turned on that first pitch. Sometimes, what you wish for comes true. Having been subjected to the Yankees of the “Horace Clarke era” (Yankees fans from 1965 to 1975 know what I am talking about), this was a great night.

I don’t have the cash to bid on the jersey; maybe Simolo does (I know Damon does, thanks to his successful major-league career). But it would be a neat addition to someone’s collection.