Eddie Miksis' 1947 World Series Jersey Used During Dodgers Game 4 Walk-Off Victory

I thought I would take a moment to highlight a vintage Brooklyn Dodgers game-used jersey that I recently came across in Goldin's current auction.  Featured above is Eddie Miksis' 1947 flannel that he wore during the World Series.   (Auction Link)

“Miksis will fix us,” was what he was playfully referred to by Branch Rickey during the following season in 1948.  Obviously, Eddie was highly regarded.  He was an super-utility player who, at the ripe age of seventeen, already displayed the skills and smarts of a much older player.  Just to illustrate how wanted he was, he joined the franchise only after the Dodgers bought an controlling interest in the minor league club he played for (the Trenton Packers) in 1944.  Then, he got called up to Brooklyn as a seventeen-year-old later that year.

After a stint in the Navy during WWII he returned to Brooklyn during the middle of the 1946 season and stayed a Major Leaguer for good.  He would enjoy an eighteen-year MLB career; eight of which with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

As for the jersey itself and its story, check out what the auctions description says.  It's rather fantastic:

In one of the most dramatic moments in World Series history, Bill Bevins of the Yankees was no-hitting the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 4. Going into the bottom of the 9th leading 2-1, Bevins was one out away from history.

Then a few intentional walks put two runners on. Young Eddie Miksis, in his first full season in the Majors, was put in as a pinch runner. Miksis was one of those rare players that possessed full toolbox of skills that made him an invaluable utility man. One of those skills was he was fast as lightning and smart as Einstein on the base paths. Representing the winning run, he was the obvious choice to pinch run. Cookie Lavagetto pinch hit for Eddie Stanky and promptly smacked a long single to right field. Al Gionfriddo scored the tying run. Meanwhile, the fly ball bounced off the wall and outfielder Tommy Henrich struggled to gain possession of it. Eddie Miksis, exhibiting the extraordinary base running skills he was known for, took full advantage of the situation and raced home with the winning run.

After the game, Eddie’s brothers, who watched the game from the stands, wisely told their now-famous sibling to preserve the jersey for history’s sake. The flannel has been a prized Miksis family keepsake since that October day in 1947.

Wow!  He was the walk-off winning run during Game 4 of the World Series.  Best yet, he wore this exact jersey during an Old-Timers Game that commemorated the '47 team at Dodger Stadium several decades later, as evidenced by the photo below. 

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