Talk about a miracle. It would be one thing to unearth a mere 1910s-era Braves gamer. But one that can be traced to a Miracle Braves team member? In that very year of 1914? Plus a complete ensemble of jersey and pants? Rare as hen's teeth!

Third baseman Red Smith debuted for the Braves on August 10, 1914, at a time when Boston had vaulted from 8th place to 2nd place in the N.L. standings within the span of just 3 weeks. Smith squeezed in 60 games and batted, appropriately enough, .314 as the Braves built up a 10.5-game pennant lead—which they then parlayed into a World Series sweep. This uniform style perfectly matches that home stretch and then also early 1915, before Boston jettisoned the left-breast, block-letter "B" for a circular logo. An accompanying LOA from the original acquirer reads, "I purchased this 1914 Boston Braves game worn uniform of Red Smith at a Tallahassee Florida Flea Market back in 1991. The man that sold it to me was a family member of Mr. Smith."

Expert authenticator Phil Wood's LOA describes the Spalding size-40 jersey in great detail, noting its 8-button front, "sun collar" extension, Indian-chief sleeve patch, manufacturer's tagging, chain-stitched "40", and lack of a name or number on back (consistent with pre-1932 Braves jerseys). A corresponding Spalding tag appears inside the pants. Overall condition is quite impressive with expected usage/age wear, bright applique colors, and no moth holes. A 16x22 news-supplement team photo (FR, reproduced at a later date) is included as a uniform style reference and pictures Red Smith second from right in the middle row.

Wood ultimately concludes as follows: "The universe of century-old major league uniforms is exceedingly small, and it's hard to imagine there are many more Braves' complete ensembles of this vintage in the world. Style-wise, the Braves wore this design in 1914 and the early part of 1915 (likely the same uniforms being recycled). In my experience I've examined around 25 uniforms of various teams of this vintage over the past 40 years. I've made several discoveries analyzing those, including one that may also apply to this one: There's no player's name to be found on the jersey or pants. Other teams of that vintage that also had no identifiers stitched in usually meant the player was responsible for cleaning his own uniform; players wouldn't just throw everything into a basket in the clubhouse when the game was over. The Braves shared Fenway Park with the Red Sox then, and that may have been the reason why. This is a museum-quality collectible whose authenticity I don't question. A real treasure."