This 1965 jersey was used by former Detroit Tigers catcher Mike Roarke when he was in the first year of his MLB coaching career. He played his entire career for Detroit and wore #12 as a catcher, retaining that number as he joined the Tigers’ coaching ranks. He went on to coach for the Angels and eventually switched over to the position of pitching coach in 1970, replacing Johnny Sain on the staff for the Tigers for one year. Roarke then had several successful seasons as a MLB pitching coach for the Cubs, Cardinals, Padres and Red Sox leading the Cards to the 1985 and 87 World Series, eventually retiring after the 1994 season with the Red Sox. This jersey is in pristine shape for its age. It does have two very small holes on the back, several inches below the uniform number. I have owned the jersey for about 15 years and that was present when I acquired it. As was custom in those days, this jersey was stripped of its “Detroit” lettering (evidence of it can still be seen) and replaced with that of their Class A Florida State League team in Lakeland (to which they remain affiliated to this day). It was then used for a few seasons in Lakeland. The numbers 12 on the sleeve and back are original to the jersey and are midnight blue felt. The Lakeland letters are the same. In my 40 years of collecting and in my combined 22 years of working part time and full time in the Florida State League, this is the only Lakeland flannel jersey I have ever seen which still retains the Lakeland lettering. All others either still have the original Detroit lettering (which is very rare), or have the Detroit letters “restored” with recent copies. But this jersey is completely unaltered as when last used in the Tigers organization. This is THE finest and oldest baseball jersey ever to be in my collection. I really don’t want to sell this and, in fact, it really breaks my heart, but I absolutely need to in order to help pay for some of my mother’s medical and other related bills. Please wait for invoice before paying if you are the winner. And have followed the league well before and beyond my days working in it. I will have other MLB and/or MiLB related items for sale soon. Number is below 25 or if you have any negative. The item “Game Used Worn Detroit Tigers / Lakeland Tigers Flannel Road Jersey Utterly Rare” is in sale since Tuesday, April 16, 2019. This item is in the category “Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop\Game Used Memorabilia\Baseball-MLB\Jerseys”. The seller is “kkscher4i59″ and is located in Hialeah, Florida. This item can be shipped to United States.

• Country/Region of Manufacture: Jersey
• Team: Detroit Tigers