Will Wool Be Pulled Over Eyes of Bidders at Auction of Jersey?

The white wool has gone yellow and the dark pinstripes have faded to gray. Nonetheless, the 1937 jersey worn by Lou Gehrig, the New York Yankees’ “Iron Horse” is something special.

How special? The Wall Street Journal reports that the jersey will be sold at auction today at Christie’s East in New York for a suggested price of $375,000 to $425,000.

There is one nagging question, though: Is the jersey authentic?

Jerry Zuckerman, president of Sports Heroes Inc., who owns the jersey, emphatically says it is.

Could it be one made for any of numerous baseball movies?

Eddie Marx, president of Western Costume Co., said: “I would think there is no way we could prove it one way or the other.”

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Add Gehrig: One of his baseball shirts--a gray road jersey--sold at a San Francisco auction during the summer for $363,000. It was the highest price ever paid for an athletic uniform.

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Trivia time: How many players have hit grand slams in the American and National League playoffs?

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Choices: If The Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series, Michael Hurd of USA Today wonders whether the team will be honored at a meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada, the President of the United States, or whether the team will simply opt for the United Nations.

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Stationary target: Frank Luksa of the Dallas Morning News, commenting on Seattle quarterback Dan McGwire after the Cowboys beat the Seahawks last Sunday, 27-0:

“The 6-8 McGwire, green as an avocado and about as mobile, became easy prey. . . . McGwire had no chance. He was slow to set up. Slow to read coverage. Even slower afoot. For the Cowboys, it was rushing a tall fireplug.”

McGwire, the former San Diego State standout, is on the injured-reserve list after suffering a shoulder separation and hip injury during the game.

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Old wound: Last year, California beat USC, 52-30, running up the most points ever scored on the Trojans. However, for old Cal alums, that rout doesn’t completely avenge a 74-0 defeat by USC in 1930.

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Get lost: After Fullerton College had lost its fourth consecutive football game last Saturday, the home crowd was reminded that the Hornets would be on the road for the next two weeks.

The school pep band responded to the announcement by playing the song: “Hit the Road, Jack.”

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Final word: Alan Greenberg of the Hartford Courant on retired Larry Bird: “(Bird) was the greatest forward ever to play basketball. No one at his position was a better shooter, or rebounder, and no one at any position was a better passer.”

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Trivia answer: Six, including the Angels’ Don Baylor in 1982 against Milwaukee, and the Dodgers’ Dusty Baker against Philadelphia in 1977.

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Quotebook: Jesus Rodriguez on his golfing brother Chi Chi: “Everything I know, I owe to my brother. Being in Chi Chi’s shadow is like being in the shade of a tree.”