This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/11/2019
The Philadelphia Sphas (South Philadelphia Hebrew Association), also known as the Philadelphia Hebrews, were primarily known for their success as an American basketball franchise but also made their mark in the world of baseball. The Philadelphia area was a hotbed of various semi-professional baseball leagues, many being all-black or all-Jewish, that would play within their leagues and also each other in exhibitions, but few found the type of popularity or success as the SPHA. Eddie Gotlieb, who would later become the owner of the Philadelphia Warriors and one of the founders of the NBA, ran this semi-pro SPHA in the 1920s. The featured sweater has survived for nearly a century and harkens back to the pre-Depression days where baseball was the tie that bonded people of different races and religions. This heavy-knit sweater features a red and white, six-pointed Star of David on the left shoulder and Hebrew characters across the front of the sweater that translates to S.P.H.A., the acronym for the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association. Likely used during an exhibition against players from another semi-pro league or perhaps a SPHAs all-star game, it's a rare surviving piece of Philadelphia baseball history that would fit in just as well in a Jewish heritage museum as it does in a vintage sports collection.