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BOSTON -- A Ted Williams uniform from 1959 that was folded up in a paper bag and stored in an attic for a quarter century sold at auction Sunday for $70,000.

An unidentified buyer phoned in the winning bid for the Splendid Splinter's No. 9 jersey and pants, less than the expected price range of $80,000 to $120,000 that appraisers at Skinner Auction House had predicted, said retired Gloucester physician Robert Jedrey, the uniform's former owner.

"It seemed like this was the ideal time to consider putting it up for auction," he said.

Williams, who played for the Red Sox from 1939-60, was the last player to break the .400 barrier, hitting .406 in 1941.

Jedrey received the uniform in 1959 when Williams hit a career-low .254. Al Oliver, a family friend who was superintendent at Braves Field in Boston, home of the Boston Braves, gave the uniform to Jedrey. Jedrey does not know how Oliver got it.

Jedrey folded the uniform into a paper bag, tucked it in a dresser drawer in the attic of his mother's home and forgot about it. He remembered it in the late 1980s when Williams and Joe DiMaggio appeared at Fenway Park.

Jedrey took it to the Sports Museum of New England, where it was authenticated and displayed. Jedrey sold the uniform because of the increased interest in Williams since his death and the excitement surrounding the 2004 Red Sox.

The most paid for a baseball uniform at auction appears to be the more than $451,000 an anonymous buyer spent in 1999 for a Lou Gehrig uniform. It is believed Gehrig wore the uniform during his famous farewell speech.

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press