MORE ONE AND DONES
This time out, I’ll start with a pair of one-year jersey styles to discuss, and add a pair of one-year cap designs, also.
1968 Oakland A’s: For a one-year style, a nice quantity of these reside within the hobby, although many are in private collections, not being moved at this time. McAuliffe made all three vest styles, which included the city name in chenille print, on jerseys colored white, golden yellow, and mist green. The jerseys first appeared en masse in the 1980s, when the team released the majority of them to a registered pharmacist/collector who has business ties to most of the Phoenix-area based spring training camps. Among the highlights of what this group contained were Reggie Jackson rookie flannels and the first jerseys worn by Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio (#5) in his two year stint as an Oakland coach.
1987 New York Mets road: In the first year of the Rawlings uniform contract, the Mets, a Rawlings user most of the previous 15 years, wore an attractive grey road jersey with a scripted New York, as opposed to the standard block-letter city name, across the front. The scripted New York was also used on that year’s road blue mesh BP jerseys as well, one of which was recently offered by an honest, but lousy researcher/dealer as a 1994 item. They’re out there, but with many Mets style collectors, bidding is usually spirited, especially on the game versions, when they are offered.
1957 Cubs cap: Wilson was responsible for these, a cap similar to the solid blue design the team has worn since 1958, but with red/white pinstripes going from top to bottom on the crown seams. Originals are extremely rare. For a nice look at one, check out the 1958 Topps card of Ernie Banks, #310.
1976 White Sox road cap: I don’t recall if KM Pro or New Era (or both) made these, but this style, thanks to some managerial griping, only lasted for several weeks in 1976. The caps had the navy brim like the normal home version, but the crowns were white with a navy horizontal SOX on the front. Several 1977 Topps cards have pictures of these short-lived lids. Their swan song came when a game against the Yankees found Yanks skipper Billy Martin protesting to the umpires about the caps and the white sleeves of the undershirts that went with the road uniform. Martin’s gripe was that the plethora of white made it too difficult for his batters to see the pitched baseball. Very quickly, both the hats and the undershirts were yanked, replaced with all navy examples of each.
MONITORING THE MINORS
Some minor league uniform specials worn over the last month or so include the following:
Stockton Ports (California League): 1950’s style TBTC uniforms were worn on April 18.
Fresno Grizzlies (Pacific Coast League): Another medical cause was publicized by the Grizzlies on April 24, when Autism Awareness unies were trotted out.
Altoona Curve (Eastern League): May 3 found the curve sporting throwbacks designed after the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates, back in an era when the city name was spelled PITTSBURG.
NOTES FROM THE SHOW
The Mariners and Athletics decided to pay tribute to the old Pacific Coast League by wearing TBTC attire of the 1939 Seattle Rainiers and Oakland Oaks, from back in the pre-MLB days of both cities.
Also, the publicized Washington NATINALS error jerseys worn for part of one game by a few Nationals players on April 17 found the home white worn by Adam Dunn being auctioned on May 2 at the Nats’ 4th Annual Dream Gala. Final bid on this oddity: $8,000.
STOLEN BLING
Reggie McKenzie, employed by the Green Bay Packers, had a briefcase stolen from his car a couple of weeks ago. The contents of the briefcase included his Super Bowl XXXI ring and a Packers NFC Championship ring. If you are offered these, they are hot…don’t buy ’em, but contact the Packers about it.
OBITUARIES
Former AFL QB and former Republican VP candidate Jack Kemp died from a long illness at age 73. He was a quarterback in the old AFL from 1960-69 with the Los Angeles Chargers and the Buffalo Bills, and was the man running the offense of the Bills’ two AFL title teams in 1964-65.