TWO MORE GENUINE JERSEY ODDITIES
Cardinals bat and jersey expert Jeff Scott (www.birdbats.com) shared a genuine uniform oddity he has encountered in several photos. The head-scratcher is an apparently recycled pre-1966 Cardinals flannel issued to newcomer Joe Torre for at least the 1969 Grapefruit League season, and possibly the regular season as well. The tipoff: Pre-1966 Cardinals shirts depicted the Birds-On-Bat logo with the left (to the viewer) bird having his tail located behind the bat, while the bird seated on the right has his tail in front of the bat. The two sides were flip-flopped into an opposite arrangement after 1965. Photos of Torre in this at least 4-year-old flannel can be seen on a popular MLB licensed 8×10 color photo of Joe, as well as a team photo used as a yearbook picture. I wouldn’t have expected the Cardinals to go that route to supply a star like Torre, and Jeff was surprised, as well.
My other tale is a case of a legitimate common jersey repeatedly offered by its owners as a minor star’s gamer. The item is a 1971 White Sox flannel with the name “Moloney” chain-stitched onto a collar strip tag. Problem is, several previous owners have been deluded into believing the owner was former Reds ace Jim Maloney. Maloney spent 1971 with the Angels, and never pitched for the White Sox.
As it turns out, the #48 jersey in question was made for, but not worn by, pitcher Dick Moloney, whose MLB career consisted of one appearance for the 1970 Chisox. He had jerseys made for 1971 usage, but was cut, and #48 was re-issued to Rick Reichardt, who may or may not have worn these. I make the use factor a “maybe” based on both Moloney and Reichardt being 6-foot-3, but Reichardt being 30 pounds heavier (215 to Moloney’s 185). Whatever the case, anyone who attributes this jersey to Reds star Jim is just plain wrong.
MLB UNIFORM LOG
The May 24th finale in the Cubs-Padres series at Petco Park found the Pads wearing their annual military tribute jersey with a camouflage motif.
The next day, while the wearing of red caps for Memorial Day has been duly noted multiple times, it was interesting that the umpires also wore red lids.
MILB UNIFORM LOG
Some spottings of what MLB veterans wore while rehabbing on the farm include:
Tigers hurler Jeremy Bonderman, rehabbing with the Midwest League West Michigan Whitecaps, wearing a military camo jersey during a rehab start.
Tom Glavine, back with the Braves, was rehabbing to the tune of 2 starts in Class AAA. He wore a Gwinnett Braves jersey with a “Gwinnett” Tomahawk logo on the front, his standard #47 on the back, with no NOB, and with the jersey being a faux vest (navy blue body, red sleeves).
Oklahoma City had Josh Hamilton rehabbing on a Red Hawks road trip. Hamilton wore a NNOB #19 Rawlings grey road jersey on May 10 and May 11.
NBA UNIFORM AND MEMORABILIA LOG
NBA Auctions on the league website (www.nba.com) has a number of special issue 2008-09 gamers up for bids, with staggered closing times beginning at 8PM CST on April 4. Among the offerings are a run of the yellow Hardwood Classics Cavaliers gamers (including a Lebron James in a size 48+4″); as well as Noche Latina Hispanic night jerseys of the Lakers, Rockets and Spurs (all white jerseys), and orange Suns gamers as well as green Mavs garb).
Plus, for those interested in how the auction of Randy Brown’s three NBA Championship rings (all from the second Bulls Three-Peat), the final price for the trio of rings was (drum roll, please…..) $53,833.00. Not a bad piece of change.
OBITUARIES
David Glenn Lunceford, former OL for Baylor and the Chicago Cardinals, died at age 75 after a long illness.
Terry Barr, a DB/WR for 9 seasons with the Detoit Lions, also succumbed to a lengthy illness. He was 73. He played DB for the 1957 NFL Championship Lions team (their last championship squad) and, after converting to WR, was selected to two Pro Bowl teams (1963-64).
Peter Zezel, an NHL center who spent time with 7 different teams, died of multiple causes at age 44. He played in 873 games during his career.
Lude Check, a center that spent brief stints with the Red Wings (1943-44) and the Blackhawks (1944-45) died May 11, 11 days short of his 91st birthday.
CONGRATULATIONS, BLACKHAWKS…THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!