PATCH NEWS
A big supply of notes on MLB and NFL patches will bring a special Thursday edition of The Shirt.
In baseball, two single-game patches were worn by Houston and Minnesota. The Astros, on July 29, wore an insignia commemorating the 50th Anniversary of NASA, the bureau in charge of America’s space program. Then, August 1 saw the Twins donning an I-35W memoriam patch as a tribute to the victims of the Twin Cities bridge collapse on that interstate highway last August 2nd.
Baltimore added a 25th anniversary patch for their 1983 World Championship team on the Turn Back the Clock 1983 style jerseys worn on July 23, and will wear it on their standard attire for the rest of 2008.
In the NFL. the New York Jets plan to wear a 40th Anniversary of Super Bowl 3 logo on their jerseys on October 26. Also, for the game in London between the Saints and Chargers, both participating teams will wear an NFL International Series patch
Finally, back in MLB, the Atlanta Braves, beginning this past Wednesday, will add a “Skip” memoriam patch for recently deceased longtime announcer Skip Caray.
DID YOU KNOW…?
The first MLB team to wear a Stadium anniversary patch was the New York Yankees. In 1973, their Wilson home pinstriped threads included a 50th Anniversary patch for Yankee Stadium on the left sleeve (the patch was not worn on the road greys).
Since then, anniversaries, inaugural year and final year jersey patches for ballparks have become fairly frequent. The White Sox wore a 75th Anniversary logo in 1985 for the original Comiskey Park, and the Red Sox followed suit in 1987 with a Fenway Park 75th Anniversary sleeve emblem. Oddly, enough, the Cubs, with their field of dreams ballpark, Wrigley Field, have never worn a patch for a Friendly Confines anniversary.
UNIFORM NEWS
The last few days have also produced some uniform news in both MLB and NFL circles.
The July 23rd game at Camden Yards found not only the O’s, but also the Blue Jays, suited up in 1983 retro unies. The O’s home whites have already been auctioned off by the team; in fact, one has already been accounted for; a Jeremy Guthrie (game starting pitcher) shirt owned by Orioles collector and niche expert Mark Sutton. Noteworthy is that, even though these are 1983-themed jerseys, the 2008 Jim McKay memoriam armband also appears (right sleeve) on the Orioles’ garb.
DID YOU KNOW…?
While Turn Back the Clock MLB jerseys were around the year before, the first MLB game with BOTH teams wearing retro unies was in 1991, with the Phillies hosting the Reds. The teams wore 1961-style attire, with both groups of uniforms made by Rawlings.
4 HR IN 1 GAME…MICAH HOFFPAIUR, YOU DA MAN!!