JERSEY SUPPLIERS CAN’T ALWAYS SPELL
Many would cast a suspicious eye upon a game jersey that is graced with a misspelled NOB, or team/city name, or noticeably different sized numbers. Yet, occasionally something will slip through the cracks, and an error like this will find its way to the playing field. The Shirt will make mention of some jerseys of this genre here.
ASTROS FLANNEL
The late Herb Elk once sold me, for a measly $90, a 1971 Astros road flannel of Dave Roberts with the NOB spelled as RBOERTS. Don’t get too hyped up about “only” $90, as this sale took place roughly 30 years ago.
WHITE SOX KNIT (1986)
Jim Fregosi couldn’t have been too pleased when his initial order of Sand-Knit ’86 Sox gamers showed up with a NOB of FREGSOI.
OAKLAND & MONTREAL (mid-1980s)
I don’t recall the exact years flag tagged into these Rawlings gamers, but both Expos manager Bob Rodgers and A’s coach Ron Schueler got the spelling error treatment on an Expos home (ROGERS, as in Steve Rogers/Captain America) and an Oakland yellow pullover (SCHULLER).
GIANTS 1977 orange
This one-season style, by Wilson, was photographed by the Chicago Sun-Times when the Giants came to Chicago to clash with the Cubs. The photo target was infielder Rob Andrews, whose jersey on this one-year style with city name on front read “SAN FRANCICSO”
CUBS 1992 road
The Cubs Convention, over a decade ago, sold a 1992 Alex Arias, who was issued #21 but gave it up when Sammy Sosa joined the Wrigleys, with the toddlin’ town’s name shown as CHICACO.
GIANTS 1975 road
It’s odd enough that the Giants would issue a NOB/number changed jersey to a player of Bobby Murcer’s caliber, but that is what I saw when a friend and I bought eight Frisco knits in late 1976, when the style changed, Murcer was given a Bruce Miller jersey, with Miller’s NIC tagged and a 9 (from 29) changed to a 0 (as in Murcer’s 20) with the zero close to an inch smaller than the original 2. Mind you, these 8 gamers (1 home, 7 road) were purchased from the TEAM, and not a collector of the day. One shady hobbyist of the era bought the Murcer from me, and, when I reacquired it about a year later, Mr. Shady had removed the Miller NIC tag.
NETS home
It can happen in other sports, as well, as is the case with a NOB/number changed Nets jersey from their final NBA season we viewed. In this case, a sizeable difference in the 3 and 0 was evident both front and back, although the jersey was video-matched, and the Nets in the 1970s and 80s were notorious for recycling game jersey on the ABA and NBA levels.
NEXT TIME: All original? Check those patches first…see you then.