In the Steve Garvey post below there is a picture of him in his Padres uniform with RAK on the sleeve. The Padres wore that for three seasons after the passing of their owner, Ray Kroc, of McDonalds fame.
They did this despite this story-
Defector– The Padres were once again clobbered in their home opener on April 9, losing 9-5. Kroc spent the game stewing as his team committed such foibles as forgetting the number of outs, and blowing a chance to score with the bases loaded. With the Astros holding onto a 9-2 lead in the ninth, Kroc was finally set off after a pinch runner who’d just entered the game was picked off at first. He stormed from the owners box to the PA booth, grabbed the microphone, and addressed Padres fans as their team’s owner for the first time.
“Fans, I suffer with you. I’ve never seen such stupid ballplaying in my life,” he said. After a streaker briefly interrupted him—Kroc screamed for the man to be thrown in jail—he continued to roast his team. “I have good news and bad news,” he said. “The good news is that the Dodgers drew 31,000 for their opener and we’ve drawn 39,000 for ours. The bad news is that this is the most stupid baseball playing I’ve ever seen.”
This got me to thinking, “I wonder when the first tribute was worn on a baseball uniform?”
I was way off-
| Jerseys | |
| Special patches and armbands have long been a part of the baseball uniform, but the practice is much more common now than ever before. Today, nearly every major league uniform features some sort of patch, whether it commemorates an anniversary, promotes an upcoming event, or honors the memory of members of the baseball community or others who have passed away. Mourning Miller Memorial armbands and markings of one sort or another have been a tradition in baseball since the 19th century. The first-known use of a memorial marking on a major league uniform took place in 1876, the inaugural year of the National League. In late May of that season, Tom Miller, catcher for the St. Louis nine, passed away from a disease of the kidneys. Though Miller had last played ball with the club the previous season, his teammates adopted a resolution stating “that we, his late associates, wear a badge of mourning for thirty days as a token of respect for his memory.” Black Bows in Boston On March 28, 1907, Chick Stahl, manager of the Boston Americans (later known as the Red Sox), committed suicide. Three days later, in a spring training game, both Boston and their opponents, the Cincinnati Reds, wore black crepe bows on their arms in memory of Stahl, who was laid to rest that day. Though three key players for Boston missed the game in order to attend Stahl’s funeral, the club still defeated the Reds 3-0.Just one day after Stahl’s untimely death, the National League Boston Doves (later known as the Braves) lost their teammate Cozy Dolan to typhoid fever. On Opening Day, April 12, 1907, the Boston players donned uniforms with the Old English “B” on their jersey front adorned with black crepe. |
I was glad when the Tiger’s beat them in the 84 world series.
Mainly because I hated the Padres ugly uniforms.
TIM
Steve is “the father” of my state! Cal
Not nearly as many kids a nick; but many.
Thomas Magnum was the reason Detroit won that year…
early ’70s collecting baseball cards and gambling them with other kids. Topps put the team colors across the top of the cards so I could spot a Yankees card right away even though the team was in rough shape. I do miss the old colors.
knock down a leaner. match or de-match. longest throw. teams.
Which games did you play?
We did not throw cards when we said “flipping cards.” We played like war.
You would turn over a card on a pile, whoever matched the color that was on top of the pile collected all of them.
I can remember some of the the colors, I think–
Mets – Blue
Braves – Gray
Phillies – Gray
Indians- Gray
Giants – Green
Dodgers – Orange
Cardinals – Yellow
Tigers – Yellow
Yankees -Orange
Pirates – Purple
Reds – Light Blue
Orioles – Lime Green
Red Sox – Purple
White Sox – Orange
Twins- Blue
Would have been one lucky kid to end up with T206…
Athletics were I think – purple
Astros – Green ?
Angels – gray
who am I missing?
BTW, my avatar has always been a tribute to Topps’ team logos.
When did the baseball uniforms go all Nike ?
We used to bring the cards to school in shoeboxes. “Flip ya’”, “steady last”. Try to get learners or closest to the school wall on the tiny basketball court. 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. Late 50s, early 60s.
leaners
Doug… in the late 50s early 60s I was in 6th, 7th n 8th grades at St Thomas More Elementary in Alhambra, California. Because I was chubby, and in SoCal that was a federal crime, so I learned to throw baseball cards like a Champ.
I always loved the Dodgers and got to see em play the Yankees with their greats at their peaks. Roger Maris heard me yell his name one night and turned and actually waved at me. Stoka Boka! I was in heaven. Good times.
Doug, when you mentioned the school walls and leaners the memories just came flooding back. Sorry.
once upon a time I did a tribute page of Baltimore Oriole Uniform changes. gotta remember their home & away jerseys were different (home said ‘Orioles’ & away said “Baltimore’& that was it!) then they started some pretty weird uniforms back in the ’70’s & ’80’s …. such as the all-Orange uniforms (which I hated!). I gave up, after they had the 1992 All-Star Game patch, the 25th Anniversary of Camden Yard patch, the Earl Weaver patch after he died, Friday night black jerseys alternating w/ orange jerseys during Friday away games …..
fugedaboutit!
frankly, what I can’t stand it the individuality that MLB allows … long pants, head bands, etc. …. look, dummy … they call them ‘uniform’ for a reason! …. I don’t have time to argue about it, look it up! …. buhjeebus!