Oakland A's and Mitchell & Ness

[mkwing]

I've been thinking of doing this topic for awhile, and the discussion of "another obscure baseball color question" finally motivated me to do it.

How authentic are the Mitchell & Ness "authentic" jerseys supposed to be? I know that there are several chronological errors on their early Oakland jerseys. Not only was Finley changing managers every year back then, he was also doing something to the uniforms; from 1969 through 1973, there was always at least one change. Here, in convenient chart form, is a list of each year and its innovation:

1968 -- first season in Oakland -- "OAKLAND" on front; "A" on hat. (Number font back then was the same as Red Sox font; I don't know the name.)

1969 -- changed jersey front to "A", along with number. (BTW, the 100th anniversary patch is correctly placed.)

1970 -- changed "A" to "A's" on both jersey and hat. (This MAY have been the year they added names to the jerseys; I am not positive about that.)

1971 -- bill on cap went from green to yellow. (Managers and coaches went from all-white hats to white with green bills.)

Also, somewhere in this time, they went from yellow batting helmets to green.

1972 -- big change to sleeved double-knits. "A's" is same font as before; numerals change to plain block font. Yellow jersey has white letters with green outlines, although names on backs are all green.

1972, World Series -- Added numerals to front of jerseys; unlike the block numerals on back, these are identical to Montreal Expos style.

1973 -- Yellow jersey changes numbers and letters from white-with-green-outline, to green-with-white-outline. Font of "A's" changes to the one we see today; slightly more refined, with an extra serif on the left vertical. Numbers go off the jersey fronts, never to be seen again on this uniform style.

1974 -- first year with no changes.

[OCE]

Through the 80s they were well researched, since then they have been as terrible as the other cooperstown collection licensees. They have Senators uniforms from the original club and the post-1960 expansion club with the exact same wordmark on the front with just the colors changed--that is incorrect!

[winghaz]

Wow, I had totally forgotten about the yellow batting helmets. And as old as I am, I should remember them well.

[Gothamite]

Through the 80s they were well researched, since then they have been as terrible as the other cooperstown collection licensees. They have Senators uniforms from the original club and the post-1960 expansion club with the exact same wordmark on the front with just the colors changed--that is incorrect!

Can you provide pictures of the original uniforms and the M&N version, so we can see?

[mkwing]

I don't have a PhotoBucket account yet, but I'd like to give you a start on your photo proof. You can get linked photos from Googling "oakland a's 1969", and calling up "images."

On the first page (images 1-20), the Sal Bando card is from '68; the black shoes and white sanitaries indicate that the shot is from sprint training.

On the second page (images 21-37), the '69 shirt from Lelands.com is from their auction site; it's a game-worn jersey from that season. (Note the absence of the apostrophe-s.)

I'll call up more when I can get them -- from old Sports Illustrateds, Chronicles, etc. And hopefully I can get my images in place so you won't have to search.

[The Green Meanie]

I don't have a PhotoBucket account yet

www.imageshack.us - Way better then Photobucket.

[paynomind]

I don't have a PhotoBucket account yet

www.imageshack.us - Way better then Photobucket.

...says the man with a photobucket image in his signature

[mkwing]

OK, here are those three photos. The '69 game-worn jersey is clearly missing the "apostrophe-s". This is the shirt Reggie wore when he hit 47 home runs, and was ahead of Maris' pace for much of the summer.

Bando, again, is in the first-year shirt, from '68.

Felipe Alou is on the cover of a 1070 Sporting News. You can't see the front of the jersey here, but you do see that they added the names to the backs that year.

As previously promised, more will be on the way.

[HurricaneDavid]

...says the man with a photobucket image in his signature

The most ridiculous signature in the history of Al Gore's Internet, nonetheless... whatever the hell it is supposed to be.

[The Green Meanie]

...says the man with a photobucket image in his signature

Yeah, I'm fixing to switch over.

[The Green Meanie]

The most ridiculous signature in the history of Al Gore's Internet, nonetheless... whatever the hell it is supposed to be.

How dare you disrespect Razor Ramon HG!

[mkwing]

OK, here are a few more years.

But first -- if you go back to the Alou Sporting News cover, you can notice that in 1970 the bills of helmets (and caps) were still the main color. (Manager and coaches were wearing white hats at that point, with white bills; green hats and helmets had green bills.) This changed the next year, 1971.

Below are some photos from 1968 through 1973. The first is a better look at the "OAKLAND" font from '68. The second shows the yellow batting helmet from 1969, and used through 1971; you may recall seeing it on clips of the '71 All Star Game in Detroit, when Reggie hit the monster home run onto the right field roof.

The third is in black and white, but it shows some of the 1972 World Series players. Note the style of the "A", and the "Expos-style" numbers, which were added for only the Series -- they were removed for '73.

Finally, with the large photo of Rollie Fingers, you can see some supplemental shots of other pitchers, They are wearing the new ('73 and following) yellow jersey; the "A" colors are reversed, and the new "A" (with extra serif) is now seen.

I haven't worried about doing any of the green or white shirts, as their colors stayed the same through the post-'72 years. Their fonts, etc., matched those on the yellow jerseys.

If I can ever run across a pre-'72 gray jersey, I'll run that, too. The "gray" was actually a shade of mint green.

[cableguy]

Man I loved those gold vest unis of the 60's..