Baseball Jersey Alterations

[TwoRsAndTwoLs]

Have you ever seen a jersey with patches and/or numberings that make it something of a temporal anomaly?

I have a blank Mariners jersey in my closet and I was considering putting Griffey 24 on the back of it and adding the Negro League sleeve patch the M's wore in 1995, but I noticed some things that had changed between '95 and the year that jersey was made. For example:

The Russell Athletic R-eagle logo is on the left sleeve. In '95, it was on the right sleeve.

The MLB silhouette is on the back of the neck. That logo first appeared in '01, if I remember correctly.

Has anyone else seen a jersey like this where some minor detail was just incorrect but other than that it looked good? What are your opinions of this?

[gEO 3b 4]

Have you ever seen a jersey with patches and/or numberings that make it something of a temporal anomaly?

I have a blank Mariners jersey in my closet and I was considering putting Griffey 24 on the back of it and adding the Negro League sleeve patch the M's wore in 1995, but I noticed some things that had changed between '95 and the year that jersey was made. For example:

The Russell Athletic R-eagle logo is on the left sleeve. In '95, it was on the right sleeve.

The MLB silhouette is on the back of the neck. That logo first appeared in '01, if I remember correctly.

Has anyone else seen a jersey like this where some minor detail was just incorrect but other than that it looked good? What are your opinions of this?

Don't do it. I mean it's just me personally, but if I see someone wearing a jersey with the slightest mistakes or imperfections I cringe.

[AsM29]

I would do it. Those are such minor details that no one will notice the difference.

[gEO 3b 4]

I would do it. Those are such minor details that no one will notice the difference.

Except me. lol

[AsM29]

Yeah obviously there will be a few people who would be able to tell the difference, but for the most part people either wouldn't know, or wouldn't be looking for it.

[TwoRsAndTwoLs]

Yeah obviously there will be a few people who would be able to tell the difference, but for the most part people either wouldn't know, or wouldn't be looking for it.

I would probably mitigate the problem by taking the MLB thing off the back and tucking in the jersey, thereby not showing the lower tag (also a difference in era), but the R-eagle is bothering me just slightly.

[BallWonk]

Have you ever seen a jersey with patches and/or numberings that make it something of a temporal anomaly?

...

Has anyone else seen a jersey like this where some minor detail was just incorrect but other than that it looked good? What are your opinions of this?

The only important question is whether displaying or wearing such a jersey would make you uncomfortable. Look, I mock without relent Yankees fans who show up to a game with "JETER" spelled across the backs of their replica jerseys. But really, anyone who looks down on someone else for the inaccuracy of his jersey is a dick. Yes, that makes me a dick when I mock Yankees fans with their "JETER" shoulders. People are jerks. You can't control what they think about you by wearing only the "right" stuff. But if the fear that people are laughing at you behind your back makes you uncomfortable, such that you'll be thinking about them the whole time you're wearing the jersey, then don't wear the jersey. If you have the confidence to wear your fauxback jersey and not care if one or two jerks giggles at the anachronisms, then by all means wear the jersey.

Personally, I think homemade fauxbacks are cool. At least for a wearing jersey. If I were ever to put a jersey in a frame and hang it on a wall, I'd insist on perfection in every detail. But for something I'm going to wear to the ballgame? Then I don't mind if the Russell logo is on the wrong sleeve, or if my 1987/1991 fauxback jersey has the MLB patch on the back of the neck. It's not common, since most people don't bother to customize jerseys at all, but when I see that rare fan who's gone out of his way to create a just-so jersey, even if some of the details are off, I mentally tip my hat to the creativity and dedication of the fauxbacker. It shows initiative, and that is always to be respected. So make your Griffey jersey and wear it with pride.

[BBTV]

Yeah obviously there will be a few people who would be able to tell the difference, but for the most part people either wouldn't know, or wouldn't be looking for it.

I would probably mitigate the problem by taking the MLB thing off the back and tucking in the jersey, thereby not showing the lower tag (also a difference in era), but the R-eagle is bothering me just slightly.

Jerseys should never be tucked - unless of course you're a player.

Have you ever seen a jersey with patches and/or numberings that make it something of a temporal anomaly?

...

Has anyone else seen a jersey like this where some minor detail was just incorrect but other than that it looked good? What are your opinions of this?

The only important question is whether displaying or wearing such a jersey would make you uncomfortable. Look, I mock without relent Yankees fans who show up to a game with "JETER" spelled across the backs of their replica jerseys. But really, anyone who looks down on someone else for the inaccuracy of his jersey is a dick. Yes, that makes me a dick when I mock Yankees fans with their "JETER" shoulders. People are jerks. You can't control what they think about you by wearing only the "right" stuff. But if the fear that people are laughing at you behind your back makes you uncomfortable, such that you'll be thinking about them the whole time you're wearing the jersey, then don't wear the jersey. If you have the confidence to wear your fauxback jersey and not care if one or two jerks giggles at the anachronisms, then by all means wear the jersey.

Personally, I think homemade fauxbacks are cool. At least for a wearing jersey. If I were ever to put a jersey in a frame and hang it on a wall, I'd insist on perfection in every detail. But for something I'm going to wear to the ballgame? Then I don't mind if the Russell logo is on the wrong sleeve, or if my 1987/1991 fauxback jersey has the MLB patch on the back of the neck. It's not common, since most people don't bother to customize jerseys at all, but when I see that rare fan who's gone out of his way to create a just-so jersey, even if some of the details are off, I mentally tip my hat to the creativity and dedication of the fauxbacker. It shows initiative, and that is always to be respected. So make your Griffey jersey and wear it with pride.

Word. It'd bother me, but if it doesn't bother you, then do it and don't worry about it.

[speedy]

Have you ever seen a jersey with patches and/or numberings that make it something of a temporal anomaly?

...

Has anyone else seen a jersey like this where some minor detail was just incorrect but other than that it looked good? What are your opinions of this?

Look, I mock without relent Yankees fans who show up to a game with "JETER" spelled across the backs of their replica jerseys.

This bothers me to no end, especially when fans walk around in their white Red Sox jerseys with "ORTIZ" or "PEDROIA" stitched across the back. Give me a break.

[Gothamite]

Bothers me too, but since you can't buy a NNOB Yankee jersey for less than $150, I'm willing to cut those guys some slack.

[Bouj]

I think there is a big difference between the JETER Yanks jersey and the slightly reimagined Russell Mariners jersey. The JETER jersey is snicker-worthy, while only the most snob-of-snob uni experts will really notice the Russell issue. I know I've made snotty comments to my buddies about such minor things in the past (being a certain level of uni-snob), but my views have altered slightly due to the fact that there are a great many things that the general public cannot get access to uniform-wise that I would buy in an instant.

If you are trying to recreate that 95 jersey, pull the MLB logo off the back and go with it (FYI Henderson said it went on the jerseys in 2000). The Russell sleeve difference is so minor that it would REALLY take someone nitpicking to notice. IF you are trying to create a fauxback or a DIY reimagination, and not try and pass it off as anything but your personal reimagination, then go for that too.

I'm actually trying to do something similar right now. I'm working on getting my hands on a cream MLB jersey so I can have it made into a 1953 St. Louis Browns jersey. I have the M&N version, but I am starting to worry about it degrading in condition (it is one of my most favorite jerseys). I'd like a doubleknit version of it to wear, since it will hold up. I know the only time the Orioles ever wore Browns throwbacks was for the 2003 game in St. Louis against the Cardinals, and those wear the 1944 roads, but that doesn't mean the 1953's wouldn't look great in a cream doubleknit as a "They COULD wear this as a throwback at some point"-jersey. I am waiting for the jersey, and I already have the Brownie patch waiting (actually found that for sale online). The only thing left to do is to decide if I should put the MLB logo on the back and call it a 2000's version of what the O's could wear on a TBTC day some day down the road, ,or just go without and say it is a doubleknit version of the original.

[Gothamite]

I'd say go without and call it a doubleknit version of the original.

[BallWonk]

Bothers me too, but since you can't buy a NNOB Yankee jersey for less than $150, I'm willing to cut those guys some slack.

Nah. A seam-ripper costs less than $2 at any big-box retailer, most drug stores, and many grocery stores. So by all means, save the $80 and get the replica. But show yourself and your team a little respect and spend the two bucks in cash and the twenty minutes of simple manual labor required to NNOB that sucker.

[Bouj]

I'd say go without and call it a doubleknit version of the original.

That's the way I'm leaning. I'll have to post the pics of how it turns out. It'll be a couple of months before I get everything together and take care of it, but I am cautiously optimistic.

[Gothamite]

Bothers me too, but since you can't buy a NNOB Yankee jersey for less than $150, I'm willing to cut those guys some slack.

Nah. A seam-ripper costs less than $2 at any big-box retailer, most drug stores, and many grocery stores. So by all means, save the $80 and get the replica. But show yourself and your team a little respect and spend the two bucks in cash and the twenty minutes of simple manual labor required to NNOB that sucker.

Doesn't work that way. You do that, and the number's too low. Looks even worse. You'd have to raise the number, which is beyond the sewing skills of most fans.

[BallWonk]

Bothers me too, but since you can't buy a NNOB Yankee jersey for less than $150, I'm willing to cut those guys some slack.

Nah. A seam-ripper costs less than $2 at any big-box retailer, most drug stores, and many grocery stores. So by all means, save the $80 and get the replica. But show yourself and your team a little respect and spend the two bucks in cash and the twenty minutes of simple manual labor required to NNOB that sucker.

Doesn't work that way. You do that, and the number's too low. Looks even worse. You'd have to raise the number, which is beyond the sewing skills of most fans.

No, nothing looks worse than a Yankees jersey with a player's name across the back.

(Frankly, though, the real culprit is MLB for insisting that replica jerseys have names on them. Cut your fans some slack with that, huh? I hate to argue on behalf of Yankees fans, but there's just no excuse for putting that "JETER" on the back of any Yankees jersey.)

[Gothamite]

On that I'll agree.