MLB Jerseys: My 90-Day Quest
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioSports.com

It’s a good bet that I won’t visit every Major League Baseball park during my lifetime. Although I’ve seen almost every MLB team play at ballparks in Toronto, Montreal, across the Northeast U.S. and throughout the Grapefruit League, it’s a good bet that I won’t visit every MLB ballpark during my lifetime.

But now, I do own a jersey from each of MLB’s 30 clubs.

That’s right: my life-long passion for sports collectibles now includes a minimum one jersey from each American League and National League ballclub.

The latest installment of this obsession stems strictly from eBay bartering. During a recent period of 90 days, I purchased MLB jerseys from sellers from every corner of the U.S., and from a few Canadian sellers. A Marcus Stroman Blue Jays jersey from Dunedin, Florida, a Prince Fielder Detroit Tigers jersey from Chatham, Ontario and a Barry Bonds Pittsburgh Pirates jersey from Los Angeles, California are amongst the treasures I sourced from online sales.

In the end, I spent about $2,500 during my unusual quest – all money coming from items I sold on eBay.

What began as a simple hunt for a few Pirates and Blue Jays jerseys quickly grew into a challenge: source a jersey from each MLB team, without spending more than $50 US per jersey. I made exceptions – for example, I purchased new Majestic authentic jerseys of stars including Chicago Cubs third basemen Kris Bryant and Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper. Vintage jerseys, including a Chipper Jones Atlanta Braves jersey made by Russell Athletic, and the Bonds jersey, also found their way into my little project.

Other rules I set for myself included: buy jerseys in excellent to mint condition; purchase a team’s classic jersey, whenever possible – New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs pinstripes, for example; whenever possible, purchase an authentic – not knockoff – jersey, unless the knockoff jersey looked as close to authentic as possible and was in almost new or new condition; and purchase jerseys of stars, superstars or hall-of-fame ballplayers, although in most cases jersey quality counted first.

So, here I am with a closet full of MLB jerseys – at least one from each ballclub. As a Pirates fan first and Blue Jays fan second, I purchased a few jerseys from each of those teams – an Andrew McCutcheon Pirates jersey, and an R.A. Dickey Blue Jays jersey. I’ll wear those with pride.

This offbeat quest filled a gap for me when, for the first time since age 7, I was not preparing for golf season. Injuries have ended my career as a golf professional. But like millions of other sports fans, I am fortunate enough to also have a passion for collecting sports memorabilia.

That said, my better half has convinced me to significantly downsize my collection. I was making great progress in that direction, until I filled an entire closet with baseball jerseys. Until then, the only jerseys in our home were my London Majors jersey hanging on our rec room wall (I played and coached with the Majors of the semi-professional Intercounty Baseball League), and two vintage Pirates jerseys from the 1979 World Series champion Bucs (along with a game-used Manny Sanguillen bat).

Baseball Collectibles Bring Home Billions

In fact, retail sales of MLB-licensed merchandise in Canada and the U.S. bring in billions of dollars each year – and that’s not including knock-off products, most of which are illegally imported from China. Most of that merchandise stems from jersey sales – caps and T-shirts are popular, too.

And according to Chicago’s Michael Osacky, one of the world’s leading memorabilia appraisers and owner of Baseball In The Attic, baseball cards – and for heavier investors, baseball bats – help fill out the most popular MLB collectibles.

MLBshop.com, the official online store of Major League Baseball, lists replica and authentic jerseys ranging from $65 US to $345 US. But when it comes to purchasing from other sellers, Osacky said it’s a caveat emptor world.

“There’s a ton of sports collectibles that come from China that are really bad,” said Osacky. “Every few months, the FBI seizes a huge cargo ship of items including fake jerseys, and fake World Series and Super Bowl rings.

“If you’re buying a jersey online, the first thing I caution about is, if the price is too good to be true, then it’s probably fake. If you’re buying on eBay, for example, take a look at the seller’s feedback – do they have optimal feedback, and no red flags? Sometimes if they’re selling only jerseys, then it could be a fraud operation with jerseys bought from China – they’ll post hundreds of jerseys for sale,” Osacky said.

Michael Osacky of Baseball In The Attic

A life-long resident of the Windy City, Osacky received a shoebox of vintage baseball cards from his grandfather when he was a teenager in 1997. That gift launched a career for the man Forbes Magazine once dubbed “the Dean of Cracker Jack baseball card historians.”

“I would go to local card shows and ask dealers, if you have two of the same cards, why is one worth $10 yet another $100? It kept me immersed. I learned more about the history of the cards, and then also understood the values,” said Osacky of his early interest in sports memorabilia.

Today, Osacky is one of the world’s leading sports memorabilia appraisers. And while his company is called, Baseball In The Attic, he studies not just baseball cards and collectibles but also items from all sports and pastimes – from football to horse racing, and everything in between, in particular older items originating from 1870 to 1975.

Osacky is also lead appraiser for Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). He appraises all sports cards, autographs, ticket stubs, and photos for PSA customers, and has even worked with former New York Yankees and Chicago Bulls players and their families when it came time to appraise their own memorabilia.

The Skinny On MLB Jerseys

Over its 152-year existence, MLB has forged partnerships with a mitt full of jersey manufacturers. The jerseys I purchased as part of my hunt stem from the early-1990s to present day.

In 1992, Russell Athletic signed a five-year contract to serve as the exclusive producer and marketer of uniforms for most MLB teams. By 1995, Russell had become the official supplier of team unis for 25 MLB clubs. That deal was extended to 1999.

Then, with no exclusive uniform supplier to MLB, Russell continued to supply uniforms to some MLB teams through the end of the 2004 season, when Majestic Athletic became the exclusive supplier of uniforms to MLB. That contract ended after the 2019 season. Since then, Nike has held the exclusive license to supply MLB uniforms. You’ll notice the Nike swoosh on the jersey fronts – an addition not embraced by baseball purists.

I was relieved to discover that all of the red flags I looked for when purchasing jerseys check all of the boxes which Osacky has on his own list. They include:

• Place of Manufacturing tags present
• Quality materials used in manufacturing
• MLB logo details proportional, and logo placed properly
• Jersey size matching size indicated in stitched tags
• Quality/neat stitching and embroidery
• Lettering and numbering properly sized
• Lettering alignment on jersey front proper when jersey buttoned
• Proper spelling of players’ names – and in the case of clubs including the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants and Red Sox, certain home/away jerseys without players’ names

During my quest, I found a myriad of jerseys which did not check all of the authenticity boxes listed above – I even purchased a few which, unless you looked very closely, resembled authentic jerseys almost to a tee. The most common irregularities I spotted were improper stitching and embroidery, and sewn MLB logos out of proportion. In a few cases, one wash of a jersey resulted in wrinkled stitching – a true sign of possessing a knockoff jersey.

Fact is, millions of suspicious jerseys are sold online each year, with most fake jerseys coming from – no surprise – China.

“If you are buying a jersey, compare it to an authentic jersey,” Osacky said. “It’s a little like autographs. An authenticator of autographs will look at their database of genuine autographs in order to compare them to what they have in front of them.

“If you have, for example, what you believe to be an authentic San Diego Padres jersey from 1985, then compare it to what was worn that year. And examine the tags, the stitching and the material. A lot of times the fraudulent jerseys have numbers that are a little off, or poor stitching – but that’s not always the case,” he cautioned. “It can be very difficult sometimes to tell the difference, because the scam artists are getting a lot better at making fake jerseys.”

Jim Thome with 1991 Canton-Akron Indians. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

Interesting note: during my online quest, the hardest-to-find jerseys which met my criteria included: current team jerseys of star players (for example, a McCutcheon Phillies jersey); and jerseys from the Braves, Marlins, Nationals, Reds, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Giants, A’s, Mariners and Rangers.

Oddly enough, with the Cleveland Indians prepared to change their name and eliminate the Chief Wahoo moniker after the 2021 season, there are still plenty of vintage jerseys available – but at a price. However, I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase an Indians jersey of hall of fame slugger Jim Thome for less than $50 US. I was also fortunate in spending time chatting with Thome when he starred with the Class AA Eastern League Canton-Akron Indians, so his jersey was a nice find. So, too, was the novelty Indians jersey – made to spec – of Ricky Vaughn, the fictitious right-hander with the Indians ballclub in the movie, Major League. Both the Thome and Wild Thing jerseys include the Chief Wahoo logo.

Although Wild Thing didn’t receive any money from his jersey sales, both MLB and the MLB Players Association benefit from jersey sales. Heading into the 2021 season, MLB listed its 20 top-selling jerseys:

 

1. Mookie Betts, Dodgers
2. Cody Bellinger, Dodgers
3. Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres
4. Bryce Harper, Phillies
5. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
6. Aaron Judge, Yankees
7. Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
8. Francisco Lindor, Mets
9. Kiké Hernández, Red Sox
10. Mike Trout, Angels
11. Nolan Arenado, Cardinals
12. Javier Báez, Cubs
13. Corey Seager, Dodgers
14. Gerrit Cole, Yankees
15. Yadier Molina, Cardinals
16. Christian Yelich, Brewers
17. Freddie Freeman, Braves
18. Jacob deGrom, Mets
19. Jose Altuve, Astros
20. Pete Alonso, Mets

Watch any MLB game on television, and you’ll see ballparks dotted with jersey-wearing fans of all ages. As for my collection, it will someday be handed down to my nephews.

And who knows, maybe they’ll one day sell the jerseys online.

Ed. Note: Beginning today, and continuing for the next 30 days, I’ll post a team jersey purchased during my project. Follow me at Twitter @jeffreykreed for a daily jersey photo, along with tidbits about each of the players.

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Award-winning freelance journalist Jeffrey Reed has written about baseball since 1980. The three-time author played and coached with the London Majors of the semi-professional Intercounty Baseball League, and founded the IBL’s media relations office in 1994. He wrote the 1994-published book, EBBA 40 Years of Baseball – chronicling the history of one of Canada’s first-ever minor sports associations. Reach Reed at jeff@londonontariosports.com.