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| Keymancollectibles.com |
The
Webs Best Recourse for Baseball Memorabilia |
March 28,
2019 |
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50th Anniversary of the MLB Logo - 150 Years of Baseball |
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50 Years ago in 1969, Major League Baseball introduced the official MLB logo
in celebration of baseball's 100th anniversary. Worn on the right jersey
sleeves of major league ballplayers, the logo also set a timeline
for collectors to help date baseball memorabilia. The Official MLB logo was
placed on all licensed products, and souvenirs, thereafter.
Schedules, tickets, programs, and souvenirs are produced well in advanced to be
ready for the start of the following season. Stadium souvenirs sold early in
the 1969 season would not feature the MLB logo. Officially licensed products
and souvenirs made during the 1969 season, such with Baltimore Orioles and New
York Mets World Series paraphernalia would bear the MLB logo.
 25 years later, in
1994, Major League Baseball celebrated the 125th Anniversary of professional
baseball with another uniform patch. This one, an adaptation of the 1969 MLB
logo, but with the white replaced with gold, was worn on the right sleeve by
every major league team but the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds. The
Pirates instead wore a 1994 All-Star game patch, with the game being hosted in
Pittsburgh, and the Reds wore an 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings patch. The 125th
celebration was cut short when the players went on strike.
 The Cincinnati Red
Stockings started play as baseball’s first professional team in 1869. Here we
are 150 years later, and 50 years after graphic designer Jerry Dior of Sandgren
& Murtha designed the MLB logo in 1968. Common Folklore has it that the white
silhouette of a batter in the logo is Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, flanked
by a backdrop of blue and red. Dior has said that he did not model the logo
after any one player and instead made it intentionally ambiguous in every way,
including the batter's side of the plate.
During the 2019 season players, managers, and coaches will wear a 3.75"
x .75" patch on their right sleeves featuring the MLB logo with “MLB” to the left
of the logo and “150” to the right. The patch is more horizontal than the ones
used for the 100th and 125th anniversaries. This year’s patch also has darker
colors to match the American flag: Pantone 193 red and 282 navy. The MLB logo was
put on the backs of caps starting in 1993 and the back of jersey necks in 2000.
In 2019 MLB/150 patches measuring 2.5" x 1" will also be added to the caps.
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This time around the Cincinnati Reds will be celebrating the 150th
anniversary of the first professional baseball team this season with a their
own Red Stockings commemorative logo patch, placed above the MLB/150 patch. The
team will also use 15 different throwback uniforms to honor franchise history.
The Cincinnati Reds were historcly awarded the privilege of opening the season
from 1876-1989. This traditionally marked the official start to the season.
Major League baseball dropped the ball on this one, opening the season of "Our
National Pastime" in Japan. The 150th celebration of professional baseball
should have been a throwback game played in Cincinnati. The Real Opening Day,
March 28 - PLAY BALL!
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