Tug McGraw 1965 Uniform Number

[ronny62055]

Not sure if this is the right area to post this in. Mitchell & Ness recently has advertised a 1965 Mets Tug McGraw jersey with number 56. I never recall him wearing this number and checked with a well known collector and was told McGraw wore 45 which is what I believe. M & N claims that they have a photo of McGraw with # 56. Is anyone aware of him ever wearing this number in 1965 with the Mets?

[BIGSTIG]

I believe he wore #56 in his first season with the mets 1965 - here is a link from baseball reference of the 1965 roster

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1965&t=NYN

[BIGSTIG]

Actually looks like he wore it in part of 1966 as well -

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1966&t=NYN

[ronny62055]

They are the only ones who reference him wearing 56. www.mbtn.net (http://www.mbtn.net) shows him only wearing 45 and gives the exact dates he did so.

[ronny62055]

I just confirmed with the New York Mets that McGraw never wore # 56 during the regular season.

[suave1477]

I spoke with Mitchell and Ness as I was curious about this myself.

This is what they told me:

#56 was Tug McGraws number in his first Spring Season when he joined the Mets. He changed his number to #45 going into regular season.
According to them they have pictures of McGraw in Spring Training wearing #56

[ronny62055]

That is what they also told me after I told them I spoke to the mets. I would hope that at the very least they would change the way they have it listed and indicate to buyers that it is a spring training jersey and I see they have not done so as yet. In addition I asked if I would be able to purchase one with number 45 and was told no. I find it disappointing they cannot accommodate customers with a simple request like this. In my dealings with Ebbets Field Flannels which hold the license to make minor league jerseys they are willing to do any jersey of any minor league team from any year and their prices are usually $100 less than M & N.

[Alanmark]

Tug McGraw was born on Wednesday, August 30, 1944, in Martinez, California. McGraw was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 18, 1965, with the New York Mets. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Tug McGraw baseball stats page.

[TNTtoys]

I believe he wore #56 in his first season with the mets 1965 - here is a link from baseball reference of the 1965 roster

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1965&t=NYN

Very interesting stuff... it looks like baseball-almanac corrected the entry sometime between the point that Bigstig posted and now. McGraw is now listed as having worn #45 in both 1965 and 1966.

[ironmanfan]

I wonder if there were add'l licensing fees if they wanted to use the #45 McGraw (why else use #56?)

[TNTtoys]

I wonder if there were add'l licensing fees if they wanted to use the #45 McGraw (why else use #56?)

If there were licensing issues, why make McGraw at all for that matter? There were better choices to pick from if Mitchell and Ness were dead set on creating another 1960's Mets jersey. Gil Hodges comes to mind. Also Ron Hunt, as he was their 1st All-Star. They also had Seaver, Ryan and Stengel during this era (M&N made their jerseys) and historical figures from NY baseball such as Duke Snider, Don Zimmer... Even Richie Ashburn.

They often had me scratching my head with their player and year selection. For example, at one time, they made 1978 jerseys. Sort of an odd pick, because throughout 1978-1982, the Mets wore this same style on field, but only 1978 had no names on back. The 79-82 styles had much more appeal. Next were the 2 guys selected to represent the 78 Mets: Bobby Valentine, and Willie Mays. Valentine, though a very successful manager of Mets teams 20 years later, was never much of a player -- in 1978, he batted .269 with 1 home run and 18 RBIs. Mays was a coach! Why not do one of the following guys of this era instead:

Lee Mazzilli (All-Star, Fan Favorite),
Craig Swan (led the league in ERA),
John Stearns (Multiple time All-Star),
Willie Montanez (drove in 96 RBI in '78),
Joel Youngblood (led the team in HRs in '79),
Mookie Wilson / Hubie Brooks (fan favorites),
Neil Allen (premier closer),
Dave Kingman (feared HR hitter '81-82),

Food for thought...

[dcrules01]

I agree by far my favorite style. But what Mitchell and Ness screws up the fan has options. Youngblood and Flynn were 2 of my favorites..Swan and Zachry Mazz take someone from that era that played on a daily basis. I would buy a Hodges and Stengel. Mays while he played with the Mets and coached is better known as a NY /San Francisco Giant..