Here is the tagging on a 1994 Blue Jays jersey. The tagging is completely correct in every aspect. I have little, if any, doubt that it's completely legit.



Here is the 'mystery':

The "31" in the tag undeniably refers to the uniform number. #31 was worn solely by relief pitcher Duane Ward. Ward played for the Jays, and only the Jays, from 1986-1995. During that entire time period, he wore only #31.
In 1994, Duane sat out the entire season due to surgery.
In 1995, he attempted to come back and played in a total of 4 games, pitching a total of 2.2 innings. After playing his final game on 06-22-1995, he permanently retired from baseball.

The tag has so much wear that it's almost completely faded. Given that Ward did not play a single game in 1994 and pitched in only 2.2 innings in 1995 (his final season), how did the tag manage to acquire such an incredible amount of wear?

(The Blue Jays have told me they typically do not re-use jerseys from one player to another over the course of 2-3 yrs like the Yankees do. Additionally the Jays sewed the names directly on to the jerseys in 1994, thereby making name removal difficult. I don't believe this Ward jersey was used after 1995 by someone else).

I have a theory but I wanted to see what others on this Forum might think. Anyone? Any ideas?

Rudy.