Oscar Gamble

[jerseydave.com]

Hello, I'm looking for a game used bat or jersey from any team that Oscar Gamble played for. Please e-mail me with what you have for sale... thanks for your time..

David
Jerseydave@sbcglobal.net

[salukidave]

I'm going to have a Gamble jersey for sale, but I'm guessing you're not going to want this one because it's probably his most desirable and will command a premium from a White Sox colllector. I just won a Mastro lot that contained a home and away Chicago White Sox jersey from 1977. I'm going to pick the best one and sell the other, probably on eBay.

[karamaxjoe]

I gotta admit I was pretty excited to see both those jerseys in the Mastro
auction until I saw the size of both jerseys. It's certainly possible Gamble wore size 38, but not likely. In 2006 Mastro sold a Gamble road jersey from 1977 and that was a size 42. That's the Gamble jersey I'd like to have. It also makes you wonder why would Mastro bunch those two jerseys with that other mixed bag stuff?

Mike

[jerseydave.com]

I'm going to have a Gamble jersey for sale, but I'm guessing you're not going to want this one because it's probably his most desirable and will command a premium from a White Sox colllector. I just won a Mastro lot that contained a home and away Chicago White Sox jersey from 1977. I'm going to pick the best one and sell the other, probably on eBay.

Thank you kindly for the offer but I would not be interested in either jersey. I went through some auction catalogs and saw 5 different Gamble game used jerseys... all of them were a size 42. I appreciate the offer but I would have to pass on your jerseys. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my want ad...

David.

[salukidave]

Hmmm. OK. I'll have to take a good look at the jerseys when I receive them. I do know those softball-style jerseys can run small. Remember, those weren't tucked in like other jerseys. They just hung at the waist. I have a Chet Lemon that's a size 40. He's listed at 6-0, 195 pounds on one of his bios. Oscar Gamble is listed at 5-11, 165 pounds.

[suave1477]

SalukieDave, Just to add my 2 cents going on size.

Tucking a shirt in I don't know how that is relevant because the number size goes according to your chest size and even the Chet Lemon I would be concerened a little bit about.

I am 6'2 215 ilbs, yes I know I am bigger then the guys you mentioned but not that much of a difference especially when it would come to chest size and I am a 46 in a suit and a 48 in Jersey.

which tells me your Chet Lemon should be at least a 42 or a 44.

Oscar Gamble was a bit of a husky guy so I would definitely understand him being a size 42. I find it unlikely he would be a 38 But I could be wrong just trying to give you some food for thought in comparing sizes.

[Jays1fan]

Hi there. Just listed on ebay this morning: an Oscar Gamble game used bat.

Ebay # 190203641186

Good Luck !

[salukidave]

Thanks for the input.

Off the top of my head, I just seem to remember that those jerseys in general seemed smallish when watching the team play at the time. I'm not sure how much this factors into the equation, if at all, but those were the days when Bill Veeck also had no money. He was barely able to scape enough money together to save the White Sox from moving to Seattle. Perhaps it was a case where the team was making due with what it originally ordered, etc.

In any case, I do remember Gamble being a slight-type of guy physically when he played for the Sox that year. He had the corkscrew-like swing that generated his great power that year. (When he returned to the Sox for a brief time late in his career in the mid-80s, he was significantly heavier.)

Of course, in general, too, players were smaller back then before regimented workouts and steriods.

Jumping ahead, I can't believe the sizes some of the players these days wear compared those of the past. Just for a random comparison, remember how big and muscular for his day that Greg Luzinski looked? I have an '83 jersey where he wore a size 48. Now on to the present, I have an '06 Freddy Garcia that's a size 54, and some other Sox jerseys from some currently active players that are in the 50s, too.

[salukidave]

For what it's worth, I've received the Gamble jerseys and examined them. I looked closely at the stitching inside and out, and both match the other Veeck-era White Sox jerseys I have, including a '77 Zisk home that I bought as part of a home and away set from a sports writer who covered the team at the time.

I know JerseyDave has expressed reservations since he's seen other Gambles that are size 42 while these are 38s. Normally that would concern me as well, but I'm not bothered by it for a few reasons. One is what I have written prior in this thread, that the Veeck-era Chet Lemon I have is a 40 and he was taller and weighed more than Gamble at the time so the 38 for Gamble is certainly possible. These were certainly uncoventional-style jerseys that often ran small. I was looking through some old black-and-white 8x10s that I have and came across a group shot of Bob Lemon's coaching staff, and all the tops looked smallish. I'm also heartened that I acquired the Gamble together as a home and away set like I did the Zisk, which I know are the real deal. Finally, the home Gamble has the 1977 Set 1 tag off the collar label that's exactly like the Zisk home.

Additionally, the Sox acquired Gamble in a trade on April 5 in 1977. Two days later, the Sox played the season opener in Toronto. Even if Gamble wore a bigger jersey later that season, I could see the equipment manager first giving him 38s when Gamble joined the club.

In any case, those are my thoughts on the jerseys. I'm probably putting the Gamble home jersey on eBay on Sunday as my plan all along was to keep one Gamble and put the other on sale to help finance the sizeable cost of the big auction lot I bought them in. (I'll be auctioning many other items from the lot, too, including the red Gossage cap since I already had one of those with a vintage autograph.) Even though the blue away one doesn't have a year/set tag in the collar, I'm going to keep that one as the Zisk and Lemon ones I have in my collection are both the home whites. (I have two pre-rookie, Veeck-era Baines jerseys including one which doesn't have a year/set tag either so I'm comfortable keeping the Gamble blue away one.)

[karamaxjoe]

I think I already know the answer to this, but do you have any interest in selling the Zisk?

I remember when that sports writer had both Zisk jerseys on ebay and refused to end the auction early no matter what I offered him. What really, really, really upset me was he then ended the auction early and claimed his daughter had already sold the jerseys and didn't tell him. I think that incident is in my top few collecting moments that really grates at me still today. I'm not sure how you broke him down, but more power to you.

As long as you're comfortable with the size of the Gamble jersey, I guess that's all that matters. I'd prefer the larger size, but you just don't get too many opportunities to acquire those 77 Hitmen jerseys.

Mike