GFC: 1994 Alex Rodriguez jersey

[kingjammy24]

http://www.greyflannelauctions.com/L...px?lotid=19120

so here's a curious one. for the purposes of this post, let's ignore the fact that the russell tag is from 1996-1999. what has me scratching my head is the inconsistent wear on the tags. specifically, the jersey has apparently undergone so much use that the poly tag is literally down to its last threads. the jersey's been washed so much that the poly tag literally being shredded. despite this huge amount of use, the russell tag shows absolutely no puckering and even more, the ink on the strip tag isn't faded in the least. apparently, during the washes, the poor poly tag was the only one to absorb any of the effects. the russell tag is as crisp and flat as could be and the ink tag looks pretty fresh. i've got a jersey in my collection where the poly tag shows a similar amount of use. the thing is, the russell tag on my jersey also shows a considerable amount of puckering, consistent with the use seen on the poly tag. see below.
i've also shown a well-worn jersey where the ink on the strip tag has faded. not surprisingly, the russell tag appropriately shows an equal amount of puckering. it takes hell of a lot of use for the poly tag to show the amount of use seen on the GFC jersey and i just don't understand how it was possible for the poly tag to get down to its last threads without the russell tag puckering at all and the ink on the strip tag not fading in the least. i'm also at a loss to explain all of the threads on the russell tag popping loose and fraying as they have on the GFC jersey. again, the threads have undergone so much heavy use that they've started fraying and breaking yet the tag has NO puckering? the only time i've seen threads fray like that is when sandpaper has been used.



rudy.

[boardburn]

This is a reach, but someone may have carefully starched and ironed the label to make it more "appealing" for framing, etc.

Tom

[mvandor]

This is a reach, but someone may have carefully starched and ironed the label to make it more "appealing" for framing, etc.

Tom

That was my thought as well, it certainly looks ironed to me.

[kingjammy24]

simply looks like a new russell tag to me. i've never tried to iron out the puckering on a tag. not sure how well it'd work out. regardless, how then to explain the complete lack of fading on the ink tag? take a look at the tag i posted with noticeably faded ink. the ink has faded yet the poly tag is in substantially better shape than the one on GFC's jersey.

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

wow. jersey has been removed. looks like GFC is serious about weeding out the garbage. even in their last auction, they removed items lickety split.

AMI on other hand....apparently needs the cash.

rudy.

[3arod13]

Here's another on ebay right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1994-ALEX-RODRIG...QQcmdZViewItem

[3arod13]

For Arod to only have played in only 17 games in 1994, I sure see more 1994 jerseys for sale than I would think would be out there as game used.

[kingjammy24]

For Arod to only have played in only 17 games in 1994, I sure see more 1994 jerseys for sale than I would think would be out there as game used.

tony

i very much agree. seems like there's always a '94 arod jersey popping up.
here are two more:

http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/A...ction_ID=20618

http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/A...ction_ID=35103

in 1994, arod basically played the month of july and that's it. here are his total logs:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/play...drial01&y=1994

12 road games, 5 home games. check out the description for the teal AMI gamer:

"Light fraying characterizes the identifiers, and the tail labels have wavered slightly from washings."

in how many of those 17 games did Arod wear the teal jersey? maybe once?

you know what the odd thing about all of these 1994 Arod rookie jerseys is that they all have the same 1996-1999 russell tag yet when I look at other non-superstar Mariners gamers from 1994, they have the typical 1992-1995 style tag. you almost wonder if the same person got a batch of these made up.

anyway, i think the interesting point here is that i don't think GFC would've removed that jersey based solely on my post. that is, i think they removed it because they took a closer look at it and likely saw some alterations and/or serious discrepancies. truthfully, i didn't think they would remove it. i thought they just would've somehow justified in their minds why the poly tag is torn to shreds yet the ink tag is mint. as i say, i think they took a second look at it and saw some concrete things that caused them to remove it.

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

helmets are carried over for years. but they're appropriately re-stickered meaning if a helmet was made in '93 but actually used in 1994, then it should have the mlb 125 sticker unless it was removed after the '94 season.

the lelands helmet is again missing the 125 sticker.

there's so much arod 1994 stuff out there it's unreal, especially given that he played a total of only 17 games. if you look at all the stuff out there, you'd believe he wore 10 jerseys. here's a current '94 arod teal shirt, size 44: http://www.greyflannelauctions.com/L...px?lotid=21173

here's another '94 arod teal, size 46: http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/A...ction_ID=35103


rudy.

i love it...a third different alt. teal rodriguez:
http://www.lelands.com/bid.aspx?auctionid=711&lot=205

keeping in mind these were ALTERNATE jerseys meant to be worn sparingly and arod only played in 17 games. i'd kill to know if during the 17 games that arod played in 1994, if the mariners actually wore the teal alt jerseys for any of those games.

3 jerseys, all with differently arched nameplates. and of course, the GFC teal "arod rookie gamer" has a completely different front team wordmark:



rudy.

[kingjammy24]

http://www.greyflannelauctions.com/L...px?lotid=21173

"1994 Alex Rodriguez Rookie Seattle Mariners Game-Used Alternate Jersey"

in 1994, the mariners introduced their teal alternates. that year, the "MARINERS" front team wordmark was outlined in white/silver. note the outline around "MARINERS":


note the following 2 1994 teal alternate jerseys sold by lelands and AMI which both bear the white outline:

http://www.lelands.com/bid.aspx?auctionid=711&lot=205

http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/A...ction_ID=35103

from 1995-96, the mariners' teal alt jerseys had no white outline.
GFC's "1994" teal alt. has no white outline. it's a 95-96 style shirt with a 1994 strip tag. in 1995, the mariners wore the negro league patch. the GFC jersey has no such patch.



rudy.