Historic - "Cano rookie" jersey really a Russ Johnson or Andy Phillips?

[kingjammy24]

I don't know what it is about this jersey but it's really gotten under my skin. Historic Auctions currently has a "2005 Robinson Cano game worn rookie jersey" that is home #14.

Lampsons LOA on the jersey says "Cano was the only Yankees player documented to wear #14 in 2005, which was worn by Cano early in his rookie season. This fact leaves this particular Cano knit very desireable".

In 2005, both Russ Johnson and Andy Phillips also wore #14. Lou's imagination is as active as ever. Great fact checking Lou! In fact, here's a photo of Russ Johnson in 2005 wearing #14:


As noted, Andy Phillips also wore #14 in 2005. To summarize for any remaining Lampson supporters: Not only did Lou fail to even check who wore #14 in 2005, but then proceeded to actually make up a story about how Cano was the only one to have worn #14. This isn't the first, second, or eighteenth time Lou has simply made up a story in order to turn a jersey into something it isn't. He then proceeds to actually call his made-up story a "fact". If this qualifies as a fact in Lou's world, then what other facts has he made up?

Did someone pick up a bargain Andy Phillips or Russ Johnson jersey and then attempt to pass it off as a rare Robinson Cano rookie gamer?
If they did, apparently they've got a willing accomplice in Lampson who'll go so far as making up stories in order to help things along.

I'm currently finding out when exactly Cano stopped wearing #14 in order to see if Cano even ever wore a home #14 jersey.

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

steiner currently has 2 2005 #14 Russ Johnson jerseys:

http://www.steinersports.com/ssm/con...11951410000014

http://www.steinersports.com/ssm/con...11951510000014

as well, they have a 2005 Andy Phillips jersey that is a size 48. Historic's current "Robinson Cano" is a size 48. Not a big deal until you consider that the previous 2005 Cano that historic sold (seen here: http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:...gl=us&ie=UTF-8 ) was a size 46.

rudy.

[Eric]

Rudy-

It would be interesting to see how the #14 compared on the "Cano Rookie" and the Russ Johnson photo from 6/22/05 that you posted

The front of the jersey matches up pretty well too, but it would be interesting to try to look side by side at them...

[Eric]

Here's another shot of Russ Johnson from webshots. What do you think of the pinstripe to the left of the #1 as it compares to the one in Historic? It's definitely not the one being sold by steiner

[kingjammy24]

eric,

re: the russ johnson match:



personally, i feel i'd need to see some more solid matches to conclusively call it a photomatch. that said, i can't see anything that would indicate that it definitely isn't a photomatch. that is, from what i can see, there isn't anything different between the two jerseys. as well, i do see a few matches. before reaching a conclusion, i'd simply want to see some more matches. here's what i do see:

- pinstripes match up to the #14, the back mlb logo and the "NYY" front logo. you can see via the current steiner johnson game-issue that the numbers aren't always lined up identically.

- the right shoulder seam seems to show some matches.

- most interesting of all, is the puckering on the "4". i believe that puckering leaves a unique fingerprint. no 2 puckered numbers are identical. the ripples, veins, bumps are all unique in every instance and are impossible to perfectly duplicate or re-create. they really are like a series of wrinkles on skin. whether legit or doctored, they still have to be created via the same process (ie: extensive washing.) there isn't enough control in the washing process to create 2 identical puckered appearances on 2 different items.
i believe that the "4" on the historic cano and the "4" shown worn by russ johnson in the photos share a couple of unique ripples in seemingly identical locations. again, the odds of these being on 2 different jerseys are extremely slim and would be almost impossible to intentionally duplicate. i think that, in many cases, if you can conclusively match up puckering marks, then it often makes for a more solid photomatch than matching pinstripes simply because the odds of identical puckering are even less than identical pinstripes. in the picture shown above, you can see where i've pointed out 2 similar ripples.

i believe that's more likely that it's the same jersey than it is a different jersey. if someone were trying to sell me the historic "cano" as a "photomatched russ johnson", i'd feel that they were probably right albeit a little premature.

perhaps i ought to inquire with steiner if they sold a russ johnson gamer to brad wells or james brown.

rudy.

[gr8soxfan]

The Cano jersey is not the same one that Russ Johnson is wearing. The #1 and the #4 are more spaced out then the Cano jersey. The #14 on the Cano? jersey are much closer really close.On the Russ jersey there's one white stripe in between the 1 and the 4 but the Cano jersey there's no white stripe going thru the middle of the numbers.

[kingjammy24]

gr8sox,

you're right. good eyes. all of the points on the "4" seem to hit except of course, it's all 1 stripe over, which i somehow missed. could it be an andy phillips then?

there's a request in to the yankees for the exact day when cano ceased wearing #14; whether or not it was before his first home game. i'll be sure to update as soon as i have the info.

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

some more info while i get to the bottom of whether cano ever played a home game in #14:

- cano was called up 05/03.

- from 05/03-05/05 he was on the road.

- on 05/08 there's photo proof of him wearing #22.

- on 05/11 russ johnson was called up and he took #14. here's a photo of johnson on 5/11:

russ johnson stayed with the yankees until 07/17. the ONLY number johnson wore with the yankees in 2005 was #14. ie: from 05/11-07/17, #14 was taken by johnson. johnson was sent down on 07/17.

- on 07/19, the yankees recalled andy phillips. phillips took #14. phillips was sent down on 08/08.

the only real chance cano had to wear #14 would've been in late august and september and getty is full of images of cano wearing #22 during these months.

rudy.

[gr8soxfan]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newyork808/46550535/
Here's a picture of Andy Phillips wearing #14 in 2005 I hope you might be able to do something with it.

[Eric]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROBINSON-CANO-SI...QQcmdZViewItem