Numbering on Steiner Mattingly

[Eric]

Sharing this for informational purposes

I noticed something odd in a $4,000 Mattingly game used jersey on the steiner sports website (year unknown). Notice the difference in the borders on the numbers- the 3 is a lot thicker



http://www.steinersports.com/ssm/con...TTDJERGUXXXXRO#
I emailed Steiner, asking if there was an explanation. I received a quick response saying
"The Yankees acknowledge that the number was changed but they did not have specifics why. Your right, clearly two different style numbers."
Hopefully that will be added to the product listing.
Just sharing
Eric

[kingjammy24]

Eric, good eye.

The atypical "3" prompts some questions for me:

1) why would there be a need to replace one number but not both?
a) maybe somehow the original "3" was damaged and had to be
replaced.
b) maybe the jersey was once used by someone else with a 2 digit
uniform number beginning with a "2" and they ripped off the
last digit and affixed a "3" in order to pass it along to Mattingly.

2) why the "3" is different?
a) a different entity affixed the "3" and did not have access to
the exact style of the "2". This suggests that, while the "2" may
have been affixed by the manufacturer, the "3" may have been
done by a local lettering shop.
b) whoever put the "3" on was lazy and didn't care/didn't notice
they were different.

What's interesting to me is that apparently none of the tagging on the jersey is able to help discern a year. Didn't all the Yankees tagging during Mattingly's tenure have a year?

If I were forced to try to explain the number change, I'd wager the jersey was originally a 2-digit number, starting with "2" but not 23. The jersey was then passed onto Mattingly. The second digit was removed and the "3" was affixed by a local sewing/lettering shop. I doubt that the "23" on the back was affixed at the same time by the same person/entity.

Rudy.

[trsent]

Someone should watch videos of every game Don Mattingly appeared in and figure out which game he wore it in. He played in 1785 games, so hopefully the tape will be found in the next four years. Oh wait, there also was five postseason games.

Wow, one postseason appearance for Don Mattingly, I guess he shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.

[island_style]

Very interesting about the number change on the Mattingly jersey. Do the Yankees employ a local tailor for number changes (or use local tailors for changes while on the road)? I know that STT in Seattle does the numbering and lettering for Mariners jerseys and also visiting teams.

I have another question about a Steiner/Yankees jersey I obtained. It's a 2004 Lee Mazzilli road jersey. Was Mazzilli on the Yankees coaches staff in 2004? I thought that he was managing the Orioles in 2004 and 2005. It is jersey number 54, and I cannot seem to find a database which lists the coaches jerseys for 2004. It came with a Steiner letter stating that it is a 2004 jersey. Does anyone have any info? I have not contacted Steiner, but was hoping that some Forum members could shed some light. Thanks!

Ron.

[trsent]

Very interesting about the number change on the Mattingly jersey. Do the Yankees employ a local tailor for number changes (or use local tailors for changes while on the road)? I know that STT in Seattle does the numbering and lettering for Mariners jerseys and also visiting teams.

I have another question about a Steiner/Yankees jersey I obtained. It's a 2004 Lee Mazzilli road jersey. Was Mazzilli on the Yankees coaches staff in 2004? I thought that he was managing the Orioles in 2004 and 2005. It is jersey number 54, and I cannot seem to find a database which lists the coaches jerseys for 2004. It came with a Steiner letter stating that it is a 2004 jersey. Does anyone have any info? I have not contacted Steiner, but was hoping that some Forum members could shed some light. Thanks!

Ron.

Ron, I'll put money on this one -

You'll find more information doing your homework on who the jersey belonged to yourself than Steiner will be able to tell you. The Yankees have made their job really tough, because they don't put names on the back of their jerseys, so mistakes have been made.

You can't find any Yankee history of who #54 was in 2004? Someone has to have this information somewhere I would assume.

[BULBUS]

That number 54 jersey might have been worn by Rob Thomson - Special Assignment Instructor. I found this:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASAp...s.jsp?c_id=nyy

[larry bourget]

Maybe it was originally #27,.....and that's the #7 that ended up on that Gene Michael/??????? Mickey Mantle jersey.

If i lived in New York i would apply for a job at Steiner to do research for them, i emailed them about that listed as 2000 David Wells on their site, told them it was not, and who i thought it was,........and they changed it to Jose'
Canseco for $2500.

Larry

[trsent]

That number 54 jersey might have been worn by Rob Thomson - Special Assignment Instructor. I found this:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASAp...s.jsp?c_id=nyy

Great work, it looks like he has had the position for two years, so I bet that is who the jersey was worn by.

[BULBUS]

I dont know if it was such great work. After looking around some more, I found that GreyFlannel.com has a 2005 Roy White coaches jersey with the number 54. Was Roy a coach in 2004?

[DonFan23]

Maybe I missed one of those late night west coast games back in the mid-80's, but from the first time I saw this jersey I was suspicious. We all know how the Yanks can be with their unis, but this seemed like a bit of a stretch to believe.

I think it was up for auction once or twice at Steiner, and I vaguely recall it appearing in a major auction within the last 18 months. I can't say which one definitively so I won't take a blind stab in the dark, but it wasn't Leland's, as you can search their past auctions and it didn't appear there. Obviously nobody has bitten after quite some time.