Rod DeDeaux (Legendary Manager) 1984 Home USA Olympic Worn Uniform (Robert "Ish" Smith LOA)

[russyurk]

Re: Rod DeDeaux (Legendary Manager) 1984 Home USA Olympic Worn Uniform (Robert "Ish" Smith LOA)

Hey all, be careful on this one. I'm a pretty serious Team USA jersey collector and despite the letter from Mr. Smith there are a lot of inconsistencies with this set.

1. Coach's last name was spelled "Dedeaux" not DeDeaux. This is consistent in the 1984 Team USA media guide. Coach was a part of multiple USA squads as far back as the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo so a misspelled name is questionable.
2. Coach was famous for wearing #1. According to the 1984 media guide coach was #1 and BJ Surhoff was #24. When coach passed away in 2006 all USA Baseball teams wore a patch to commemorate the occasion and it included large #1.
3. The white 1984 Olympic gamers were button ups and not pullovers. I have a wire photo of John Hoover from the Games that clearly shows buttons.
4. The white 1984 gamers also included a “Baseball USA” patch on the sleeve and it doesn’t appear that this jersey has one.

I don’t have a clear picture of coach in his white jersey that can specifically be linked to Olympic action but there are a number if things that don’t quite mesh.

After playing only two games at shortstop for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rod DeDeaux turned to coaching and became a legendary manager of the USC Trojans. At USC, he managed some of the Major League best players, including, Tom Seaver, Mark McGwire, Dave Kingman, and Ron Fairly. In 1974, USC named their new baseball stadium after him. He was a member of the first class of inductees into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. He died at the age of 91 that same year.

Home white Team USA uniform worn during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles by legendary skipper Rod DeDeaux. Jersey is a white pullover with a Rawlings size 46/wash tag on the tail (a faint "46" is also written on the tail near the tag). DeDeaux's name is affixed to the back on a nameplate, and his number 24 are on the front and back. Jersey exhibits moderate evidence of game use, including some loose stitching and a small stain on the back. The pants are white with red and blue striping down the legs. There is a Rawlings size 36/wash tag in the waistband, and a size/wash flag tag sewn into the rear. Also included in this group is DeDeaux's "USA" cap from the games, which is made by EXACE, and is a size 7 1/8. Includes a hand-written and signed LOA from Dr. Robert "Ish" Smith, President of the United States Baseball Federation. Dr. Smith ran the 1984 baseball games at the Olympics, where he obtained this uniform (as his letter states). A historic piece of United States Olympic history with impeccable provenance.
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