General question re: baseball jersey tagging

[Rob L]

Hey all,

Just purchased this 1989 Mike Witt Angels jersey from Ballpark Heroes.

I am curious as to the tagging on Jerseys of this (and other) eras. What do the "set" numbers actually represent? How many "sets" are actually given to each player, etc?

Thanks,

Rob L

[kingjammy24]

hello rob,

here is a previous post of mine on the issue of sets:

"at a basic level, a set refers to, literally, a set of jerseys from a manufacturer. the real issue is what composes "a set". typically (but not always), 1 "set" will have 1 home jersey, 1 road jersey, 1 alt (if applicable). this first set is labeled "set 1". hence you'll have a set 1 home jersey, set 1 road jersey, set 1 alt. jersey. the next set, labeled set 2 contains the same - 1 home jersey, 1 road jersey, 1 alt. jersey. the jerseys in this set are each labeled "set 2". and so on.

prior to the mid-90s, it was common practice for many players to receive only 2 sets - ie: 2 home jerseys, 2 road jerseys. unfortunately, somewhere along the lines things changed and the number of sets/jerseys received increased.

it's been said that set numbers are relative to purchase orders. this would explain why you'd see multiple "set 1" jerseys. more specifically, within a single purchase order, a team might order, for example, 5 home jerseys for a player. each of these jerseys would be labeled with successive set numbers - set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, as they're all within the same purchase order. however, if a team makes another/separate purchase order, say 3 months into the season, of another 5 home jerseys, then those would also be labeled set 1, set 2, etc., (instead of set 6, set 7, set 8, etc.) hence if a team made 2 different purchase orders, you'd see 2 home jerseys both labeled "set 1". essentially, set 1 is the first set of a purchase order.

it's also been said that in some instances, sets didn't necessarily include a pre-defined, consistent mix of jerseys (eg: 1 home, 1 road). rather, there were instances where if a team ordered, for example, 2 home and 3 road, then the first 2 home might be labeled set 1 and set 2 and the 3 road might be then labeled set 3, set 4, and set 5. ie: there were never a set 1 and 2 for the road jerseys. the jerseys in a purchase order were not separated by type but rather labeled as one big group.

there's also the belief among some that set 1 jerseys are the first jerseys used by the player. that is, that they first use set 1 and then if they feel the need might use set 2 for the second half or latter part of the season. they might use set 2 or 3's for all star games or postseason games. i think this is why some collectors have a preference for "set 1" jerseys. i think in some cases this was the typical practice but not in all. i've heard that if a player was issued his 2 home jerseys, for example, labeled set 1 and set 2, then he may, without being conscious of the set, simply grab the one labeled set 2 and use it for the first portion of the season. personally, while i have no issue buying a set 1 or set 2 jersey, i tend to stay away from sets greater than 3. the set 20 vernon wells jersey on ebay was ridiculous. as well, refer to the thread on set 3 arod/palmeiro rangers jerseys. their set 1 and 2's came from meigray and typically showed great wear. their set 3's came from their marketing companies and were typically in crisp condition. i don't think it's a coincidence that 1 and 2 preceed 3 and that 1 and 2 showed good wear whereas 3 didn't.

from this thread:
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=4888

for more illumination on set numbers, see:

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=4477

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=7323

as for the latter part of your question, there is no hard answer. in the 80s and early 90s, the standard was 2 road, 2 home, and 2 alt (if applicable).
each version was a "set", so you'd have set 1 road, set 2 road, set 1 home, set 2 home. however, for various reasons, some players would receive more than these typical amounts. the superstars would sometimes receive more as they'd either give more away and/or have more stolen than a common player. someone like griffey went through them like socks in the 90s. my opinion is that since about 2003, the notion of sets has pretty much gone out the window with players receiving as many as they like for all sorts of purposes. even the common players seem to be receiving more than they typically did in the 80s.

let me know if that answers it. nice angels jersey by the way. i really like those 1989-92 angels jerseys.

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

rob,

here is a purchase order for home jerseys for the 1994 white sox. most guys seemed to order 2. mr. superstar frank thomas ordered 4. dann howitt ordered 1. be pretty cool to get that 1 jersey. if he used it the entire season, then it'd show an incredible amount of use.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5788/pogu4.jpg

anyway, i'm not sure if you're aware of this guide but it's incredibly helpful:

http://www.mlbstyleguides.com/

lots of photos of tagging for every single team in every year since the 70s.

rudy.

[Rob L]

Thanks Rudy. That is great information.

Take care,

Rob L

[Rob L]

Rudy, thanks for the website to the Jersey publication. I just purchased and downloaded it. Looks to be an awesome resource.

Rob L

[TwinLakesPark]

rob,

here is a purchase order for home jerseys for the 1994 white sox. most guys seemed to order 2. mr. superstar frank thomas ordered 4. dann howitt ordered 1. be pretty cool to get that 1 jersey. if he used it the entire season, then it'd show an incredible amount of use.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5788/pogu4.jpg

anyway, i'm not sure if you're aware of this guide but it's incredibly helpful:

http://www.mlbstyleguides.com/

lots of photos of tagging for every single team in every year since the 70s.

rudy.

I know this is 6 years old, but i would love to get my hands on that purchase order mentioned above. Does anyone have a copy of it?

[Nnunnari]

Great stuff guys.

[karamaxjoe]

I know this is 6 years old, but i would love to get my hands on that purchase order mentioned above. Does anyone have a copy of it?

I probably have it buried somewhere. Check back tomorrow morning.

[emann]

I'd be curious to know how many home pinstripe jerseys that Tim Raines ordered in 1994. Thanks in advance if you can find it...

[flaco1801]

According to Rudy set 1 only had 1 home and 1 road jersey....what happened when the team needed to play a second game on the same day? ...i believe the set consisted of 2 homes and 2 roads...back in the beginning of collecting game worn jerseys it was rare to see a set 3 shirt...most set 3 shirts were the catchers who got the most abuse...set 1 when opening the season and set 2 was issued after the All Star break.....

[karamaxjoe]

Found it

[TwinLakesPark]

Found it

Mike - thank you for digging up that PO! Any type of historical document such as this provides a tremendous amount of wealth is collecting jerseys. Do you have any other jersey PO's, more specifically for the White Sox in 1995 or Detroit Tigers?

Thanks,

Wes

wesholden at gmail dot com

[karamaxjoe]

Mike - thank you for digging up that PO! Any type of historical document such as this provides a tremendous amount of wealth is collecting jerseys. Do you have any other jersey PO's, more specifically for the White Sox in 1995 or Detroit Tigers?

Thanks,

Wes

wesholden at gmail dot com

Nope, that's the only one I've ever seen.

[emann]

Thanks for posting Mike... What's interesting is that Wilson also made White Sox home jerseys in 1994. My Raines is a Wilson (and photomatched to the pinstripes). If some of the stars already had 3-4 Russell jerseys, I wonder how many Wilson also made?