Hello & Welcome to our community. Is this your first visit? Register
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 13
  1. #1
    Senior Member rj_lucas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    476

    Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    I have a question regarding a 1991 Cal Ripken jersey, alleged to be game-used, that I’ve owned for about 15 years.

    The tag shows a size of 44. I’ve always questioned that, because I wear a size 44 sport coat and the jersey hangs on me like a tent. I understand Ripken wore a size 48 during this period.

    I’ve been told the size of a jersey can be determined by measuring between the bottom of the two sleeve seams and then doubling the number. As you can see from the picture below, this jersey measures exactly 24” between the bottom sleeve seams.

    Do jerseys ever get mislabled, and assuming this were the case, is the value diminished? I'm also curious if anyone can confirm the validity of the sizing method described above.

    Thanks for any input you might have.

    Rick
    rickjlucas@gmail.com
    Attached Images Attached Images    

  2. #2
    Senior Member kingjammy24's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    3,116

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    i've seen jerseys that weren't the size that they were labeled. whether these jerseys were legit or not, i don't know. your sizing m.o. is correct.

    that said, there are a few things i noticed about your shirt.

    1) near the tag, there seem to be some ghost stitches in a rectangular shape:



    you can have a closer look and confirm whether there is indeed ghost stitching.

    2) the nameplate arch seems to be overly severe:



    3) the left and right edges of those rawlings tags were tucked under/hemmed. are your sides hemmed? they look as if they might've been cut/not hemmed under.

    4) there's a considerable amount of puckering/wash wear on the numbers and the front team wordmark yet the tag shows almost no wash wear.

    5) the color of the nameplate seems a little brighter than the rest of the jersey suggesting it was added later/restored/from a different material than would normally be used.

    i could be entirely wrong on all counts as i can't see the jersey in-person but that's simply what struck me from the photos.

    rudy.

  3. #3
    Senior Member kingjammy24's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    3,116

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    the sleeve trim on your ripken is black/orange/black. this is not the trim the orioles wore in 1991:



    in 1991, they wore orange/black/orange trim. the sleeve trim seen on your jersey was worn 1989 only.

    rudy.

  4. #4
    Senior Member kingjammy24's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    3,116

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    here is ripken from 1989-1991. note the sleeve trim sequence.



    your shirt is a 1989 orioles shirt with a 1991 flag tag added to it. this, along with all of the other factors previously mentioned, leads to believe your shirt is a complete fabrication.

    rudy.

  5. #5
    Senior Member rj_lucas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    476

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    Quote Originally Posted by kingjammy24 View Post
    i've seen jerseys that weren't the size that they were labeled. whether these jerseys were legit or not, i don't know. your sizing m.o. is correct.

    that said, there are a few things i noticed about your shirt.

    1) near the tag, there seem to be some ghost stitches in a rectangular shape:



    you can have a closer look and confirm whether there is indeed ghost stitching.

    2) the nameplate arch seems to be overly severe:



    3) the left and right edges of those rawlings tags were tucked under/hemmed. are your sides hemmed? they look as if they might've been cut/not hemmed under.

    4) there's a considerable amount of puckering/wash wear on the numbers and the front team wordmark yet the tag shows almost no wash wear.

    5) the color of the nameplate seems a little brighter than the rest of the jersey suggesting it was added later/restored/from a different material than would normally be used.

    i could be entirely wrong on all counts as i can't see the jersey in-person but that's simply what struck me from the photos.

    rudy.
    Good info, thanks for that Rudy.

    Before I dropped a few hundred bucks with PSA/DNA I wanted to at least make sure it passed the sniff test in regards to the sizing issue.

    The marks below the tag are a snag; you can see it more clearly from the front as shown below.

    Even so, it still may not be worth sending off to an authenticator, given some of your other observations. You'd think if somebody was going to fake a Ripken they'd at least use a size 48 tag, but I guess nothing surprises me.

    Anyway, I can spread what I paid for it over 15+ years of display value in the rec room, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it one way or another . Thanks again.

    Rick
    rickjlucas@gmail.com
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  6. #6
    Senior Member rj_lucas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    476

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    And I KNEW that someone on this forum could address this authoritatively. This is a great resource.

    Rick
    rickjlucas@gmail.com

  7. #7
    Senior Member kingjammy24's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    3,116

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    photo evidence shows the following in regards to sleeve trim:

    1989 - black/orange/black
    1990 - orange/black/orange
    1991 - orange/black/orange

    1989 jersey with incorrect 1990+ sleeve trim: http://www.huntauctions.com/online/i...=1046&lot_qual=

    1989 jersey with correct 1989 sleeve trim:
    http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/A...ction_ID=15535

    1991 jersey with incorrect 1989 sleeve trim:
    http://www.huntauctions.com/online/i...=1045&lot_qual=

    rudy.

  8. #8
    Senior Member kingjammy24's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    3,116

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    some common player jerseys. sleeve trim on these is consistent with photos:



    when the weasels who made up those ripkens were engaged in the task, i imagine they were swapping mfr tags and flag tags without any consideration to the sleeve trim. to them all of those orioles jerseys looked the same and they didn't even notice the difference in sleeve trim.

    rudy.

  9. #9
    Senior Member kingjammy24's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    3,116

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    incidentally, the 1989 AMI ripken in this thread has a 1990-91 style rawlings tag.

    rick, your jersey is a 1989-style orioles shirt but it has a 1990-91 style rawlings tag. i imagine whoever made it just took the mfr tag and 1991 flag tag from whatever jersey. you'd think they would've gotten a size 48 mfr tag to be consistent with the actual size of the shirt but perhaps they were under the impression at the time that ripken wore a 44.

    rudy.

  10. #10
    Senior Member ironmanfan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    2,234

    Re: Question about Cal Ripken jersey labeling

    good work Rudy......

 

 

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:55 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5
Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.
vBulletin Skin By: PurevB.com