Blue Jays circa 1984 jersey

[Flamechicken]

Hi all,
I'm new to the board and was looking for some help on identifying a jersey. It appears to be a legitimate Blue Jays jersey from 1984, but everything else is a mystery to me. The NOB was originally "McGriff", but was at one time covered by a piece of fabric, I'm assuming to be used in the minors or spring training. Any information on if/when McGriff could've worn this jersey would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

[Flamechicken]

Front

[Flamechicken]

Back

[MooseDog]

Hi Mike -

I haven't collected GU jerseys for quite a while so take this with a grain of salt. I did collect pretty heavily from the 1970s to the early 1980s.

Early Toronto Blue Jays jerseys were nearly impossible to get back in the day. Even a common player would command a premium, but in those days $800-1000 was a lot to pay for a star player. If memory serves, and I'm getting to the age where memory does not serve well, Blue Jays jerseys of this era would bring $400-500 for a common player. As we got into the late 1980s and the big sports boom prices started to go way up. McGriff at one time was one of the hottest players in baseball.

The year/set tag on your jersey looks proper from your pictures, though from the picture I'm a little put off by the lighter color of the tag vs. the rest of the area around the jersey. Also the placement of the numbers on the back seems a bit high for being a Toronto jersey.

From the evidence you have shown, my best guess is that the jersey is likely a 1984 gamer or spring training jersey. However, that being the case, it is not likely that McGriff wore this for the Jays. I don't profess to know the Jays stuff well, but most Arizona teams back then did not use names on the backs for spring training. Also, I think McGriff had a different number in the minors.

I don't know why a patch would be placed over the name, that's very confusing. One thing to look at is the stitching on the numbers and name, and matching the stitch pattern with a known gamer. Unfortunately, there were people back then who located the actual person or company who did the numbers and names for the teams and were able to get near exact matches in some cases.

Nevertheless, collectors of game used stuff shy away from jersey like this that come with "stories", they are almost impossible to sell.

[Flamechicken]

Thanks for the response. I found a couple of "legit" Blue Jays game jerseys from that era on the web and from the pictures available, the stitching appears to be consistent with what is on the jersey I have.

As for the patch over the name, I've heard from other collectors that it was common for teams to use the patches over the names for re-use in the minors. Since they didn't use nameplates, I guess it was easier than removing the names and possibly tearing up the jersey.

Thanks,
Mike