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05-19-2006, 07:14 PM
Posted By: <b>Patrick McMenemy</b><p>One of the first things I noticed about my new Hugh Smith Home Run Kisses card was that he had a "number" patch on the shoulder of his uniform with the number 8. I knew early uniforms didn't have numbers. However, numbers were added later to the backs of uniforms, but shoulder numbers?<br /><br />I couldn't remember ever seeing this before, so I decided to check the scans in my 1912 Zeenuts library to see if I could find any additional examples. At first, I thought maybe only the Los Angeles players had a patch. However, I then found other examples on other teams as well, although the shape of the patches varied from team to team.<br /><br />I'm curious as to whether numbers had ever been used on uniforms previously or was the Pacific Coast League the first league to experiment with adding numbers to uniforms?<br /><br />Below are some examples of cards showing players with "number" patches.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1147995181.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148000827.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148000860.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148000898.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148000926.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148000955.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148000990.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148001053.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1148001079.JPG"> <br /><br />