The length of the sleeves sort of shortened gradually up to WWII when they arrived at more or less the way they were through the 50's. In the majors established players got to usually pick the length of their sleeves when the new uniforms were ordered. Others just got what was on the shelf when they joined the team. Jimmie Foxx comes to mind when I think of a guy who really shortened his sleeves more severely than other players of the time. Williams had his hacked off when he joined the Red Sox and somewhere there is a '39 (I think) road jersey that was confiscated by the team because the sleeves were too short and a new one issued with a more acceptable length. It was in an auction catalog years ago. If you look at a group photo, such as those nice shots of the '27 Yankees that show just the infielders, just the catchers, etc) you see a variation of sleeve length. Al Simmons of the A's liked the old fashioned very long sleeves as did Joe McCarthy.
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