1989 Pirates
A neat pick up for me based on the patch. These were only worn by the Pirates and only on their home uniforms during part of the second half of the season. The 1989 Hall of Fame game was supposed to feature the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox. The Reds got delayed coming out Montreal, so the Sox hosted an inter-squad contest. I point this out as I have heard it said the patch was related to that game. It was not. The Pirates began wearing this patch during the 21-24 July home series against the Dodgers. This series sandwiched the 23 July Cooperstown Induction Ceremony (No Pirates were inducted, as only Yaz and Bench went in that year along with veteran committee selectees Red Schoendienst and Al Barlick). So this patch was not worn by the Pirates to honor organizational enshrinees.
The Pirates continued to wear this patch only at home through the rest of the season (confirmed through a survey of period newspaper photos). The patch features the same design that appeared on the cover of the 1989 Hall of Fame yearbook program and other items (bats, press pins, etc).
Dave Grob
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