Philadelphia Blue Jays

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Posted By: Paul

Are there any Philadelphia Blue Jays pennants or other items that actually include the "Blue Jays" name? I know there are pennants showing a picture of a blue jay. But is there anything with the Blue Jay name?

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Posted By: scgaynor

I have seen pocket schedules.

Scott

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Posted By: Mark

To my knowledge, the Pennants all simply say "Phillies" or "Philadelphia" (and I have been watching these for almost 20 years!) I have NEVER seen the words "Blue Jays" depicted on a Phillies pennant.

The Blue Jay variations are rare, and I am only aware of 4 different ones. There is one currently posted on the Buy/Sell/Trade link (sorry for the self-promo) which is perhaps the 2nd most common of the four (not that ANY are common; none, of course turn up very often...)

I would be curious to see what some long-time Phillies collectors have to say, as I am not even aware that the Phillies officially changed their name to Blue Jays (just the logo?)

Good topic!

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Posted By: Al Simeone

Paul,
The only item I have is a stadium pin 1 1/4 inch with the blue jays name on the bottom. Good luck on your search!

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

What's the story behind the name change? I've always been curious about that, but never remember to actually do the research. "Blue Jays" seems like such a strange choice.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

The Phillies owner William Cox was betting on the Phillies and Bucky Harris ratted him out to Commissioner Landis. Landis investigated and found it to be true and Cox was the first non-player banned from baseball. The Phillies in an attempt to clean up their image made a half-hearted attempt at a name change, but never officially changed it. Their uniforms still had "Phillies" on them the entire time they were also called the "Blue Jays". The Phillies only used the name in 1943 and '44, but they did give the Blue Jays name to their minor league club in Schenectady (CanAm League)in 1946.

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Posted By: ErlandStevens

Philadelphia had reverted back to the Phillies by 1949, but their III League affiliate in Terre Haute still had a blue jay on its letterhead.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

I knew the Cox story (and, of course, Veeck's perhaps partially true story of trying to purchase the team). Come to think of it, I'm sure I've heard this before. Thanks for refreshing my memory Dan!

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

We had this discussion on the card side not long ago...but I messed up the dates here...I think the Phillies only used the Blue Jays name for 1944 and 1945...at least those are the only two years they have a bird on their uniform sleeve.

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Posted By: Paul

Thank you all for your responses. That stadium pin is nice, and the schedule sounds interesting too. Now I know what to look for.

Paul

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Posted By: J Levine

The Phillies produced a bunch of stuff with the Blue Jays name on it. From 1944 to 1949 there were pennants produced for both the "Phillies" and the "Blue Jays." The blue jay logo was added to most of the paper products the Phillies used including office stationary, checks, passes, etc. The problem was the team had been around for nearly 60 years already and everybody in the media and fans still called them the Phillies. The team also did not change the uniform which was a problem in identity. The Phillies were the bottom and poor. They did not want to change the uniforms or anything that would cost them a lot of money so they added a patch for a few years but still had "Phillies" in giant red lettering.

Unfortunately I can not get to my items currently but I do own several programs from 1945 that have the Phillies and Blue Jays names and logos. I also own at least one pennant depicting a Blue Jay but saying Phillies. I have Blue Jay stationary. I also own at least two pins (including one similar to the one above) that say Blue Jays.

Ebay has Philadelphia Blue Jay stuff every few months...just gotta look for it.

Joshua