When there were no names on baseball jerseys

It wasn't a tactic to sell gameday scorecards. But that happened too.

Seeing a player’s name on the back of a jersey is something most fans never think about. It’s always been there, or so it seems. In the major sports it’s nearly universal to have names on the backs of uniforms.

College football teams such as Penn State, Notre Dame and my alma mater USC don’t have player names on the backs of their jerseys in promoting the total team aspect. That makes sense in college sports. Most minor league teams do not have player names on the backs of their jerseys. Fans do not seem to mind.

First MLB team to wear numbers

The Yankees were famously the first team to include numbers on the backs of their jerseys. For the 1929 season, Babe Ruth, who batted third in the order got number three, and Lou Gehrig number four. It was mostly based on the batting order but not entirely. The Cleveland Indians (Guardians) played that same Opening day as did the Yankees – April 16, 1929, but the Yankees ended up being rained out so the game doesn’t ‘count’, making Cleveland the first team to have numbers on their jersey and play in an official MLB game.

The Indians were the first to have numbers on the fronts of their uniforms in 1916.

The studly 1929 Yankee lineup:

In doing research on those 1929 Bronx Bombers, I discovered there were a plethora of future Hall-of-Famers in the lineup who wore numbers on their backs. Future HOFer Earle Combs wearing #1 led off, followed by Mark Koenig wearing #2, future HOFers Ruth #3, & Gehrig #4, Bob Meusel #5, future HOFer Tony Lazzieri #6, future HOF manager Leo Durocher wore #7, Johnny Grabowski #8, Benny Bengough #9 and future HOF catcher Bill Dickey #10. No, Dickey did not bat 10^th in the order.

Six Hall of famers in one lineup (yes Durocher not as a player) is mind-boggling to me! The two-time defending champion Yankees however, lost the AL title to the Philadelphia A’s who themselves would go on to win two consecutive World Series both versus the Chicago Cubs.

All the teams join the name party

By 1932 all MLB teams had numbers on the backs of their uniforms. There weren’t any names on the backs of player’s jerseys for another 31 years until 1960. It was Bill Veeck with the White Sox that made the move. Of course it was Bill Veeck! Most teams quickly followed suit and in 1979 the National League adopted a rule that all teams must display names on their away jerseys. Today, two teams do not display names on the uniform backs, the Yankees and Red Sox, (but only at Fenway since the BoSox complied with MLB’s request for wearing names on their road jerseys in 1990).

Trying to honor tradition fizzles

Oddly, for 22 years (2000-2021), the San Francisco Giants did not have players’ names on the backs of their home jerseys. It was when they moved to Oracle Park (then called AT & T Park). Peter Magowan surely did some strange things while he owned the team. The Dodgers also went nameless on their home and away jerseys in 2005 and 2006. Like Peter Magowan, Dodger owner Frank McCourt felt he was honoring some more team-y tradition. When he was on our podcast, I wish I’d have asked former (Dodger GM at the time), Dan Evans about it. Did the players feel any one way or the other about not having their names on the back of their unis? Did they feel more anonymous?

Baseball managers still wear uniforms

Baseball Managers are the only team leaders to wear uniforms. This stems from the time when there were player-managers so it’s not as strange as it may seem at first. I can’t picture football coaches, basketball coaches standing behind the bench in uniform. Some of those basketball coaches are far from tall! You can include ice hockey and soccer in ‘not wearing uniforms make sense’, thoughts too. The late Pete Rose was the last MLB player-manager. It will take a bold move for a manager to come into the dugout attired in a suit and tie like the great Connie Mack. But since today’s managers won’t ever play in an MLB game, why not? Of course, it would be hilarious if the manager wore a suit and tie in the first place, AND it had his (or her) name on the back of the uniform! Bill Veeck, we need you!

This made me wonder if you can buy Dave Roberts or Aaron Boone manager’s jersey? MLB is into selling merchandise but the only people I think might wear it would be members of their families.

I am fine with the Yankees and Red Sox sticking with their traditions of not displaying names on their home jerseys. I don’t know that it makes it better for fans at home watching the games, but there are way more important things MLB should worry about than player names on jerseys!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com. Mark can be reached on x @almostcoop and almostcooperstown@gmail.com