|
The '72 Topps cards show a lot of spring training images of A's players in old uniforms - all the "single A" cap logos are a giveaway there. So either Topps used a bunch of old pics in their set that year for the A's, or the team was wearing a weird mix of uniforms in spring training '71. I would think the latter is more likely to be correct. I would put more trust in photos taken during the regular season, which for an AL team is usually going to mean good ol' third base side of Old Yankee Stadium.
Adding further to the confusion here, Dressed to the Nines shows the yellow-billed caps as being introduced in 1970, which I'm pretty sure is incorrect. If you look at the '71 Topps cards for Sal Bando, Dick Green, Steve Hovley, Paul Lindblad and Bob Locker which were presumably taken during the 1970 regular season, their caps have the "new" apostrophe S while still having the "old" green bills... but DttN has no record of this particular cap design ever existing. I think this cap was only used in 1970 and DttN missed the green bills because it's the kind of detail that's easy to overlook without good images to work with.
You'd think the A's would have worn the 1970 cap a lot in spring training '71, meaning it would show up frequently in the '72 Topps set. However, I only see Vida Blue and maybe Catfish Hunter in them... with 'OAKLAND' jerseys, no less!
|