A history of sports jerseys is not something to be neglected. Sports fans who have been in this field for so long might notice several changes in the jerseys as the seasons go by. Jersey is not only something the team would wear for the match. It reflects the team’s core values and identity that are different from others.
It’s normal for the team to have design changes in their jerseys, and many have done that, including Oakland Athletics. In this article, we’ll briefly explain the history of Oakland Athletics jerseys from the 60’s to the present. Hold on tight because it’ll be quite a journey.
A History of Oakland Athletics Jerseys
Oakland first touched the field as a young competitive team. Back then, they used pretty colorful colors. Through their skills and determination, the team successfully won 3 straight matches from 1972 to 1974.
1968
In this season, the team proudly presented their city name on their jerseys. The jersey, however, was colored green mist.
1969
A year later, the iconic “A” logo came back to the design, with the front numbers added along with a single lettering outline. (that replaces the previously used double lettering). The road jersey turned gold this time around, and the mist green was used as an alternate.
Aside from the jersey, the green color was also applied to the cap, although the color was made lighter.
1970-71
The previously used “A” logo was changed into “A;s”. The additional “s” here was also used both for the caps and jerseys. They also added the names on the back.
1972
The A’s have double knits now. The gold color is still used for the main jersey, and green remains an alternate. The white colored jersey is also used as a home jersey. As an addition to the back numbers, front numbers were added as well, although the styling is a bit different.
Iconic A’s logo was also used for the caps as well, although at this time it was changed into more blocky to closely resemble the jersey logo.
1973-80
The iconic logo that everyone adored was redesigned once again to be cleaner. Front numbers were also erased. The logo’s styling was also changed for the other jerseys. Lettering on the yellow jerseys, however, was later inverted to green.
1981
The main home jersey is white now, with gold occasionally used as an alternate. In this year, the new gold jersey with the additional “Oakland” lettering was used. This became the road jersey for the team.
On the other hand, the green jersey was dropped completely. Starting from this year forward, the team used the service from more jersey manufacturers to create more dynamic designs.
1997
In the years between 1981 to 1997, the team used the elephant patch on their jersey. Then in 1997, that very patch was removed from the home jersey. They replaced them with the Jackie Robinson patches for the 30th Anniversary of Oakland.
1998-99
Just a year later, the elephant patch came back
2000
New unique patches were used to celebrate A’s baseball 100th Anniversary. For a year, the team mostly used the black-colored jersey to replace the green one. The black cap was also there, although for an alternate.
2008-09
Both black caps and home alternate jerseys were added, with an additional green sleeve patch on the jerseys.
2010
This is the year when the NOB nameplates were not used anymore.
2014-2015
The green jersey was later redesigned to appropriately match the gold jersey’s style.
2016 – now
This is when the debut of Flex Base jersey.
Though the team has undergone so many changes in their jersey designs, one thing that matters is that they are still true to themselves. We believe that the same thing happens to all the sports teams who professionally design their jerseys to meet their values.
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