Eight Men Out/Chicago Black Sox baseball uniform

[Ghostsoldier]

*Like I don't have enough crap going already*.....Does anyone here have any references for vintage baseball uniform patterns, circa 1917-1920?

I have flirted with creating a Chicago Black Sox uniform (ala the 1988 John Sayle's movie Eight Men Out), as I have several custom-made vintage baseball bats from Phoenix Bat Company, 3 Akadema repop gloves, and a couple of 1919 White Sox repop wool ball caps from Cooperstown Caps (and an autographed photo of John Cusack/Buck Weaver--:cool). I ran across several yards of nice vintage-looking white/black pinstriped wool locally that might work, but I'd like to find a deadball-era uniform pattern reference, before I spring for the materials....

Any ideas?
Rob

 

[blubeetle3]

coughcoughcoughMitchell&Nesscoughcough.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

*coughcoughtoodarnedexpensiveforajerseyandIwillstillneedthepantscoughcough*

Thanks for the tip, BB3, but M&N only sells the 1917 jersey (not entirely accurate, either), and not the pants; being a "make-it-myself" kind of guy, I want to use vintage patterns and construct them myself....:cool
Rob

 

[smoothrat]

Great idea. I love the "dead ball" era, and hope you decide to go ahead with this project.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I'll post some pics tomorrow of the stuff I do have....

....and yeah, the DE is my favorite historical baseball period...unlike the panty-waisted, overpaid, steroid-pumped cry-babies we have in MLB today, those guys back then knew how to play baseball....Ty Cobb might have been the meanest sonofabitch on the diamond, but he still holds records to this day, and the ballplayers respected his ferocity and skill....they don't make 'em like that any more! :cool
Rob

 

[blubeetle3]

*coughcoughtoodarnedexpensiveforajerseyandIwillstillneedthepantscoughcough*

Thanks for the tip, BB3, but M&N only sells the 1917 jersey (not entirely accurate, either), and not the pants; being a "make-it-myself" kind of guy, I want to use vintage patterns and construct them myself....:cool
Rob

I thought Mitchell & Ness did the jerseys for the movie. I could be wrong though (I know. Hard to imagine!:lol).

Too bad you live in FL. If you lived closer to Philadelphia, you could go to the M&N store. They have a big sale that goes on three days before the Super Bowl. 50% off of everything!

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I know that Cynthia Flynt was the costume designer; she also worked on A League of Their Own and Matewan...I'm not sure if she contracted M&N to make them or not.

So far, I've found a couple of websites that deal in repop antique baseball equipment and such:

http://www.baseballamericaspastime.com/
http://www.dugout-memories.com/jersteam.html

I'm still digging 'round the net....:thumbsup
Rob

 

[smoothrat]

I leafed through some reference books last night. Would photos help, or do you need actual patterns?

 

[MaulWalker]

While looking for patterns, look for each piece separately - a shirt pattern and a pants pattern. I doubt you are going to find an exact match for either one, but you can adapt an existing pattern

I turned a dress pattern into an A League of Their Own uniform

Lynn

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I leafed through some reference books last night. Would photos help, or do you need actual patterns?

While I have a collection of photos, a costume researcher (as you know) can always use more...if it's no problem, I'd like to see your photos.

If you have any photos or scans of period patterns, that would be great, also...I'm thinking that I'll have to modify an existing, commercial pattern to make this work, anyway.

Here's one I found on eBay....

It looks to be an older style than what I need (turn-of-the-century, or CW-era).


Thanks for the tip, Lynn....I'll rethink my search criteria! :thumbsup
Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Here's a few pics of my stuff (I couldn't find my Akadema gloves--they are around here somewhere)

My hats: The long-bill 1917 WS version on the left, and the short-billed 1919 WS on the right (and an old mitt--I think it's a first baseman's glove, as it's too small for a catcher's mitt)

My bats from Phoenix....

My Cusack signature.....

I was going to post a website pic of my Akadema glove, but it seems they have discontinued the 1920 model (now they have a '29 Ruth and Dazzie Vance models)...I'll dig mine out an post a pic later.
Rob

 

[MaulWalker]

Hmmm, that pattern is from the same folks who have the http://www.baseballamericaspastime.com/ site. They no longer offer the patterns.

Many, many years ago I made an old-fashioned nightshirt that had the same neck facing as the baseball uniforms. Check pajama patterns too.

Lynn

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Speaking of pics, here some from my '06 trip to Cooperstown, of the real uniforms....

Kid Gleason's 1917 jersey, hat and socks....

Shoeless Joe's jersey and glove....

Ray Schalk's hat and Red Faber's glove....

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

And a few of the screen-used props from Eight Men Out....

The plaque says the uniform is Ray Liotta's from Field of Dreams, but the 8MO props went straight to the production of Costner's baseball film that premiered in 1989....I believe D.B. Sweeney said he wanted to keep his as a souvenir, but the studio wouldn't allow it (he kept the grey road uniform, instead). :cool

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Hmmm, that pattern is from the same folks who have the http://www.baseballamericaspastime.com/ site. They no longer offer the patterns.

Many, many years ago I made an old-fashioned nightshirt that had the same neck facing as the baseball uniforms. Check pajama patterns too.

Lynn

I thought it looked familiar...the guy in the lower right photo on the website ("Soda Jerks") is wearing an ensemble that looks fairly close to the time period I'm shooting for...
Rob

 

[filfoster]

I thought Mitchell & Ness did the jerseys for the movie. I could be wrong though (I know. Hard to imagine!:lol).

I am a 1919 Black Sox World Series fanatic. I suppose the movie pushed me over the edge. I worked on this uniform project for over five years. Talked with the woman whose company made the movie uniforms. Nice, but no help-she had too much other work to do to fool around with a nutjob like me. Finally, found online a vendor of mostly Negro League uniforms, named after a famous ballfield back east, that would make the whole thing, jerseys, pants, caps (after MLB drove Cooperstown Ball Cap Co out of business). BUT: They wouldn't touch the logos because....MLB! Evidently, MLB arrives like 'men in black' to hose down anyone who infringes on the copyright trademarks, even logos 90 years old. Anyway, I finally ended up with the 'Black Sox' home uniform, using the 1919 M&N jersey and the other vendor's pants and a Cooperstown cap, and the Reds World Series 'away' uniforms (pinstriped, unlike thieir regular season aways). Had to have a design studio copy the logos and sew them on the cap and jersey myself. Was it all worth it? I guess so. I have set mousetraps all over my house to warn me of MLB coming to take them away!
A bonus was that the uniform vendor made 'away' flannel pants for my 1927 Babe Ruth M&N jersey that MATCHED EXACTLY! What were the odds that flannel would ever match? Lotto-like.

Why the hell doesn't M&N make a limited run of the pants for people who don't want to display their jerseys on naked mannequin bottoms? Not all of us wear the M&N $300+ jerseys to the park to swill beer and spill mustard on them. I actually spoke with M&N on this and they were not at all interested.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Thanks for the info, fil...that's good stuff. I've been working lately to pick this project back up (baseball season, you know) and get a uniform together, MLB Logo Cops be damned. I've been digging around for a source of the white/navy pinstriped wool or wool-blend fabric in bulk yardage, but as of now, I haven't had much luck.

I know the Ghost Players used repo Sox uniforms, and still do: Field of Dreams Ghost Player Documentary - ghostplayer.us

I may try to contact someone in their organization, to see if they have a supplier.

Rob

 

[blubeetle3]

I thought Mitchell & Ness did the jerseys for the movie. I could be wrong though (I know. Hard to imagine!:lol).

Why the hell doesn't M&N make a limited run of the pants for people who don't want to display their jerseys on naked mannequin bottoms? Not all of us wear the M&N $300+ jerseys to the park to swill beer and spill mustard on them. I actually spoke with M&N on this and they were not at all interested.

I know that at one time M&N did have pants. Then again, this was something like 15 to 20 years ago. So, y'know...

 

[filfoster]

I will share my uniform source by PM, if anyone is interested.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I will share my uniform source by PM, if anyone is interested.

PM sent.

Rob