Okay, not all of the uniforms seem all that strange. Hell, not all of the players are all that iconic. Still, I hope you enjoy seeing some players in uniforms that many won’t recall.
If you have any other ideas in this vein for a second round, let me know in the comments.
[Click on a photo to start the carousel]
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- Babe Ruth: The most famous baseball player of all-time, let alone of the Yankees, spent his first six years with the Red Sox, then 15 years with the Yankees. In 1935, he wrapped up his career playing 28 games with the Boston Braves before calling it quits mid-season.
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- Billy Williams: The Hall of Famer played with the Cubs from 1959 through 1974 before spending his final two seasons in Oakland.
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- Boog Powell: Played with the Orioles from 1961 thru 1974 before moving to Cleveland for a couple of seasons. The move to the Indians is remembered, but I don’t recall him winding up his career with the Dodgers, playing 50 games for them in 1977.
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- Cesar Cedeno: He’ll be forever remembered as a member of the Astros, where he played from 1970-1981, if for no other reason (and there are many- 4 All-Star games, 5 Gold Gloves) than appearing in The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977). I remember his move to the Reds (1982-1985), but I don’t remember his short stints with the Cardinals, or with the Dodgers- where he wound up his career in 1986.
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- Darryl Strawberry: Remembered for his years with the Mets, Dodgers and Yankees, it is easy to forget that he played 29 games with the Giants in 1994. Strawberry played with all four franchises associated with New York, and nowhere else.
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- Dave Stieb: The longtime Blue Jays pitcher and 7-time All Star was with the team so long, I could have sworn he was one of their inaugural members in 1977. He wasn’t, but he played with them from 1979-1992 (as well as a brief comeback stint in 1998), but I didn’t recall him playing for the ChiSox in 1993.
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- Dave Winfield: I remember him with the Padres, Yankees, Angels, Blue Jays, even the TWins… but I don’t recall the Hall of Famer’s final stint, 46 games with Cleveland in 1995.
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- Fernando Valenzuela: Purportedly just 19 when he debuted with L.A., I will always think of Fernando as a Dodgers player. I don’t remember his short stint with the Angels in 1991. I do recall his 1992 sabbatical playing in Mexico. And his three (or part of anyway) seasons with the Padres. I don’t remember Orioles (’93), Phillies (’94), or his last with the Cardinals in ’97 where he went 0-4, when he was supposedly just 36.
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- Frank Thomas: The Big Hurt is, of course, one of the most popular of the White Sox, winning back-to-back MVPs in the 1990s. His first go-round with the A’s was also memorable, but I don’t remember the short-lived second go- and while I do recall his time in Toronto, a little, it still seems weird seeing him in that uniform. It is like he went on a tour of duty where nobody saw him.
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- Garrett Anderson: He spent 15 years with the Angels, arguably their best player for most of that time, helping them win the franchise’s first World Series in 2002. He left in 2009 to sign with the Braves. Then for his last year, played with the Dodgers.
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- Greg Maddux: Cubs, Braves, of course. The Dodgers even, yeah. The Padres? He did go 20-20 there in 2007-2008.
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- Hank Aaron: The legitimate all-time HR leader played 21 years with the Braves, the first 12 of which were in Milwaukee (1964-1965) so it made sense that the Brewers signed him for his last two years, 1975-1976, but seeing him that uniform is still a little odd.
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- Harmon Killebrew: The late Hall of Famer started with Washington Senators in 1954 and became a member of the TWins when the franchise moved to Minnesota in 1961, where he played through 1974. It alwasy seemed odd to me that he had one more season- 1975- playing with the Royals at age 39, where he only batted .199, but did hit 14 dingers.
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- Jim Sundberg: I guess because I’m a child of the 1970s, once my baseball card collecting days ended in the early ’80s, I lost track of a lot of guys that seemed to define their franchises in one way or another. Sundberg played for the Rangers from the start of his career in 1974 thru 1983, before one year in Milwaukee, two in K.C., and parts of two in Chicago before returning to the Rangers for the last year-plus of his career.
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- Joe Morgan: The Hall of Fame 2B spent his first 9 seasons in Houston (the first few years of which the team was called the Colt .45s). His biggest years were as a key member of the Big Red Machine (1972-1979). Then, a year in Houston again, two in San Francisco, one notable in Philly (1983 World Series appearance with old teammates Rose and Perez) before rounding it out at age 40 in his hometown of Oakland in 1984.
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- John Candelaria: If you’re old enough to remember the Candy Man, you don’t think of him as anything but a Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher. He played with seven other teams from the time he left the Pirates (1975-1985)- Angels, Mets, Yankees, Expos, Twins, Blue Jays, Dodgers- before returning back to the Pirates for a very short time in 1993. The photo is from his part-season with the TWins… where the hell is the moustache??
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- Luis Tiant: I always think of him as a Red Sox pitcher. The Cuban Tiant, I knew from his baseball card, played his first six years with the Indians (1964-1969). I didn’t know he played one season with the TWins (1970), the Pirates (1981), or the Angels, his last in 1982.
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- Luis Gonzalez: He got the winning hit of the 2001 World Series against the Yankees, and so he’ll always be remembered as a member of the Diamondbacks (he also hit 57 HRs that year). He moved around a lot throughout his career, ending it with the Marlins in 2008.
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- Mario Mendoza: The SS is immortalized in baseball for “The Mendoza Line”- a reference to hitting .200. His lifetime average was above it- .215. I always think of him as a Pirate (1974-1978), though he played 1979-1980 in Seattle and finished out his MLB career in Texas (1981-1982).
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- Pete Rose: He played 19 years with the Cincinatti Reds- beginning (1963-1978) and ending (1984-1986- though thru ’89 as manager). He won a World Series inbetween with the Phillies in 1980 (1979-1983). And then there is the one weird year, 1984, where he was a member of the Montreal Expos.
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- Randy Johnson: I can’t remember the year, but during one of the Big Unit’s stints with the Diambondbacks, they and the Giants got into a scuffle during a game and as the pile separated, Johnson, who had lost his cap, put on the wrong one- a Giants one- and for a spell, Giants fans got to see what it would be like… it was funny. The Giants finally did get Johnson, during his injury-interrupted final year of 2009.
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- Reggie Jackson: He won World Series in Oakland, then brought his star to New York. Expcept that he did spend one year inbetween- 1976- in Baltimore. It is easy to forget because Topps just simply manipulated his baseball card to be a Yankees uniform as he had signed with NY before the 1977 set went to press.
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- Rickey Henderson: He played, it seemed, almost everywhere- A’s (4 different times), Yankees, Blue Jays, Padres, Angels, Mets, Mariners, Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers- but it is the final one, the Dodgers in 2003, that seems the weirdest. L.A. seems like where good players go to retire.
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- Steve Carlton: Lefty had great years with the Cardinals (1965-1971), greater yet with the Phillies (1972-1986), and then the decline of the Giants (1986), the Indians (1987), and finally, the Twins (1987-1988).
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- Tom Seaver: One of the greatest of all-time, most don’t recall that he played the second part of the 1986 season with the Red Sox (he didn’t make the playoff roster of that World Series-bound team if I recall correctly). For Bill Simmons fans, check his archive– you’ll find a personal story of his when Seaver was attempting a comeback and one of his buddies was catching the pitcher… great story. Okay, here it is, I looked it up: http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1233470
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- Ty Cobb: Did you know he played his last two seasons (1927-1928) with the A’s? I didn’t.
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- U.L. Washington: This one is for the fans of the 1970s/early 1980s. U.L. Washington replaced Freddie Patek in K.C. He was known for his very 1970s cool, including always having a toothpick in his mouth– YES, he played in the field and went to the plate with the toothpick in his mouth. Here he is in the mid-1980s, toothpick still there, but with the Expos. So awesome.
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- Willie Mays: I know, we all know, he wound up his career with the Mets, even playin’ a part in their Amazin’ 1973 run in which they lost to the A’s in the World Series, after which, Mays retired. I just think it is weird to see him in that Met’s uniform. You know why the Mets colors are orange and blue? It is a reference to NYs two departed teams- the Giants and Dodgers.
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- Willie McCovey: Willie Mac played for the Giants from 1959-1973, then went to the Padres from 1974 thru part of 1976. He returned to the Giants from 1977 to 1980 where he ended his career. That unaccounted for part of the 1976 season? The Oakland A’s.
The Baseball Messiah League 