Who came up with putting base ball players names on the bcak of there shirts

Anonymous asked: In 1962 the St. Louis Cardinals put the players names on the back of the players Jersies. This was the first time in major league base ball this had ever been used.Wondering where the idea came form. I do remember seeing a news paper artical where a ball team at Mark Twain grade school had the players names on the backs of there shirts and it had been brought to the owner of the Cardinals. Would this be where the names of the players displayed on the back of there shirts started?


Rick answered: Thank you for your question.

According to Baseball Almanac, the Chicago White Sox were the first team to experiment with player names on the backs of jerseys, in 1960.

Pressure from increased TV coverage was cited as the main reason.

Prior to that time, there had been solid resistance to trying this, as the concern over lost revenue from program sales would be seen.

Currently there are teams that have names on all jerseys, some only away, some only home, a few none at all.

Yours in baseball,

Rick