Tuesday, May 1, 2012

New Color Photo of the 1969 Orioles Vest

I came across this fantastic picture of Mike Cuellar pitching in the rarely seen 1968 -1969 Orioles vest:


According to the Getty Images photo credits, this picture was taken by famed Sports Illustrated photographer Neil Leifer on May 24, 1969.

With the scoreboard in the background, we can confirm that this picture was taken on that date as according to Baseball-Reference.com, the Orioles faced the Oakland A's, and won 2-1 as Mike Cuellar battled Catfish Hunter.

Thanks to this picture, we now at least we have one confirmed date when the vests were worn.

I love that this picture captures the old Memorial Stadium scoreboard in the background along with the great shot of Cuellar pitching.  I had originally thought that the picture showed Dave Johnson at 2nd, but according to Baseball-Reference, Johnson started the game, but was replaced by Bobby Floyd in the top of the 3rd.