Ruben Amaro Sr. was a solid infielder for the Phillies in the early 1960s, winning a Gold Glove along the way 1964. While he never attained the prominence of Mike Schmidt, the jersey features an original #20 retried by the Phillies in honor of their Hall of Fame 3rd baseman.
Player Attribution and Dating: The jersey is attributed to Ruben Amaro Sr. by the combination of name swatch in the collar as well as the number “20” on the back of the jersey. While the jersey is missing both the manufacturers tag and supplemental year tag, it is still possible to date this jersey to the period of 1960-1965. Wilson was the supplier of both road and home jerseys to the Phillies and the outline of the manufacturers tag is one consistent with a c 1958-1966 Wilson tag. Amaro was a roster player for the Phillies from 1959-1965. This is consistent with the period of the style of Wilson tag. Amaro wore # 35 in 1959 and # 20 from 1960-1965. As a Wilson product provided to the Phillies, the size would have only been indicated on the manufacturers tag, and this tag is missing. The jersey was compared to a 1961 Phillies road jersey manufactured by Wilson (Size 40) in my on-hand exemplar library and found to consistent with that product by both measurement and physical comparison. Ruben Amaro Sr. was listed as being 5’, 11’, 170 lbs, as such I would consider this jersey to be of an appropriate size for him. (PLATE I)
Construction: The jersey is constructed of professional grade 4oz flannel; sleeve cut is Raglan which also appears to be team/period appropriate. The lettering and numbering is done in embroidery sewn onto a fabric backing and it is this backing that is sewn into the jersey. This is period and team correct as the embroidery was not into the body of the garment itself. While the rear #20 is correct in construction and original to the jersey, the “PHILLIES” across the front is not. This can best be seen by the color of the backing material and the lack of cut outs in the backing material behind certain portions of the various lettering. (PLATE II)
Use and Wear: The jersey features signs of heavy use and wear. There is moderate staining/soiling on the upper left arm. The inside underarm gusset areas have signs of color bleed associated with the color of the undergarment worn with the jersey. There is a slight separation in the anchor stitching in the rear of the collar where they rear and front fabric panels are joined and some deterioration of the felt fabric used for the swatch for supplemental player identification. The use and wear to the rear numbers is equally heavy, but consistent with the rest of the garment.
Opinion: The jersey possess all of the characteristics that I would expect to find in a Wilson Philadelphia Phillies road jersey ordered for use and wear by Ruben Amaro Sr. during the period of 1960-1965. The fact that the team name was removed and restored, while the number remained original is indicative of a jersey being used at the minor league level as opposed to being retained and changed for extended organizational major league use since there would be no need for change in the naming convention. When this jersey was viewed on a light table, stitch outlines of another team/city (other than Phillies) can be seen, although not discernable due to the presence of the restored lettering. The MEARS grading criteria for pre-1988 jerseys begins with a base grade of 10 and five categories for deductions. I found these reasons to deduct points from this jersey:
Category 2: -2. Missing tag but outline is present not affecting the authenticity of the jersey (manufactures and year tag, 1 point each).
Category 3: -3. Use by more than one player because of minor league affiliation.
Category 5: -2. Restoration and the quality of the restoration.
No points were deducted for the condition of the jersey since those are a function of the fact that the jersey saw extend use at the minor league level. To deduct points for the condition would be tantamount to deducting points for the same thing twice.
As such, the final grade for this 1960-1965 Ruben Amaro Sr. Philadelphia Phillies Road Jersey with Cert #311406 is A 3.
Dave Grob
MEARS
Enclosures: PLATES I-II