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A Treasure Trove of Lost Photos from the 1971 World Series

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For all photos, click to enlarge

Bill Guilfoile had a remarkable career in baseball public relations. He worked for the Yankees from 1960 through 1969, for the Pirates from 1970 through 1978, and for the Baseball Hall of Fame from 1979 through 1996.

Guilfoile died in 2016, but his son, Kevin Guilfoile, was recently visiting his mom and discovered an old box of slides, apparently taken by by Pittsburgh photographer George Gojkovich, marked “Pirates 1971 World Series.” That was the year that the Buccos beat the defending champion Orioles in seven games. It was the first World Series to feature a night game (Game Four, in Pittsburgh), and it’s also the first Series I remember watching. I was seven years old at the time.

After Kevin Guilfoile found that box of slides, he posted a bunch of the photos in a great Twitter thread. Several of those photos are uni-notable, so I want take a closer look at them today, starting with this shot of Pirates infielder Dave Cash and (I think) O’s second baseman Davey Johnson:

See how they’re both wearing sansabelt pants? That was a World Series first, as was Pittsburgh’s use of pullover jerseys — all previous Fall Classics had featured buttons and belts. Also, see how they’re playing on artificial turf? That had happened only one previous time (in 1970, for the games hosted by the Reds). Man, between the newfangled uniforms, the turf, and the night game, this Series must have been a traditionalist’s nightmare!

Next, here’s a shot of Pirates first baseman Bob Robertson being greeted at home plate by catcher Manny Sanguillen. Note the difference between Robertson’s glossy helmet and Sanguillen’s flocked lid (he was, I believe, the last player to wear that style):

Here’s Robertson again, this time celebrating with pitcher Steve Blass. I like this shot because it shows us the ump’s uniform (including a necktie!) and what I assume is an usher’s uniform:

Looks like Pirates pitcher Bob Johnson may have been wearing his stirrups backwards (!), with the higher opening in the front:

Outfielder Al Oliver’s nickname was “Scoop,” as you can see from the back of his dugout jacket:

Speaking of Oliver, here he is getting smelling salts from Pirates trainer Tony Bartirome while Brooks Robinson and Roberto Clemente share a glance. Do trainers still use smelling salts?

Oddly (or at least it seems odd to me), the first ball at that one night game was thrown out by Stan Musial. An incongruous choice, given that the Cardinals weren’t involved in this Series:

Incidentally, that guy at far-right is Bing Crosby, who was a part-owner of the Pirates at the time.

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Want to see more? Check out Guilfoile’s full Twitter thread.

(My thanks to the many readers who brought this photo thread to my attention over the past two days.)

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Click to enlarge

The usual slop: Ten of next month’s MLB flag-desecration caps showed up yesterday on the Dick’s website. If your favorite team isn’t among those 10, count your lucky stars I’m sure you can extrapolate what their cap will probably look like.

I look forward to hearing that five Rays players will decline to wear these caps for deeply held personal reasons (like, for example, having at least a single iota of good taste).

(My thanks to Twitter-er @superturboboost for letting me know about the Dick’s leak.)

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ITEM! Bulletin subscription raffle: I know some of you want to subscribe to my Bulletin content but simply don’t have the financial resources to afford it. So today I’m going to raffle off a one-year subscription. The winner will receive the weekly articles via email. Obviously, there’s no way for me to enforce the “financially strapped only” rule, but I’m hereby asking, on the honor system, that you only enter this raffle if you truly can’t afford to pay for a subscription.

This will be a one-day raffle. No entry restrictions aside from the one I just spelled out. To enter, send an email to the raffle in-box by midnight Eastern tonight. One entry per person. I’ll announce the winner on Monday.

For those of you who like sponsoring raffles, you can donate a subscription for me to raffle off by sending me $35 via Venmo (use @Paul-Lukas-2 as the payee), Zelle (plukas64@gmail.com), or PayPal (newcollegeuni@gmail.com). If you want to use Apple Pay or a paper check, get in touch and I’ll give you the appropriate info. Thanks!

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Father’s Day reminder from Phil: Father’s Day is coming soon (June 19), and I’ll once again be posting photos of Uni Watch readers’ “Dads in Uniform,” an annual tradition that began in 2013. This is always a very special day, and I’d love for as many readers as possible to participate — especially those of you who haven’t done so before. A few of you have reached out to me, saying, “I’ve run out of photos of my Dad,” so if you want to resubmit a photo that we’ve used before, please feel free to do so.

To take part in this annual tradition, select one photo of your father (or grandfather or uncle) in uniform (it can be sports, military, work — as long as it’s a uniform), along with a short description of 100 words or fewer. Then email the photo — again, only one, please — and text to phil.hecken@gmail.com with the subject line “Uni Watch Father’s Day 2022” by next Tuesday, June 14, midnight Eastern. I’ll run all of the submissions on Father’s Day. Thanks!

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The Ticker
By Anthony Emerson

Baseball News: This year, for Muscogee Nation Night, the Double-A Tulsa Drillers will become the Tvlse Rez Dogs, a nod to the FX show Reservation Dogs, which is filmed on Muscogee Nation territory with an all-Native cast and crew. Here are previous Muscogee Nation Night jerseys (from Kyle Lee). … In the background of a scene in Major League: Back to the Minors, there is a framed Lou Collins Twins jersey, a nod to Little Big League (great spot by Evan Gehlert). … The Greenville Drive, High-A affiliates of the Red Sox, will honor the Greenville Black Spinners, a semi-pro team of segregated Black players, with a fauxback uniform (thanks, Phil). … John Lynch, the former NFL safety and current NFL exec, also played baseball and was drafted by the Marlins in 1992 (even throwing the first pitch in Marlins organizational history while in the minors). He also had a baseball card made, and he’s wearing what appears to be a prototype Marlins uniform on it (from Trevor Williams). … People often think of Hershey, Pa., as a hockey town, but it also has a rich baseball history. A Pennsylvania apparel company called Stay has used that history as the basis for a cool-looking Hershey Sweet Spots T-shirt. Additional details here. … The Double-A San Antonio Missions will wear Uvalde jerseys in the wake of the latest school shooting massacre (from Phil). … Great stat: Dodgers OF Mookie Betts has the most career homers of any MLB player with the initials “MLB” (from @TheTDJ).

Football News: The Falcons will wear their newly revealed red throwback helmets more than once this season (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: New Broncos ownership might mean new Broncos unis. Let’s hope so. … Kansas City rookies wore NNOB jerseys for a community event (from Ted Taylor). … Is this vintage football jersey ugly or amazing? I can’t decide myself (from @kagavi). … New alternate unis for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Additional details here (from Wade Heidt). … The Cleveland city council has passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the Browns to change their stadium’s name in the wake of a bribery scandal involving the current naming advertiser.

Hockey News: The new USPHL team in Idaho Falls now has a name and logo — the Idaho Falls Spud Kings.
 
 

Basketball News: The Bucks’ new City Edition jerseys leaked yesterday, as did the accompanying court design (from multiple readers). … During Wednesday’s NBA Finals game, Klay Thompson’s back uni numbers had some weird issue — perhaps he was sweating through the jersey and affecting the glue? … The Clippers have revealed the scoreboard design for the new arena they’re building (from Kary Klismet). … Here’s the new mascot for next year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup (from Jeremy Brahm).

Soccer News: New away kit for Scottish Premiership side Celtic (from Ed Zelaski). … England’s Women’s Super League and Championship have updated their logos with a new font (thanks, Jamie). … Members of the Dutch mens national team warmed up in the shirts of their amateur sides today to celebrate National Football Day in the Netherlands (thanks to all who shared). … The rest of these are all from Kary Klismet: Spain’s men’s national team will join Germany and Belgium in wearing a men’s cut of their women’s national team uniforms in their UEFA Nations League match against the Czech Republic on June 12. … On a similar note, Germany’s men’s team violated UEFA rules by wearing just two stars (representing the World Cups won by the women’s team) instead of four (representing the men’s titles) in their Nations League match on Wednesday. … New home kits for West Ham in the Premier League and Lyon in Ligue 1.

Ukraine News: Russian McDonald’s franchises have a new logo, after McDonald’s corporate pulled out of the country due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Grab Bag: Following up on a topic that Paul recently wrote about, more airlines are now allowing flight attendants to have visible tattoos and piercings (from @_ynnhoJ). … During his first appearance for LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson wore a windbreaker with a blacked-out Augusta National logo, perhaps a statement in regards to the ongoing feud between the PGA and golfers who defected to LIV Golf (from Bradford Smith). … SUNY-Geneseo has tweaked its athletics logo (from Kary Klismet). … Also from Kary, new logos for the NCAA D3 Midwest Conference. … Staying in D3, new athletics logo for St. Scholastica (from Nathan Ahlberg). … Virginia volleyball has a new floor (thanks, Jamie). … New kits for French rugby club Section Paloise (from Ed Zelaski).

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That’ll do it for this week. Stay well, enjoy Phil’s weekend content and the summer sunshine, and I’ll see you back here on Monday. Peace. — Paul

 
  
 
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Comments (61)

    Same here. As a decades long Cardinals fan, I feel safe in saying that we are all required to know that the wellspring of our most honored team member is western Pennsylvania, and always will be.

    Beat me to it, too… and I grew up in Donora! Stan was a great guy, and the Griffeys are a great family. Very rich athletic history in the area!

    I’ll agree with the recency bias when comparing Junior vs. Stan, but I’d still like to find that one voter who didn’t have Junior on his first ballot…

    Stan Musial is a top-20 all time player, and somehow he’s not even the best player born in his hometown on his birthday. If I were an MLB scout, I’d be on the lookout for kids born on 11/21 in Donora.

    Joe Garagiola used to tell the joke that almost literally each and every Major League Baseball player had been the best player on their high school team. But Garagiola, having grown up a few doors down from Yogi Berra, wasn’t even the best player on his block!

    Griffey Jr. was only comparable to Musial when he played for Seattle. Overall, Stan is the best player from Donora.

    Agreed.

    I try not to be a stat nerd, but Musial’s WAR is almost 50% higher than Griffey’s. I don’t know if its recency bias, but Musial was unquestionably the better player.

    I usually like the Independence Day caps, and have several from last year and the year before. But these are awful.

    That’s two big swings and misses from MLB/New Era this year, because turning the batting practice caps into trucker caps also was a terrible decision.

    The trucker cap look (all solid color hat with a white front panel) seems to be the new direction for MLB…references

    Rockies City Connect hat
    Angels City Connect hat

    etc…

    Those ’71 World Series photos are incredible–it may not have been the most traditional or classic uni era, but both teams looked great. This stands in stark contrast to those truly awful July 4th hats, which look like bargain bin, knock off garbage.

    You are indeed correct that the picture shows a Memorial Stadium usher from the back. I own a complete Orioles’ usher’s uniform consisting of a hat, jacket, pants, tie and identification button (amusingly, number 666!). Years ago, a few pictures of the uniform were posted on Uni Watch.

    The correct term is Athletic Trainer, not trainer. No we no longer use smelling salts.

    Is there an attached picture for the Lou Collins jersey in the movie?

    Anyone else get “Logo Athletic Paint Splash Hat” vibes from this year’s 4th of July caps?

    I had this bad boy in the mid-90s:

    link

    Yeah that’s exactly the vibe I got. Bad design then, bad design now–made worse by the fact that they’re going to be worn on the field.

    Came here to make the same observation. I was also reminded of this design & I still have that exact same Patriots hat. Thankfully it hasn’t seen the light of day in 25 years :)

    I’m really trying to understand in what world a shredded flag is patriotic. This is really a new low.

    Proofreading: In the third paragrpah, second sentence, “Severeal” should be “Several.”

    Interesting to see the callout to the SUNY Geneseo Knights athletic logo tweaks (in the Grab Bag). We’ve done a soft launch with it, slowly working it into digital graphics and display materials, and occasionally asking “has anyone noticed yet?”

    The Ticats H logo (save the unnecessary wording), is pretty inventive and looks great on the helmet but repeating it on the shoulders and then adding that collar and helmet stripe pattern takes the hammer motif a bit too far. Also dislike the “industrial-roots” GFGS.

    During the 1971 World Series, I was also 7 years old. Also the first Series I remember watching. 1971 was the first year I collected Topps Baseball Cards. I remember having the Pirates and Orioles cards laying out on the living room floor, with each player in their defensive “position”. Roberto Clemente became my favorite player after watching that.

    Roberto Clemente was also my favorite player. I grew up in the ’70s in northern WV and it was a great time to be a Pittsburgh sports fan. The Pirates won 2 WS (in some great uniforms) and of course, the Steelers dynasty started with the Immaculate Reception, although they didn’t win their first Super Bowl until a few years later. The Pitt Panthers also won the National Championship in 1976, although I was a fan of WVU Mountaineers.

    The ’71 World Series photos bring up two questions:

    1. When did the ceremonial first pitch migrate from the stands to the mound, and who was the first one to do it?

    2. To me, Al Oliver is most closely associated with the number 0, but it looks like he didn’t start wearing it until he got to Texas 10 years into his career.

    The most famous case of an MLB player being connected more strongly to a number he started wearing after being well-established is Reggie Jackson, who didn’t start wearing 44 until he got to the Yankees, also 10 years into his career. Can anyone think of anyone else who fits this category?

    Bobby Hull didn’t don the number 9 until the 1963-64 NHL season which was his seventh in the NHL. He wore 16 and then 7 before the 9 became available. The Chicago trainer handed it to him saying that he should wear it because it was the number that the best players around the league wear.

    That’s a good one.

    By the way, I don’t think Kobe and LeBron count in this category because they’re known for *both* of the numbers they’ve used.

    As far as POTUS first pitches go, I think Carter was the last to throw from the stands; Reagan the first to take the mound.

    Rusty Wallace is probably the Cup driver most would associate with the #2, but he drove and won in other car numbers (including his championship in the #27) for a decade before ‘wearing’ it.

    Barry Bonds is pretty well associated with 25, he didn’t start wearing that until joining the Giants (his number with the Pirates, 24, was obviously retired for Mays).

    You may associate Al Oliver with 0 (and it’s not unreasonable), but his Twitter handle is @Alscoop16.

    “With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer, I beg to submit it is the first.” –Ambrose Bierce

    I don’t like this one from MLB mainly because it uses a version of the flag.

    link

    The flag should not be used as part of a costume or athletic uniform, except that a flag patch may be used on the uniform of military personnel, firefighters, police officers, and members of patriotic organizations.

    I dig the LIV team names – The Majestics, Fireballs, 4 Aces, Stingers, Crushers, Iron Heads and Hy Flyers.

    Have always imagined Phil Mickelson playing for the Pebble Beach Clambakers…

    RE: Germany “violating” UEFA rules by only wearing two stars on their kit

    UW seems to rely on FootyHeadlines a lot for soccer news. It’s not a bad site per se, but a lot of the information on there is questionable, and this is a perfect example. They use clickbait headlines, in this case suggesting that a rule was broken when in reality nothing wrong was done. I would urge UW staff and readers to take FootyHeadlines articles with a grain of salt.

    UEFA uniform rules state that national teams MAY use stars to represent their number of World Cup victories. As Germany’s men’s team has 4, they could use 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 stars as they please. Obviously it wouldn’t make sense to use less than 4, but as long as they don’t put 5 stars they aren’t breaking any rules.

    Item from yesterday’s ticker on the Penn helmet: Their current lacrosse helmet has the same design, I never heard the explanation of the pattern. I thought it was a weird, now that I know the connection to campus, I get it.
    link

    link

    Flag Day is coming up next week so I guess MLB is doing a desecratory two-for-one.

    On the new Hamilton uniforms:

    – I think the negative space in the “H” is supposed to be a hammer, right?

    – At least “The Hammer” is a legitimate nickname for the city. Its apparently pretty recent (it was Steeltown when I grew up there) but its not a nickname invented this week by Reebok marketing team.

    The negative space in the logo are hammers. The logo is good because it has a traditional feel of just an “H” on the helmet but uses negative space similar to what you see with creative logos such as the Whalers.

    For an alternate uniform, this is good as you can be a bit out of the box. The use of the hammers in the helmet striping reminds me of what the Seahawks do on their helmets. This is like a football version of a City Connect uniform.

    I can live with the grey as it is an alternate. No random bumpers, striping.

    Of course, for me, if the headline was “Tiger-Cats return to athletic gold (yellow) helmets for their primary uniforms” the party would be on!

    I remember the 1971 series as the one that introduced us to the bullpen buggies with team caps. They really highlighted them on the telecasts, probably as a marketing ploy. Sure enough, the next year, teams like the Mets introduced them as well.

    link

    I attended games 1 and 2 of that 1971 WS in Baltimore.
    Back then, there was a several years waiting list to get tickets for the Colts, but you could walk up to the box office at Memorial Stadium on the morning of a World Series game and buy a ticket.

    So many memories:

    – The O’s occasionally wore sansabelts at home during the ’71 regular season (mainly a Sunday alt.). The road ones made their debut in the ’71 post season. 12 year old me thought that was so cool.

    – Watched in awe as Roberto Clemente threw a runner out at 3rd on 1 hop from the right field corner.

    – After watching Willie Stargell pepper the right field stands during batting practice in game 1, I made my way out there for game 2 when he got up for BP. While balls were heading to the bleachers, Dock “Captain Trips” Ellis would yell, “Kill ball! Kill Somebody!”
    Just a complete jerk.

    I’m thinking Phil Mickelson blacking out the Augusta National logo has to do with lack of sponsorship than a problem with Augusta National and the PGA. The Madters is independent from the PGA. However Phil has lost all his sponsorship deals. No reason to represent clothing that you’re not getting paid for. i’m sure losing these sponsors doesn’t sting too much since he’s getting $250M from the LIV.

    No love for Danny Murtaugh’s sweet varsity letter jacket in the Buccos slides?

    Thanks to Kevin Guilfoile for posting and to Paul for highlighting.

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