March 13, 1960: Names On the Backs of Uniforms

OOPSZ

March 13, 1960: The Chicago White Sox, the defending American League Champions, take the field for a Spring Training game, with the players' last names on the backs of their uniforms.

Team owner Bill Veeck, already known as baseball's consummate showman, wanted to make the players more identifiable not only to visiting crowds, but to television viewers. He opted to have names only on the White Sox’ road uniforms, the thinking being, in public relations director Ed Short’s words, “The fans in Chicago are thoroughly familiar with their players.”

Some of the players were not happy. Hall of Fame 2nd baseman Nellie Fox said, "We look like semi-pros." Other players felt exposed by the innovation, suggesting that Veeck simply print their home addresses or phone numbers on their uniforms as well.

There were glitches. Pitcher Bob Shaw got a jersey with "SHOW" on the back. And, despite the innovation having the potential to show how the team's best slugger's name was actually spelled, Ted Kluszewski had his name spelled "KLUSZEWSXI," with a backwards Z.

Other teams, but not all, followed suit. In 1990, the Boston Red Sox put names on the backs of their away jerseys, but not at home. This left the New York Yankees as the only team with no names on the back, home or away. As of the start of the 2022 season, they still don't do it.

In 1952, also in a nod to increasing television viewing, the Brooklyn Dodgers added numbers to the front of their uniforms. In 1971, the White Sox became the 1st team to put numbers on the sleeves. That hasn't been done often, and, since 1992, the Philadelphia Phillies have been the only team to do this.

Also in 1960, the American Football League was founded, and all 8 teams had names on the backs of their uniforms. And all but the New York Titans (who became the Jets in 1963) had logos on their helmets. At this point, the only NFL teams that had them were the Los Angeles Rams with the horns and the Baltimore Colts with the horseshoes. The following year, several teams added them. It took until 1970, after the merger with the AFL, for the NFL to mandate that all teams have names on the back.

The 1960s also had a concession to TV in hockey: Teams began putting players' uniform numbers in white tape on their black skates. The NBA began putting names on the back in 1969, but the NHL didn't mandate it until 1977.

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March 13, 1960 was a Sunday. Adam Clayton, the bass guitarist for U2, was born on this day.

Baseball, as stated, was in Spring training. Football was out of season. There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Syracuse Nationals beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 125-119. Dolph Schayes had 40 points and 22 rebounds. Paul Arizin scored 29 for the Warriors, and Wilt Chamberlain scored 28 for them. Two years later, the Warriors moved to San Francisco. The year after that, the Nats moved to replace them, becoming the Philadelphia 76ers.

And the Minneapolis Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 114-99 at the Minneapolis Armory. This was the Lakers' last season in Minneapolis: The following season, they moved to Los Angeles.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 2-2 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

* And the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 1-1 at the Chicago Stadium.