Need help identifying player who wore this: mid-80's Modesto A's

[JMEnglish27]

Got this for Christmas, it's the green one at center. Number on back is 22.

I know it's a Modesto A's game worn. And I know they wore this style from 1983 thru 1987.

But does anyone know one or more of the players who wore #22? Unfortunately my research on this is stuck because I'm lacking game programs from those years. Anyone have any idea?

[MooseDog]

Don't know if this will help but Rick Langford wore #22 for the Oakland A's during that period. Those jerseys were also used for Spring Training and it's more than likely that Langdon wore that same #22 you have at some point in time.

Langford also pitched two games for Modesto, one in 1983 and one in 1985, probably conditioning starts after an injury layoff since Modesto is only a couple of hours from Oakland, so it wouldn't be a stretch that he wore #22 for those starts if the Modesto roster did not have a player wearing that number.

[JMEnglish27]

Originally Posted by MooseDog

Don't know if this will help but Rick Langford wore #22 for the Oakland A's during that period. Those jerseys were also used for Spring Training and it's more than likely that Langdon wore that same #22 you have at some point in time.

Langford also pitched two games for Modesto, one in 1983 and one in 1985, probably conditioning starts after an injury layoff since Modesto is only a couple of hours from Oakland, so it wouldn't be a stretch that he wore #22 for those starts if the Modesto roster did not have a player wearing that number.

Thanks...I'm a little hesitant to say these were used in the Spring for the A's at that point...note the break in the cross of the A...that was exclusively a minor league thing for the A's at that point. I took a look at some spring training footage from '84 (see attached photo...which was clear in the video but now is blurry...but trust me) and the A connects. It's only in those old stills from the minors where this comes up - specifically the Modesto and Albany-Colonie teams. Given that I'm an hour and a half from Modesto, I figure its theirs.

Really what I need to do is find an old program or two from that era and see what's listed.

[JMEnglish27]

Umm...I just found this. The card # is 5. But look at the # to the right of the name.

I think I may have done well here...for an A's fan this is amazing if it's actually the case.

[JMEnglish27]

Mystery solved...and wowee.

So, 1983, they were still wearing hand me downs from the Finley years. Lighter green, etc.

1984 they wore this style, and Jose Canseco was #22
1985 they wore this style, and Bob Loscalzo was #22

1986 they switched to a different green jersey.

I'm over the moon, this is great. Not solid enough to say yes, this was definitely worn by Jose Canseco, but enough to make my wife's $50 purchase even more of a great buy.

[whitehse]

There is a HUGE Canseco collector on another board that I have let know about this thread. He is such a huge collector that he has been at Canseco's house and regularly trades tweets with him.

If you are selling he might have interest but at the very least, he enjoys a good sports mystery such as this and will enjoy the read.

Great story!

[JMEnglish27]

Originally Posted by whitehse

There is a HUGE Canseco collector on another board that I have let know about this thread. He is such a huge collector that he has been at Canseco's house and regularly trades tweets with him.

If you are selling he might have interest but at the very least, he enjoys a good sports mystery such as this and will enjoy the read.

Great story!

I'd love to hear his thoughts...I'm hoping to track this down to 100% certainty. The '86 year it looks like this style is still floating around a bit too...and there's a sleeve anomaly going on every year too...one guy has two stripes, next guy has three. Typical minor league stuff, I know.

The jersey's a size 44. Doesn't seem unreasonable that young Jose was in that then.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by whitehse

There is a HUGE Canseco collector on another board that I have let know about this thread. He is such a huge collector that he has been at Canseco's house and regularly trades tweets with him.

If you are selling he might have interest but at the very least, he enjoys a good sports mystery such as this and will enjoy the read.

Great story!

I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Mouschi. He's on this board, too.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...hlight=canseco

[ooo-ribay]

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...hlight=mouschi

[mouschi]

I'm the guy he was talking about - great jersey no matter what! It does look like it might be a 1986 jersey though . The Modesto A's cards I've seen in 84 and 85 have 3 stripes on the sleeves, whereas the 86 Modesto A's cards have 2 stripes. Nice pickup either way though

[JMEnglish27]

Yup, that's the stripe anomaly I was referring to. Any idea who it would have been for '86?

I've come across a photo or two from pre-86 with two stripes, and an '86 photo with three stripes, so...There's some oddity with '86 too where some guys have a slightly different A's logo across front too.

I'm as happy as can be with it though.

[mouschi]

Originally Posted by bigj7489

Yup, that's the stripe anomaly I was referring to. Any idea who it would have been for '86?

I've come across a photo or two from pre-86 with two stripes, and an '86 photo with three stripes, so...There's some oddity with '86 too where some guys have a slightly different A's logo across front too.

I'm as happy as can be with it though.

I couldn't find any numbers for guys on the 86 team, sorry!

[JMEnglish27]

Originally Posted by mouschi

I couldn't find any numbers for guys on the 86 team, sorry!

Yeah. I'm fully intrigued now and I'm gonna brave the cold tonight to dig through some crates in the garage. I could swear I have either an '86 program or maybe a Fresno one vs. Modesto...its just buried somewhere. I'll post updates if I find any.