Work-in-Progress: Ty Cobb Sweater

(First: As this blog is about knitting baseball replicas, you're probably going to come across some unfamiliar terminology. If you're a baseball fan, expect to see a lot of knitting jargon. If you're a knitter, you're going to learn about baseball and baseball history. In the end, we'll all have fun!)

My first work-in-progress (or WIP--see what I mean about knitting jargon? :) is a sweater once owned by Ty Cobb. My understanding is that he donated it to the Hall of Fame personally. Because Ty Cobb was such a well-known player and because its authenticity is so easy to confirm, this made for a great initial project.

photo credit: @JonnyDubSD

When I first saw it, the sweater was still being stored in the archives. However, this past summer it was included in the Hall of Fame's FanFest display at the All-Star Game in San Diego. (Hat tip to @JonnyDubSD for posting the pic.)

To my knowledge, there is only one known picture of Ty Cobb actually wearing this sweater. I don't know where @JDaniel2033 found it, but it certainly isn't in the Hall of Fame archives. (By the way, THANK YOU for posting it! It solved a lot of mysteries.) Tom Shieber, Senior Curator at the HOF, was able to identify the photo as being from the Detroit Tigers' 1921 Spring Training. This would have been Cobb's first year managing the Tigers, which jibes with the oral history associated with the sweater's original donation.

Credit: @JDaniel2033

I will be posting regular updates on the sweater's construction. Keep an eye out!