This beautifully framed piece features an original piece of watercolor artwork glass-framed in an attractive two inch wide black resin frame with a double mat. The outer dimensions of the framed piece are approximately 17” wide x 24.5” high, although the exact size will vary according to the size of the original piece of art.

At the core of the framed piece is the actual piece of original artwork as painted by the artist on textured 100% rag, water-marked watercolor paper. In many cases the original artwork has handwritten notes in pencil from the artist (be sure to “See the actual artwork without the frame” elsewhere in this website). Simply put, this is beautiful, one-of-a-kind artwork.

The outer mat is a rich textured black acid-free mat with a decorative inset white v-groove, while the inner mat is a complimentary colored acid-free mat reflecting one of the team’s primary colors. The website image of this framed piece shows the mat color that we suggest (Medium Blue), but since each piece is custom framed, we are happy to use whatever color mat you wish (depending on availability) – our standard mat colors are:

Light Blue / Dark Blue / Brown / Maroon (close to brown) / White / Silver / Gold / Yellow (bright yellow) / Green (dark green) / Orange / Purple / Red (bright red, somewhat close to PMS 186)

Beneath the artwork is a silver plate with black text describing the original artwork. The text for this piece will read:

This original, one-of-a-kind watercolor painting of the 1901 Baltimore Orioles (now New York Yankees) uniform is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this New York Yankees uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other New York Yankees products that have been sold across North America. This original piece of art was painted by artist Bill Band for Maple Leaf Productions Ltd.

Beneath the silver plate is a 3” x 9” reproduction of a well known, best-selling print that celebrates the history of the team. The print beautifully illustrates the chronological evolution of the team’s uniform and shows you how the original art was used in the creation of this print. If you look closely, you will see that the print features the actual artwork being offered for sale. The 3” x 9” print looks like this:

The piece is framed with an extremely high quality framing glass. We have used this glass style for many years with excellent results. We package every piece very carefully in a double layer of bubble wrap and a rigid double-wall cardboard package to avoid breakage at any point during the shipping process, but if damage does occur, we will gladly repair, replace or refund. Please note that all of our products come with a 90 day 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Each framed piece also comes with a two page letter signed by Scott Sillcox describing the history behind the art. If there was an extra-special story about your piece of art, that story will be included in the letter. When you receive your framed piece, you should find the letter lightly attached to the front of the framed piece.

If you have any questions, at any time, about the actual artwork or about any of the artist’s handwritten notes on the artwork, I would love to tell you about them. Simply email me, Scott Sillcox, at scott@heritagesportsart.com and I will tell you everything I can about your original piece of art. The artists and I spent well over ten years of our lives creating these pieces of original artwork, and in many cases there are stories I can tell you about your actual piece of artwork that might add an extra element of interest in your one-of-a-kind purchase.

Please note that all reproduction rights for this original work are retained in perpetuity by Major League Baseball unless specifically stated otherwise in writing by MLB. For further information, please contact Heritage Sports Art at questions@heritagesportsart.com .

 

History

The American league was founded in 1901, and I'm sure to the surprise of some modern day fans, there was no team in New York. The eight charter members of the American League were: Chicago (started out as the White Stockings, became the White Sox); Boston (started as the Americans, became the Red Sox); Detroit (started as Tigers and remained the Tigers); Philadelphia (started as the As); Baltimore (started as the Orioles, became the Yankees); Washington (started as the Senators, became the Twins); Cleveland (started as the Blues, became the Indians); Milwaukee (started as the Brewers, became the Browns and then the Orioles).Turn the hands of time ahead 100 years, and four of the eight teams are exactly where they started Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland. Of the other four, the Athletics moved to Kansas City and then on to Oakland; the Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins; Milwaukee moved to St. Louis in 1902 and became the Browns, then moved to Baltimore in the 50's and became the Orioles); and then there were the Baltimore Orioles, who'se 1901 jersey we show here.The 1901 Orioles, who'se manager was the great John McGraw, finished the season with a 68-65 record, but took a step backwards the following season. After starting out 26-31, John McGraw was let go, and Wilbert Robinson (later the manager of the Brooklyn NL team) took over, but his record was a dismal 24-57, leaving the team with a 50-88 record and sole possession of last place.As we see on this black Orioles road uniform, the orange O is for Orioles. This is a very formal collar style, traditional for this period of time. Note also that even though the jersey has four buttons down the front, this is a pullover style jersey that had to be pulled over the head once again, this was common in jerseys throughout baseball at this time. We believe the first major league team to wear a completely buttoned front jersey (ie one that didn't have to be pulled over the head) was the 1909 Phillies, followed by the 1911 Cubs. The pullover style jersey finally disappeared after the 1939 season (the Athletics were the last team to wear it), but of course pullovers resurfaced in a big way with the double knit era of the 70's and 80's.Finally, notice that there is a center belt loop, which was to secure the belt buckle off to one side. Players of this era usually wore the belt buckle to one side so they could prevent injury when sliding into a base.