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 (Hunter Green), 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 1956 Kansas City Athletics (now Oakland Athletics) uniform is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this Oakland Athletics uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other Oakland Athletics 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

By now the Athletics are the Kansas City Athletics new team owner Arnold Johnson moved the team from Philadelphia to Kansas City prior to the 1955 season. In fact, the 50's and 60's saw a lot of musical cities in the world of baseball. The St. Louis Browns moved to become the Baltimore Orioles in 1954, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to become the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958, the New York Giants became the San Francisco Giants in 1958 and the Milwaukee Braves moved to become the Atlanta Braves in 1966. And after failing to finish any higher than 6th from 1955 1967, the Kansas City Athletics move to Oakland in 1968.The script style Athletics seen on this road jersey began in 1954 while the team was still in Philly. This script style replaced the A which had been on the Athletics jersey continuously since 1928. Note also the swoosh underlining the word Athletics - this style was introduced to baseball by the 1932 Cubs, and has been worn by many teams since then, right up to the present day.Note also the patch on the sleeve it shows an elephant balancing on a baseball holding a bat in its trunk, and the cloth on the elephants back reads Athletics. Note also that there are belt tunnels instead of belt loops on the trousers. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, a belt tunnel is simply a very wide belt loop, typically 4-8 inches in length instead of the more common 1 wide belt loop.As mentioned earlier, the Athletics struggled on the field while in KC, and 1956 was no exception as they finished 52-102, worse than their first year in KC when they finished 63-91. The teams best seasons in their 13 years in Kansas City were in 1958 when they finished 73-81, and in 1966 when they finished 74-86. Yikes