Honoring the Dead: Uniform Alterations
From SoSH
The Red Sox have made modifications to their uniforms in honor of the deceased on nine occasions. Oddly, the Red Sox did not wear black armbands or any other honorary uniform adornments after Hall of Famer Joe Cronin died of cancer on September 7, 1984 at age 77.
1907 - Chick Stahl
On March 28, 1907, Stahl, Boston's player-manager, committed suicide at age 33. Three days later, in a spring training game at West Baden Spring, Indiana, the team known then as the Americans and their opponents, the Cincinnati Reds, wore black crepe bows on their arms in memory of Stahl, who was laid to rest that day. Though three key players for Boston missed the game in order to attend the funeral, the club still defeated the Reds 3-0. In a nod of respect to their crosstown neighbors, the Boston Braves also wore the bows in their next spring training game.
1951 - Eddie Collins
Collins was admitted to Boston's Brigham Hospital with a heart ailment on March 10. When he died 15 days later at age 63, he had served as the Red Sox general manager for 18 years. Players wore black armbands on their left sleeves for the rest of spring training, but they were removed when the regular season began on April 17.
1955 - Harry Agganis
Following the sudden and shocking death of the 25-year-old Agganis on June 28, the team donned black armbands on the left sleeves of their uniforms for the rest of the season. More details on the aftermath of Harry's death can be found here.
1976 - Tom Yawkey
The longtime Red Sox owner died of leukemia on July 9 at age 73, having enjoyed sole control of the team for 44 seasons. Nearly all Red Sox players wore black armbands on their left jersey sleeves. The lone exception was left-handed pitcher Bill Lee, who wore the band on his right sleeve.
1990 - Tony Conigliaro
The Red Sox wore black arm bands on their left sleeves the entire season in memory of Tony C, who died February 24 at age 45 from a lung infection and kidney failure after lapsing into a coma following a massive heart attack in 1982.
1992 - Jean Yawkey
Her death at age 83 from complications of a stroke came on February 26, just days after the Red Sox had begun spring training. For the entire season, a patch with her initials, JRY, was worn over the traditional black armband on the left uniform sleeve.
2001 - September 11 Terrorist Attacks
The Red Sox were idle for a full week before resuming play in the wake of the tragedy. In honor of the thousands of victims and the nation, all jerseys had a small American flag stitched onto the back between the neck and the uniform number.
2002 - Ted Williams
The Spendid Splinter died July 5 at age 83. Beginning with the following night's game against Detroit, Sox players wore black armbands with the "9" embroidered on their left sleeves. The alteration was designed by principal owner John Henry, who admired Williams as an athlete and cherished the support the Hall of Famer afforded his group when it was bidding to buy the Sox. In addition, the Fenway Park grounds crew mowed a "9" in the left field grass, and the team ordered that the Red Seat in the bleachers, where Williams' reputed 502-foot home run landed, would remain vacant for the rest of the season. The team held an elaborate public memorial ceremony at Fenway on July 22, an off-day for the club.
2007 - Virginia Tech shooting victims
On April 16, the worst mass shooting in US history left 32 people dead along with the assailant on the school's Blacksburg campus. Four days later the Red Sox played the Yankees at Fenway Park, their first home game since the tragedy. The club held a moment of silence for the victims, and Boston's jerseys were adorned with a black armband on the left sleeve for that night's game.
