A Restoration Library of Obsolete MLB Jersey Typestyles: Lettering Fonts of the Double Knit Era (1970-2005)

(provided in .AI and .PDF Formats) on CD-R by William Henderson

Before Major League Baseball became a merchandising machine, player uniforms were often treated as part of the scenery. Used and reused, in the Majors, in Spring Training and then sent to the Minors, game worn uniform jerseys usually had names stripped off and put back on, and were renumbered more than once before finding their way into the hands of collectors.

While attempting to restore jerseys from the Double Knit era I found that there were very few “standards” in trying to recreate the missing numbers and names for these old uniforms. It seemed nobody had these old patterns or even cared that they must have existed at one time. Some lettering shops would “get close”, others missed by a mile.

It was then that I began to research the variety of type fonts used by teams during the Double Knit Era. As I dug deeper, I found that a fairly standard looking typeface might be crafted slightly differently on the uniforms worn by the Mets from those worn by Pirates. The numbers on the front were proportioned differently from the ones on the back. The A’s at one time had four different manufacturers sewing their uniforms in a single year, each with their own version of name and number fonts. Lettering outline thicknesses varied from team to team, from year to year.

Then, there were teams like the, Expos and Phillies, among the first to create their own custom image by having their own special fonts for numbers. The White Sox were the first team to have their own special font for player names, and the list of varieties just kept growing. I realized to “get it right” I had some work to do, because no one had apparently ever tried to catalog all of these variants and obsolete type fonts.

Don't need the entire collection? Fonts Are Available for Individual Purchase

If you don't need the entire collection, These fonts are available for individual purchase for $20 each, three for $45. If you are interested in individual fonts, please write to me and specify which one(s) you want. If you are restoring or recreating a specific year team jersey for a player, I will try to help you by telling you which fonts you will need.

A complete guide cross referencing all fonts with each team and year is INCLUDED with the other CD title in my catalog, “MLB Game Worn Jerseys of the Double-Knit Era”. If you are going to letter or restore more than one jersey, this other guide is a good investment as well.

I have uncovered and recreated dozens of distinctly different typestyles and have re-drawn each by my own pen using hundreds of period uniforms and thousands of news photographs as my guides. In some rare cases I have been able to go to the source- the small town lettering shop who lettered the jerseys for the team in the old days- and get tattered copies of the original patterns.

If originality matters to you, you will want this font collection in your resource library. Whether you are checking a game worn jersey for authenticity or lettering a vintage, store-bought blank jersey with the name of a player from yesterday, this collection can save you many hours and annoying (or costly) mistakes.

Technical Details

These fonts have been recreated in Adobe PDF format. For most fonts, I also supply the Adobe Illustrator (.AI) file as well. PDF files are easily viewed using Adobe Acrobat, and can be printed in color. Adobe Illustrator files contain the original vector artwork, broken down into layers. Each layer is a color, and each layer can be sent to a twill- cutting pattern machine. To view and edit Adobe Illustrator .AI files you first need a copy of Adobe Illustrator or another illustration software program that will read .AI files.

Please Understand: These fonts have all been recreated using hundreds of original uniforms and photographs as guides.  They are my skilled artistic recreations of what the original patterns would have looked like.  I am not representing these as the exact, official fonts of these Major League teams. This collection includes the fonts to do the names and front and back numbers on approximately 80% of all MLB jerseys from 1970 to 2004. Those that are not included are the special display fonts currently in use by MLB teams which are omitted intentionally as they are likely to be copyrighted by their owners. Before Ordering, Please review below what is included in the collection, as well as what fonts are NOT included Please write to me if you have any specific questions about a team and a year. Once opened, this disc is NOT RETURNABLE.

Fonts Included on this Disc:

  • Block Standard numbers, back and front including Standard Drop shadow and 3D Drop shadow versions, and the three distinctly different variants of the front numbers that are used with these back numbers by various teams. Teams using these include the Cardinals, Mets, Rockies, White Sox, Dodgers, Marlins and many others.
  • Bold, Wide, Condensed, "Light" and Extra Condensed versions of these alphabets, as well as Block Bold numbers. 
  • Block with Serifs, front and back as used by the current Twins and various other teams over the years
  • The Varsity font, complete with its alphabet.  These numbers are used by the Yankees, Tigers, Expos (during the 1990's) and others

Many team and year specific variations of these number and alphabet fonts. Included are:

Padres 1972-75, Brewers SandKnit Varsity 1972-84, Majestic Varsity, SF Giants Varsity 1972-75,  Oakland A's (McAuliffe) Varsity 1972-84, Reds (Goodman) Varsity 1985-1994, Pirates (Descente) Varsity numbers (1977-84), Dodgers front numbers font,  KC Royals 1980's bold front number font, Pirates Block Narrow numbers 1997-2005, Rangers Home Jersey Block 1972-1980 (pictured at left), Red Sox Style numbers, St Lois Cards Block Alphabet used in the 1970s and 1980s (Rawlings variant), Block alphabets used by Descente, Sand Knit, Goodman and Sons and Majestic, Giants current varsity variation.

Obsolete Display Fonts:  The following team-special fonts are provided. Some have alphabets to go with the numbers, some are numbers-only.

  • Angels "Disney Gothic" 1990s
  • Astros 1975-76 "Circus Style"
  • Astros 1994-1999
  • Braves SandKnit Feather Gothic 1972-73
  • Blue Jays Split lettering, 1977-96 and 1997-2003 versions
  • Brewers "German" Gothic 1994-1999
  • Expos Gothic 1969-1991
  • Future jersey font
  • Giants Numbers 1990s
  • Mariners "Nautical" numbers 1977-1980
  • Padres "Mod" numbers 1978-84
  • Padres Gothic font 1985-1990
  • Phillies Gothic 1972-1991
  • White Sox "Wild West Leisure Suit" Gothic 1976-1981

For copyright reasons this collection does not include some unique display fonts currently in use by MLB. This means that the following “current” 2005 display style fonts are not included:

  • Current Angels numbers
  • Current Astros numbers and alphabet
  • Current Brewers “Miller Gothic” Numbers and Alphabet
  • Cubs Numbers
  • Current Diamondbacks numbers and letters
  • Current Mariners Alternate Jersey Font
  • Current Nationals Numbers
  • Current Padres Numbers
  • Current Pirates Numbers
  • Current Phillies numbers and letters

More Technical Details:

On the disc there are two files for every font presented.:

.PDF Files:
These files are viewable by anyone with a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader version 6.0 or higher.
This software is available for free download at www.adobe.com.

.AI files:
If you plan to use the Adobe Illustrator files with complete color separation, You must own a copy of Adobe Illustrator, and have good familiarity with its features. These files have the power to drive most twill cutting machines. By “selecting” individual layers in the Layers menu, you can choose which layers display on your screen, or which are sent to the cutting machine.

Most of the fonts have several layers, each representing a different color or a different outline width. Some of the fonts have multiple outlines, and you are expected to select only those you wish to use.For example, I may supply a font with a THIN outline and a THICK outline (See Phillies 1970’s-1980’s numbers for an example) The thick outline is proportioned to use when the numbers are used on the jersey front. Select the thin outline when making the numbers for the jersey back.

Want different width outlines than mine?
You can create your own outlines by deselecting (turning “off”) my outlines. “Select” the letters you wish to re-outline with the mouse, then choose OBJECT/PATH/OFFSET PATH and set your desired outline width. Like I said, you’ll need basic familiarity with Adobe Illustrator to put these new outlines in the own, individual layers.

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