The Reference Council

Mitchell and Ness pt. II

The second part of our interview with Peter Capolino shifts focus away from Mitchell & Ness’ history towards a discussion of fabrics and styles associated with baseball uniforms. We chat about hats and jackets, and also about the impact color tv had on the look and feel of baseball. Call it the nitty gritty of the heritage game. Call it the nuts and bolts of the sportswear industry. However viewed, the behind the scenes decisions made by teams throughout history have a distinct relationship to the formation of classic American garments.

TRC: I’m interested in fabric innovations in sports uniforms. You talk about your own story with wool, but you also told me a great story about double weave polyester last time I was here. How, knowing what you do about wool, did you then figure out later uniforms made of different fabrics?

PC: When I first started and I found the old wool in a factory, I found a variety of wool flannel blends. So, I had to research what was going on in different periods, what players were wearing, and what manufacturers they were using. The easiest way to do that was by collecting old baseball catalogs. I have some Wilson catalogs, some Spalding catalogs, some Stall & Dean catalogs. I also have some catalogs from a company called Wright and Dixon and Lowe and Campbell. Those were baseball manufacturers and in their catalogs they would state the blend of the wool flannel that was in the uniforms. I knew when 100% wool was used and when blends started to appear. Also, I had an interesting relationship with the school at Cornell University dedicated to fabrics and fabric development. I would talk to those people at Cornell about different fabrics and when things were made.

I did decide after awhile, the Dorr Flannel Company in Maine, they made the first flannel for me, that if we’re going to do it right let’s make it 100% wool and 10.5 ounces and let’s make it exactly what Ted Williams wore in 1939 or Babe Ruth in 1927. I would bring this wool in, and I found out it was too heavy. Nobody in their right mind was going to wear it. I realized that the lightest blend of wool was used between 1969 and 1971 and that wool was a wool nylon or acrylic blend. They are very light and thin. I decided that the only reasonable way to run the business was to make one wool blend that everyone can wear, even if it goes back to the late 1900s, so everyone can have a shirt they can wear.  There was a period of time in which I made every single baseball uniform out of the same wool blend. Whether you wanted a Babe Ruth from 1927 or a Mickey Mantle from 1951, you were getting the same fabric. Essentially a wool flannel blend.

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