Over the weekend I reran the post about Kiner’s odd Mets cap. Steve may have the answer.
To end all this mystery, I have just gone to my incredible resource…almost every Met Yearbook since 1969. The 1972 Yearbook explains everything. There is a 2 page spread “Planting The Seeds…the cultivation of major league championships is sown on the obscure, but vital and constantly tilled fields of the Player Development Program. Among the Projects: The Florida Instructional League, 1971.” EVERYBODY is wearing the hat Kiner has. Some players are wearing home jerseys, some road. Jerry Grote is giving catching tips…he is wearing number 43. So numbers are not indicative of anything. Whitey Herzog is in full catcher’s gear. Almost every prospect was a future dud, except maybe Ken Singleton and Mike Jorgensen.
One picture fully explains the Kiner picture above…it is captioned “Special batting instructor Ralph Kiner and Connors, Singleton, Wayne Garrett (an established MLB player by then, wearing #45) and Jorgensen watch video replay machine.” (The machine looks state of the art for that time…something akin to an old B&W tv monitor)…Jorgensen is wearing a home jersey, #28…Kiner is wearing a road jersey, number obscured.