1996 Centennial Olympic Games

1996 Centennial Olympic Games – Softball

On May 2, 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued twenty 32-cent Centennial Olympic Games stamps in Atlanta, Georgia, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympics. Each design depicted an Olympic sport or event, including women’s softball, which made its Olympic debut that summer.

Issued before the Games, the softball stamp carried this text on its back: “Softball will make its first appearance in the 1996 Games. The United States team is the world champion and one of the teams favored to win a medal.”

The prediction proved correct. The United States won the first Olympic softball gold medal, finishing 8–1 overall and defeating China 3–1 in the championship game. The softball competition took place at Golden Park in Columbus, Georgia.

Richard Waldrep of Sparks, Maryland, created the stamp artwork using photographs of athletes as references. The twenty designs included multiple track-and-field events and separate men’s and women’s gymnastics and swimming designs, along with softball and other Olympic sports.

Stamp Venturers, Inc., printed the stamps using the gravure process. The full twenty-design issue totaled 324,150,000 stamps, including 16,207,500 softball stamps. At 32 cents each, the softball stamps represented a total face value of $5,186,400. The softball stamp is cataloged as Scott 3068o.

The softball design was also issued on a 20-cent prepaid postal card as part of a twenty-card Olympic set.

The Case for Suzy Brazney

Suzy Brazney identified herself as the model for the catcher pictured on the 1996 Women’s Softball stamp. In an August 29, 1999, Los Angeles Times profile by Diane Pucin, she explained, “It was a picture taken of me at the 1983 Pan Am Games.” Brazney recognized her long, curly hair and her trademark absence of shin guards, although the artwork included some changes. “They changed my blue cleats to white and maybe made the hair a little longer,” she said.

The stamp carried a bittersweet connection to Brazney’s Olympic ambitions. Despite a decade of experience on U.S. national teams, she was not selected for the 1996 Olympic roster. “Of course I saw the irony of the stamp,” she told Pucin. “The stamp made it. I didn’t.” In 1999, another All-American season earned her an invitation to the final selection camp for the 2000 Olympic team. As she prepared for another opportunity, she acknowledged the emotional stakes: “This is my last chance. I know that. I just can’t help hoping.”

A longtime U.S. national-team catcher, Brazney earned twenty ASA All-American selections and was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame in 2010.

Stamp Stats

Value: 32¢
Issue Date: May 2, 1996
City: Washington, DC and Atlanta, GA
Quantity: 16,207,500
(324,150,000 total stamp ÷ 20 designs)
Printed By: Stamp Venturers
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: 10.1
Color: Multicolored

1996 Centennial Olympic Games