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Posts filed under 'Softball'
One of the highlights of my recent trip to Pittsburgh was a visit to the Heinz History Center, which includes the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. I took a lot of photos here, so let’s get right to it (with apologies for the inevitable problems with glare and reflection when photographing things in glass cases):
• Here’s a great factory team uniform, circa 1955 (details here), along with a jacket from the same team, different year.
• And here’s a junior police team uniform, circa 1944, worn by a young player whose high school didn’t have a team.
• This is an autographed 1960 Dick Groat jersey, notable primarily for its tagging.
• Would you believe that a big league GM gave a player a raise in 1948 without the player even asking for it? It’s true, at least according to this letter.
• May favorite thing in the entire museum was this display, devoted to a local marble-shooting champion. Yeah, I know, marbles, but c’mon — look at that jersey and patch!
• If you’ve spent any time looking at Negro Leagues photos, you know it’s practically an iron-clad rule that one player was always wearing last year’s uniform, or another team’s uniform, or something out of step with the rest of the team.
• Here’s a really great story: In 1949, a local schoolgirl embroidered this shirt with the likenesses of Ralph Kiner, Wally Westlake, and Babe Ruth, and then sent it to Kiner and Westlake for them to autograph (the Babe had already died, alas). Kiner not only autographed it but sent it back with this cover letter. Dig that stationery!
• The football section included an entire wall of letterman jackets and sweaters. But my favorite jacket was this one. That chest patch is near-perfection.
• I really liked this display showing a ref’s jersey, whistles, score sheet, and flags.
• Another highlight: This Steelers cheerleaders display. Additional pics here.
• I was happy to see they had a small mention of L.C. Greenwood’s gold shoes.
• This was a local football team called the Oilers. I love that there’s an oil derrick in the background.
• And here’s an all-black football team, wearing a jersey style I’ve never seen before.
• You know those old-fashioned football nose guards? Here’s an early patent drawing.
• Apparently the Pittsburgh boxing community is still pissed off about the Louis/Conn fight (Conn was a local hero). I didn’t get any pics of the Conn memorabilia at the museum, but I did get a shot of this great robe and accompanying set of trunks. Not sure why a Pittsburgh fighter had “NY” on his trunks, but whatever — gorgeous.
• This is Chuck Cooper’s All-American uniform. Note the photo at lower-right — I didn’t realize the Celtics had once worn uni numbers on their shorts. And why doesn’t the shorts number match the jersey number?
• Several excellent old basketball uniforms here.
• I love the soccer jacket shown on the right. Here’s a close-up.
• And it won’t surprise anyone to hear that I also love this Pop Warner jacket, rendered in green and gold.
• Unusual artifact here. The United Black Front was a local activist organization, and you’ve gotta love an activist agenda that includes softball.
• The museum even features some swimming exhibits, including a tremendous Olympic time trails patch, a photo of the 1932 U.S. Olympic team, and a shot of some rather revealing swimwear.
• Finally, there’s this. I’ll let it speak for itself.
Phew! It’s worth noting, incidentally, that the Heinz facility also features a really great exhibit that documents the history of the Heinz company itself, including a photo of the Heinz baseball team, circa 1907 (note that they’re even using Heinz baseball bats), and a display showing the uniforms worn by female workers at the Heinz plant. Just goes to show that all roads lead back to uniforms.
And now a word from Vince Grzegorek: If I have one lasting legacy at Uni Watch, it probably won’t be writing about Brownie the Elf at every opportunity, or for being Paul’s first intern. No, it most likely will be for running the site’s annual NCAA tournament contest.
So let’s get this going. In the past I’ve come up with convoluted point systems and spent a lot of time scoring each entry by hand. But I’m much too busy for that this year, so screw that. Instead, we’re going to run a normal bracket challenge. To sign up, go to this site. Our group name is Uni Watch, our group ID is 68140, and our password is stirrups (all lowercase).
The top five winners will get to choose from the following prizes, all provided by Paul:
1. A free Uni Watch membership.
2. A free T-shirt from our friends at Pennant Race Gear.
3. An MLB logo wristwatch. (Full disclosure: Although it’s never been used, it appears to need a new battery. — PL)
4. A Bimbo Mexican soccer jersey, size large (contributed to the cause by reader Jeremy Deason — PL).
5. A copy of the new book Cubs by the Numbers.
Top winner gets his or her choice of prizes, second-place winner gets to choose from the remaining four prizes, and so on.
Hey, how about that economy?: Paul here again. As some of you are aware, changes are afoot at Distant Replays. Here’s a quick imaginary press conference about what this means from a Uni Watch perspective:
New enrollees in the membership program used to get a $10 Distant Replays gift code. Are you still offering that benefit?
No, effective immediately.
I ordered my membership card a few weeks ago but haven’t received it yet. I thought I was getting the $10 gift code. What happens to me?
There are 16 of you out there who fit this description (some of you have been waiting way too long for your cards, and I’m sorry about that — life has been hectic lately). Those 16 cards will mail out this week, and unfortunately they will not be accompanied by Distant Replays gift codes. If you feel gypped or baited-and-switched, get in touch and we’ll work something out.
I received my Distant Replays gift code with my membership two months ago but haven’t redeemed the $10 code yet. Will I still be able to redeem it when the company goes back online?
Good question. I’ve asked Andy and Rav about this, and so far they haven’t responded. I know them well enough to know they aren’t just blowing me off — I think they just have much bigger things to worry about at the moment. If I had to guess, my hunch would be that old gift codes will not be honored when DR resurfaces. But we’ll have to wait and see.
Sorry for the hassle. Feel free to be in touch if you have further questions about any of this.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Thrashers appear to have a 10th-anniversary logo slated for next season, and holy shit is it a stinker. … Negro Leagues shorts alert! That’s Prince Joe Henry, the Detroit Clowns player who often had some, uh, unique uniform stylings (but not always). Those pics were contributed by Jared Wheeler, who also sent along shots of an old Houston warm-up jacket from the Slama era, a 1940s Harvard hoops jersey, a Senators jersey with a Jerry Cosby tag (“Never seen his tag on a baseball uniform,” says Jared), a Willie Stargell cap (that’s the closest look I’ve ever gotten of the stars — note that only the one on the right appears to be properly oriented), and — the real prize — a sleeve patch from the 1944 minor league Orioles. Thing of beauty, no? … This is really cool (nice find by Charles Neiswender). … But this is just ridiculous (blame Mark Doescher). … Jordan Wiley has created an interesting project: He’s created an a listing of the best logo treatment for each letter of the alphabet. In other words, this is A, this is B, etc. I don’t agree with most of his choices, but that’s kinda beside the point, cuz it’s an interesting little project. I wish he’d put all his letter choices side by side in one big composite alphabet (get working on that pronto, Jordan!), but for now you can check out his breakdown here. … On Friday I mentioned that I’d been surprised to learn that the Milwaukee Braves had offered stock to the public. That prompted the following from Terry Paffenroth: “The stock was a huge issue when the team’s new ownership started making the plans to move the team out of Milwaukee, because they had buy up that remaining stock from people, most of whom who were not about to sell and lose the team. The plan that eventually took shape was that minority stockholders who would not sell were given a letter saying that their shares were being voided in exchange for a voucher for season tickets — in Atlanta. And just for the first season. Next time I see my grandparents, I’ll try and find their old stock certificate, along with the letter and voucher. They small stockholders and were given two tickets. The largest number I have come across was for six tickets.” … Kentucky wore black uniforms on Friday. … The Fresno Grizzlies have some new alt/promo jerseys (with thanks to William Paul Barrett). … Check out this square-formatted NOB (nice find by Robert Saietta). … Tequila sundrise over Blacksburg. … Brett Crane notes that Kevin Youkilis is wearing his #20 elbow guard in the WBC, even though his WBC uni number is 21. … Maybe we’ve covered this before and I’m just suffering from brain-lock, but what’s up with the ‘Pops’ patch? … Here’s the logo for the 2011 Pan-Am games (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Bob Ruffolo was inside the new Yankee Stadium on Saturday and took a bunch of photos. … The Rangers’ two-tone helmet lives on, at least for now, in a team commercial (screen grab courtesy of Josh Jarmon). … Lots of college basketball uni musings here. … Greg Riffenburgh notes that Arsenal’s Russian signee, Andrei Arshavin, has been wearing at least two different kinds of cleats, as seen here and here (that’s him in the background). … Soccer note from Joe DeLong, who writes: “I was watching Serie A soccer highlights on Sunday and saw that Filippo Inzaghi of AC Milan scored his 300th career goal and was immediately presented with a No. 300 jersey.” Details here. … Doug Keklak sent along this shot from the 1956 Johnstown High School yearbook. Weird to see that the whole team had uni numbers in the 70s and 80s — I realize those numbers were legal in h.s. hoops back then, but it’s still odd that they’d only use numbers in that range. … Luke Mohamed reports that Sidney Crosby, who normally wears a visor, was visor-free during part the first period of yesterday’s Pens game. … The 1898 Spalding Ice Hockey and Ice Polo Guide, which is believed to be the earliest hockey guidebook, is now accessible online — complete with ads. … Interesting 2005 story here about bunting — this kind, not this kind (nice find by Mike Ortman). … St. Paddy’s Week has officially arrived, as the Raptors wore green last night. … As promised, supercross racer Kevin Windham wore Saints-themed gear on Saturday (with thanks to Sean Clancy). … Don D. snapped this shot of an adult league hockey team called the Charlie Browns. “The uniform also has a shoulder patch with Snoopy biting through a hockey stick, à la the Sharks,” he adds. … Only in America, or so I’d assume (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: Think this guy’s got enough swooshes?
March 16th, 2009
[Editor's Note: Our latest DIY story comes from Brandon S. Bowker, who doesn't just make jerseys for himself -- he makes them for his entire softball squad. -- PL]
By Brandon S. Bowker
I’m a singer/songwriter from Lexington, Kentucky, and my band, A Portion For Ruben, sponsors a softball team, called the Kalone Way Screaming Marmots. The team is basically the band and our friends, girlfiends, co-workers, and anyone we can find idle in the park on gameday.
We play in an adult coed-rec league, which means we can wear pretty much whatever we want. At first I would design the shirts and have them printed, but eventually I realized I could save a lot of money making them myself.
I usually ask everyone what colors they like and go from there. The designs are my own, though I like to cull ideas from Uni Watch or Ebbets Field Flannels. I get at least 20 of the shirts in appropriate sizes. Whatever I can find cheap. The fall ’08 Marmots, for example, sported “Island Yellow.” Then I go to a local sporting goods place called the Locker Room (this is actually the same place at which UK athletics, the Lexington Legends, and the Lexington Horsemen have all their work done). There’s a fantastic lady who works in the back, doing all the embroidery and stitching, and she’s always willing to help out and sell me a couple of yards of tackle twill in the color of our choosing (i.e., Panthers Blue to go with the Island Yellow).
After printing out or sketching my font and designs for the numbers and insignia, I use my floor lamp under a piece of glass as a lightbox and trace my designs onto the tackle twill fabric. I cut them out (with the amazing help of my girlfriend Sarah — that’s her on the left), and iron them onto the shirts. Once this is done, I sew them down with a classic zig-zag stitch, using the machine my folks gave me for just that purpose.
There are a lot of little details. I like to put the player’s name on the inside of the hemline, along with the season and the year. Sometimes I just do this with a pen, sometimes on a sewn-down piece of tackle-twill like the pros do. This past season I added an inch or two of red stitching to the name, just as a little signature.
I have also begun doing one-offs, just for kicks, or as gifts. I’ve done a Bengals-themed Marmots raglan with tiger stipes on the sleeves, along with a Redlegs-look jersey. I’ve also done camo (I know, I know). And of course I had to know what the Marmots would look like in rainbow double-knits!
And that’s not all: Paul here. The DIY thing has now reached the point where I’m getting several great stories per day. Here are some more:
• From Paul Richard Cook: “I spent the holidays with my wife’s family in December of 2005. One of my relatives got a Yankees jersey as a Christmas present, but my Canadiens sweater was apparently delayed in production because of customization, so my mother-in-law decided to take it upon herself to make a replacement, so that I wouldn’t be left empty-handed when opening the gifts. Obviously there was a complete lack of attention paid to what a Canadiens jersey actually looks like, but she did reference a classic hockey design motif (and put it together hastily with the materials she had). The real jersey eventually showed up, but I still wear le bleu-et-gris from time to time.”
• From Larry Wiederecht: “About 10 years ago, there was a shop in town that was an outlet for Russell Athletic rejects. Lots of blank authentic jerseys that for one reason or another didn’t cut the mustard. With the help of various materials (letter and number patterns, sew shop materials, twill and patches from eBay) I was able to transform this into this [here's a closer look]. Probably cost no more than $25. What it lacks in originality, it makes up for in detail and accuracy. I left off the Russell Athletic tags — why give them credit? If you want it right, DIY.”
• From Jason Toon: “In the early ’80s, my little brother and I once tried to make our own faux-jersey T-shirts to wear while playing Wiffleball. I was eight years old, he was five. Even though we live in St. Louis, for some reason we decided I would be the Reds and he would be the Dodgers (maybe because Cardinals shirts were everywhere and we wanted something more exotic, or maybe because we didn’t have a yellow marker to draw the birds on the bat). So we used markers to draw Dodgers and Reds logos onto a couple of plain white tees. We even did the backs — I was Mario Soto, he was Fernando Valenzuela. Thus clad, we played a few sweaty innings in the summer sun before we realized the ink was running all over our torsos. We had no idea of the distinction between permanent and non-permanent markers. Of course, the ink that ran so freely onto our skin was impossible to scrub off. So for the next week or so, our torsos were dyed red or blue. The things we did for baseball!”
• From Michael Bessette: “This jersey is modeled after the early-’50s Rhode Island Reds (AHL). I noticed that their jersey resembled the ones worn by the Chicago Blackhawks in that same era, so I bought a reproduction Blackhawks throwback sweater made by CCM and removed the ’Hawks crest. It’s not an exact match, but pretty close. I found the old Reds logo online and enlarged it to crest size to form a pattern. Then I hand-cut and sewed the different sections of the crest together, using felt, an X-Acto knife, a circle cutter, fabric glue, and embroidering floss. After that, I hand-cut the number 7 and the alternate ‘A’ and applied everything to the sweater. Everything was hand-cut except the letters in the crest, which were available at a craft store. The project took a good part of a summer. I’ve worn it to Providence Bruins games on occasion and received lots of good feedback.”
• From Andy Bentley: “I saw that Orioles hoodie that another reader made and thought I’d make my own Reds version. I went ahead and stitched each part of each letter (red letter, white outline, back black shadow) individually I couldn’t find pre-shadowed letters as part of a kit. And I added this sleeve patch.”
• From Taha Jamil: “In December, my wife (Joanna), daughter (Zahra), and I went to a Blackhawks game in Chicago. When I went to get popcorn, Zahra said to Joanna, “I play hockey when I bigger.” I was ecstatic. I decided I would buy some basic hockey gear (sticks, puck, goal) for Zahra’s third birthday (January 31st). Finding sticks and pucks for toddlers was easy, but finding a goal was harder — they were either too big or too expensive, and they only came in pairs (we really only need one right now). Anyway, I was kind of inspired by the DIY jerseys that have been running on the blog over the last few weeks, and I thought I could make a decent goal that could stand up to a three-year-old’s slapshot. So I bought a mesh equipment bag and then took it apart at the seams. I drew the frame on a cardboard box and cut it, then glued some of the flaps to reinforce it. It was still a little flimsy, so I cut and glued two strips of styrofoam to reinforce the crossbar. I then stapled the mesh to the frame. I pulled the sides taught and left some slack in the back of the net. I still need to trim some excess mesh from the back, but as soon as I finished making it on Zahra’s birthday, she wanted to play. As you can see, it’s just the right size for a tall three-year old. When I make the next goal, I’ll reinforce the posts with styrofoam like I did with the crossbar in this model.”
These are all SO great (and I have even more examples coming). You people all rock. And wait, here’s a DIY-related story of my own that I’d totally forgotten about until now: When I was eight or nine years old, I had a yellow sweatshirt with “87″ in maroon block numbers. Those were Redskins colors, more or less, so I looked in my Sunoco stamp album, saw that No. 87 of the ’Skins was a tight end named Jerry Smith, and asked my mom if she could sew his name onto the back of the sweatshirt in maroon thread. “Smith” seemed too plain, though, so I had her do “J. Smith,” just so everyone would know which Smith was being referred to. My mom’s a really good sewer, and she did a great job on the lettering. I proudly wore the sweatshirt whenever I played touch football with the neighborhood kids on our block, and I remember being really happy when I made a good catch and one of the older kids said, “You know, he does remind me of Jerry Smith.”
Surf’s Up: For the past two days I’ve mentioned the series of Surf-sponsored baseball card books that appeared in the late 1980s. As it turns out, reader Jeff Barak collects these books, and he’s generously provided some additional info on them:
The books were produced over three years, beginning in 1987. They were stadium giveaways and each featured a particular club’s cards from 1952 to 1986, regardless of whether the team had relocated (like the Athletics, who moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland during that time period). The only exception to this I am aware of is the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose cards in the 1987 book were shown starting from 1958 — their first year in Los Angeles.
In 1988, the books were again sponsored by Surf, who logo was now prominently featured at the top. Here are the Phillies books from 1987 and 1988 for comparison.
The front of the 1987 books had a “Books available in this series” page, which listed every MLB team. But I’ve never seen books from the two Canadian franchises, even though they were included in that listing. I’ve had a longstanding search for them on eBay and they’ve never come up for sale. I believe this was due to Surf not being sold in Canada at the time of the promotion.
The series continued for one more year in 1989 (although I think the ’89 series were distributed via mail-order, not as stadium giveaways), with the books featuring all cards from 1952-1988. This time they were no longer sponsored by Surf. The 1989 series did include Toronto and Montreal, allowing me to finally have one from each franchise.
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day for the Sports Propaganda raffle. For details, look here. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow.
As you may have noticed…: We have a new anchor advertiser at the top of the page. That would be Mothering Hut, which makes some very cool T-shirts. Please give them a look.
No hard feelings regarding Andy, Rav, and all the other good people at Distant Replays, whose ad had occupied that top-left spot since late 2006. They’ve been great to work with, but they felt the need to cut back on expenditures in these tough times. They hope to advertise with us again in the spring or summer, and they’re still providing $10 gift cards for every new enrollee in the Uni Watch membership program.
Speaking of which, the membershp card gallery now has some new designs. As you can see at right, Scott has finally agreed to tackle the Isles’ fish sticks design, and I think you’ll agree that he did a great job (like I’ve been saying all along, the worst uniforms make the best membership cards). We expect to be adding nearly 20 more cards over the next few days, and I’ll be mailing out membership kits tomorrow and all through next week. My thanks, as always, to everyone who’s signed up.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Oh. My. God. That’s John Isaacs, who died last week. Man, I’d give anything for a color version of that photo. … Here’s Todd Radom wearing a pair of stirrups that I loaned him while playing in the Joe DiMaggio Legends Game (further info here). “I faced Bill Lee, who threw me five 12-to-6 looping offspeed pitches that I couldn’t have hit with an oar,” he says. Alas, Todd had his pants riding much lower when posing for this photo with Roy Sievers. … Check out this shot of the Western Reserve soccer team, circa mid-1940s. Untucked looks a lot better there, huh? “My Grandfather is in the front row, second from left,” says Sutton Smith. “Interesting side note: He was exempted from the draft due to a metal kneecap, a result of a baseball injury sustained while he played catcher.” … Alex Minnehan sent me this and this. They appear to be from 1999, but they’re much more detailed than the style sheets I have from that period. Good stuff. … Not exactly a news flash, but recruits take uniforms into consideration when mulling which school to choose. … Speaking of recruits, how hard do you think new OSU signee Storm Klein (yes, that’s really his name) got bitch-slapped for wearing an Under Armour tee with his Nike jersey? (Good spot by Trevor Williams.) … Short piece here about double-flap batting helmets (with thanks to Don Dopiriak). … Speaking of batting helmets, check out these. Andrew Thomason notes that the logo on the Oakland helmet appears to have been painted or stenciled on, while the other two are decals. … Good story from Tris Wykes, who writes: “I worked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 1993 training camp as an equipment room assistant. We scrimmaged the Dolphins one day at their practice complex and Steve DeBerg wore a leather helmet [and some odd shoes, too -- PL] for some semi-live drills to make fun of how old he was. That was amusing, but DeBerg himself was distant and kind of a jerk.” … Also from Tris: Good article here on NHL goalie masks. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Look, you can be a pro golfer and not be a douchebag! … More apostrophe problems (with thanks to Jere Smith). … New Nike-fied uniforms on the way at Washington (with thanks to Adam Lawrence). … Check this out: a high school wrestling team that wears striped socks over blue tights. That’s Helias High School Crusaders from Jefferson City, Missouri. Click through the rest of the slideshow to get the full effect (great find by Jack Hittinger, who also sent along this St. Louis Blues patch set). … Webmaster John Ekdahl’s been keeping tabs on the colors at the new Yankee Stadium. “Some new photos of the stadium are up and the outfield walls are dark blue, like the new seats, which is what I was hoping for. It always bothered me that the old Yankee Stadium’s blue didn’t match the blue on the uniform. It’s fine if you’re going with a standard green or something like that, but if you’re going to use blue why would you intentionally mismatch the color? Made my day.” … You know how I’ve been saying for years now that the Jaguars’ uni set has a chance to become regarded as a classic if the Jags are smart enough not to mess with it? This just in: As of next season, they’re not smart enough. … A player on the U. of Colorado hoops team has been arrested for stealing jerseys and other merch, presumably because he was frustrated to learn that football recruits at Colorado get better perks than basketball recuits. … These next three are from Phil: According to this story, the Albuquerque Isotopes’ new Sunday uniform features “blue hats and blue shirts with ‘Isotopes’ spelled in white cursive script.” … Gary Bettman says NHL jerseys will remain advertising-free “for the foreseeable future” (but that doesn’t mean much coming from someone who can barely see three feet in front of himself). … There’s been a LOT of negative reaction to those 1911 Canadiens throwbacks. The latest salvo was fired at the end of this column. … RIP, Lux.
February 5th, 2009
For years, if I’ve needed an old Astros photo, the first place I’ve looked has been Astros Daily, an excellent blog with loads of great images. What I hadn’t realized, however, until reader James Poisso recently pointed it out to me, is that the site includes a page of video links, which provide a priceless historical survey of what is arguably MLB’s most visually interesting franchise. There’s too much material to describe fully, but here are a few highlights:
- If, like myself, you’ve only seen Colt .45s uniforms in still photos, check out the very first video link on the page, which features lots of footage showing the Colts’ basic uni plus jackets, ushers’ uniforms, and related merch.
- You probably know that the Astrodome’s roof had to be painted when outfielders couldn’t pick up the ball against the original ceiling design (which in turn led to the development of Astroturf, because the facility’s original grass wilted and died when sunlight could no longer shine through the painted roof). One of the videos actually shows the roof being painted!
- As you might imagine, there’s plenty of footage showing the tequila sunrise design, including some good shots of the original bullseye version.
- According to Dressed to the Nines, the tequila sunrise jerseys were always paired with dark stirrups. But check out this shot of Larry Dierker — he’s definitely wearing orange hose, and they appear to be striped to boot.
And there’s a lot more. Recommended viewing.
Membership Announcement: Lots of you have asked if an additional column can be added to the membership roster, indicating the team and era that each card design was patterned after. I didn’t originally think we’d need to include that kind of info, since I figured the card designs would all be based on familiar uniform designs and that their sources would therefore be self-explanatory. But of course it hasn’t worked out that way — we’ve got throwback designs (the one shown above is a 1970 Indians treatment), minor league designs, soccer and cycling designs, etc. So yes, I now see it would be a nice idea to include this information, so everyone can see what a given card design was based on.
But here’s the thing: The roster chart is already pretty big and unwieldy — I don’t want to add another column to it. But if you go to the card design gallery and click on a given card design, you’ll get the Flickr page for that design — and you can add comments to that page. So I hereby invite all members to click on their own card designs and add an explanation for your design inspiration (turns out member Anthony Giaccone already did this several weeks ago). If all goes well, we’ll have all the team-based card pages annotated in short order.
You may have to register with Flickr in order to leave a comment. But it’s easy and free, and Flickr is a cool site that you really ought to be part of anyway, so it’s a win-win.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Scroll down to the end of this Q&A session with a Cardinals beat writer to see what the Redbirds think of the new BP caps (good find by Jordan Hirschfield). … Excellent catch by Avi Berliner, who spotted the following tidbit buried within this Wall Street Journal article: “Alex Marvez, president of the Pro Football Writers Association … winces at the new [NFL] rule requiring photographers to wear red vests with small Canon and Reebok logos. Mr. Marvez calls the idea of using working press members as advertising vehicles ‘really alarming.’ Neither company is paying a specific fee for the vests, but Canon Inc. is an official sponsor of the league (it pays a rights fee to be associated with the NFL) and Reebok International Ltd., owned by Adidas AG, is a league licensee (it makes merchandise with NFL logos, including jerseys, pants and photo vests).” … Always good to hear from Mike from Queens, who notes that USA Softball has some very odd batting helmets (additional views here and here). … Tour de France note from member Mike Edgerly, who writes: “Members of Team CSC are sporting black Live Strong-style wristbands that say ‘Harden the fuck up.’” Details toward the bottom of this page (and I swear, if today’s comments section devolves into a series erection jokes, I’m gonna pull the plug on the site, so don’t even think about it). … It’s well documented that Bob Feller will do anything for a buck, but this seems like a bit much. … “Could there be an uglier uni matchup?” asks Vince, referring to yesterday’s Brazil/Nicaragua contest at the Pan Am Games. … A reader who didn’t give his full name notes that Matt Holliday appeared to have one sleeve shorter than the other last night. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: With the Sharks and Ducks having added orange to their color schemes, Kris McInnis figures it’s time for every NHL team to go orange.
July 17th, 2007
Got two interesting notes over the weekend, both of which call for reader input. The first came from Ryan Burns, as follows:
I’m going to be president of my local lacrosse officials’ association next year. One of the common complaints is about our uniform. The uniform is black shoes, white socks with black tops (the width of black part varies widely, which drives me nuts), white shorts, black belt, black hat with white piping, and a shirt.
The shirt is supposed to have black and white stripes, black collar and cuffs, ¼-zip, pocket, and, for our high school, no patches. The reason for no patches is that for college games you’re supposed to have an American flag above the pocket, a sleeve patch, and a number on the back (that’s a whole other story) and the feeling is that if you have any patches in a high school game and your partner does not, then you would be showing him up. Here’s an example of proper dress, but you can see black snaps on the back (for a number) and sleeve (for a patch). And here’s me. My numbers and sleeve patch attach by Velcro, but my flag patches are sewn on, so I wear them even though I’m not supposed to.
Some people complain about the high socks, some complain about black hats (heat), some complain about white shorts (get dirty easily), some complain about patch restrictions and having to separate shirts (both long and short sleeve) for high school and college games. I’m thinking we should have the black and white spiral instead of vertical stripes and have advertisements all over, or else button-down shirts with bow ties. But short of that do you have any ideas on how we could improve our uniforms?
First and foremost, Ryan: Don’t change those socks. Love the color block look.
I’m kinda fascinated by the whole snap-on number and patch thing — didn’t realize such a thing existed. And I’m always amazed by the ongoing cross-sport ubiquity of zebra stripes (the origins of which are discussed here).
As for the rest, what say ye, Uni Watchers? Any suggestions for our lacrosse officiating brethren?
But wait, before you deal with that, check out the note I got from Brent Marcus, who contributed the following:
Don’t know if you’re familiar with the show “Ninja Warrior” (airs daily on G4 TV). Massive, ridiculously difficult obstacle course. Competitions are filmed in Japan and the contestants are incredible amateur athletes.
Anyway, here’s the relevance to Uni Watch: Some of the best athletes show up dressed in their everyday work garb. For example, there’s a gas station manager who shows up in his gas station manager’s uniform [you can see him in this video clip]. His choice of khakis and polo shirt has no obvious impact on his performance. … You’d think these athletes would wear [performance clothing that would] allow the greatest flexibility, range of movement, etc. But they don’t. They wear corporate clothing and street attire, to no ill effect.
I’m sure this is just one example of non-uniform athletics, but to be honest, I couldn’t think of many others. I thought an overview of sports where there are no uniforms at all might make an interesting topic. I’m sure there must be several other examples. Historically, there are plenty — before we entered an age of Lycra and breathable mesh.
Interesting topic. Not sure it has legs, but I’m willing to open the floor to discussion. Your thoughts..?
Membership Update: The first batch of Uni Watch membership cards and fridge magnets went out in Saturday’s mail, so members should watch their mailboxes. Unfortunately, my printer chose Friday to go on the fritz, so I wasn’t able to enclose a cover letter with each card/magnet shipment, as I’d originally intended to do. If I’d been able to enclose such a letter, it probably would’ve looked something like this.
If your uniform number isn’t yet clickable on the membership roster, it means your card hasn’t been designed yet. We’ll get started on the second batch during the next week.
Incidentally, it has been suggested that we offer referee zebra stripes as the design option for the back of the card — an excellent idea that we have enthusiastically embraced. So if you’re a ref and want your card to be designed accordingly, speak up and we’ll be happy to accommodate you.
My continued thanks to all enrollees. If you’d like to get on board, full sign-up details are available here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Stop whatever you’re doing and take two minutes to watch this completely amazing video about the guy who’s in charge of the jockeys’ silks at Belmont Park (with a lifetime’s worth of thanks to Tim McLaugh). … Nice eBay find here, courtesy of Todd Krevanchi. … More eBay-ism from Mike Engle, who notes that this guy appears to have every conceivable patch for sale. … Patrick Ryan reports that the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay has a new logo (which kinda looks like a Rorschach splotch to me). Details here. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: The Blue Jackets will unveil their new uniforms on June 22nd. … Murvin English notes that the Majestic web site includes a section devoted to National Pro Fastpitch softball uniforms — home, road, and alternate. … Fun little piece here about history’s worst Bay Area uniforms (with thanks to Brian Catlett). … Not uni-related, but reader Christopher Falvey has created a baseball-related project that’s really, really cool. Check it out here. … Rather bizarre volleyball socks here (as spotted by Scot Williams). … Odd situation in the recent college baseball super regional series between North Carolina and South Carolina, both of which wore “Carolina” across their chests (good observation by Alex Benezra). … Reds equipment manager Rick Stowe put some pretty big expectations on rookie pitcher Homer Bailey when assigning him uni No. 34. For details, scroll down to the “Numerology” item at the bottom of this page (nice find by Steven Huelskamp). … In a break with tradition, Notre Dame has announced that they’ll be wearing their very beautiful green jerseys (which in the past have been worn without any advance notification, as a surprise) against USC on October 20th. … You know those clubs that play “base ball” according to the old rules, with period uniforms, etc.? Turns out there’s something similar for golf. You can’t even use a tee. Full details here. … Interesting thread on the Chris Creamer board about team-based lottery tickets in Missouri. … Bizarre multi-tone unis — colored in front, white in back — being worn by the Harlingen South Hawks in the Texas 5A state baseball championship tourney. “Pretty much the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” says Nick Zajicek. … “The NHL can’t catch a break,” writes RJ Charles. “They struck a deal with Sling Media (makers of Sling Box) for a video clip sharing deal, but Sling Media didn’t use the current NHL logo on their web site when announcing the deal.” … Single-digit pitcher, of sorts, in Friday’s Marlins/Rays game. Tampa was getting blown out, so in the bottom of the 8th they put infielder Josh Wilson on the mound. … Kevin Kelsey notes that the Women’s College World Series sleeve patch was inconsistently applied by both Arizona and Tennessee, with some players wearing it on the right sleeve and some on the left, as seen here, here, and here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Big memorabilia sale at Lambeau yesterday, including — get this — a shitload of Packers nameplates (here’s another shot, and dig the tat on that dude’s arm!). … Matt Ryburn was at Saturday’s Dodgers/Jays game and got good pics of rookie Tony Abreu inviting a fine (and, more importantly, looking like total crap) by wearing his pants under his heels.
June 11th, 2007
From time to time we’ve discussed uni-related issues of trademark infringement and protection. But policing your trademark in lawsuit-happy America is one thing — doing it in a far-off land, where any clown with a heat press can run off a few jillion cheap logo-emblazoned knockoffs of your design, is something else, as reader Eric Trager has discovered. Here’s his long-distance report from the Middle East:
I’ve been living in Cairo since August on an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright grant, which has given me a decent opportunity to travel around the Middle East a bit. It seems like almost anywhere I go, I find familiar-looking caps, none of which are ever official, and almost all of which contain completely incorrect colors. At the famous Khan al-Khalili market in Cairo, for example, I spotted this orange Yankees cap among other mostly Cairo-appropriate headgear. In Casablanca, I spotted this cap stand; you can make out a number of Yankees caps (there’s a proper navy one on the 60 dirham level, though the rest are completely off), along with a 49ers cap, a Florida Gators cap, and a Berkeley cap. [The one I find most amusing is the FBI cap. -- PL] Although the Yankees are, unfortunately, the most prominent in terms of merchandise in the region, I happened to find this cap stand in Sana’a, Yemen, featuring Dodgers caps (again, wrong colors). Finding these things in Yemen was particularly surprising, given that most men there dress like this, i.e., sans baseball cap.
Though caps are the most prominent American sports gear I’ve come across in the region, I spotted kid in Jounieh, Lebanon, wearing a very decent Kobe Bryant jersey when I was there in 2004. It looks like it’s actually officially licensed, unlike this horrific Don Mattingly Yankees jacket I spotted in Rabat [Donnie Baseball never wore his stirrups like that! -- PL] and this awful Rockies T-shirt I found at the Cairo tent market (although Uni Watch probably endorses the shirt’s use of red in place of purple, no matter how inaccurate).
Of course, the most common sports uniforms found in Middle Eastern markets are local soccer jerseys. I spotted these two brothers wearing al-Ahly jerseys in Cairo, and have purchased the jerseys of Maghreb Fez, Wydad (Casablanca), and the Moroccan national team as gifts for friends. Unfortunately, none of these are remotely authentic, though I was finally able to find an official al-Ahly jersey at the posh, Saudi-built mall in Cairo.
This is really just a small sampling of uni-relevant observations from my time in the region. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the hundreds of MLB, NBA, NFL, NCAA, and NHL T-shirts available in Hebrew in virtually any Israeli tourist area (similar to these online examples), though did happen to pick up this Mets yarmulke.
I’ll close with the most surprising uni-related find. Look closely at the religious insignia on the sports club t-shirt of the boy on the left in this photo — it was taken in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank.
Pretty great stuff. The global, hegemonic reach of the baseball cap, even in cultures that wouldn’t know a baseball game if you plopped one down in their front yard, continues to amaze me.
And wait, there’s more: About a week after sending me that first note, Trager checked in with a nice little epilogue:
As I was packing up my things today to leave Egypt after a nine-month stint out here, I noticed that my Mets cap no longer fit. Fitted caps, as you might imagine, are extremely hard finds in Egypt, and all sorts of people — taxi drivers, camel merchants, children, restaurant owners, and tour guides — have asked me many times for some of my fitted caps right off my head, which I have always declined in the past. This time, however, rather than waste precious suitcase space on a Mets cap that didn’t fit, I went downstairs to find a kid to whom I could give it. He was very appreciative, and I think rather surprised. I might have just stumbled across a new mechanism for American public diplomacy.
Now we just have to get the kid to ditch the black.
Three Okay, TWO Blind Mice: Jamie Moyer’s stirrups occasioned lots of oh-so-adorable banter in the Mets’ broadcast booth last night. The chatter started after announcers approvingly noted that Moyer had busted it pretty hard while running out a ground ball. Here’s the transcript:
Gary Cohen: Not only is he running hard, but he’s running hard in stirrups.
Ron Darling: Yes.
Cohen: We’ve gotta get a shot of Moyer’s feet at some point. Nobody wears stirrups anymore! Maybe a couple of old coaches.
Darling: He wears ’em a little bit like you wore ’em, Keith.
Keith Hernandez: I’ll have to give ’em closer, uh, scrutiny. [Camera shows a close-up of Moyer's stirrups.] Oh, I liked to wear ’em a little higher. That’s low. That’s minor league ugly.
Cohen: You didn’t have the Liberty Bell on your stirrups.
Hernandez: No. Those are the stirrups they gave you in the minor leagues.
Darling [struggling for something relevant to say]: Is that like coyote ugly? Minor league ugly.
Hernandez [ignoring Darling]: You had the wool uniforms in the minor leagues back in the early ’70s, and they were just itchy. And you were glad to have ’em, trust me, but I hated the stirrups. [As per usual during these hosiery discussions, the camera shows sacred Shea Stadium photo of Jerry Koosman celebrating the last out of the 1969 World Series.] See, that’s closer. I wore ’em a little bit higher than Kooz right there. [Camera now shows file photo of Hernandez's favorite player.] Ah, there you go.
Cohen: There was a trend for a while there to show none of the top of the stirrup, right? Guys started adding extensions to the bottom so they rose that much higher.
Hernandez: Yes. I never liked that look. When we played for the Cardinals, we had those great socks with the stripes, like the Red Sox. You wanna show the stripes.
Cohen [who has clearly read either Ball Four or Uni Watch]: I guess it was Frank Robinson, wasn’t it, who first started wearing the high stirrups, that just showed white with a stripe on the side?
Darling [utterly lost but trying to sound engaged]: Yes.
Hernandez [also lost]: I think you may be right.
Cohen: Maybe it was someone else before that. I just…
Hernandez [now completely off on the wrong tack]: Was it with Cleveland? Remember those Cleveland uniforms, those red uniforms?
Cohen: Those were awful.
Darling [now barely treading water]: They were hideous!
Cohen: Of course, there were a lot of hideous uniforms in the ’70s. The Pirates…
Hernandez: The bumblebees!
Darling: How about Houston?
Hernandez: Ugh!
Cohen: How about the Padres?
Darling: That’s right, mustard and brown.
Cohen: Mustard and mud!
Hernandez: Contrary to Ron Darling, I love the A’s uniforms, love those swingin’ A’s unis.
[Inning mercifully ends.]
Uni Watch News Ticker: Plate umpires who wear the conventional-style mask always wear a cap, but umps who favor the hockey-style mask have always gone cap-free. Or at least that’s what I thought until seeing some footage from last night’s Rockies/Astros game, where plate ump Ed Hickox wore a cap under his hockey-style mask (you can see him holding his mask on the left side of this shot). … Tons of great uni- and equipment-related footages in this awesome WHA video (tremendous find by Tommy Gough). … Not quite uni-related, but still a worthwhile site. … Interesting query from Ryan Hickox, who writes: “This season, while watching Red Sox games, I’ve noticed a couple of narrow, dark objects behind the rubber on the mound, as seen here.” Anyone know what these are? … Newly minted Uni Watch member Michael Gargano recently bumped into a friend wearing a great Royals tee. … According to this article, Jake Peavy inscribes “BP” on his underbill, in tribute to his late grandfather, Blanche Peavy (good spot by David Conley). … Pretty cool stuff upcoming in Tampa. … That ridiculous London Olympics logo is already getting some very negative reviews (some really great quotes in that article, including a description of the logo as “a toileting monkey”), plus there’s now a petition drive to do away with it (with thanks to Morris Bird). … Now that’s a nameplate. Player in question is Washington State kicker Romeen Abdollmohammadi (as spotted by Michael Carman). … Some interesting factoids about the Diamondbacks’ uni protocol in the “In Case You Were Wondering” section of this page (good find by Doug Simpson). … Jacob Reed wonders what Eddie Stanky had written under his bill. … Photo of the day comes from Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek who noticed Tim Hudson finding a new use for the rosin bag. … Great article here about a Milwaukee memorabilia hound who specializes in collecting bats (with thanks to the Cream City’s finest, Nicole Haase). … Brian Willette notes that Northwestern softballer Darcy Sengewald has been wearing eye black shaped like little hearts and dollar signs. … Beau Lynott sent along a screen shot of Russell Martin’s torn pants from last night’s Dodgers/Padres game. “He was sliding repeatedly in steal attempts with one out in the 7th inning, then fell down rounding second on a base hit and was tagged out in a pickle. Matt Vasgersian on Channel 4 Padres said, ‘What’s with the re-stitch? Get the man some new pants!’” … Want your logo rendered in pasta? Comments section stalwart Minna H. recommends these guys. … The Indians wore blue jerseys at home last night, marking the first time they’d done that since 2001 (although, as Tim Bennett notes, there was a lot more red trim back in those days). … According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times, dreadlocked Giants defensive back R.W. McQuarters recently had his first haircut since his rookie season and is now wearing a helmet two sizes smaller as a result. … Arsenal has unveiled its new white kit.
June 6th, 2007
I don’t mean to pick on Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy — he’s been with the team for nearly 50 years, and he probably has his hands full finding caps to fit Barry Bonds’s ever-enlarging cranium — but the team had some major slip-ups on the uni front last week. First, as reported here last week, Dan Ortmeier’s left-sleeve team logo patch was missing; then Fred Lewis’s right-sleeve All-Star Game patch was similarly unaccounted for. The kicker came on Friday, when Randy Messenger made his Giants debut with no name on his jersey.
Messenger had been traded late the night before, so the Giants had less than 24 hours to prepare a jersey for him. And yes, the trade happenedjust as the team was leaving New York and heading to Philly. Still, it shouldn’t have been that hard to get a jersey lettered and ready to go. Couldn’t they just have gotten one made at the local Sports Authority or something? Messenger didn’t pitch on Saturday or Sunday (no doubt due to embarrassment), so it’s not clear if his jersey has finally been brought up to code.
Interestingly, the Messenger nameplate snafu took place almost exactly a year to the day after the Giants misspelled Eliezer Alfonzo’s name on his jersey. Maybe the team should just take a week off every season during this time of year.
To be fair, the Giants aren’t the only MLB team with uni-related problems lately. As noted in Friday night’s comments, the Brewers’ right-sleeve anniversary patch was missing from Jeff Suppan’s jersey on Friday.
And whatever quality control issues MLB teams are having, it’s nothing compared to what’s happening to the Philadelphia Soul of the AFL. Reader Rob W. was at Philly’s Friday-night game and snapped pics of several players with numerals that had peeled off, as seen here, here, and here. First time I’ve seen anything like that since the Colts’ 2005 opener, when lineman Corey Simon had one of his numerals ripped off of his jersey (an oddity I no longer have a photo of, unfortunately, although I do have shots of of Miguel Tejada with the “1″ coming off of his jersey after a head-first slide in early 2005 [he played the rest of that game as No. 0]).
(Special thanks to Chris Shastid for the Messenger screen shot.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: Colorado’s new football uniforms, unveiled over the weekend, will look like this and this. Additional pics, info, and video links here, and still more pics here, here, here, and here. … Amusing teal manifesto here (with thanks to Rob McCallum). … Check out Softbank Hawks pitching coach Tadashi Sugimoto, who appears to be wielding the world’s longest fungo bat (with thanks to, of course, Jeremy Brahm). … “I found my old high school volleyball practice shirt the other day,” writes Jeff Bethune. “I never really liked them, but now looking back I see it’s because of the extreme radial arching. I don’t know what my coach was thinking.” Actually, I think that looks pretty sharp, except for the uni number, which looks way clunky. … Great catch by Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek, who notes that the MLB logo at the base of Mike Rabelo’s mask is patterned on the American flag (here’s a close-up from the All-Star web site) — never seen that treatment before. … More from Vince: (1) Serious decal crowding on the back of the Northwestern softball team’s helmets. (2) Josh Beckett appears to be wearing everything but a noose. (3) Trevor Hoffman’s trophy room, complete with jerseys on the wall. … The guy in the center of this photo is a young Barack Obama, shown on the JV hoops team of his high school in 1977. Here’s another shot, from 1979. … Maybe the reason Carlos Zambrano took a swing at Michael Barrett the other day is that the “C” appliqué on Barrett’s helmet was peeling off, a uni transgression that might move anyone to violence. … Looks like Jorge Posada was wearing white-out on his nails on Friday night (good catch by Mike Foreman). … “Found this picture from this gallery of an American football (as opposed to soccer) team in Germany,” writes Tom Langan. “Note the team names (in English) on the backs of jereseys, what appears to be No. 57 memorial sticker, and some logos on the bottom of the jersey numbers, à la the EPL.” … Todd Burus and Chris Mahoney both note that Wily Mo Peña, who wears uni number 22, is wearing No. 26 wristbands — perhaps a holdover from his days with the Reds. Plus Burus adds that Manny has been wearing his skullcap backwards, with the MLB logo facing front. Not only that, but the Red Sox logo on the back is backwards, which means either he’s also wearing it inside-out (although it doesn’t look that way, because the backwards logo looks raised) or else it’s yet another quality-control issue. … Brinke Guthrie recently stopped in at McCovey’s Restaurant and snapped a buncha pics of the many jerseys on display. Check out his full slide show here. … Anyone know what Troy Glaus was wearing on his leg while running the bases in the 7th inning of last Monday’s Yanks/Jays game? David Chisholm says Glaus wasn’t wearing it while batting, but he apparently strapped it on once he reached base. … Interesting commentary here about how the Trail Blazers need to start fresh with new uniforms (with thanks to Aaron Wiens). … Latest volley in the discussion of the Orioles’ road uniforms can be found here (kudos to Zach Smith). … See that tiny white-ish smudge on the left edge of Terry Francona’s cap brim? You can’t tell from that photo (or from any other that I’ve been able to find), but on TV it clearly appears to be a small “11,” apparently a shout-out to former Sox player Doug Mientkiewicz, who was injured in that collision with Mike Lowell on Saturday night. … Looks like Johnny Damon picked up a first baseman’s mitt on the way to the ballpark last night (with thanks to Michael Basu). … Actual quote from Cincy pitcher Kyle Loshe, when told May 28th could be his day, since he wears No. 28 and the Reds were playing home game No. 28: “I hate my number. I’d rather be 21, 22 or 23.” (Nice find by Jeff Barak.) … Faaaaascinating reminiscence from Paul Hirsch, who writes: “When I was a ballboy for the 1974 Angels, we wore pants without belt loops. However, there was a pocket on the inside of the waistband where a belt could be snaked through, using a special plastic tool that guided the belt through. Not everyone used it, but it was available and it did help keep one’s pants up.” … John Moist reports that Saturday was Price Is Right Night in Fresno, with the Fresno Grizzlies wearing some truly bizarre jerseys. Additional pics here and here. … More minor league zaniness, this time from Matt Nelson, who notes that Memorial Day found the Binghamton Mets using red, white, and blue jersey insignia and bases.
June 4th, 2007
Last Tuesday I had a small Ticker item about how the old Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA used to put first intials. in addition to last names, on the back of every player’s uniform (as you can see in this video clip). That prompted an interesting reply from Bob Halfacre of AIS uniforms, who happens to have some very strong thoughts on the matter:
First initials on jerseys may be my greatest professional pet peeve. My disdain for them rivals your distaste for purple. I have always hated them and will fight clubs from placing them on their jerseys to the bitter end. Clubs that we provide lettering for who don’t use them include the Anahiem Ducks (Niedermayers) and the LA Kings. You also won’t see them on the Mets. To quote the great longtime equipment manger/traveling secretary Charlie Samuels [we're gonna have to agree to disagree on that assessment of Charlie. -- PL], “What the fuck are they wearing numbers for?” I couldn’t agree more. It eventually leads to one of players being out of the lineup or off the club and the other one sporting an initial for no reason.
A few specific experiences:
• The San Francisco Spiders of the old IHL had every player’s first initial on their jerseys. It was at the insistence of the owner’s wife.
• When Reggie Smith was with the Dodgers, he was adamant that his jersey have “R. Smith” on the back. He didn’t care if the Dodgers had another Smith or not.
• Tim Brown of the Oakland Raiders always wore “T. Brown” on the back of his jersey, whether or not the Raiders had another Brown. His first NFL jersey was that way and I think he was superstitious about it.
A specific instance that I remember is when Howard Johnson joined the Mets in 1985: His jersey read “H. Johnson,” but manager Davey Johnson just kept wearing “Johnson” — no initial — which I always interpreted to mean, “I’m the main Johnson around here.” (And please, let’s not have a slew of johnson jokes in the comments section.)
As for the “They’ve got uniform numbers, so why bother with the initial?” gripe, it’s fine as far as it goes, but it’s a bit of a straw man argument. If you take that line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, it becomes, “They’ve got uniform numbers, so why bother putting names on the jerseys in the first place?” I still haven’t heard a completely satisfying answer to that one.
Membership Update: Preparations continue for the launch of the Uni Watch membership program (if you missed the initial announcement, look here), including a new twist regarding the membership card: As I mentioned last week, you can choose your own uniform number for the back of the card, along with your choice of lettering styles for your name (vertically arched, radially arched, NFL-style, subscript [a new offering!], or no name at all). HOWEVER, if the Uni Watch colors aren’t good enough for you, you can instead choose to have your name and number rendered in the style of your favorite team (but we’ll remove the border and bunting around the edge, so the colors won’t clash). There are a few gaps in our typeface collection, but we can do most MLB, NFL, or NHL teams. Unfortunately, no NBA teams for now. And to nobody’s surprise, I will not permit anything involving the Vikings, Ravens, Rockies, or any other purple-inclusive team. Also, please don’t ask for minor league or old historical teams, since we don’t want to drive poor Scott Turner crazy as he prepares the cards.
Personally, I’m kinda hoping you’ll all choose to stick with the Uni Watch colors for your name and number (as I’ll be doing on my own card) — Uni Watch is our team here, after all. But at least now you have some additional options.
And if you want your name to include your initial, that’s okay with me. But we won’t tell Bob Halfacre about it.
Meanwhile, don’t forget that I’m raffling off a free membership as we speak. If you haven’t already done so, go ahead and send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (one per person, please), and I’ll announce the winner when the entire membership program is ready to go, which I hope will be within a few days. Be patient, people — it’s gonna be worth the wait, I promise. (Extra-special thanks to Ben Thoma, who whipped up the super-cool raffle ticket graphic.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: Cinematic report from Jared Peterson, who writes: “The Syracuse Athletic department has put up a gallery of pictures from the set of the upcoming Ernie Davis biopic, with 1959 Syracuse uniforms.” … Greg Evans reports that the Anderson Joes, whose logo was the subject of much discussion here last week, had their home debut over the weekend. Additional photos of their retro-style uniforms are available here. … Brilliant catch by Ferdinand Cesarano, who writes: “I was watching a little of the LSU/Stanford college softball game on ESPN on Saturday and noticed that LSU’s jerseys buttoned in the direction of men’s baseball jerseys [i.e. buttons on the right, buttonholes on the left], but Stanford’s jerseys buttoned the opposite way, like a women’s coat. I watch very little women’s softball, but it seems that most college softball jerseys that I’ve seen button in the same direction as men’s baseball jerseys.” … Rugby update from Caleb Borchers, as follows: “The American tradition of wearing patches to commemorate appearances in championship games is certainly preferable to what went on in rugby this weekend. The Bulls, who won the Super 14 final, wore this jersey. Note that to commemorate the occasion they added the verbose ‘Finaal Bulls v. Sharks Durban 19 MEI 2007.’ (I don’t believe that the Final of May are misspelled. Instead they are in Afrikaans, even though the Super 14 is a primarily English-speaking league.) They also have put each player’s first name on both the front and back of the jersey near the top, something they had not done all season.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Nice video report here on ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte and his special lefty/righty glove. … I loooooove this guy’s baseball uniform drawings. … Anthony Memme has come up with a rare sight: Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons in an actual jersey (instead of that annoying smock he usually wears)! … Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek notes that Fausto Carmona tends to leave the MLB hologram sticker on his underbill (additional pics here and here). … Also from Vince: Bernie Williams got an honorary degree from Iona College the other day, leading at least one graduate to wear the Yankees logo on his mortarboard. … “The Capitals signed and introduced 2006 No. 1 pick Nicklas Backstrom on Monday,” writes Michael Alper. “It’s interesting that they had him pose with the current jersey, since the Caps are introducing new ones in a few weeks. It’s also interesting (and pretty sad) that it was a cheap replica jersey, not even a game-issued or authentic one — note the CCM logo on the left sleeve. It’s also dumb that he posed in an empty locker room!” … Interesting documentation of game-used Roger Clemens jersey here — among other things, he likes to have the front shirttail tags removed (courtesy of Kevin Gee). … Tough to see in this screen grab (snapped by Tom Mowbray), but pitcher Winston Abreu was wearing shades during a night game yesterday. … My vote for the Miss Universe pageant is going to the Canadian entrant, Inga Skaya, for obvious reasons (with thanks to Nick Vossbrink). … The double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats wore a Manchester Police Dept. patch last night in honor of a slain officer, and are also retiring his badge number (with thanks to Eric Martin and Mike Hennessy). … Don Whelan notes that uniform designer and longtime Uni Watch pal Todd Radom designed this really nifty clock as part of a fundraiser for the American Institute of Graphic Arts (you can see the rest of the clocks here).
May 22nd, 2007
Do you ever get jealous of people who somehow score front-row seats right along the first- or third-base line? They get to reach down and scoop up foul grounders like low-hanging fruit, players and coaches flip additional balls to them, and they’re close enough to the action to see a stray thread on a player’s jersey. And most of them didn’t even pay for the tickets! Ah, but reader Jackie Grady justified her primo vantage point at Monday night’s Marlins/Dodgers game by documenting a classic uni-related gaffe. Here’s her report:
I was sitting in Section 1, Row AA. These seats are on the field, between the visitors’ dugout and the visitors’ bullpen. Of course, I brought my digital camera.
In the top of the 1st, I noticed that Brad Penny’s pants looked funny and it appeared that his fly was open. While hoisting up my camera, I exclaimed, “OH MY GOD, A UNI WATCH MOMENT!” My friend Lynne, who knows that I read your blog, said, “What is it?” I said, “Penny’s fly is open.” Laughter erupted in the seats around us as I began taking pictures. But it was tough to tell for sure, and questions began circulating about whether it was perhaps just some dirt. There was considerable discussion about whether the dirt was there from Penny, ahem, adjusting himself.
I continued to click away and someone from behind remarked about how I’d spent the entire inning focused on the pitcher’s crotch. My friend also snapped some pictures and inquired, “Would Uni Watch really call out the guy and expose to the world that his fly was down?” I gave a rather annoyed look when I responded, “Yes.”
After the inning, I began reviewing the pictures and was able to zoom in on the area in question, confirming that his fly was down. The camera was passed around and adults laughed like school kids. When Penny took the mound in the 2nd, the issue had been fixed.
Jackie later caught a foul ball, but I think you’ll agree that she more than earned it with her ace camera work. Penny, meanwhile, joins the likes of Ray King, Chris Cooley, Anquan Boldin, and Marcus McNeill in the Uni Watch XYZ Gallery.
Uni Watch News Ticker: “I went to the Cardinals game tonight, and Anthony Reyes was selected to catch the first pitch,” writes Tyler Kulasza. “Apparently he does not show the stirrups for games that he is not scheduled to start.” … Nice striped stirrups being worn by the Sam Houston baseball team (with thanks to Glenn Stern). … Not sure if we’ve covered this before, but just in case: Interesting shot here of Paul Shmyr captaining the 1978-79 Oilers while wearing a “K” instead of a “C” (as spotted by Jacob Bestebroer). … Great little video survey of Padres uni history here (with thanks to Mat Strauss). … Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek notes that Don King was wearing a Rangers jersey the other day. … Vince also reports that all sorts of stuff from MLB’s recent Civil Rights Game is being auctioned off. … More trademark litigation (as forwarded by Bob Jordan). … Speaking of litigation, New York City’s ban on aluminum bats is being challenged in court. … “The new font on the back of the 2007-08 English Premier League jerseys found here,” writes Dominic Litten. “If you look at the previous font, you’ll notice that the lion in the EPL logo at the bottom of the number is different as well. That’s because the EPL has changed their logo from this to this. Details, details, details.” … Someone on the Chris Creamer boards posted this fascinating backgrounder on how the Royals’ logo was developed. … Mets reliever Joe Smith has a series of uni-related rituals (with thanks to Dan Herr). … Nick Bell notes that Peter King’s latest column includes the following tidbit: “A rookie free-agent named Xzavie Jackson is in camp with the Bengals, trying to make the team as a reserve defensive lineman. That’s notable because there never has been a player in the history of American professional sports whose first or last name began with the letters ‘xz.’ ” Bell adds the following: “Because the Bengals already have Dexter Jackson, who will almost certainly stay on the team, Xzavie Jackson will get an ‘X’ on the back of his jersey if he makes the roster.” … Nike’s latest brainstorm: matching 99-cent store outfits for doubles partners Rafael Nadal and Carolos Moya at the Rome Masters. And don’t forget the matching Capri pants (with thanks to Todd Krevanchi). … Reprinted from Monday’s and Tuesday’s comments:Michigan and Michigan State wore pink softball uniforms the other day, and even the umpires got into the act. Additional pics here, here, here, here, here, and further details here and here. … Looks like the Bucs have new practice jerseys (as spotted by Rob Montoya). … “I noticed Dee Brown of the Utah Jazz uses an orange mouthguard,” writes David Arnott. “That suggests it’s the same one he used at the University of Illinois.” … Interesting query from Dan Bauso, who writes: “A while back I tuned in to ESPN Classic and watched a rerun of NFL Game of the Week, the old recap series starring Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier. This particular episode was 1969, Week 13. That week, Joe Namath and the Jets played in Houston against the Oilers. The announcers made no mention of it, but Namath clearly wore an all-white jersey with a green ‘12′ on it. It had no side piping/stripes, as was present on the rest of the Jets’ jerseys.” Anyone know more about this? … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Looks like I’m not the only one who gets a bit obsessive about socks.
May 9th, 2007
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