Saturday Open Thread
(AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)
Manny’s baggy pants have reeeeeaaaaaally gotten out of hand. Meanwhile: No more snood!
95 comments March 31st, 2007
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Archive for March, 2007
Uni Watch Profile: Stefan Fatsis
(Photo: Andrew Mason/Denverbroncos.com) In 1963, the writer George Plimpton (known to the younger ones among you as “that guy who keeps saying, ‘And a hot plate!’ during the spelling bee episode of The Simpsons) worked out with the Detroit Lions during their training camp. This experiment became the basis for his book Paper Lion, which was later made into a movie. More than 40 years later, writer Stefan Fatsis (who covers sports for the Wall Street Journal, and also authored the definitive book about Scrabble, Word Freak) tried something similar: Last summer he worked out with the Denver Broncos as a placekicker in their minicamps and training camp. His book on the experience, tentatively entitled A Few Seconds of Panic, is slated to come out in the fall of 2008. Stefan (who turns 44 this Sunday, continuing our recent birthday theme) is a longtime Uni Watch supporter, and I figured his little adventure might have entailed some interesting uni-related tidbits, so I gave him a call the other day to get the scoop. Uni Watch: So how’d you decide on this particular concept for a book? Stefan Fatsis: I needed something new to write about. It took two years to figure out what to do after Word Freak — I tried out a lot of ideas. And one day I was thinking, “It’s been 40 years since Paper Lion. I wonder (a) if the NFL will let me do it, and (b) if my editor and readers would be interested.” UW: Did you have any placekicking experience? Like, did you do it in high school? SF: No. I played soccer in high school, and as an adult. But I’d never learned how to kick a football. And I probably hadn’t actually kicked one since high school. UW: And when you were coming up with this Paper Lion-esque idea, were you intending right from the start that you’d be a placekicker, or did you just think it’d be cool to work out with the team in any capacity? SF: Y’know, I’m five-foot-eight, and when I started the book I weighed about 155 pounds, so placekicker was kind of the default. I actually thought about other sports, but I ultimately came to the conclusion that there was nothing else where an armchair weekend athlete, approaching middle age, with no college experience, could walk out on a field and not be completely humiliated. What else could I do, except maybe golf? Kicking was the one thing where I could be at least vaguely competent. UW: So how did you set it up? Did you approach the NFL? SF: Yes. They said, “If you can find a team to do it, go ahead.” It took me well over a year to find a team. UW: How many teams did you approach? SF: I initially approached the teams near where I live, which is Washington, DC. And I thought I had an agreement with one of them. But after the 2005 season, their plans changed, and that didn’t work out. So it was back to the drawing board. UW: So then what? SF: I used my contacts as a sports reporter. I called owners, GMs, and so on. And over the course of several months I finally got to Pat Bowlen, the owner of the Broncos. Most of the other people I’d contacted had said, “It’ll be a distraction, and it won’t help us win the Super Bowl.” But Bowlen’s response was, “That’s a pretty cool idea. Let me talk to Mike Shanahan and see if he’ll go for it.” UW: And when was that? SF: About a year ago — early last March. And then, about a month later, Shanahan gave his OK. So the plan was for me to come to the first minicamp in early June. And if it went well, I’d go to the next minicamp, and then training camp. And it went fine, and they invited me back for the whole summer — two minicamps plus the full camp. UW: When you realized you’d be training with the Broncos, did you think to yourself, “Oh good, the thin air will help my distance”? SF: In an ironic way, maybe. In reality, it doesn’t really help you much on 30-yard kicks. UW: We’ll get to the uniform stuff in a sec, but here’s something I’ve been wondering: What did the “real kickers” think of you? SF: Depends on which ones you mean. UW: Well, what did Jason Elam think of you? SF: Jason was great. He’s a terrific guy — he was helpful, he was funny, he was generous with his time. UW: And of course he’s got the team made, so he can afford to be all of those things. SF: Yeah, he’s a grown-up. But there were other kickers, too – UW: Right, you’ve got guys who are actually fighting for a job. And here you are, sort of making light of the whole thing. SF: Nobody really minded. Everybody was totally into the idea — they liked having me around, they thought it was funny. And some of the guys were incredibly generous with their time. There was one punter who didn’t make the team, and he’d routinely hang out with me for half an hour after practice, just working on technique to make me a better kicker. UW: Were you coachable? SF: Yeah, I was coachable. I first had the idea for the book in 2005, so I had spent a year with a personal trainer, getting into shape. I put on 10 to 15 pounds. I found a kicking coach who worked with me. So I went out there knowing some of the principles. I had a pretty good grounding in the basics of kicking. The problem is, as with any specialized skill — and kicking is one of the most specialized skills in all of sports — you need tens of thousands of repetitions to get the technique and muscle memory so that you don’t have to keep thinking how to do it. And I was thinking about how to do it the whole time. I’m not gonna tell you how well or poorly I did, because, well, you’ll have to read the book. UW: Can you tell me your longest field goal? SF: My longest was over 40. UW: Really? That’s pretty good! What had your longest been when you went into camp? SF: About the same. It’s hard to tell, because a lot of my practice was done on a baseball field. I think in the end — and the players would probably laugh if they heard me say this — I felt comfortable from inside 30, I felt OK between 30 and 35, and anything over 35 was a function of whether my groin was sore, or my hip flexor was killing me, or I had any confidence left. It was much more of a crapshoot. UW: OK, now let’s talk uniforms and equipment. What kind of helmet did you have? SF: Hold on, let me check… UW: Do you actually have it right there? SF: They sent me a helmet after I left, but it’s not my helmet. They ended up keeping and recycling the one I used, which I’m actually pissed off about. I’m gonna try to get it back. UW: I assume it was a Riddell. SF: Yeah. Basically, during my first day of minicamp, the very first thing they did was escort me into the equipment room. And the first guy I spent any serious time with was the Broncos’ equipment manager, Chris Valenti. He was great. Frankly, it was pretty simple — you have this image that the fitting process will be more complicated than it ended up being. Chris literally had a tape measure, and he measured my head. Then he went and got a plain helmet — no facemask, no decals, right out of the box — and had me try it on. And then it’s a question of fit. As you know, these helmets are fitted with air bladders. Chris would feel the snugness, and then he’d fill it up and check the fit. UW: Cool. SF: Then he gave me a tour of all the different helmets, and explained why the players avoid the Riddell Revolution – UW: Yeah, that was my next question, whether you wore a Revolution. SF: I tried on a Revolution. But I figured I was gonna take enough abuse as it was. And I was never gonna get hit, I hoped. UW: So you didn’t wanna look extra-dorky. SF: Yeah. And I’m already tiny — the last thing I needed was to have a helmet that looked like it was the size of the Goodyear blimp. UW: Did they also measure you for everything else at that time — pads, pants, and so on? SF: There are no pants in minicamp. As for the other things, the NFL equipment managers have done this so many times, they can just look at you and guess. They actually guessed too small on pants for me — they gave me 34, and I need 36, y’know, cuz I’ve got huge kicker legs. UW: Of course. What about your facemask? SF: I requested a single-bar, but they refused to give me one. I ended up with a Schutt RKOP — that stands for “reinforced kicker oral protection.” It’s a kicker’s facemask. Low drop, high visibility. I really wanted the single-bar, and they had a couple of them, but Chris was afraid that if I wore it, another kicker would want it. It was really disappointing — I was crushed. I begged. But he wouldn’t do it. UW: What about shoulder pads? SF: Again, he pretty much eyeballed me and asked if I wanted large or extra-large. And for the jersey, it’s pretty much one size for the lower-numbered players. UW: What was your uniform number? SF: I wore 9. UW: And did you request that? SF: I had a choice of 8 or 9. Everything else was taken. UW: Did you check to see who had been the previous Bronco to wear No. 9? SF: I did, and it was David Treadwell — another kicker. In fact, he’s the only Bronco ever to have worn No. 9. UW: Well, except that lots of guys like you might have worn it in training camp. SF: That’s true. UW: Any interesting or surprising uniform- or equipment-related revelations? SF: The socks. I never felt totally comfortable with the socks. In the NFL you have two choices: There’s a thick sock and a sort of sanitary sock, and there was nothing in between. A lot of kickers — and other players too, but especially kickers — will wear their own socks, to get their own comfortable fit. And then for games, many of the players — including me, because I dressed for preseason games – UW: You did? SF: Yes, they let me dress, and I got to get on the field during pregame warm-ups. But anyway, for games you’ll wear the shell that runs from the top of the shoe up to the calf, or higher, especially for wide receivers and defensive backs, who as you well know like to keep their pants up above their knees. UW: So what did you end up wearing? SF: I got used to wearing a thicker NFL-regulation base sock, which went all the way up to my knees. UW: So basically a tube sock. SF: Yeah. And then for games I would slip the shell on over that. UW: Which is a sleeve, basically, or a leg-warmer. SF: Right. You have the choice of actually getting the full sock with the team colors, but I chose to go with the base sock and the sleeve. Because y’know, I’m a kicker — sensitivity, what you’re used to, and so on, these are all sensitive issues. Jason [Elam] wore two pairs of socks, which I thought was interesting, because what you usually hear is that, as a kicker, you want to get your foot as close to ball as possible. UW: So he’s actually building a barrier of sorts. Was that just about cushioning? SF: I think it was just comfort. I think for most kickers, it’s what you’re used to. Jason’s been doing this since high school, so he does what makes him feel comfortable. During practice, when most guys had their practice shorts hanging down below their knees, because it’s cool, Jason’s shorts were above his knees, so he had no intrusion or impediment when he was kicking. But that was just him — the other kickers had the longer shorts. Jason was sort of the John Stockton of the kickers. UW: Now, the Broncos wear white shoes, but kickers often wear black shoes anyway, even on white-shod teams. What did you do? SF: Well, I had a Reebok contract. UW [incredulous]: Really? SF [laughing]: I did. UW: You scored an endorsement contract just for the book? SF: I did. They didn’t pay me anything, obviously, but they sent me kicking shoes, training shoes, and shower shoes. UW: So did you go with white or black, for kicking? SF: Oh, black. But the ones Reebok sent me were way too small, so I ended up using a pair of Adidas Copa Mundials, which have very thin leather and are great — a lot of NFL kickers had worn them for years. So for the purposes of the story and the book, I wanted to see what it was like to get a shoe deal, but I ended up telling the Reebok rep that just on the basis of comfort, I had to go back to the Adidas. UW: So why did you choose black — because that’s what kickers wear? SF: Actually, Jason wears white. But I’ve always had a problem with white shoes. When I see a World Cup soccer team wearing white shoes, I think they’re gonna lose — they’re just something psychological about it. It might have something to do with having grown up in the ’70s and Charley Finley and the A’s — the dawn of the garish white shoe. It just never sat well with me. It’s like there’s something imprinted on my brain that says, “Your footwear should be black.” UW: Now, when you suited up for the preseason games, did you insert the thigh and knee pads into your pants? SF: Oh, no. I was like everybody else on the team. UW: Meaning, no pads. SF: No pads. We’ve talked about that before [Stefan wrote a great article two winters ago about how more and more NFL players are going without pants pads. -- PL]. And the reality was, I wasn’t going to get hit. UW: Right. But I was wondering if you wanted, y’know, the sort of gladiator feel of putting on the armor. SF: Kickers don’t want armor — they go padless. I understand it with kickers. I don’t really understand it with other players. Like, is this pad the size of a coaster really going to be an impediment to your 250-pound frame? But because I wasn’t a “real” player, the pockets were still in my pants — they hadn’t been removed. UW: Your pants had pockets? SF: To insert the pads. UW: Oh, the inner pockets. SF: Right. And most players will have those removed, if they’re not wearing the pads. I didn’t feel I was in a position to ask for the pockets to be removed from my pants — particularly given that the Broncos didn’t practice much in pads. UW: Did you wear the little Broncos logo sleeve over your belt buckle? SF: Um… It was built in, yeah, so I did slide it over. Yes, my memory is that I did. UW: What kind of shoulder pads did you have? SF: I didn’t have completely tiny shoulder pads. Had I been a real player, I would have done what most kickers do — and what many other players do, frankly — which is to cut out the lower pad. There’s the larger top pad and then the smaller pad that goes against your shoulder, and they’ll usually cut that out. The equipment managers hate that, but they will doctor the pads to make them as small as possible. UW: Any interesting quirks you noticed among other players? Like you’re sitting at your locker and you look across the room and you see someone doing something you’ve never seen before, like doctoring his equipment a certain way? SF: Huh. Hmmmm, let me think about that for a second. Y’know, I’d have to go through all my notes. But off the top of my head, no. UW: Now, obviously, for these preseason games you had a real jersey with a real nameplate. SF: Yes. UW: Had you ever worn a jersey with your name on it before? SF: No. UW: And, at the risk of bringing up a sensitive subject, you have a rather unusual last name. SF: Yes. UW: So while you were standing on the sidelines or whatever, did people call out your name? SF: Usually fans yell out your number, but I did hear my name a few times, yeah. UW: And were these derisive shouts, or shouts of encouragement? SF: I think people figured out pretty quickly that I wasn’t, y’know — I mean, I wasn’t listed on the roster, so fans coming to training camp for the first week were like, “Who’s No. 9? Who’s that little guy? Why’s he out there? And he’s not very good — what’s going on?” And then word kind of filtered through the regulars that I was a writer and why I was there. And once they figured that out, I had a fan club, which was really cool. The regulars were totally on my side and would always shout encouragement, and I signed autographs — it was very cool. UW: Anything else? SF: You know, the thing that surprised me the most was how unobtrusive the uniform felt, particularly the shoulder pads. I mean, I hadn’t worn shoulder pads since I was 11 years old, but it didn’t feel as cumbersome as I thought it would. UW: What about the helmet? SF: That was harder to get used to. It weighs a lot, at least compared to what’s usually on your head, and you sweat. And if you haven’t spent your whole life doing it, it’s a weird sensation. But it does provide a degree of anonymity, which I found very comforting at times, believe me. UW: Before this all happened, did you have strong feelings about the Broncos, either positively or negatively? SF: No. They were just part of the pack. My strongest feelings about them, actually, were regarding the uniform. UW: Well, that was my next question, since their uniform is among the more unusual ones. SF: Yeah. I like them. I thought the old static “D” logo was kind of dull, and very dated. I remember the feeling when the new uniforms were introduced, like the team have been Nike’d, with the giant swooshes running up the sides of the uniform, but I feel like that’s been mitigated now that the league is all Reebok now. UW: And of course you, as a kicker, you were never in a three-point stance. SF: Right! So it didn’t feel quite as obvious anymore. And because of the way they’ve modified the uniforms, because they’re not Nike anymore, so I think you don’t get the sense that they’re just 11 giant swooshes running down the field. UW: Wait, how have they modified them? SF: Haven’t they? The stripes don’t feel as hook-y as they did. UW: I don’t think they’ve changed at all. And I actually think it’s more insidious now that Reebok is the supplier, because they’re stuck manufacturing a design that’s basically a giant ad for their biggest rival. SF: Are you sure? They didn’t change the design at all? UW: I’m pretty sure, yeah. SF: Hmmm, I was never really conscious of it. Maybe we’re just used to it now. But I guess it is kind of weird, now that you put it that way. UW: Did you get any good stories from the equipment managers? SF: What sorts of stories? UW: I don’t know — just hanging around, watching them, talking with them. Like, did they have a sewing machine to do on-the-spot tailoring alterations? SF: Oh, yeah, definitely. The equipment operation was truly amazing to me. Just the breadth of stuff available — it’s incredible. UW: Like a single-bar facemask. SF: Yeah, that they still had a few of those gathering dust at the top of a shelf. I mean, these guys are the ultimate service people. When you think about it, the diversity of equipment is so much greater in football than it is in basketball or baseball. Hockey’s probably the only sport that compares. But the equipment guys, their preparation level and how they cater to the players is just phenomenal. I mean, these dudes work just unbelievable hours. They’re the ones that are loading the trucks, unloading them. When you’re a player and you get to the stadium, everything’s waiting for you — your bag is unpacked, your helmet is hanging up, your pads, your jerseys, everything is perfect. These guys are the unsung heroes when it comes to taking care of the players. ====== Indeed they are — gotta get one of them for this interview series, instead of pantywaist journalists acting out their midlife crises on the gridiron…. Oops, just speaking hypothetically there, Stefan. Big thanks for the interview and the insights, and don’t stray too far from the phone — everyone knows placekickers don’t stay unemployed for long. Uni Watch News Ticker: Meant to post this yesterday: Todd Krevanchi reports that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs have unveiled their new logo. Uniforms to follow, but the team name and logo are so good, I’m inclined to give them a free pass even if the uniforms suck. … Jason Norris was recently in Amsterdam, where he toured the Ajax museum (that’s the Amsterdam soccer team). “They had a case devoted to all of the ‘kits’ that Ajax has worn over the years,” he writes. “They’ve kept the basic red and white throughout their existence, only changing once from the candy striper look to the single vertical red stripe. And when it came time for them to put a sponsor’s logo on the jersey, I think they kept it clean and classy.” … Rare American uni update from Jeremy Brahm: “My home team, the Portland Trail Blazers, just announced that Kevin Pritchard would be their new GM. Here’s a photo of Pritchard getting a jersey with his name on it from Paul Allen, the owner. He is not going to wear this jersey ever, it just looks weird. Maybe they need to give him some office keys or something.” … Hall of Fame researcher and longtime Uni Watch pal Tom Shieber has come up with two additional pics of a cap with built-in flip-up sunglasses — look here and here. … Back in mid-February I linked to this Q&A page, in which it was revealed that Dodgers reliever Takashi Saito wears toe socks (for details, scroll down to the question asked by “bluebleeder1977,” midway down the page). Turns out Dice-K wears them, too — for more info, look at the third paragraph of this page (alertly spotted by Paul Beaulieu). … “I was at the Arizona vs. Arizona State baseball game Wednesday night and noticed that the shortstop for ASU was wearing green sleeves under his sleeveless grey road uniform,” writes Dan Pritchard. “None of the other ASU players had this undershirt. Very odd.” I’m pretty sure the green sleeves are a holdover from ASU’s St. Paddy’s Day game, but that still doesn’t explain why the shortstop was wearing them. … Teams in the NBA’s D-League will wear the uniforms of the NBA affiliate teams during a 13-day promo period. Details here. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: According to a small item on this page, “Andruw [Jones] took batting practice wearing a jersey with ‘Dos Cinco’ instead of his name above his No. 25″ last night. … Also from yesterday’s comments: Check out the “Captain” sock (or maybe it’s just a “Captain” armband being worn on the calf). … My deepest sympathies to all in the Granite State (especially Frank Marhefka, who brought this sad news to my attention). 128 comments March 30th, 2007
Gimme Fives
We all know about the Negro Leagues. But what you might not know about — or at least I didn’t until reader Jordan Woodson recently brought it to my attention, although it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that everyone else was already clued in — is the Black Fives, a term that loosely and collectively refers to early all-black basketball teams between 1900 and 1940. We don’t think too much about how basketball was segregated in those days, in part because even white basketball leagues were pretty ragtag and small-time back then (and maybe in part, let’s be honest, because the game is so overwhelmingly black today), but now a company called Black Fives is documenting and celebrating — which means, of course, merchandising — the history of this overlooked chapter in sports history. And man, they’ve got some awesome logos and uni designs to work with. It makes for some really nice merch, much of which the company has produced in partnership with Nike. I love the two-tone design here, the classicism here, and the simplicity here and here (”IPC” stood for — get this — Independent Pleasure Club, a team that wore some killer accessories). They’ve got some nice long-sleevers and jackets, too. They even appear to have made a T-shirt just for me. The only thing I don’t get: the line of “retro” footwear that Nike created to go along with the apparel. I mean, what exactly is retro about this? Okay, I can see they tried a little harder here, but you don’t have to hate the swoosh as much as I do to say that it just doesn’t work for a collection that’s supposed to evoke the 1920s. Kinda feels like they were doing all the shirts and jackets and just said, “Let’s do a sneaker line too, because we can.” An unfortunate lurch onto the wrong side of the “Is it good or is it stupid?” divide. While writing this entry yesterday, I sent a note to Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner, who I figured would know a lot more about Black Fives than I did. And sure enough, just before I went to bed last night, he sent this:
Now, keep in mind that Scott actually works in the throwback uniform industry. This means his opinions are pretty authoritative, but it also means his standards may be a bit tougher than everyone else’s. Personally, I’m really disappointed to hear that Black Fives uses synthetic fabric, and I did notice that the size availability runs heavily toward the XXXL end of the spectrum, but I almost never buy throwback apparel anyway, so none of that is a make-or-break issue for me. For now, I’m happy to have learned a bit more about a historical juncture that I hadn’t known much about. Uni Watch News Ticker: An inside source reports that this will be the Bengals’ 40th-anniversary logo (which, among other things, indicates that teams still can’t grasp the difference between a 40th anniversary and 40th season — but then that’s nothing new for this particular team). … This book looks worthwhile (as spotted by Eric Stangel). … Third paragraph of this page confirms that the Washginton Capitals will definitely be switching to red, white, and blue next season. … Reprinted from Monday’s comments: The annual spring training story about the utility guy with a shitload of gloves. … P.J. Mallardi notes that Tennessee’s men and women are both wearing VOLScholar patches (awarded to players who achieved a 3.0 GPA the previous semester). … Jeremy Brahm appears to have found a photo of the world’s longest bat. … Also from Jeremy: Lots of interesting tidbits from the Japanese Invitational High School Tournament, including low-rider sock stripes, pink socks, a very messed-up uni number (Update: See today’s comment #21 for lots more info on this), a catcher who’s somehow keeping his mask in his back pocket, serious brim foldage, and a macron (that’s the overbar above the O). The trickiest one for me is this one — love the stripes, hate the color scheme. … Fascinating article here about Joe Rogers, a college hockey goalie who wears a special catching mitt because the fingers on his right hand didn’t grow properly. … And then there’s the other end of that spectrum. … Wise guy. … Ria Cortesio, a female ump who works in the minors, will work tomorrow’s Cubs/Dbacks game (making her the first woman to ump a spring training game since Pam Postema). According to this article, Cortesio originally wore No. 5, because she was professional baseball’s fifth female ump, but more recently she’s worn No. 15. 113 comments March 28th, 2007
PING… Ping… ping… [THUD]
[Editor's Note: Just learned that this week's ESPN column, which was originally slated to run on Thursday, is instead running today -- here's the link. Meanwhile, today's blog entry is written by Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek.] I recently came across this photo of a House of David baseball team from 1933. Nothing completely unusual, except for the fact that the caption claims that the team is shown receiving one of the first aluminum bats ever made from members of the Aluminum Corporation of America (ALCOA). The date, 1933, surprised me (and also surprised resident Uni Watch old fogey and aluminum specialist Robert Grzegorek, my father, who has worked at the ALCOA plant in Cleveland for over 25 years). I’d always been under the impression that aluminum bats had a much shorter and more recent history, starting sometime around the late 1960s. Some initial research revealed that the first patent for a metal bat was given to William Shroyer in 1924, so it’s not inconceivable that a primitive version of such a bat would have been made nine years later. Then again, all historical evidence points to the fact that aluminum bats didn’t make an appearance until sometime around 1970, when Hillerich & Bradsby contracted with ALCOA to produce them, or when Worth first made a solid aluminum bat for Llittle League play. The intriguing gap between the supposed aluminum bat in the House of David picture in 1933 and the rest of the historical begged for further investigation. Perhaps there was a whole cache of evidence — 40 years’ worth — waiting to be unearthed in a file cabinet or photo collection somewhere. Donning my Sam Spade hat, I decided the best place to begin the investigation was with Joel Hawkins, co-author of The House of David Baseball Team, the book where the 1933 photo and caption are taken from. I sent Mr. Hawkins a short note asking about the origin of the photo and story, and received the following disheartening response:
Unfortunately, a new chapter in the history of aluminum bats will not be written. But at least an old chapter will be rewritten correctly. Tangential Bonus Material: On Joel Hawkins’s House of David research site, he includes a link to a uniform gallery. Highlights include: Awesome circular style lettering from 1916 (closer view here), and jerseys with the “H” and “D” superimposed on an “I.” Not only that, but he shows how you can differentiate between authentic House of David baseball teams and impostor versions based on uniforms. Real. Real. Fake. Among the House of David’s many other baseball contributions: early night baseball, donkey baseball, and the pepper game. Want to read all about how aluminum is made into aluminum bats? Check out this helpful article. Meanwhile, there’s a backlash against aluminum bats these days, because they supposedly lead to harder, faster line drives that can injure or even kill a pitcher before he has time to react. Many leagues and municipalities are moving to ban them, most recently New York City Council. Bowie’s Greatest Hits, Track Number 1 – “TVC 17″: Former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn recently passed away. Unsurprisingly, most of the obituaries failed to mention his role in a pair of classic uni-related tales, both involving Braves owner Ted Turner. In 1976, Turner had many of the Braves wear nicknames, instead of their surnames, on the backs of their jerseys. Ralph Garr wore “Roadrunner,” Joe Neikro wore “Knucksie,” Jimmy Wynn wore “Cannon,” and so on. The wild card was pitcher Andy Messersmith, who wore uniform No. 17 — Turner had him wear a “Channel” nameplate, thereby creating a walking billboard for Turner’s television station. Kuhn was not amused, and eventually the Braves simply used “Andy” on the back of Messersmith’s jersey. A year later, Turner gave manager Dave Bristol a “vacation,” appointed himself manager, suited up in uniform, and moved from the owner’s box to the dugout. Kuhn, once again, was not amused, and Turner’s managerial stint was terminated after one game (full details here). He remains the last MLB owner to wear a uniform in an official capacity. Vince’s Uni Watch News Ticker: After Scot Pollard’s “Do Drugs” faux pas, maybe parents should be wary of letting their children imitate his hair styles. … DJ Strawberry, the son of Darryl Strawberry, had his initials and uniform number cut into his hair earlier this month. … Spring training isn’t just for the pros. … Are those bath towels being used in the Baltimore dugout? … Nicole Woody wore a neon green headpiece/hairnet while competing against the boys in Maryland’s state wrestling competition this month. … Think Bermuda’s Dwayne Leverock needs a special tailor for this uniform? … After the Florida Gators gave President Bush a commemorative jersey during their recent visit to the White House, www.sportsnet.ca quipped, “The No. 43 Florida Gators jersey for U.S. President George Bush is symbolic of: A) Bush being the 43rd President; B) the number of times Bush has mispronounced the word ‘nuclear’; C) the number of votes Bush actually received in Florida.” … Most MLB players have their names on their gloves, but Milton Bradley has his initials (his middle name is “Obelle”). … Calvin Brock from the Illinois Fighting Illini seems to be missing an apostrophe in his tattoo. 114 comments March 27th, 2007
Just Don’t Ask El Duque, ‘How Old Are You Now?’
I like birthdays. I think it’s cool that we each get a day that belongs to us, a day when the rest of the world owes us right of way. My own birthday was last week, and I threw myself a big party, like I do every year. At various points during the festivities, I looked around the room, saw all the completely amazing people I’m fortunate enough to know, and felt like a really lucky guy. And that’s a great way to feel on your birthday (even if nobody gives you a cool uniform-based cake like the one shown above, or like this one). I wasn’t thinking about any of that when I got ready to choose the winner of the Tracy McGrady All-Star jersey raffle. I just did what I always do: I tallied the number of entries, fed that figure into the random number generator at Random.org, and used that number to determine the winner based on the numerical order in which the entries were received. The name I came up with was Joseph Sandora. When checking his original entry to get his shipping address (which he didn’t provide — yo, Joseph, where should I send the jersey?), I saw that he’d included a note, which read as follows: “Will it help any if I said you were announcing the raffle winner on my birthday (March 26)?” Yes, apparently it’ll help quite a bit. I mean, seriously, how cool is that? Even those of you who didn’t win should be able to be happy for Joseph, whose birthday is off to a very good start. My suggestion: Go buy some lottery tickets right now, Joe — the birthday gods are definitely with you. Big thanks to all who entered. And there’s more where that came from: Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek will announce the winner of our latest Distant Replays gift card contest after the NCAA tourney champ is crowned, and then I’ll have another jersey giveaway — this one for free, no ticket purchase required — the week after that. Support Our Sponsors: As most of you have probably noticed, we have a new advertiser, CollegeJersey.com — check out their cool stuff. Doubleplusthanks to the good people at Distant Replays, who pushed the CollegeJersey.com crew in our direction. When your advertisers are recruiting new advertisers, you’re living a very charmed life. Uni Watch News Ticker: According to a small item at the bottom of this article, the Washington Huskies “will don retro uniforms honoring the team that beat top-ranked Minnesota in the 1961 Rose Bowl” (as spotted by Brian Terreson). … A Maryland high school is wearing throwback baseball uniforms, complete with some pretty rad hosiery (with thanks to Ben Penserga). … Nice bit here about Anibal Sanchez’s underbill inscription (with thanks to David Conley). … That’s Dwight Eisenhower, top row, second from the right (good catch by Jacob Reed). … Michael Orr, who tipped me off to the Alaska photos that I showcased on Friday, notes that the dog teams in the Iditarod wear little paw booties. … Frequent comments section contributor Teebz has created a dynamite historical roundup of NHL jersey patches for his blog. The team-by-team breakdown is presented in three parts, which you can find here, here, and here. … Really stupid critique of women’s hoops uniforms here (as spotted by Paul Hirsch). … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Barry Zito warming up while wearing a watch. … Jeremy Brahm notes that infielder Hirotoshi Kitagawa of the Orix Buffaloes has a disconcertingly white glove. … Meanwhile, Norihiro Nakamura, who’d previously been saddled with uni No. 205, is now down to a more “respectable” No. 99. … And Hidenori Itoh of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows may make the team with No. 105. … Not so bad after all. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Latest Dodger to wear a regular game cap with colored-in side panels is Randy Wolf (compare his cap to the real BP caps). … Also from yesterday: Really great article here about teams that wear orange. … Ryan Howard’s blue striped shoes experiment didn’t last long. … Latest NBA team to do the Noche Latina thing: the Lakers, who wore Latin American flags and a jersey patch last night (additional views here, here, here, and, rather bizarrely, here, here, here, and here). … I’ll be out of the house for most of today (lots of errands and a dental appointment — ugh), so talk amongst yourselves. 111 comments March 26th, 2007
Sunday Open Thread
It’s bad enough for rough, tough rugby player to wear pink. It’s even worse to wear pink while you’ve got the word “Orange” emblazoned on your chest. 94 comments March 25th, 2007
Saturday Open Thread
Looks like Jason Cromer was wearing his stirrups backwards (higher opening in the front, instead of in the back) yesterday. 42 comments March 24th, 2007
The Last Frontier
I’ve occasionally linked to photos of MLBers who played minor league ball in Alaska. There’s a certain novelty to these shots, but it’s based purely on distance — like, “Whoa, Alaska sure is far away! And lookie, they actually have baseball teams!!” Now reader Michael Orr has turned up something a lot more interesting: a University of Alaska archive of baseball photos from the early 1900s. Yes, I’ve linked to lots of old historical pics in recent months, but these are different, because they reflect a sense of place not often seen in early sports photos. Remember, Alaska didn’t even become a state until 1959. In the early 1900s, it was still a pretty ragtag assortment of loggers, prospectors, miners, land speculators, and a lot of wilderness, and you can really get a feel for that in these photographs. Some of them look like they were taken in a labor camp; in others, the game is overwhelmed by the forest and mountains in the background. A few specifics worth noting: • See that “Midnight Sun” insignia? According to the photo’s caption, “The Six Mile team played the Ladd Field team and the winning team played the winning team of Fairbanks in a midnight game on the longest day of the year.” Only in Alaska, kids. • The Six Mile team appears to have been wearing football jerseys in this shot. In other shots, that big sculpture/symbol thingie in the background showed up as their jersey logo. • Dig the moose head insignia on this 1930 team. • According to the inscription at the bottom of this photo, this team played “indoor baseball.” Anyone know anything about that? • Although it’s not uni-related, I love this grandstand photo, which really provides a sense of how small-time these games were. • Good assortment of uniform styles on display here, here, here, and here. • There was football in Alaska, too. This shot was taken in 1940. Last Chance Raffle Reminder: The raffle for the authentic Tracy McGrady All-Star Game jersey will close today at 5pm eastern. Ticket sales have picked up a bit, but it’s still a relatively small pool at the moment. One last time: $3 for one virtual raffle ticket, or two for $5, five for $10, a dozen for $20, or fifty for $50. PayPal your ticket purchases to me at paul_lukas at earthlink dot net (or, if you don’t like PayPal, mail payment to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217 and e-mail me so I know it’s on the way). I’ll announce the winner on Monday. Uni Watch News Ticker: Craig Biggio has been told to stop wearing his Sunshine Kids cap pin during batting practice, which seems like a really idiotic PR move by MLB. I’ve written something about this for ESPN today — look here. … Soccer news from Dominic Litten, who reports that Liverpool and Arsenal have unveiled their 2007-08 away kits. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Gilbert Arenas was wearing some bizarro footwear on Wednesday night, plus he took off his jersey and placed it on the court as officials reviewed the status of his buzzer beater. … You know how you’ll sometimes see an MLB player wearing a clip-on mic during a nationally televised game? Expect to see umpires wearing the microphones this season, thanks to a new arrangement with the umps’ union. … Stewart Small notes that they have some pretty weird ideas about basketball uniforms in Korea. … I have a feeling I’ve linked to this before, but just in case: Here are some really bad soccer jerseys (as spotted by Robert Neddermeyer). … An inside source whispers that the NBA’s D-league will soon be test-driving “a new jersey style that will feature a lighter-weight material, fewer seams, and a more athletic fit.” 136 comments March 23rd, 2007
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