|
|
Archive for May, 2007
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to announce that the Uni Watch membership program is officially open for business.
Thanks for your patience, your suggestions, and your enthusiasm for the membership project. And please join me in thanking Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner, who’s been incredibly patient with the many, many requests I’ve made of him over the past month. None of this would be happening if not for him.
Now then: The heart of the program is the official (and laminated!) Uni Watch membership card, which you can customize with your own name and number on the back, just like a uniform. You can either choose to go with Uni Watch colors (in which case you can opt to have your name lettering be vertically arched, radially arched, straight, below the number, or no name at all), or you can choose to go with the design style of your favorite team (and contrary to what I announced a week or so ago, we will retain the Uni Watch-colored border and bunting on these team-based designs after all). Most MLB, NFL, and NHL teams are available; sorry, no NBA for now, no NCAA, no minor leagues, and no teams with any purple in their uniform. Keep in mind that if you opt for a team-based design, your name must appear in the style used by that team — in other words, you can’t ask for a Phillies treatment with vertically arched lettering, or a Yankees treatment with any name at all. Teams that use nameplates (as opposed to direct-sewn lettering) will have a little nameplate border visible on their cards.
So how do you get one of these cards, and what else does membership entitle you to? Here’s the rundown of annual membership levels, prices, and benefits:
Level One — Wool Flannel ($25): Benefits are as follows:
- Official Uni Watch membership card
- Uni Watch fridge magnet
- Three bonus entries in all Uni Watch raffles
- Your name featured on the Uni Watch “Active Roster” membership listing (see below)
Level Two — Vertically Arched ($60): All of the benefits listed above, plus a special members-only Uni Watch T-shirt (which, like the membership card, was designed by Scott), this year’s version of which is available in your choice of a blue ringer, red ringer, black ringer, orange on navy, or blue on gray. A new T-shirt design will be made available to new or renewing members each year on May 17th, the anniversary of this blog.
Level Three — Chain-Stitched ($100): All the benefits listed above, plus a CD containing the digital art files for three rare, hard-to-find uniform style guides: NFL 1972, XFL 2001, and MLB’s 1999 “Turn Ahead the Clock” series.
Level Four — Leather Helmet ($250): All the benefits listed above, plus Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner will create a logo for your team, fantasy league, company, civic association, church group, or just for you.
Level Five — Satin Piping ($500): All the benefits listed above, plus I will conduct a “Uni Watch Profiles” interview with you, a transcript of which will be posted on the blog. During the interview we will discuss your favorite uniforms, your uni-related pet peeves, your cap collection, or anything else uni-related that you want to talk about. You will be uni-king for a day!
Level Six — Striped Stirrups ($1000): All of the benefits listed above, plus I will fly to your town (or to the nearest city with an airport) and host a Uni Watch party at the local venue of your choosing. Probably your best chance at attending a Uni Watch party if you live in, say, Wichita. Continental U.S. only. If you live within a 100-mile radius of New York City, I will take you and a guest out to dinner either before or after the party. If you and some friends pool your resources to come up with the fee, you will all receive membership cards.
Level Seven — Silver Medal: Available only to Uni Watch staff.
All members will be listed on the official Uni Watch Active Roster, which for now looks like this (click on any member’s uniform number to see the name/number style on the back of his or her membership card; if the person’s name is clickable, you’ll see a photo of that person as well):
| # |
Name |
Membership Level |
Every Number Tells a Story |
| 7 |
John Ekdahl |
Silver Medal |
"My dad's favorite player was Mickey Mantle, and he always wore 7 in his softball leagues. So I always wore that number in my sports leagues and through high school." |
| 7 |
Paul Lukas |
Silver Medal |
As favorite numbers go, 7 is a bit of a cliché, but I've always liked it. Simple as that. |
| 17 |
Vince Grzegorek |
Silver Medal |
"17 was the first number I had on a jersey that had my last name on it, when I was 13 or so. I chose 17 because I was a pitcher and left fielder -- positions 1 and 7." |
| 21 |
Scott M.X. Turner |
Silver Medal |
"I try to fight my battles the way Curt Flood and Roberto Clemente did (or at least catch the final out of a World Series like Cleon Jones)." |
As you can see, John, Scott, Vince, and I are enrolled at the “Silver Medal” membership level (because gold medals are for suckers — silver’s way cooler), which is available only to site staffers. If you want to keep track of people who enroll in the membership program, bookmark this page (which is also accessible via a new “Uni Watch Membership Program” page, which basically repeats a lot of the info from today’s blog entry — as you can see, there’s now a link to that page up at the top of the site).
You probably have some questions. Let’s see if I can anticipate some of them:
Is the membership program voluntary?
Completely. If membership isn’t your bag, no problem. Access to the site will always be free to everyone, members and non-members alike.
How long is membership good for?
One year. I’ll bug everyone to renew at the appropriate time.
Wasn’t the Level Two fee originally slated to be $50, not $60?
Yes. But the T-shirts turned out to be a bit pricier than I’d expected. Sorry about that.
Can I put any name I want on the front of the card?
Personally, I like seeing my real name on a card. But if you’d rather go with a nickname, or just your first name, or John Doe, or whatever, that’s fine with me. But whatever name you have on the front of the card, that’s the name you’ll be listed under on the membership roster.
What about the back of the card?
Again, I like seeing my last name there, but I realize I’m more of a literalist than some other folks might be. So if you want a nickname on the back of your card, or your first name, or whatever, that’s okay too, although I reserve the right to reject anything that’s falls too far on wrong side of the “Is it good or is it stupid?” divide. (Hint: “He Hate Me” is firmly in stupid territory.)
Can I use the name of my business, or the URL of my web site, on the front or the back of the card?
Yes, but you will not be listed on the membership roster. I don’t want the membership program to become a vehicle for stealth marketing — I want it to be a fun way for people to feel like part of a community.
I want to be the only person who enrolls under a certain uniform number. Is there some way I can have an “exclusive” on that number?
No. All numbers are non-exclusive.
Can I have a number greater than 99?
No. But zero and double-zero are fine, and so is any single digit number preceded by a zero (like Benito Santiago’s 09). Requests for “special” numbers or characters, like fractions or pi, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
My favorite teams are the Vikings, Ravens, Rockies, and Kings. Can’t you please let me have my name and number in a design treatment that includes purple?
Sorry, the “no purple” policy is non-negotiable.
What if I want to join but I don’t want to be listed on the membership roster?
I respect your privacy. If you’d rather not be listed on the roster, that’s fine.
Can you offer a full-text RSS feed as a membership benefit?
Several people have asked about this. Naturally, I’m too tech-clueless to know how to do it, but webmaster John Ekdahl is looking into it. More details soon.
Will there be other membership benefits?
I hope so — hang in there while we get this up and running. Once we get the program moving smoothly, I’ll try to add some additional benefits.
How long will it take to get my card and other stuff?
Please give us about three weeks, especially at the start, when I expect we’ll be flooded with memberships (plus Scott Turner is going on vacation next week, so that’ll slow us down). Because each membership card is custom-designed, there’s a decent amount of work involved — designing the card, running to the print shop to pick up the printed card sheets, cutting out the cards, firing up the laminator, blah-blah-blah — so please be patient. If you’re joining at Level Two or above, your T-shirt will come directly from Zazzle, so that may be the first thing that shows up. And if you’re joining at Level Four or above, don’t expect Scott to design that logo for you overnight (four weeks is probably more like it).
I’ll try to add people’s names and numbers to the membership roster listing as soon as possible, but again, please be patient — I have a lot of non-Uni Watch work to deal with today and tomorrow, plus an out-of-town houseguest for the weekend, so it may take a day or three for the wheels to turn.
Isn’t this really just a glorified fund-raiser for you?
To a certain extent. But it’s also a fun way to embrace our shared love of all things uni-related, and to celebrate the larger sense of community that’s sprung up around this site. Like I said before, it’s completely voluntary — if the fund-raising aspect (or any other aspect) offends you, then don’t sign up. But I hope you’ll still check out the site every day.
Who won the membership raffle?
Kenny Keil. He’s now a Level Two member.
Damn, I really wanted to win that raffle. Guess I’ll have to join up the normal way. How do I do it?
First, decide upon the membership level you want and PayPal the appropriate membership fee to paul_lukas at earthlink dot net (plus, if you’re feeling extra-generous, toss in a few extra bucks to cover PayPal’s transaction fee). If you’re not PayPal-ish, send a check, money order, or well-concealed cash to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217.
Please be sure to include all of the following information:
• Your shipping address.
• The name that you want to appear on the front of the card. This will also be the name you’ll be listed under on the membership roster.
• The uniform number that you want on the back of the card. If possible, please provide a quick explanation for why you chose that number, so we can include that info on the membership roster.
• The name, if any, that you want to appear on the back of the card.
• The design treatment you want for your name and number. If you’re choosing Uni Watch colors, indicate if you want the name to be vertically arched, radially arched, straight, subscript, or no name at all; if choosing a team-based design treatment, indicate home or road (or dark jersey or light), and also give a second design option, just in case we don’t have the typeface for your first team choice.
• If you’d like your name on the membership roster to link to a photo of yourself, so other members can see what you look like, please e-mail me a photo separately.
• If for any reason you want to become a member but prefer not to be listed on the membership roster, that’s fine — just say so.
• If joining at Level Two or above, indicate which T-shirt style you want, and your size.
• If joining at Level Four or above, explain what sort of organization or group you want Scott Turner to design a logo for, and provide a phone number so he can contact you to discuss the project.
• If joining at Levels Five or Six, provide a phone number so I can discuss interview and/or travel logistics with you.
That should be enough to keep everyone busy. If I’ve overlooked anything, I trust you’ll let me know. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to figure out just how flat a cockroach has to be squashed before it can be run through the laminator.
Uni Watch News Ticker: For years I thought the White Sox wore their shorts only once — on August 6th, 1976, against the Royals, as seen here. But a few days ago I linked to that great White Sox video, which included a brief Sox-in-shorts shot, and Mark Galus noticed something that I missed: The opposing catcher appears to be wearing Orioles garb. After checking with Hall of Fame historian and longtime Uni Watch pal Tom Shieber, I learned that the Sox actually wore the shorts a second time — on August 21st, against the Orioles. Mea culpa for mistakenly perpetuating the notion that they were only worn once. … Bizarre combo being worn by the Clear Lake (Iowa) high school baseball team: pinstripes below the belt but not above (with thanks to Jesse Gavin). … Nice work by Jim Freeman, who notes that the name on the back of Mark DeRosa’s jersey has changed from this (that photo is from April 9th) to this (May 20th). … Jalen Rose was wearing a seriously weird-ass blazer on ESPN2’s First Take the other day — not to be confused with another blazer he recently wore on TV (great work by Kenny Tobler). … Speaking of blazers, there are some amazing Hockey Night in Canada sportsjackets on display in this video (nice find by Stephen Tod). … Jeff Barak, who attended the Uni Watch party in Minneapolis earlier this month, has catalogued his hockey jersey collection. … Stephen Pindar notes that the Giants’ left-sleeve patch was missing from Dan Ortmeier’s jersey last night. … Similarly, the Devil Rays’ right-sleeve anniversary patch was absent from James Shields’s jersey last night. … A few days ago I ran this photo of a jersey once worn by Casey Stengel. Now Brian Nelson has provided some shots of the jersey being worn by Casey himself in 1972, during Old-Timers’ Day festivities at Dodger Stadium. … Kevin Gee reports that Craig Biggio — the all-time HBP leader — batted without his customary elbow armor last night. … Excellent catch by Bryan Redemske, who spotted Henry Blanco wearing the Cubs’ road helmet at home last night. “Michael Barrett has been wearing the home helmet on the road,” Bryan adds. “Neither seems to work.” … Crosby Kisler reports that Inter Milan will have a new road jersey for the 2007-08 season, to mark their centennary year. … You’ve heard of players having to pay other players in order to get a coveted uni number. But check this out: Jerry Porter will have to pay the Raiders — to the tune of over 200 large — if he wants to change his number. Details here (with thanks to Chris Flinn).
May 31st, 2007
I know some of you are sick of all Mets chatter on this site, but there are reasons why they keep coming up for discussion. Among them: No other team wears its designated road cap at home; no other team hardly ever wears its designated home uniform; no other team lets the color of their dugout jacket affect which cap they’ll wear at home; no other team has three different undershirt colors (the orange ones appeared to have been banished, but David Wright has recently revived them); and so on.
One of the more annoying aspects of this is that the team’s two black caps — one has a blue brim, the other is solid black — don’t even have matching “NY” logos. The logo on the blue-brimmed “road” cap (which is also worn for most home games, but whatever) is blue outlined in orange, while the one on the black alternate cap is blue outlined in white with an orange drop shadow. (And that’s not counting yet another version that appears on their color-gradated batting helmets, where the logo is black outlined in white with an orange drop shadow.)
All of which brings us to last night’s Giants/Mets game at Shea. The Mets were wearing the blue-brimmed “road” caps, so their cap logos were blue outlined in orange — except for rookie outfielder Carlos Gomez. He had a blue-brimmed cap, but it featured the white-outlined logo.
What this means, of course, is that New Era attached the wrong brim to the wrong crown. But really, who can blame them? I prefer to blame the team that was stupid enough to come up with two different but very similar logos for its two black-crowned caps. Remember, you can’t have quality control unless there’s actually some quality to be controlled. And in the case of the Mets’ headwear program, the quality has been sorely lacking for some time now.
(Special thanks to and Brian Erni and Neil Bisman, who were the first ones to spot Gomez’s cap snafu.)
Research Project: Speaking of caps, I’m trying to document as many instances as possible of MLB players wearing last year’s caps (easily identifiable by the gray underbrim) and/or not wearing the new BP caps (the Mets, for example, appear to have abandoned the new BP cap design altogether). Some of you have been pointing out examples of this for weeks, and at first I didn’t pay much attention, but now it strikes me that these two trends — not wearing the new 5950s and not wearing the new BP caps — may represent the largest rejection of a new uni element we’ve ever witnessed.
So if you spot good examples of players eschewing this year’s headwear, please let me know.
Membership Update: Several of you have asked why the Uni Watch membership program, which I announced nearly two weeks ago, still isn’t up and running. I was originally going to say, “I’m superstitious — as long as the Yankees keep losing, I don’t want to do anything to upset the cosmic order,” but the fact of the matter is that it’s taking a bit longer than I’d expected to get everything set up (who knew there were so many different sizes of laminating sleeves to choose from?), and I don’t want to take anyone’s money until everything is ready to go. But hang in there — Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner and I are diligently working away (which basically means he’s working his ass off while I keep asking him to make little changes to this or that), and we should be good to go in a few more days. Thanks for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Stop whatever you’re doing and check out what Frank Mercogliano just found: a mid-1980s video that features umpire Eric Gregg wearing a Cubs windbreaker and struggling to put on some makeshift gear (the umpiring crew’s gear had been lost) and the Expos’ powder blue road uniforms. Plus a double-flap batting helmet, the Cubbies’ old sleeve patch, and strained commentary from Bill Murray. Essential. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: We’ve talked before about the cross pin on Billy Martin’s cap. But I didn’t realize that the pin was also depicted on Martin’s plaque in Monument Park. … Also from yesterday: Great shot I hadn’t seen before of the Sox in shorts. … Josh Fisher notes that the Utah Utes were wearing some totally boss striped hosiery in the recent MWC Baseball Tourney. … Alabama has unveiled a set of coaches’ shirts, rendered in gray, red, and white. “Note the football laces at the base of the placket,” says Doug Simpson, who brought the shirts to my attention. … Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner somehow found time in between membership-related projects (see update above) to note the following: “It’s not just U.S. sports teams that get throwback tributes wrong. How come Celtic couldn’t get this right? They’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Celtic club that won the European Cup in 1967. The striping doesn’t match, they didn’t copy the numbers on the shorts, and the goalies back then wore yellow tops, not the black shirts today’s goalies are sporting. And if they REALLY wanted to pay tribute, they’d eschew the Carling corporate tag on the current shirts, as well as the Celtic chest shield and Nike logo creep.” … Jeremy Brahm sent along some pics from the FIVB World League (that’s volleyball, people). Interesting to see the Argentinean team using a center color gradation, and the Egyptians wearing, as Jeremy put it, “castoffs from the Adidas soccer teams.”
May 30th, 2007
For years — long before I came up with the idea for Uni Watch — my favorite spot at the Baseball Hall of Fame was the third floor, where they had a big display of old uniforms. The bad news is that reader Jay Braiman tells me that the third floor has been renovated and that the uni display is no longer there; the good news is that he found a bunch of photos of the display, which he took during a visit to Cooperstown back in 2001. Let’s take a look:
• Great view here of the Angels’ old halo-topped cap.
• Here’s the old Seattle Pilots uniform from 1969. Note that the sleeve stripes also showed up on the 1970 Brewers jersey — that’s because the franchise’s move to Milwaukee wasn’t a done deal until just a few days before the start of the 1970 season, and they just removed the Pilots insignia from the old uniforms and replaced them with a hastily devised Brewers insignia. (Also in that last photo: Dig the striped A’s stirrups!)
• You’ve seen this one a jillion times, but the colors really pop in this photo. I still prefer this design, however.
• I’ve always loved the White Sox road design shown here. And speaking of the Sox, check out the logo-emblazoned stirrups in this photo — sox on sox!
• Still more Chisoxiana: Whenever someone refers to the White Sox wearing shorts for one game in 1976, the photos that usually show up are this, this, and this. But if you look at this shot of the Cooperstown display, you’ll see another photo of a shorts-clad Sox player.
• Two 1970s classics here: the Reds’ St. Paddy’s Day design from 1978 (first time a team did that), and the Phillies’ ill-fated solid-burgundy uniform, which was worn exactly once, on May 19, 1979.
• Great view here of the Braves’ experimental reflective satin uniform, worn for night games in 1948. (Also: Note the great Phillies road uni, White Sox stirrups, zip-front Cubs jersey, and Indians cap.)
• Tons of great stuff here — I’ll let it speak for itself.
• I can remember the first time I saw the catalog page with the little uniform swatches shown at the left side of this photo. “Man,” I thought, “I sure would love to have some catalogs like that!” Now, of course, I do.
• Sigh.
• Real oddity here: a special jersey prepared for a Casey Stengel tribute day at Yankee Stadium. (Gaylord Perry once wore something similar, although I’m unsure of when that photo was taken — maybe at his Hall of Fame induction?)
Special thanks to Jay for the pics, and for the stroll down Cooperstown’s memory lane. Here’s hoping they restore the uni exhibit soon.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Genuinely hilarious video commentary about black uniforms here, complete with references to the Nazis, Mafia funerals, and Nike’s child-labor practices. Essential viewing. … Great article here about Barry Bonds and his earring (with thanks to Jameson Costello). … Small item in Saturday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (as forwarded by Shaun Schnur): “The [Pitt] athletic department has made some subtle changes to the Panthers’ uniforms, and they will be unveiled later this summer. The biggest change will be a return to blue pants for certain games.” … Speaking of new college football uniforms, here’s Michigan State’s new design. Too bad about the logo above the nameplate, but overall these look solid. Further details and pics here. … Unfortunate news out of St. Looie, as Anthony Reyes and his striped stirrups have been sent to the minors. … Meanwhile, Jose Reyes has been hitting without batting gloves lately. … Good article here about the Phillies’ uniform numbers (with thanks to Marc Malfara and Bernie Langer, among many others). … Miguel Cabrera has unveiled a pair of predominantly white shoes. … Cabrera is also one of several Marlins who wore rather war paint-ish eye black on Sunday. … The Twins and Blue Jays both wore military caps on Sunday. I had read that the Jays’ caps would honor the Canadian military, but it looks like they were wearing the same caps as the Twins. … Even weirder: Can someone explain why the Jays wore American flag cap patches while playing in Toronto yesterday? … More Memorial Day cap patch observations: Some players had them in front of the ear, others had them riding a bit high, and the Royals had them on the wrong side. … We’ve all seen still photos of the White Sox wearing shorts (like the ones in today’s main entry, above). But the only video footage I’ve ever seen — momentary but very worthwhile — can be found at the 44-second mark of this video (great find by Johnny Garfield) … Obligatory Serena Williams comment: What’s with the bustle? … Meanwhile, did you notice that her first-round opponent, Tsvetana Pironkova, paired an Adidas shirt and shoes with a Nike visor? … For years Johnny Estrada has worn real stirrups. But David Arnott recently snapped a photo of Estrada wearing total phonies — boooooo! Further details on this observation, and several others (including Tony Gwynn Jr. saying he won’t wear the new BP cap style because “It sucks!”), in this installment of Arnott’s blog. … Terry Mark recently attended a single-A game between the South Bend Silver Hawks and the Dayton Dragons, and filed this report: “Hawks first baseman Brad Miller had a Hawks logo patch on his left sleeve, while the rest of his teammates wore the patch on the right sleeve. Also: The back of the Dragons’ jerseys are pretty busy, while the Hawks by comparison are much simpler (but the yellow numbers are hard to read from a distance). Every Dragons player and coach wore high cuffs, because the Dragons are a Reds farm team.” … Speaking of Reds minor league clubs, Matthew Lepke was at Sunday’s Louisville Bats game and got this photo of pitching coach Ted Power and starter Tom Shearn displaying disparate stirrup styles. He also noted that Buffalo Bisons LF Brad Snyder had a badly torn pant leg (additional pics here and here. … If you go to this page and click on “Game 6 Highlights” (right side of the page), you’ll see video of the really awful black jerseys that the North Carolina baseball team recently wore (with thanks to Brett Gray). … Longtime contribtor Kevin Gee has noticed something really interesting about Roger Clemens: Check out the little belt-mounted gizmo he’s wearing here, here, here, and here. I find it hard to believe that the Rocket could have diabetes and manage to keep it secret, so I doubt that the device is an insulin pump (like Jason Johnson used to wear). So what is it — heart-rate monitor? Cyborg control panel? … Blast from the televisual past from Jacob Bestebroer, who made some observations while watching old episodes of The White Shadow: “I’ve attached a few pictures from an episode that ran during the show’s first season, 1978-79,” he writes. “I was surprised to see that they are wearing Nike shoes. Where was Nike as a company at that time? Also, I’ve attached a photo from the opening sequence that shows the coach in the show during his time with the Chicago Bulls. I’m wondering if the Bulls actually ever wore that uniform.” I’ll let the rest of you address those queries, because I’m too busy blissing out over the striped socks. … Reprinted from Sunday’s comments: Trevor Hoffman is archiving his gear, because “Each time I save one, it’s a new record,” a line that really scales new heights in chutzpah. … Michael Fritzlar sent me this article about Tomo Ohka turning on several of the Blue Jays to the pleasures of toe socks (just as Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima have done with the Red Sox) and then cracked me up with the following: “A.J. Burnett referring to his toes as ‘guys’ [as in ‘I’ve got these shower shoes with this strap that separates the big toe from the other guys’] is nothing new. Between innings on the Jumbotron (do they still call them that anymore?) at Skydome (I know they don’t call it that anymore), A.J. was being interviewed by a 12-year-old girl who asked him, ‘How long have you been playing baseball?’ A.J. quickly says, ‘Since the age of seven’ and then attempts to do the difficult algorithm of subtracting seven from his current age. You could almost smell the fire burning: ‘I guess for 15, 18, uh, 20 years or so?’ 20 + 7 = 27. A.J. is 31 years old this year. So A.J.’s new fetish for toe socks makes sense, because he needs to see his ‘guys’ so he can use his fingers and ‘guys’ to subtract the number of projected wins someone with his talent should be producing (20) and his actual output of wins (14). His ‘guys’ can also count his stints on the DL, how many days J.P has left as G.M., and the number of creepy facial hair looks with which he has scared children at Skydome (4). I just hope he doesn’t attempt to figure out the exchange rate between American and Canadian dollars — that would surely result in another trip on the DL. I wonder if he has names for his ‘guys,’ but I digress.” … Julian Tavarez had shirt tag issues on Sunday. … Kudos to Dave Shucosky, who found this photo of, as he put it, “Huston Street wearing more ribbons than a five-star general.” … The Washington Huskies hoops team will join Nike’s System of Dress program next season. Further details in the second item on this page (with thanks to Jon Horton). … Where’s that Velcro patch when you need it? … Kaz Matsui’s purple batting gloves look so much like grape candy, I almost want to lick them. … Anyone know what’s on Cliff Floyd’s undershirt? … Ken Tobler reports that Dennys Reyes’s nickname is “Big Sweat,” and he has it embroidered on his glove. … Late-breaking contribution from Jamie Costello, who got some screen grabs of Kentucky Derby jockeys wearing lots and lots of goggles.
May 29th, 2007
Between his own outfit, his wife’s outfit, and the victory wreath, Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti was a study in colors yesterday.
Happy Decoration Day, folks. I’ll be spending mine grilling, eating, and drinking in the back yard. Hope yours is similarly fun-packed. — Paul
May 28th, 2007
Paul might think soccer is silly because of photos like this, but we all know that the sport is worthy of in-depth coverage (or at least a weekend open thread).
At the very least we can chat about the Manny of European soccer and David Beckham’s excellent choice in bandage color. –Vince
May 27th, 2007
Do coaches really need to be presented with a jersey when they’re announced at team press conferences?
On a side note, Michael Jordan seems to have the same taste in suits as my favorite Cavs player of all time, World B. Free. — Vince
May 26th, 2007
Before we get started with today’s entry: I ended up making an important addition to yesterday’s ESPN column at about noon eastern. If you read it prior to then and weren’t keeping track of yesterday morning’s comments, you may want to check it out again, because the mystery of Nomar’s pin (and Manny’s too!) has been solved.
Now then: Got a note the other day from longtime Uni Watch contributor Bryan Redemske, who’s noticed something really interesting:
Mark Buehrle has been wearing cycling arm-warmers under his jersey, instead of a long-sleeved undershirt — specifically, these. You can see the blacked-out Pearl Izumi logo on his left sleeve in this pic — mid-forearm, facing down. And the logo is in very plain sight here. A couple of my buddies have those arm-warmers, and the way they shine in the light is exactly the same.
Coupla thoughts here: First of all, I had no idea there was even such a thing as cycling arm-warmers. Second, this brings up the interesting issue of players using equipment intended for use in another sport. Leaving aside the issue of footwear (there’s a lot cross-sport action there), the first things that come to mind are football facemasks, which have been worn by several baseball players and at least one hockey player. And then there’s Dave Parker, who at various times wore a football facemask and a hockey goalie’s mask (although the latter was only for one plate appearance, which resulted in a walk).
There have also been lots of baseball players who’ve worn golf gloves, and football players who’ve worn batting gloves or scuba gloves. Plus I’m sure there are plenty of other cross-sport examples that I’m not thinking of — let’s have ‘em.
Attention Jeremy Brahm!: Got a rather frustrating note yesterday from Ben Wood, as follows:
If you’re ever back in the Twin Cities, you should check out the Ragstock Warehouse in Minneapolis’s downtown warehouse district. Their large selection of used clothes includes a nice collection of Japanese baseball jerseys (which I assume are from high schools or amateur leagues), most of which are under $10 [additional pics here, here, and here]. Some of them have those pinned-on squares of fabric holding the rear uniform number, and some even have all the lettering done up with black Magic Marker. Sorry I didn’t send these to you before your trip to Minneapolis, but the pics have been stuck on my girlfriend’s camera for some time.
Sigh. Now he tells me.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Good article here about tennis equipment sponsorships (with thanks to Dominic Litten). … Mike Milici — the guy who wrote the cap surgery instrux that many of you have found so useful — has posted a bunch of Phillies clubhouse photos on his blog. Among the revelations: Ryan Howard has an Astros jersey hanging in his locker. Further details here and here. … “Last season, Pelle Prestberg, a player for Frolunda HC in the Swedish Elite hockey league, wore No. 100, instead of his usual No. 10,” writes R. J. Pratt. “Based on my VERY rudimentary Swedish knowledge and use of online translators, it appears that he wore it during 2005-06 to ‘celebrate’ the 100th anniversary of Lofsberg Lila, one of Frolunda’s sponsors (as I’m sure you’re aware, European hockey teams have long been victims of extreme logo creep, to the point where the team logos are often secondary). But that’s not the worst. Check out this photo, which shows the team wearing shiny metallic gold helmets. Perhaps the scariest hockey outfit ever worn.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: All the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees are listed by uniform number here. … The Florida Marlins could become the Miami Marlins, according to this report. … The party line is the college football helmt merit decals originated with Ohio State in 1968. But according to this interview (kindly forwarded by Brian Hansen), Nebraska was doing it as early as 1956. To find the relevant portion of the interview, search on the word “Stauber” and read that paragraph. … Ottawa mayor Larry O’Brien wore a Senators jersey (the “M” is presumably for mayor) during a pep rally yesterday (as spotted by Bryan Redemske). … Quasi-logo-related item from Kim Kolb, who writes, “Thought you’d might want to check this out. Who are they? They’re the supporters’ group for the Philadelphia MLS team. Never mind that Philadelphia does not (yet) have an MLS team. They’ve organized, come up with a pretty good name and logo, and even gotten some press. They’ve even got a road trip planned to head up to Giants Stadium to boo the New York Red Bulls, because what Philadelphia sports entity can exist without a little hate for NY? Anyway, they picked the yellow and blue (hoping that a soccer team would follow suit) to match the Philadelphia flag.” … Holy crap.
Holiday Schedule: We’ll have open threads for at least two of the next three days. I might have a new entry on Sunday or Monday — or I might not. Either way, the Uni Watch membership program should be ready to launch when we reconvene next week. Have a great Decoration Day weekend, and watch out for American flag patches falling off of MLB caps.
May 25th, 2007
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: I love ripple effects. Case in point: Two or three weeks ago I got an e-mail from Ronnie Poore, telling me that he’d spotted something interesting in a photo that had run in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated. He no longer had his copy of the magazine, and neither did I, but he offered to ask around his office to see if anyone else had one. Eventually he wrote back to say he’d come up with a copy — did I want it? Sure, I said. So he mailed it to me, along with a letter explaining what had caught his eye in the photo he’d previously mentioned. I ended up linking to the photo — a shot of the 1965 NFL draft — in this past Monday’s Ticker, where I noted, as Poore had in his letter to me, the stirrups on the little figurines.
And that could have been the end of it — a typically wonderful example of a Uni Watch reader going the extra mile to bring a small detail to the attention of the larger readership. Nice.
But then the ripple effect kicked in. The day after I ran that Ticker item, I got a truly magnificent response from Vinnie Dinolfo, as follows:
The figurine was a bendable toy named Johnny Hero, which came out shortly after GI Joe. All 14 NFL teams were available as a Johnny Hero doll, which came complete with a miniature football uniform, plastic helmet, plastic shoes, and plastic football. I received the Cleveland Browns Johnny Hero for Christmas around 1966. The doll had socks, shoes, pants, a jersey, and shoulder pads to go along with the helmet and football. All the parts were removable. The white Browns pants were shiny satin and the jersey and socks were a T-shirt-like material. My Mom ironed the front and back numerals onto the brown football jersey (the Browns always wore white jerseys at the time, so that caused me slight disappointment). I chose No. 86, for Gary Collins. The brown sock was supposed to be worn under the smaller white sock, as my father pointed out. Apparently, whoever dressed the dolls shown in the 1965 draft photo put the socks on in the wrong order.
The best part of the uniform was that all of the stripes on the jersey, pants, socks, and helmet were perfect (which can’t be said about the current Browns socks). Johnny Hero was slightly larger than GI Joe and would lead the Browns to victory over GI Joe (wearing those helmets from the bubble gum machine) in my imaginary NFL title games. Unfortunately, the Johnny Hero doll was made of foam rubber and wire. The foam rubber eventually dried up and disintegrated, so the wires became exposed. I eventually lost all the uniform pieces that outlasted my doll. And sadly, the Browns have yet to win the NFL title since my Johnny Hero-worshipping days.
Wow. I’d never heard of Johnny Hero dolls before, so I went to eBay and typed “Johnny Hero” into the search engine. And that’s when the ripple became a tidal wave. Johnny Hero’s default outfit was a boring track suit, but you could customize him to be a member of just about any NFL or AFL team, and many of the little uniform sets available for sale were completely amazing. A quick search turned up kits for the Giants, Steelers, Vikings, Niners, Chargers, Lions, Colts, Cowboys, Packers (that sound you just heard was my pulse thumping a bit faster), Jets, Rams, Redskins, Pats, Eagles, Bears, Bills, Raiders, Oilers, and, yes, the Browns (with the never-used logo helmet!). Yeah, they got a few of the details wrong, but whatever — I think the uni sets still look wicked cool. You can get a closer look at the level of craftsmanship by checking out the close-up photos here and here.
You say you’re more of a baseball fan? No problem — you could also dress up Johnny Hero as a member of the Pirates, Phillies, Red Sox (looks like they cut corners by using those same stirrups for the Cardinals), Yankees, Indians, Senators, Angels (note the franchise’s old “LA” helmet logo), Orioles, Mets, Tigers, Twins, Giants, Dodgers, or Cubs.
I don’t know why, but many things are really appealing when rendered in miniature, and that definitely applies to these little uniform sets. Does anyone out there collect these?
(Update from this morning’s comments: Lots of great Johnny Hero info, including an FAQ section, care instrux for the uniform sets, “anatomical” details, lots of pics of the dolls dressed up in the uniforms, and a whole lot more, here. Wish I’d found this before writing today’s entry.)
Speaking of Heroes…: A tip of the Uni Watch cap to New York Times writer David Picker, who’s just written one of the most complete and informative uni-related articles I’ve ever seen. It’s about those five-toed Japanese socks, which several of the Red Sox are wearing (and not just the team’s two Japanese pitchers). The article covers just about every conceivable base and provides a wealth of invaluable info — essential reading. Check it out here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Yankees held a pregame memorial ceremony for Virginia Tech last night, plus they put the VT logo on the field, on their caps, and, although it’s hard to make out, on Jorge Posada’s shoulder pad (with thanks to Vincent Barone for that screen grab). … According to this item about the NFL’s new anti-concussion measures, “The NFL rule requiring every player to wear a chin strap that is completely and properly buckled to the helmet will be strictly enforced.” Does that mean that the many players favoring this style will have to buckle up? Or does “completely and properly buckled” simpy mean at least one connection on each side? Stay tuned. … While researching something else, I came across this photo of Alex Delvecchio. Note that his captain’s C is outlined, rather than solid. (It’s also on the “wrong” side, but that was pretty typical for him — well, usually). … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Still more great photos from the Ernie Davis biopic shoot here.
May 24th, 2007
|
|
