Quick Change Artist

New ESPN column today — here’s the link. Plus I also have a review of last night’s No Mas event on today’s Page 2 index page.

Meanwhile: Great little uniform-related episode in the 4th inning of Tuesday night’s Cubs/Rockies game, when Chicago pitcher Ted Lilly was due to bat but was momentarily AWOL, leading to some good uni-centric chatter from Cubbies announcers Bob Brenly and Len Kasper:

Brenly: Because Felix Pie [the previous batter] swung at the first pitch, Ted Lilly’s not ready to take his at-bat right here. Takin’ care of some business up the tunnel there, in the Cubs’ clubhouse. [Lilly emerges from the dugout and hustles up to the plate.] Now he’s gonna sprint up there.

Kasper: Y’know, I wonder if he changed his jersey, which I know Carlos Zambrano does. [Lilly fidgets with his uniform as he steps into the batter’s box.] Kinda grabbin’ his top button there. We only know about Carlos because of the brawl against the Padres — he came out and didn’t have his belt buckled.

Brenly: We were probably fortunate the brawl didn’t happen, say, five minutes sooner. No telling what Carlos would’ve been wearing as he came out of the tunnel. Or not wearing. [Camera offers a close-up of Lilly’s midsection.]

Kasper [chuckling]: Belt buckle’s fine. Does Ted normally wear batting gloves? [Yes. — PL] For some reason he just looks different than I’m used to seeing him at the plate.

Brenly: I’m not so sure he has any undershirt on at this point. [Camera shows that Lilly, who’d been wearing a white undershirt in the top of the inning, now appears to be undershirt-free. He continues to fidget and fuss with his jersey.] Usually you can see the collar of the undershirt right there in the nape of the neck, but it doesn’t look like he has an undershirt on right now. May have been interrupted in mid-change. You know, it’s not unusual for starting pitcher, Len, to change undershirts three or four times in the course of a ballgame. You start to perspire out there on the mound, as hard as you’re working. The undershirt gets heavy and wet, restricts your movements a little bit. [Lilly grounds out and fidgets with his jersey one last time.]

Kasper: Well, Ted Lilly might go back and get dressed again.

This reminds me of Game 5 of the 1969 World Series, which featured a slight delay when Frank Robinson was due to bat (I’m fairly certain it was the 6th inning) but was nowhere to be found. He eventually popped out of the dugout while still tucking in his jersey, with his shirttail tag clearly visible. This game shows up on TV from time to time. Anyone got it on video?

(Special thanks to John Lanctot, who brought the Lilly sequence to my attention.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: The President isn’t the only one who gets free uni-related swag — Chief Justice John Roberts got an MSU hockey jersey during the team’s recent visit to DC, which I guess means he has to recuse himself from any college hockey-related cases that reach the Supreme Court (with thanks to Christopher Drouin). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Buddy Bell and the rest of the Royals coaching staff will wear No. 22 on Sunday, as a tribute to Negro Leagues stalwart Buck O’Neil. … Check out the gorgeous ribbed collar and cuffs in this shot of Ernie Banks. No wonder he wanted to play two! … I swear, is there something in the Shea Stadium water or what? From yesterday’s New York Times: “Several players wore orange T-shirts beneath their jerseys [Tuesday] night that featured a likeness of Bozo the Clown and the words, ‘Enough!’ on the front and ‘There ain’t a big top big enough for this circus’ on the back.” As I’ve said too many times before, why not just dress the team like clowns and get it over with already? … Brinke Guthrie notes that Roger Federer is wearing signature sneakers at Wimbledon. The four Swiss emblems represent Federer’s four staight Wimbledon titles. … I get my health insurance through these guys. As you can see, their web site is very plain-looking, as are all their mailings and other graphics. So I was surprised to see them running this ad on the subway yesterday. I mean, geez, does it remind you of anything? … Great article here about managers’ and coaches’ attire (with special get-well thanks to Tessa, who sent in this contribution from her hospital bed). … From yesterday’s comments: Bill Belichick appears to have initial-inscribed shorts. … Aqua Paradiso is an Italian mineral water with a winged-angel design motif. They also sponsor a volleyball team, whose players are forced to wear the wings in an unfortunate location (nice find by Jeremy Brahm). … Manny’s latest stunt (as reported by Jere): wristbands in honor of hs hairdresser (yes, the numbers don’t match, but the name does — maybe they couldn’t make a three-digit wristband). … Interesting, if somewhat outdated, find by Ethan Rowley: Some teams in the IWFL — that’s Independent Women’s Football League, dummy — have used old uniforms donated by NFL teams. And if you think NFL uniforms are too big to be worn by women, think again.

213 comments June 28th, 2007

History Channeled

New ESPN column today. I’ll add the link when it goes live. tomorrow.

Meanwhile: Great time last night, as Uni Watch auction consultant David Brown and I headed up to the Museum of the City of New York, where we attended the opening reception for Glory Days, an exhibit devoted to New York City baseball from 1947 through 1957. Okay, so this period has been over-mythologized, and the whole “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke” thing gets tiresome, but they had some amazing artifacts on hand (not to mention free hot dogs, Cracker Jack, and beer), so it was totally worth it.

I wasn’t allowed to use a flash, but I still managed to get pretty decent pics, some of the more interesting of which are as follows:

• There were lots of advertising pieces, many of them for cigarettes (always kinda sad to see a cigarette ad from someone who eventually died of a heart attack). Also: a really great uni/equipment-related ad.

• This 1948 Joe DiMaggio jersey had the thickest memorial armband I’ve ever seen. It was added for Babe Ruth, who died that year.

• I found it hilarious that this game-used Mickey Mantle jersey was supplied by a Boston outfitter. Maybe that explains that slightly misshapen-looking chest insignia.

• There was a small display of women’s baseball ephemera — and sure enough, that’s where I spotted A League of Her Own director Penny Marshall, who looked much, much worse than this photo indicates.

• Tons of old programs and yearbooks, as you might expect. Lots of ticket stubs too, like this one from the 1948 All-Star Game (love the use of “Nite” and “Eve’g”), and this one from the 1947 Negro World Series, played at Yankee Stadium. And hey, speaking of the Negro Leagues, did you realize they had their own official ball? I didn’t.

• Lots of Jackie Robinson-related stuff, including a jersey (here’s the tagging), a fascinating plea for tolerance, and an absolutely astonishing letter that Robinson wrote to broadcaster Mel Allen in 1959. It’s eloquent and powerful, and it was easily the most affecting thing I saw in the exhibit. Here’s a larger version, which is easier to read.

• This was meant to be worn as a visor. As you might imagine, I like the color.

• Remember the story that broke a few years ago about the Giants stealing signs during the famous “Shot Heard ’Round the World” game in 1951? This is supposedly the spyglass they used to do it.

• These press passes are almost as cool as a Uni Watch membership card. Ditto for this Knot-Hole Gang I.D. card.

• Most references to the Ebbets Field scoreboard refer to the famous Abe Stark ad along the bottom. But until I saw this photo, I didn’t realize that the h and e in “Schaefer” were rigged up to indicate a hit or error.

• Here’s an Ebbets Field usher’s uniform, complete with team patch and I.D. button.

• Why was this Johnny Podres jersey torn? Read the answer here.

• Gorgeous sleeve patch on this 1951 Yankees jersey.

• Although technically outside of the exhibit’s 1947-57 purview, there was a little nook devoted to the Mets, including a ticket stub from their first home game and Gil Hodges’s 1968 contract (here’s the second page).

And so on. A must-see for New Yorkers (and for member Don Schafer, who’s gonna be in town this weekend), the exhibit runs through the end of the year, and admission is free from 5pm to 9pm today through Saturday. Don’t miss.

Membership Update: Thanks to some truly Herculean labors by Scott Turner (and some not inconsiderable efforts by myself), almost every single uniform number on the Uni Watch membership roster is now linked to a card design. Some of them are real doozies, too, as you can see in the card design gallery (my favorite so far: Mark Mayall’s shout-out to Roger Bannister, which was a special request we were happy to fulfill). My apologies to Michael King, who I added to the roster weeks ago but whose card design somehow slipped through the cracks until I realized the oversight last night. We’re taking care of it right now, Michael — mea culpa.

Any card that’s been designed but not yet printed will be going to the printer today, and I expect to get many of them out in the mail by Saturday, with the rest by next Monday. This project continues to be really sensational on several different levels (I’m continuing to learn a lot about uni number typefaces) — much more successful than I had envisioned. Thanks again to all, and keep those sign-ups coming.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: There’s a Tennessee track star whose visual signature is her striped socks. Full details here. … Regarding the Israel Baseball League, Nate Budziszewski notes that the Netanya Tigers logo looks a lot like this. … Bizarre scene yesterday in Madrid, as David Beckham suited up for a practice session of American football. Full photo gallery here. … Iowa State apparently has new yellow pants (as spotted by Jason Hack). … Tim Bennett notes that Alan Embree’s uni number appears to be slightly off-center. “It bugged me so much,” he adds, “I missed seeing the game-winning homer in Tuesday night’s game because I was pausing the DVR and taking these pictures with my cell phone.” … Our friends at No Mas have arranged a really interesting event tonight. Based on the NBA draft, it will feature 500 scratch-off tickets, 105 Warhol-esque portraits and a Ping-Pong ball machine. For full details, check out this article, which I wrote for today’s New York Sun.

192 comments June 27th, 2007

Presidential Primaries

When Gerald Ford died last winter, I wrote a blog entry about U.S. presidents wearing various sports uniforms. But it turns out, unsurprisingly, that there are lots of additional photos that I didn’t find. That news recently came my way from Satin Piping-level member Karen Hibbitt, who works at the National Archives, where they’re currently featuring an exhibit called “School House to the White House: The Education of the Presidents.”

As Karen explained to me, the exhibit focuses on “presidents (Hoover to present) during their school days, with LOTS of great athletic/uniform photos — and not just Ford (although we do have his Michigan varsity sweater on display).” Indeed, the exhibit’s web page includes great shots of Eisenhower playing football, baseball shots of LBJ (he’s the catcher) and George H. W. Bush, FDR posing with his high school baseball team (that’s him, back row, third from right [he was the student manager], although of course I’m more interested in the hoop-striped undersleeves), and JFK on the Harvard swim team (back row, third from left).

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Karen generously offered to send me additional photos from the exhibit, the best of which break down as follows:

• Here’s Dwight Eisenhower’s Abilene High School baseball team, with Ike shown in the top row, second from the right. (Note the awesome cuff stripes on the kid sitting in the center.)

• Man, I love the 1937 Harvard “second” football team’s uniform. That’s a young JFK, then a sophomore, in the middle standing row, third from the right.

• Most Poppy Bush sports photos that I’ve seen focus on his Yale baseball days (like this team portrait, showing GHWB is in the front row, far left). But Karen sent along lots of material from his days at Phillips Academy in Andover, including a soccer photo, his varsity letter award, and an all-purpose sports pass.

• I knew Ronald Reagan had been a lifeguard. But I didn’t know he’d been on his college swimming team (where his hair-gel habit already appears to have been well underway).

• FDR served as an usher at Harvard football games, where he wore this sash.

• We’ve all seen lots of football photos of Gerald Ford. But here’s one from his high school days that I haven’t seen before. And check this out: a recruitment letter from Curly Lambeau, who was trying to sign him for the Packers.

Big thanks to Karen for today’s content — much obliged!

Uni Watch News Ticker: Remember how the Mets were wearing their blue game caps during BP, instead of the new BP caps? Not anymore. A source with the team tells me, “We had to go back to the horrible BP hats, orders from MLB/New Era. We wore them this weekend, and will continue to for the near future.” … Member Jeffrey Soderberg contributed two good screen grabs yesterday: “The first one is Felipe Lopez (Nationals) vs. Indians on Friday the 22nd with a REEEDICULOUS-sized number pendant on his necklace. He’s only hitting .236, slugging .401 for the season — not exactly bling-worthy numbers. And from the same game, what the heck is a Yankees logo doing on a seat in the visiting bullpen during an Indians/Nationals game?” … Here’s how to perpetuate a bunch of really bad stereotypes: You run an article on same-sex couples adopting kids, as CNN.com did yeserday, and then pair it with this photo. Note that the kid is wearing his glove on the wrong hand. … The long-awaited Israel Baseball League has finally gotten underway. You can see a bit of the uniforms here and here, and the various caps are available here. “The cleverest is the one worn by the Netanya Tigers, in which the palm of the paw is the Hebrew letter tet,” writes Eric Trager, who also notes that player names on the jerseys are printed in Hebrew. … Andrew Connor points out that the p in the Capitals’ new logo is very evocative of this logo. … According to a Texas A&M message board, the Aggies’ new football unis will look like this and this. … The Bucks have unveiled a 40th-anniversary logo, and does that “40″ look super-clunky or what? … “Three years ago,” writes Tom K, “I would have never read this article on striped knit socks. But now, being a uni-watcher, I was all over it.” … Great contribution from Matt Nelson, who writes: “I was at the Cedar Rapids Kernels game tonight at Veterans Memorial Stadium, where the gift shop includes the Cedar Rapids Pro Baseball Hall of Fame. Their displays include a couple of pretty old jerseys, highlighted by a 1907 Cedar Rapids Bunnies jersey.” … Only one member of the Cardinals was showing his stripes last night: the batboy (with thanks to Chris Flinn, who was at the game). … Last week I reported that the U. of Minnesota would be enlarging the “M” on their football helmet. It will apparently look like the one shown here.

189 comments June 26th, 2007

Cap Day

We have a lot to cover today, boys and girls, beginning with the Capitals’ uniform unveiling, which took place on Friday evening. Although I couldn’t make it down for the event, Uni Watch was nonetheless in the house, in the person of DC-area reader Mike Forgy, a longtime Caps season ticket holder who was generously provided with media credentials by the Caps PR office (thanks, Nate). Mike took several dozen photos, which you can access here, and filed the following report:

One of the first things that struck me when I walked in was that the staff already had polo shirts with the new logo. Meanwhile, I saw that face painters, magicians, and one of the facility’s two rinks were made available to fans as a pre-unveiling treat. (The unveiling would take place on the other rink.) Merchandise stands were being set up, and jerseys could be pre-ordered for a September delivery date for a pretty reasonable price of $99. It would cost another $60 if you wanted it personalized. A huge screen was also installed in the second rink, so people could watch the unveiling and draft as they skated.

I made my down to and across the ice (not easy with dress shoes on) and took my place with the rest of the photographers and videographers. Most had their super powerful digital SLRs with huge lenses. I was armed with my regular camera, which is about as small as a cell phone, and the camera my friend Jennifer loaned me, a Canon A620, which had a lot more zoom than mine.

The Caps play-by-play announcer came out and introduced some of the great Caps from years past: Yvon Labre, Rod Langway, Mike Gartner, Kelly Miller, and Sylvain Cote, all of whom wore the jerseys from their respective eras. I am not sure, but it looked like Rod Langway had a souvenir shop jersey, although at that distance it was hard to tell. The alumni were then shuffled off the stage.

Finally a large curtain fell and the new uniforms were there for everyone to see. The home reds were worn by Captain Chris Clark and Defenseman Jeff Shultz, while the away whites were worn by Brian Pothier and Ben Clymer, who then took to the ice and skated around.

Soon we made our way to a media area (which, unfortunately, wasn’t very well lighted) to interview the players. I talked to Pothier, Clymer, and Shultz, and they all said the same things: They love the feel of the jersey, though the underarm area seemed a little tight. They all loved the tight socks (here’s a rear view) and the garter system that attached inside the pants. The old socks were the heavy cotton, which did not breathe so well. Most thought this would be the biggest difference maker during games, more so than the jerseys. All the players said they preferred the white jersey to the red one, but all made the caveat that white is just more classic.

When asked what kind of input they had, Ben Clymer said, “When I put it on about 30 minutes ago … that‘s my first input.” Even the Captain, Chris Clark, said he had not seen them before his arrival at the complex earlier in the evening.

While talking to Ben Clymer, I realized there was one thing I had completely forgotten about: helmets! I asked Ben if the color of the helmets would be red and white (for the respective jerseys) and he seemed shocked with the question, like maybe someone forgot about the helmets. At no point did anyone come out wearing one, nor were they alluded to. Ben informed me the red jerseys would get a blue helmet, and the white jerseys a white helmet.

The media kit provided a booklet on some of the features of the uniform and branding program (the eagle in the secondary logo must always face forward, for example) and some great pictures of Olie Kolzig, who is the only Caps player to wear all five uniforms.

The Caps made a killing that evening selling new merchandise to fans (myself included). One of the T-shirts they were selling featured numbers and letters that were printed to look sewn on, as if they actually had some raised stitching. What’s odd is that the number looks like the old jersey material — shouldn‘t it look more like this?

First and foremost, thanks to Mike for representing Uni Watch at the event — much appreciated. As for the full uniforms, I still don’t like the new logo (that p is just a disaster), but the whites are clearly better than the reds, and the full treatment (name/number, breezers, socks) is better than the jersey by itself. I’m still not wowed, but it would be fair to say that if my initial assessment was, say, a solid C, I’d now upgrade that to a B-minus.

As you may be aware, several other teams unveiled (or leaked) new uniforms over the weekend, including the Blue Jackets, Hawks, and Kings (and, depending on whether you trust images of dubious origin, maybe the Islanders and Hurricanes too). I’ll have more to say about these in a few days on ESPN.

Meanwhile, this was also a good weekend for MLB throwbacks, and Uni Watch was in the house again — sometimes in more ways than one. Let’s start with Saturday’s Dodgers/Rays game in Tampa, where L.A. dressed as the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (a team that included current Devil Rays coach Don Zimmer) and the Rays became the old St. Petersburg Saints (complete with a totally cool flamingo sleeve patch). The big news here, which I didn’t even realize myself until yesterday, is that both teams’ uniforms were designed by Uni Watch’s own Scott M.X. Turner, who worked on the job for Ebbets Field Flannels. And as you can see in this shot they were indeed flannels, not just old graphics sewn onto polyester double-knits.

Designing the Dodgers’ duds wasn’t too hard (it’s not like there’s a shortage of old photos), but Scott says the St. Petersburg uniforms were trickier, because all he had to work with was a few photos from old newspaper clippings provided by the Rays (additional views here and here). “This is what companies like Ebbets Field, Mitchell & Ness, and AIS often have to dig through to recreate historic uniforms,” he says. “Sometimes we get crisp images or, rarely, actual garments. This wasn’t one of those times. In the end, though, I just did the designs. It was Jerry [Cohen, Ebbets Field’s owner/prexy] who single-handedly made the physical production happen, which was very, very hard, with hassles from all ends — MLB, the clubs, the various vendors, the shippers, customs, the whole thing.”

I hope to discuss all of this in an interview with Cohen in the near future, but for now we’ll make due with a note from Cohen that Scott passed along: “We pretty much made sure the teams would have to have stirrups (didn’t give ‘em a choice). Also, we know perfectly well that the Dodgers didn’t wear ‘Brooklyn’ in ‘55, but they wanted specifically to celebrate Brooklyn, so we did it that way.”

As it happens, reader Tim Burke was in the stands and snapped a lot of good pics, which you can see here.

A Uni Watch reader was also in attendance for Friday night’s Padres/Bosox game, which featured 1980s attire for both teams. As was well documented in the weekend comments sections, the Padres’ uni numbers weren’t quite right and the lettering Boston’s jersey insignia was too thin, among other problems, but whatever — we can still enjoy Tim Stoops’s slide show of the evening’s events.

Another thing that came up in the weekend comments: the question of how “BOSTON” should have broken across the Red Sox jersey plackets. Should it have been BOS TON or BO STON? This turns out to be something of a variable element in Bosox history, and reader Jere has just whipped up a treatise on the topic for his blog — recommended reading.

Finally, the Brewers and Royals wore Negro League unis on Friday night, and holy shit did they look awesome (additional pics here, here, here, and here). No Uni Watch readers were in attendance, at least not that I’m aware of, although Nicole Haase did provide a bunch of screen shots that provide better views of what the Royals were wearing. And if there’s one thing we learned, it’s that players can look equally lame-o in any era.

Membership Update: I mailed out about 60 membership kits on Saturday (would’ve been a few more except I botched a couple while trimming and laminating, so those will have to be redone), and Scott is busily working on the next batch. We hope to be caught up, or close to it, by the end of this week.

We now have 175 members, 143 of whose cards have been designed, and I don’t mind saying that I think it all looks pretty damn cool. Plus the card design process has taught me a lot about team colors, numeral typography, and so on, so it’s been, as Homer Simpson might say, an edumacational project, and those are always the best kind. Thanks again to all who’ve signed up.

Meanwhile I regret to report that laminating a Cheerio isn’t nearly as good an idea as I thought it would be.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Ever notice that after Bobby Richardson caught the last out of the 1962 World Series, he didn’t have his cap on? Some ace detective work by New York Times Yankees beat writer (and Uni Watch devotee) Tyler Kepner has turned up the bizarre explanation: The second base umpire asked if he could have Richardson’s cap just moments before Stretch McCovey hit the line drive that would end the Series, so Richardson gave it to him (look closely at the photo and you can see the ump carrying the cap). Full details here. … History was made Friday night in Seattle, as reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith — the first-ever MLBer with a hyphenated name — made his big league debut (with thanks to birthday boy Jeremy Brahm, who attended the game). … Always good to hear from Uni Watch baking consultant Elena Elms (she of the stirrup-frosted cookies), who writes: “The Raleigh News and Observer ran a small item in which Robert Woodard (6′2″ RHP, UNC-CH) explains why he wears high cuffs. I’ve seen most of his home starts in his four years here and never saw him wear them that way until about a month ago. The pale blue stockings give quite an colonial appearance to his uni, I think.” … Bob Weston reports that Cubs reliever Bobby Howry has “Phil. 4:13″ inscribed on his undervisor. … Hahahahahahahaha. … Cycling note from Michael Rich, who reports that Fabian Cancellara of Team CSC wore his No. 13s upside-down during the Tour de Suisse, as a way of avoiding any 13-related bad karma. … Garrett Hipple reports that Oregon State pinch-runner Braden Wells had a Virginia Tech logo decal (presumably another memorial in response to the shootings) on the back of his helmet in last night’s CWS game. … This is almost too good to be true. … Couple uni-related entries in this Q&A blog entry by Curtis Granderson (good spot by intern Vince Grzegorek).

194 comments June 25th, 2007

Sunday Open Thread

Apparently this fan, seen getting the new Capitals’ logo tattooed on his neck during a draft party at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, doesn’t agree with Paul about the pointed p or the height of the lower case i in the design. –Vince

102 comments June 24th, 2007

Saturday Open Thread

The Padres wore their 1982 throwbacks last night in honor of Tony Gwynn’s major league debut. As goofy as they look, I’m a huge fan.

Some minor observations: Maddux’s stirrups aren’t perfect, but they’ll do. And Michael Barrett’s catcher’s mask looks a little out of place against the 1982 threads.

More views here, here, and here. –Vince

150 comments June 23rd, 2007