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Archive for March, 2008
It’s pretty simple, or at least it should be: You don’t wear an alternate uniform for the first game of the season. And that goes double when you’re playing the very first game at a brand-new ballpark.
But the Braves were more interested in selling a few shirts and caps than in having any respect for the game or for their hosts, so they chose Opening Night to unveil their new blue alternate road jerseys and solid blue caps. Nice going, John Schuerholz. Maybe at your home opener you can announce that you’ve sold the stadium’s naming rights to Coca-Cola.
Such unseemly breaches of protocol notwithstanding, how did the new togs look? Well, they’re waaaaay better than the red alt jersey (which, sadly, will still be worn for Sunday home games). The big problem is that the blue script and, especially, the blue uni numbers look sooooo Little League, like they didn’t have enough $$$ to shell out for an additional color or something. I never thought I’d ever be using a BP jersey to make a favorable comparison, but compare the BP shirt’s red lettering and numbering to the new gamers and it’s no contest. As someone on Chris Creamer’s site pointed out, the blue-on-blue uni numbers are very reminiscent of this and this, neither of which is the kind of thing you’d wanna be associated with. The jersey needs some red.
As for the navy-brimmed cap, I don’t mind that so much, esp. since it harkens back to an earlier era. But a spot of red would’ve been nice, even if only on the top cap button. And hey, how come they didn’t have solid navy batting helmets?
Other notes from the game:
• That little left-sleeve patch says, “Beach,” a memorial tribute to coach Jim Beauchamp.
• I didn’t realize that the Nats’ stadium sleeve patch was gonna be reprised as a cap patch. Let’s hope this is just just for the first game or first series of the season.1
• Odalis Perez had major undershirt-tag problems early in the game.
• Fans of double-flap helmets will be happy to hear that Willie Harris is still wearing one, just as he’s done earlier in his career. In addition, Brayan Pena wore one, something he has not previously done.
• I understand that stuff like this is unavoidable these days. But seriously, I am so sick of these mound logos. The mound is a place for serious work, not a billboard for you to tell people something they already know anyway.
• Speaking of Ws on the mound, we’ll never have to see this again, and that’s more than dandy with me. Go back to sleep, George.
Simple Rule: If someone posts a photo of an attractive female athlete — or just an attractive female, period — and if you respond by posting a dick-for-brains comment like, “Uniform? I don’t see any uniform!” or something of a similar ilk, my new policy as of right now is that you will be blocked from making any further comments on the site. This is not because such comments are offensive, but because they’re so totally lazy, stupid, and depressingly predictable. If you need to convince everyone that you’re heterosexual, at least come up with a more creative way of doing it, like by running for governor of New York or something. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I hadn’t spent any time poking around Steve Dewing’s completely addictive photo site for a while, so I checked in the other day and, as usual, got completely sucked into the gorgeous imagery. Among the new finds: Keith Hernandez in white shoes (clearly from the 1987 All-Star Game) and this shot, which appears to show a Dodgers catcher wearing either a front-facing helmet or a brimless helmet. The thing is, this photo is almost certainly from 1969 (as evidenced by the MLB 100th-anniversary patch on Tony Perez’s sleeve), and I wasn’t aware of catchers going front-brimmed or brimless that early. … Chris Burris notes that Orlando Mendez-Valdez has been wearing the Western Kentucky logo on his socks. … Nice historical rundown of Coastal Carolina logos here (with thanks to Greg Sharp). … While looking for something else, I came across this 1988 photo. Check out that amazing American League umpire’s cap! … The Brooklyn Cyclones are planning to wear Hebrew uniforms for Jewish Heritage Night in a few months. Details here (with thanks to Mike Stutzman). … Good Converse article here. … David Stern floated a trial balloon the other day about possible uniform advertising for NBA preseason games overseas (a particularly disappointing prospect when you consider how interesting some of the country-based preseason designs have been over the past two years). If you’d like to help shoot that balloon down, you can contact the NBA here. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: Outstanding article about Rawlings gloves — highly recommended. … Remember Rob Ullman and his uni-themed cheesecake illustrations? Kent Foster certainly does: “Took your advice and had Rob create a hockey pin-up girl for me,” he writes. “The team is the University of Richmond Spiders and the girl is my wife, Monica. I actually got it for her for her birthday, although it was probably more of a present for me.” … “I think this is my favorite picture so far from the SI vault,” writes Jesse Spector. “I think you’ll really enjoy it too, for the little details like the red shoes, the sock stripes, and the Baltimore Clippers championship banner.” Indeed. … Padres news from Brian Hilemon, who writes: “CEO Sandy Alderson stated during his weekly radio chat that next season the Pads will have uniform designs to honor not only the Marines but other branches of the military as well.” Jesus Christ, why don’t they just put mosquito netting over the stadium, make fans salute when they go through the turnstiles, and install David Petraeus in the manager’s office already. … Headband or wannabe-monk? (As forwarded by Greg Riffenburgh.) … “I went to the games in Tokyo last week and got some cool shots of the unis in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and at the game,” writes Mark Bittick. “The Hall is mostly about uniforms (there’s something um, unsettling about the Hiroshima Carp’s sleeve patch), and the beer girls at the stadium are straight out of anime. They even wear stirrups!” … Good close-ups here of David Beckham’s 100th-match golden cleats, jersey, and cap (big thanks to Dana Prey). … Cool video segment about our friends at Distant Replays here. … Thoughts on the Civil Rights Game: Overall, the uniforms were really lame (duh), but the orange trim on the Mets’ attire looked really good (although it would’ve looked a lot better if they’d worn blue sleeves and caps, to match the chest insignia, instead of going with black). Interesting that the Mets had special pants made for the occasion, while the Sox just wore their regular road pants. Also interesting that both teams wore their regular caps (well, except for that little “Civil Rights Game” embroidery on the side), while the Cards and Indians wore specially designed caps (and helmets!) last year. … Strange boxing phenomenon the other night: Arthur Abraham was wearing Adidas gloves, or so it appeared during his bout with Elvin Ayala (in fact, Ayala had Adidas gloves too). But when the tape came off the gloves after the fight, it turned out Abraham’s gloves were also Everlast-branded — what gives? I have a friend at Everlast and hope to have an answer soon (big thanks to Richard Giron for spotting this one). … According to the little “Did You Know?” squib in the right-hand column of this page, the Sean Taylor memorial movement is alive and well (good catch by Daniel Weimann). … Really nice old baseball uniform available here. I’d bid on this one myself, but the seller says the jersey is 22 inches from pit to pit (i.e., a size 44), which means it’s too big for me. Dang. … Really, really good article here about rugby sponsorships, logo creep, and related issues (with thanks to Caleb Borchers). … Great article and audio slide show about some interesting behind-the-scenes details at Yankee Stadium. … Good catch by Brian Russ, who writes: “When CBS showed the brackets after the Memphis/Texas game, they misspelled Xavier on the screen.” … Jeremy Brahm notes that the Romanian women’s handball team has off-center uni numbers. … Jon Chin reports that New Era is now selling fitted MLB caps for women. The sales copy says they’re “fit for a woman!” (not sure if this refers to the cap’s tailoring or if they mean it in the “fit for a king” sense) and adds that the caps have a “re-designed fit with a re-sculpted crown and trimmed visor.” Not sure how this makes them more “woman”-ly. Anyone..? … At first I got all excited when Scott Marcusky sent me these awesome photos of a Pirates farmhand from Saturday’s Bucs/Twins spring training game. “Ah,” I thought, “Nyjer Mogan’s hosiery influence is spreading!” But then I checked the Pittsburgh roster and found that No. 79 is Luis Munoz, who (a) is a pitcher, (b) isn’t listed in Saturday’s box score, and (c) looks like this (tough to say for sure, but that doesn’t look like this fella). Now I’m inclined to think that the player in question might actually be Morgan himself wearing someone else’s jersey, as occasionally happens in spring training. If anyone can help confirm or refute my theory, I’m all ears. … As many readers have noted, the new NFL logo is now being featured on NFL.com. … Contrary to what I wrote a few days ago, the Dodgers never intended to wear throwback flannels for Saturday’s game at the L.A. Colisseum. Instead, a bunch of 1958 old-timers will wear the flannels during today’s Opening Day ceremonies at Dodger Stadium. Sorry to have gotten the two events mixed up. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Vince Young has a nameplate tattoo. … The Hershey Bears wore 1938-39 throwbacks on Saturday night. Additional pics here (courtesy of Mark Coale). … Check this out: baseball stadiums made out of Lego, plus an interview with the guy who designs them.
March 31st, 2008
I eat my vegetables. I try to drive like a rational, sensible human being. I avoid dropping f-bombs around my kid. And I’m sure the rest of the Uni Watch audience is no different — we’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got.
But the above image makes me wonder if we’ve been doing something wrong — if we’ve been upsetting some sort of cosmic uni-centric force. Have you guys and gals been sneaking out office supplies on the sly? Stealing from the collection plate or something? I know I don’t pick up the dog poop nearly as often as I should, but is this just punishment?
I’m wandering. Sorry. Back to the point: Regional championship hats? Seriously? Is anybody gonna look back in six years — or six months, even — and say, “Oh man, that 2008 Midwest regional was INSANE. And it was so awesome, I’m glad I have this generic souvenir hat as a token of said awesomeness.” Now, the World Series or Super Bowl or NBA Finals … well, maybe not the NBA Finals … those things make more sense. But a regional championship? (”Yeah, we’re at least fourth!”) Does it say Final Four on there anywhere, even? It seems like any accomplishment gets a hat now, which makes it considerably less exciting. And think of how dull it is if you have TWO hats. Yup, that dull.
Enjoy your Sunday — it’s time for baseball, finally. Bryan
March 30th, 2008
Every time I see something like Orlando Hudson’s apparent miracle double on Friday night, I think of this. Or of Ricky Bobby’s prayers, during which he thanks the Lord Baby Jesus for blessing him with the support of “Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell.” But remember this – and this is the end of the movie quotes (for everybody, got it?) – “Jesus, he’s a good man. But he no help me hit curveball.”
And for those wondering: Yes, it was a slow day on the uni front, unless you count this. Is Fukudome wearing blue velvet Asics? — Bryan
March 29th, 2008
Got a note the other day from reader Matt Fedorka, who raised some interesting points. I’ll let him tell the story himself:
Last year my girlfriend bought me an authentic customized Boston Bruins jersey (pre-Reebok Edge format), with my name and No. 87 on the back. I got it and I was really excited, but I noticed that the “7″ was not the same kind they used on the ice last year. The “7″ on the ice had a serif on the bottom, while mine did not.
Since I’m a nitpicky jersey guy (and because my girlfriend dropped $300 on the jersey), I decided to investigate. I went onto the NHL store’s website and used the preview function to see if the 7 would look the same as the one on my jersey, and it did. So they’re basically selling something that’s different from what the players wear, even though they’re calling it authentic. I then called the NHL store’s customer service line, where a representative said he would try to give my number to the right person, but he said it might have to do with what the Bruins wanted to allow for numbers.
So THEN I went onto my NHL 2K5 hockey game, and all the teams had the correct font for there numbers — except for the Bruins, who still had no serif at the bottom of the 7.
Here’s another point: If you look at that photo I showed you before, which is from January of 2007, you can see that the Bruins were using a serifed 7 on the back but a sans serif 7 on the sleeve. They seemed to change the sleeve 7 that pic was taken, which is apparent in this pic taken in December of 2006. I dug back a little further in the history book and noticed that at one point in the late ’90s they were wearing a sans serif 7 on the back, just like the one on my personalized jersey.
This made me feel a little better (at least they wore the sans serif 7 at one time). And I’ve noticed that with the new jerseys this season, the Bruins are now using the correct numbers on their customized jerseys. But the fact remains that my girlfriend and I have been shafted by the NHL. She ordered me an “authentic on-ice jersey with authentic numbering,” yet it wasn’t authentic. What’s the deal?
Seems to me there are two issues here: First, there are the inconsistencies in the Bruins’ on-ice 7s, and then there’s the question of “authentic” product. (Some folks — including me — might also say there’s the question of why anyone would spend $300 on a polyester shirt, but I’ll leave that issue for another day.) I can pretty well guarantee that the NHL and the Bruins will not be thrilled about explaining any of this to me, so before I pester them, does anyone know more about any this?
Research Project: Last year, and maybe the year before, I was surprised to see a few MLB umpires wearing goatees. Unfortunately, I don’t recall who those umpires were, and I haven’t been able to figure it out on my own. Several umps have facial hair in their official head shots for MLB.com, but all of those umps appear to have gone clean-shaven on the field, at least based on the photo research I’ve done so far. Does anyone know which umps have worn beards on the job? Do we know who was the first ump to do this, and when?
While we’re at it: To my knowledge, the first bearded manager and GM of the modern era were, respectively, Davey Lopes (in 2000) and Steve Phillips (ditto). But that’s just based on my sometimes-faulty memory — can anyone confirm or revise?
Friendly Reminder: Live web chat, today, 1pm eastern, here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: On the subject of airbrushed baseball cards, check out the size of the jersey button here (good spot by Mike Miller). … The AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms will induct Bobby Clarke into their Hall of Fame on Sunday, and will wear 1968-69 Flin Flon Bombers throwbacks (Clarke’s boyhood junior team). Details here and here (with thanks to Matthew Algeo). … Wednesday marked David Beckham’s 100th appeaerance for the English national team, and his jersey had “100th Cap” in gold letters” for the occasion. Yes, it’s hard to see, but note that the gold lettering is missing from Peter Crouch’s jersey (good spot by Jonathon Binet). … Also from Jonathon: According to a small item in the middle of this Q&A page (search on “Rob from Deltona”), the Jaguars will be making “a minor change to the stripes on [their] white pants, to match up better with the black letters on the jerseys.” … Although the NFL season is over, new installments of “Equipped with Joe Skiba” are still being produced. The latest episode, featuring punter Jeff Feagles, is really good, and it’s available here. In addition, Skiba says he just filmed an episode of the History’s Channel’s Modern Marvels, about helmet technology. It’s slated to air on June 6th. … Are you kidding me? That screen grab, I’m told, with a number on the front of Chien-ming Wang’s jersey, is from MLB 08 The Show (good spot by James Yeh, who adds, “Doesn’t give me much confidence in the rest of the game”). … While researching something else, I came across this photo of former Orioles catcher and all-time MLB unibrow king Andy Etchebarren (sorry about the crop job). Check out that double-striped undershirt collar — man, that looks so fucking hot! … Yankees roster news from Tyler Kepner: “When [Morgan] Ensberg learned he would make the team last week, he decided he could not continue wearing No. 21, which was last worn by Paul O’Neill. But reliever LaTroy Hawkins has snapped up 21, and he said he would wear it to honor Roberto Clemente, who died 10 days after Hawkins was born in 1972.” … Peter Snow has scanned some images from The Leafs: The First 50 Years, which chronicles the Maple Leafs from 1926-76. Some great stuff here, including a hockey version of the Greaet Gazoo helmet, a rare sighting of eye-black on the ice, and some seriously freaky all-star uniforms (or at least that’s what I assume they are). You can view the full set of scans here. … Personally, I don’t give a shit what people are buying at the NBA Store (in fact, I wish there was no such thing as the NBA Store), but if you do, you’ll want to see this. … Got a spare $8000 laying around? If so, you can own one of the ugliest jerseys of all time (as forwarded by Damon Hirschensohn). … Speaking of auctions, look at this lot and check out the sleeve numbers on the guy at bottom center. … New football uniforms for Utah — details here (with thanks to Ryan Purdie). … The recent LeBron James Vogue cover has inspired a very smart response from Claude Johnson. … “It finally stopped snowing here in Chicago long enough to get some high school baseball in,” writes Steve Johnston. “I was at a game on Wednesday and took these photos. That’s the head coach for St Francis High School in Wheaton, Illinois. I commented on the stirrups and he said he’s trying to bring some tradition back. About a third of the team is wearing the pants high enough so you can see the stripes.”
March 28th, 2008
Whatever you think of the advertising patches that were worn in the A’s/Bosox series in Japan, one question remains: Why is uniform advertising used exclusively in these season-opening series in Japan?
Our resident expert on all things Far Eastern, Jeremy Brahm, tried to address this question in Tuesday’s comments:
Since the beginning of the MLB tours of Japan, two Japanese newspapers — the Yomiuri Shimbun (owner of the Yomiuri Giants) and the Mainichi Shinbun (which owned the Mainichi Orions, which are now the Chiba Lotte Marines — the paper currently has no ownership stake) — would split who sponsored the tour every two or three years. This has continued until recently.
Now, with the season-opening games, Yomiuri gets sponsorship precedence, because they own a portion of the Tokyo Dome and because of their historical support for MLB Tours.
The tours in the past have always had some sort of sponsorship. Now there are presenting sponsors, such as Ricoh — similar to the situation with a college bowl game.
Even after some private follow-up e-mailing with Jeremy, I don’t fully understand this, but the basic gist seems to be, “Professional baseball in Japan, including all-star tours by MLB players, has always included sponsorship, so that’s just the way it’s gonna be when you’re playing in Japan.”
Anyway: You probably know that American ballplayers have been visiting Japan for decades. The Yankees toured the Asian country in 1934 (details here), and there have been many, many all-star exhibition tours over the years. Most of these tours have had their own logos, and Jeremy has compiled some of the more recent ones: 1986, 1990, 1996, another one from 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
Some additional notes:
• I never really paid any attention to MLB tours of Japan until the autumn of 2004, when a larger version of this photo caught my eye. Although you can’t tell in that thumbnail-size shot, Carl Crawford was wearing the road jersey that Tampa would eventually wear in 2005, with different lettering than the 2004 version — and, yes, he was also wearing an advertising sleeve patch. As it turns out, all the MLB players on that all-star tour were wearing Æon sleeve patches and helmet decals (additional views here and here), along with cap patches. Plus Roger Clemens was sporting some truly awful-looking hosiery logo creep. This all looks pretty clownish to me, but hey, these were just exhibition games — they’re allowed to look clownish. Maybe it’s even better if they look clownish, just to reinforce the point that the games don’t really matter and that it’s all in fun. But I still can’t get my head around the idea of wearing uniform advertising for games that count.
• The A’s and Mariners were supposed to open the 2003 season in Japan, but the series was cancelled due to security concerns arising from the Iraq War, which had just started. Programs, however, had already been printed.
• Jeremy has also found a page showing ticket stubs from assorted MLB tours of Japan. Several of them are flat-out gorgeous — check out the full page here.
• Also from Jeremy: This 1979 All-Star Game gym bag, apparently produced for Japanese fans.
• And just to bring us back to the present, Nicholas Schiavo notes that an Oakland player — not sure who — was wearing a sweatshirt in the dugout during Tuesday’s game. And what did that sweatshirt say? “2006 MLB Playoffs.” Wonder if he got fined for not wearing the official ad-sponsored Japan Series version.
Pinstriped Mystery Solved (More or Less): Big thanks to all who responded to Monday’s entry (which focused on an old photo showing Dodgers wearing pinstripes, as seen at left) by suggesting that I get in touch with Dodgers team historian Mark Langill, a man whose acquaintance I clearly should have made long ago. I called his office on Monday afternoon and left a voicemail. When he called me back a few hours later, he said he was standing in the third base coach’s box at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Dodgers will be playing a throwback exhibition game against the Red Sox this Saturday. (By coincidence, the Dodgers’ 1958-style uniforms for that game are being furnished by Ebbets Field Flannels, and I was actually in the Ebbets office in Seattle a few weeks ago when the Dodgers called to order the uniforms. The good news: They’re going with classic wool flannels. The bad news: They’re using NOBs, which is soooooo bogus for a 1958 throwback. Sigh.)
Anyway: I e-mailed the photo in question to Langill, who immediately identified it as a 1964 spring training shot of minor league coaches. Apparently the Dodgers had several low-level minor league teams in their system that wore pinstripes along with the classic Dodgers script (Mark isn’t sure which ones are represented in the photo, but he’s working on that), and they were wearing “L.A.” caps because that’s what everyone wore for spring training purposes.
Still not sure about the spring training pics showing jerseys with “S” and “X” instead of uni numbers, but I’m trying to get Mark to explain that too.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Cool old newspaper basketball uniform available here. … A little birdie tells me that the Braves’ long-rumored blue alternate jersey may make its debut in the team’s very first game of the season, this Sunday against the Nats. “GM Frank Wren wants it to be a big surprise,” reports my source. “The Braves have delayed putting out their merchandise catalog this year solely because the road alternate jersey is featured in it. The feeling is that by unveiling them in this fashion (nationally televised game on ESPN), sales will be through the roof as soon as the catalog is sent.” Nice to see uniforms reduced to nothing more than a sales gimmick. … Best view yet of the “Japan 2008″ logo. … Looks like Manny was back to his old, skanky “B” logo yesterday. … Speaking of Manny, according to a small item in the middle of this story, MLB wouldn’t let him use his “red-barreled, Diablo brand bat” in Japan, so “he just grabbed some ‘Japanese wood,’ in the form of a couple of SSX models” (with thanks to Tom Horgan). … The “Baseball as America” traveling exhibit is currently residing at the National Constitution Center in Philly. A bonus uniform-centric program will take place there at on Saturday, April 19th, from noon to 3pm, featuring Mitchell & Ness prexy Peter Capolino, M&N researcher (and frequent Uni Watch contributor) Jared Wheeler, and several Phillies old-timers. I’m gonna try to make it to Philly for this event. Assuming my schedule cooperates, we’ll have a Uni Watch party later that same day. Details to come soon-ishly. … Speaking of Peter and Jared, they just sent me this 1943 Sporting News item that explains the origin of the Cardinals’ birds-on-the-bat logo. … New Netherlands soccer kit here, here, and here. … Guess which sporting event I won’t be attending? (As horrifyingly reported by Mike Alper.) … According to this story, the Astros will wear green caps in honor of Earth Day on April 22nd (good find by Jason Chapman). … We all know the old pre-Photoshop phenomenon of Topps airbrushing photos of players who'’d been traded. This blog recently ran a contest to pick the most egregious example from this field of choices. Results here (great discovery by Jason McCarty). … As you may have heard over the past few days, the NFL is considering a ban on long hair (that sound you just heard was Minna H. screaming in horror). … You’ve heard of throwback uniforms? Check this out: throwback police squad cars (courtesy of Billy Duss). … Well, that was fun while it lasted. … Attention Tim Witesock: Here’s the eBay auction of your dreams (with thanks to Jason Libes). … Good number-retirement cartoon from last week’s New Yorker. … More new soccer kits: Switzerland, Austria, Croatia (courtesy of Chris Palatinus). … And more discussion of the new USA black jersey here (with thanks to Mark Coale). … New policy at Northern Illinois: Football players who “skip class, show up late for team meetings or otherwise fail to live up to [head coach Jerry] Kill’s standards” have to wear a yellow shirt with pink “I Let My Team Down” lettering. Idiotic details here (as forwarded by Dan Streed). … Minnesota’s two pro soccer teams have new logos (with thanks to Joel Dunn). … Todd Taylor says this is the story behind the Rays using the same boring insignia for their home and road jerseys: “They did that intentionally, to build name recognition for the new team name. They will go to ‘Tampa Bay’ on the roads next season.” … The whole sports/gang connection refuses to die (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … The long-rumored Miami Hurricanes black alternate jersey will apparently look like this. … Wanna design a new secondary logo for the Colts? Look here. … I was going through some old files and came across a bit of info sent my way five or six years ago by SABR researcher Maxwell Kates. At the time, there was no such thing as this blog or even the Uni Watch News Ticker, so I had no place to publish little tidbits. But now, dear reader, you get to read the following: “Is it true that Wayland Moore was high on acid when he designed those uniforms worn by the Braves between 1972 and 1979? I’ve heard that story once before, but I can’t vouch for its accuracy. When Moore first designed those uniforms, the Braves were actually supposed to have worn red on the road. Hank Aaron took one look at the uniform and said, ‘I’m not wearing that. Take whatever is red, and make it blue.’ Moore complied and later altered the Braves’ road uniforms according to Aaron’s wishes. Aaron and Eddie Mathews were the only ones shown the red uniforms. Also, just out of curiosity, why did the 1985 Texas Rangers wear their 1986 uniforms for the last month of the season? I know that had the 1979 Montreal Expos made the playoffs, they would have worn the ‘racing stripe’ uniforms that were introduced by the team in 1980. That’s in Brodie Snyder’s The Year the Expos Almost Won the Pennant.” All of this is news to me — anyone know more about any of these?
March 27th, 2008
I tend not to write about ice dancing outfits, in part because they’re ridiculous, and in larger part because the entire “sport” is even more ridiculous. But it’s worth making an exception for the British sibling team of Sinead and John Kerr, who pulled quite a stunt at the World Figure Skating Championships in Sweden last Thursday.
The Kerrs aren’t just British — they’re Scottish. So they decided to honor their heritage by wearing traditional Scottish plaids — including a kilt for John. Even better, check out his socks and his faux-gaiters skates (not to be confused with his faux-lapel shirt). And what’s he got on underneath the kilt, you ask? Don’t ask.
This wasn’t the fist time the Kerrs had worn these costumes, as you can see in this video clip from the recent European championships. But lest you think they’re one-trick ponies, last Tuesday they dressed like this (have bras made it to Scotland yet?), and by Friday they were going with — brace yourselves — this, which looks like an outtake from Sleeper. Suddently the kilt doesn’t look so bad, right?
Or as the NBA would say, “El Chat-o”: As you may have seen at the end of yesterday’s Page 2 column, I’ll be doing a live web chat on ESPN.com this Friday at 1pm eastern. It should last about an hour. To participate, go to this page at the appointed time.
I figure some casual Page 2 readers will toss out all the usual boilerplate questions (”So what’s your all-time favorite uniform? … Why do you hate purple so much? … Why does the UCLA’s yellow ‘C’ have a green dot?”), but anyone who reads this blog on a daily basis should be able to do a lot better than that, so bring your “A” game. I’m sure you won’t disappoint me, right? Right.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Check out this awesome sign that Alan Kreit saw outside a store in Montauk. … Robin Fishbein notes that several members of the 1992 Oilers wore a red “Oilers” flag. Doesn’t look big enough to have been a towel, so what exactly was the point? … That patch looks ready to fall off (good spot by Tom Konecny). … Birthday wrap-up: I got all kinds of nice presents from all sorts of great people, but two members of the mighty Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. (whose western swing stylings are available for your enjoyment here) really outdid themselves. First, frontman Michael McMahon presented me with a personalized canned ham (note that it’s Grade B; and yes, there’s a real ham in there), along with a recipe booklet of serving suggestions. And guitarist Jon Hammer and his lovely co-conspirator Karen McBurnie (co-founder of the Dames of Beef, don’tcha know). gave me this little box, which got better and better as I delved into it. It turned out to be a deck of cards documenting the history of the American labor movement. The back of each card looks like this, and the fronts feature capsule biographies of labor stalwarts, featuring such descriptors as “Militant organizer; aggressive leader” and — get this — “Missionary in overalls.” And check out the jokers! … And although Paul Wiederecht didn’t realize it was my birthday, he sent me this pair of 1980 Miami Dolphins socks. “My brother Donald told me he thinks that Dwight Stephenson may have used these during the 1980 training camp at Biscayne College,” he writes. … Compare this shot of Manny Ramirez, taken on March 14th, to this one, taken yesterday. Looks like he got a new helmet logo applied over his pine tar gunk. … Donovan Moore recently came across an old NBA logo guide that featured, among other things, an unused Clippers logo prototype. … The Padres will wear first responder caps, honoring those who fought and survived last fall’s wildfires, for this Friday’s exhibition game (with thanks to Brian Hilemon). … Some interesting historical info regarding Wake Forest hoops unis and floor designs here (with thanks to Zach Smith). … Remember that rather revealing swimsuit that I wrote about last month? Turns out it may be too good for its own good. … Are you wearing drunk glasses, or just looking at Italy’s new uni number design? (With thanks to Douglas Mulliken.) … Meanwhile, Portugal has a new national soccer set (courtesy of Jeremy Brahm). … And the new U.S. road jersey will look like this (with thanks to Scott Yager). … Lots of “sneaker art” on display here (thanks, Vince). … Civil Rights Games caps will look like this and this (as spotted by Ed Ra).
March 26th, 2008
Did you wake up early to catch the A’s and Bosox? They’ve already set a new MLB record: most commercial uniform advertisers in a game. I count three: Ricoh on the helmets, Pepsi on Oakland’s sleeve (here’s another view), and EMC on Boston’s sleeve. Toss in the “Opening Series” cap patch and that thingie under the Ricoh logo (anyone know exactly what it is? I think it’s an “MLB in Japan” logo of some sort) and you’re basically just one step removed from NFL Europe.
I’ve got a new ESPN column today (here’s the link), so no full blog entry this morning. But here’s a Ticker — enjoy.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Easter Bunny wears many uniforms. … The Minnesota Gophers hockey team is wearing “21″ helmet decals in the WCHA Final Five as a tribute to Senior teammate Tom Pohl, who recently suffered a fractured skull. … Matt Ryburn notes that the the Dodgers’ 50th-anniversary patch was missing from Andruw Jones’s jersey on Saturday. … “As you are well aware, the University of Michigan is switching from Nike gear to Adidas next season,” writes Greg DiLeo. “During the transition from swoosh-world to the land of the three stripes (and the renovations to The Big House), it looks like a few swooshed merch racks from the M-Den store have been left out in the cold. Apparently it wasn’t an amicable breakup.” … “Check out Rafael Nadal’s hand,” writes Vince. “Lots of funny threads on tennis web sites speculating as to what it says. Jokes one person: ‘It says “Remember to scratch butt and bounce ball 25 times before a big point.”‘” … Will Leslie sent along some screen grabs from the upcoming Mike Myers film The Love Guru, which finds Myers playing an East Indian guru hired to help break the Maple Leafs’ long Stanely Cup curse. “Romany Malco plays the Leafs’ top player — Darren Roanoke, No. 77 — and you can see the Leafs and Kings wearing a Stanley Cup Finals patch in some scenes,” writes Will. … Yesterday I asked if anyone knew anything about the Texas Rangers wearing their road powder blues for a home game in 1974. John Philips responded with a heroically detailed account, which he posted in yesterday afternoon’s comments — check it out here. … John Cravaack, a big horse racing fan, sent along this photo of jockey Robbie Albarado wearing a football helmet. “The picture is from Last Mango stables in New Orleans,” he writes. “The winning jockey puts on a football helmet in the winner’s circle. They actually have their own helmet with the stable logo on the side. What’s the football connection, you ask? One of the stable’s major owners is Saints head coach Sean Payton.” … Jeremy Brahm reports that the Eintracht Frankfurt soccer team will not be wearing the cross-based jersey design that recently won a fan vote, because of the cross’s religious connotation. Details here. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Check out the batboys and batgirls from the A’s/Sox game! … I’ll be attending this class tonight — let’s hope I don’t lop off a finger.
March 25th, 2008
Almost exactly one year ago, I posted this entry, which concerned the players apparently wearing the “S,” instead of uni numbers, in this spring training photo. Twelve months and three days later, I still haven’t gotten a definitive explanation of what was going on in that shot (and believe me, I’ve tried). Last week, in fact, the mystery deepened — and a related mystery was added to the queue.
Here’s the deal: Last Wednesday Scott M.X. Turner sent me the link to this eBay auction (now ended), which as you can see was for an “X”-emblazoned Dodgers jersey. Even more interestingly, we can see that this jersey had a regular uni number on the back — something we couldn’t know for sure about the jerseys in that other photo. I still have no clue about the story behind any of this. If any of you do, I’m listenin’.
As it happens, I was already pondering the vagaries of the Dodgers’ spring training uniforms when Scott got in touch with me, because reader Paul Wiederecht had contacted me just the day before with an intriguing Dodgers discovery of his own. As you know, this spring has marked the final year of Dodgertown, the team’s spring training facility in Vero Beach, and there were lots of Dodgertown tributes floating around the web last week. One of them was the video report found on this page. And that’s where things get interesting.
At about the 1:45 of the video, the narrator says, “[Tommy] Lasorda first came to Dodgertown in 1948.” And just as he says that, the video shows this image. Yes, that’s Lasorda at far left, but whatever — the real news is faint but unmistakable:
Dodgers in pinstripes!
In addition, the “LA” caps would suggest that this photo was taken at least a decade later than 1948, but that’s basically a red herring — the video producer probably just said, “Find me an early photo of Lasorda at Dodgertown,” and this might have been the earliest one they could find. None of that detracts from the central question at issue here:
Dodgers in pinstripes!
I’ve shared this photo with all the usual suspects — Todd Radom, Tom Shieber, the SABR listserv — and nobody has a clue. Do you?
Uni Watch News Ticker: Super-duper thanks to all my birthday well-wishers from Friday (and especially to Minna H. and Nicole Haase, who sent me an e-cards with this image and this image, respectively). No writer has ever had a better audience than you people — thanks for everything. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: O.J. Mayo wore NBA socks on Thursday. … Check out the 1947 Tamko Roofers, who beat the Harlem Globetrotters by one point. Note the unusual uni numbers (further details here, courtesy of Phillip Rerat). … Just when you thought logo creep couldn’t get any worse, check out the palms of these gloves (with thanks to Kevin Werther). … Interesting Japanese soccer facemask here (as forwarded by Jeremy Brahm). … Photos of those really boring Mets jerseys for the Civil Rights Game on display here (with thanks to Corey Kanterman). … Tom Adjemian notes that when the Red Sox gave personalized jerseys to two U.S. military officials in Japan on Friday, they wise chose to use road jerseys. … Someone on the Chris Creamer board recently pointed out that the NHL logo has been missing from Stu Barnes’s collar lately. … New Quad Cities River Bandits uniforms here. … As most of you know, the Red Sox will be wearing EMC advertising patches for their games in Japan tomorrow and Wednesday. For their weekend exhibition games against Japanese teams, the Sox also had Ricoh helmet decals, which I assume they’ll be wearing against the A’s as well. But Oakland’s exhibition games found the A’s wearing Pepsi sleeve patches. If this distinction holds up on Tuesday and Wednesday, it’ll mark the first time that the two teams in a season-opening series in Japan have worn different advertising sleeve patches (wow, there’s a real landmark). … Is that a fridge magnet or what? … And was it really necessary to put the “Opening Series” logo on David Ortiz’s (or anyone’s) sake masu? … Cool photo of the 1947-48 North Mankato Vikings (courtesy of Sam McCullough). … You probably know that the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants wore a trylon and perisphere sleeve patch in 1938 to promote the 1939 World’s Fair. What you may not know — and what I didn’t know myself until I stumbled across it while looking for something else — is the situation spelled out in this photo and caption. Looks like it was just a photo-op thing, not something worn in an actual game, but it’s still pretty cool. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Todd Helton appears to have switched to Adidas cleats (a big change from the situation profiled here). … Faaaaascinating corporate logo quiz, guaranteed time-waster, here (great find by David Soline). … Chris Smith notes that the Texas A&M player in this photo is wearing a Nike knee brace, even though the Aggies are an Adidas school. … Tom Turner recently wrote in to tell me the following: “The Rangers under Billy Martin once wore their road powder blues at home with white pants around 1974 against the A’s. It was on NBC’s Saturday Game of the Week.” Can anyone verify this claim, or at least say if it rings a bell? … Interesting photo here of Robert “Tractor” Traylor with a “Tractor” NOB. “This appears to be from some league in Puerto Rico,” writes Jim Roddy. “This link has additional details and photos.” … You have got to be kidding me. … “This is from the NCAA 09 football game web site,” writes Marcus Ramsey. “What the hell is with that underarm?” Good question. Anyone..? … Scott Little has this Japanese jersey in his collection. Doesn’t look so remarkable until you take a closer look at the sleeve patch. Ride that hawk! … Many readers are justifiably excited about Sports Illustrated’s new “Vault” search feature, which essentially lets you search the magazine’s complete archive — articles, photos, the works (further details here). Should come in handy for research projects.
March 24th, 2008
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