Today’s entry isn’t quite uni-related, but it’s too good an inside story not to share. Dig: As you probably heard, the first pitch at last Wednesday’s Yankees/Bosox game was thrown out via video-link by astronaut Garrett Reisman, who’s aboard the International Space Station (you can view the footage here, and you can see how it looked on the Yankee Stadium scoreboard here). By fairly remarkable coincidence, Garrett happens to be the brother-in-law of my longtime friend and financial advisor Nicole Francis. She attended the game with her sister Simone — who’s Garrett’s wife — and they submitted the following report on the proceedings:
Simone and I sat in the back row of the bleachers, taking in the whole experience and documenting it with a cleverly smuggled video camera on loan from NASA.
Having grown up in Parsippany, New Jersey, Garrett has been a Yankees fan his entire life. When he was assigned to the Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions, he was allowed to bring along a small number of things that were meaningful to him. Among them were a box of pitcher’s mound dirt and a banner that had hung in Yankee Stadium, both of which had been presented to him by Roger Clemens during a pregame ceremony in August of 2007. He often calls down to Earth from the ISS and his first question is always “What’s the score?”
What didn’t make it on to the news last night was the video of Garrett doing the “Cotton Eye Joe(y)” dance in zero gravity in the middle of the eighth inning, a dance usually done by the Bronx Italian pizza boy after he drops off pies to the broadcast booth.
I had a few additional questions about all this, so I called Nicole for some follow-up:
Uni Watch: How did Garrett become such an insider with the Yankees? Like, how did he end up getting that pitcher’s mound dirt from Roger Clemens and all that?
Nicole Francis: Well, he’s always been a Yankees fan and has always looked for ways to get close to the Yankees. But also, his father died of pancreatic cancer six or seven years ago, and Roger Clemens’s press agent also died of pancreatic cancer. So back when Garrett’s father had about a year left to live, Garrett made some calls and arranged to have his father meet Roger Clemens. That’s how it started. And since then, Garrett’s been…
UW: Persistent?
NF: Yeah. Throwing out lots of ideas.
UW: So who’s idea was it to have him throw out the first pitch?
NF: Garrett’s.
UW: What did you shoot with your video camera? Like, were you taking video of the video of Garrett on the scoreboard?
NF: Yeah. And then Simone panned to the crowd, because the Bleacher Creatures were going crazy. And then she filmed lots of other stuff throughout the game. The cops were like, “Y’know, you’re really not supposed to do that here, but just don’t get caught.”
UW: Have you put the video on YouTube?
NF: Not yet. She wants to edit it and send it to Garrett first. And it definitely needs editing, because she uses the word “douchebag” like four times!
UW: When referring to..?
NF: Manny Ramirez. Also some Red Sox fans in the crowd. I think NASA would probably want us to clean it up a bit.
UW: Why were you in the bleachers, instead of in a luxury box or something?
NF: My sister’s very low-key about that. She probably could’ve called the front office and said, “My husband’s throwing out the first pitch” and gotten free tickets, but instead we paid $40 a pop for bleacher seats.
UW: Did you tell the people sitting near you that you were related to Garrett?
NF: Yeah. But when you’re sitting in the last row of the bleachers, people tend not to believe you. They’re like, “Yeah, right — and I’m the Cookie Monster.”
UW: Was there anyone on the field, like Jorge Posada or someone else from the Yankees, symbolically catching the first pitch?
NF: No. I was wondering if they were going to do that, but they didn’t.
UW: Was there any talk of having the Space Station positioned directly above Yankee Stadium? That way Garrett could just drop the ball straight down to Earth.
NF: That would be so cool! I don’t think they discussed that. But he knows when he’s above the Stadium — he took a picture one time and sent it to Simone. You could see the outline of the new stadium alongside the old stadium.
UW: Really? How high up is he?
NF: Not that high, really — it’s only about 225 miles. But they’re going 17,500 miles an hour.
Yowza — let’s see the radar gun clock that! Big thanks to Nicole and Simone for sharing their story, and here’s hoping NASA sends up a Mets or Red Sox fan soon.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Great photo here of an American Indian basketball team from 1918. Further details here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: What’s David Ortiz wearing on his left forearm? … The Red Sox will wear an Earth Day sleeve patch tonight. Details here. … Yesterday I asked about logo-emblazoned bat weights. That prompted a response from Mets batboy Matt Harris: “In my previous two seasons with the Mets, I’ve seen a few teams doing it. We (the Mets) usually just wrote ‘METS’ or ‘NYM on it with Sharpie, but I used a circular skyline logo sticker on it this year — I like the way it looks.” … Alex Shuman visited the United States Military Academy in West Point last weekend and got a photo of this 1904 Army football sweater. Alex also adds, “I coach JV baseball for grades 5-7 at a school called Indian Mountain in Connecticut. Most of these kids are playing organized baseball for the first time. I figure I should teach them the beauty of stirrups.” … Interesting catch by Jeff Scott: Last year Hal McRae wore No. 8 while coaching for the Cardinals. This year he’s listed on the roster as No. 15 (8 is being worn by Troy Glaus), but he’s been wearing a dugout jacket so his number hasn’t been visible — until Sunday, when it turned out he was still wearing No. 8. Better yet, there was a split-screen shot that showed him and Glaus wearing the same number. … More on Nebraska’s footwear: Yesterday I linked to photos showing some players in black cleats and some in white/red, but here’s the scoop from Brandon Rubeck: “The current shoes are still black, and that’s what will be used. The red/white shoes are a holdover from the all-white Colorado game last year, which included white shoes (but even then some players stuck with black).” … You know those play-calling wristbands that quarterbacks wear? According to a small reference in this article, the Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 had something similar sewn into their spacesuit gloves, to remind them of all the tasks they had to carry out (great find by Kevin Whisman). … The awesome Fleer Sticker Project site has a page featuring a slideshow of Sicks Stadium photos (that’s where the Seattle Pilots played), from its beginnings to its weedy, overgrown post-use state of decay, all set to the Pilots’ fight song. Check it out here (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … The Pope isn’t the only one whose distinctive attire has been in the news lately.
April 22nd, 2008
As many of you know, I often play softball on Sunday afternoons, and I practice what I preach by wearing stirrups. For years I’ve been going with basic navy, because I always wear navy sweatpants. But as you may recall from a few weeks ago, the folks at Mitchell & Ness recently sent me a box filled with hose-a-plenty, so I’ve decided to inaugurate a new project: the Uni Watch Stirrups of the Week. Yesterday was my first game of the year (we’ve had shitty Sunday weather up until now), so here’s our first installment:
This week’s design: navy with red stripes, medium-cut.
Ideal for feeling like a member of: the 1950s Cubs.
Color-coordination factor: Easy.
How they looked: Totally bitchin’ (further evidence here, here, here, here, and here).
How I felt: Totally bitchin’.
How I played: Rusty day at the plate — F7, GIDP (ugh), and 5-3. Saw a lot of action in left field, most of which I ran down, although I’m still pissed about one shot over my head that I couldn’t quite corral (it glanced off my glove, which prolonged what turned out to be a damaging inning for my team). All in all: lots of room for improvement. But godDAMN did my stripes look good!
I’ll continue to wear a different set of hose each time I play. There were 11 pairs in the box from Mitchell & Ness, plus I have those genuine Mets stirrups that Paul Wiederecht recently gave me, so that should get me through most of the season (I don’t play every week).
And hey, speaking of Mitchell & Ness, I had a blast on Saturday at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where the M&N folks had set up a display devoted to Philly’s uniform history. This was my first time meeting M&N prexy Peter Capolino, who turned out to be a really sweet guy and a great storyteller. Also on hand were M&N researcher and longtime Uni Watch contributor Jared Wheeler (my first time meeting him, too — great, great guy) and Victory Pennants honcho Morris Levin, plus some Uni Watch readers stopped by as well.
Peter had set up a few racks of old Philly A’s jerseys (plus he included that black New York Giants design, cuz that’s what the Giants wore against the A’s in the 1911 World Series), and a similar display for the Phillies (thanks for the prop assistance, Kirsten). Plus there were lots of patches, pennants (this one was my favorite), caps, and related ephemera. And check this out: a few items from the Phils’ short-lived Blue Jays period.
But my favorite item on display had nothing to do with Philadelphia: these pants, which had an incredible blue/gold pinstripe pattern (additional views here and here). Is that gorgeous or what? Peter says he isn’t sure what team wore this — someone gave him the pants, but no corresponding jersey, a few years back.
The Philadelphia A’s Historical Society had a table too, stocked with assorted photos, yearbooks, programs, and so on. Interestingly, they also had a team portrait of the 1955 Kansas City A’s (that was the franchise’s first year after leaving Philly) — I love that map that shows all the radio affiliates.
After a checking out the Reading Terminal Market and getting a pork sandwich at DiNic’s, it was off to Bob & Barbara’s for the latest Uni Watch gathering. Great time (esp. seeing all the locals slowly going out of their minds as the Mets beat the Phils on the bar’s TV), but I just wasn’t in the mood to take photos. Sorry ’bout that. Big thanks to everyone who came out, and bonus thanks for all the drinks, gifts, and kind words — Philly fans may have legendarily tough exteriors, but I can now attest that they’ve also got soft, friendly hearts.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Cool vintage Celtics sweaters here and here (as discovered by Mike Cooperman). … Attention everyone who’s been asking me where to buy stirrups — look! … NHL note from Al Stone: “Very early on in Thursday night’s Flyers/Caps game, Ovechkin had his facemask cracked and had to very quickly grab Boyd Gordon’s visor-less helmet off the bench. It was very unusual to see him finish the shift without a visor — didn’t look like the usual Ovie at all. The very next shift, however, he was back out on the ice with a repaired helmet with visor.” … Here’s another Sparky Anderson shot, this time from his days with the Fort Worth Cats (with thanks to Jeff Meyers). … James Maino reports that Virginia Tech will have a “whiteout” game on September 6th, with 1970s throwbacks. … See any glaring similarities here? I don’t, but some idiots in Miami do (with thanks to Greg Mays). … We all know about sponsor-driven team uniforms, but how about sponsor-designed umpire uniforms? (Nice find by Steven Wyder) … Speaking of sponsorship logos, check this out (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Have bat weights been logo-emblazoned all along? That photo is the first time I’ve noticed it. … The KC T-Bones have backed off their idea of wearing prison-striped uniforms in “honor” of local prisoner Michael Vick. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Habs goalie Carey Price is my kinda fella. … Also from yesterday: Check out this huge NOB lettering (taken from this cricket highlight vid). … Scroll down to the “Around Baseball” section of this page for news about Bobby Abreu’s cleats and his plans to become a sporting goods mogul (with thanks to Matt Powers). … Weren’t the new 5950s supposed to eliminate this problem? … Bit of a Mets jersey mystery over on Jon Springer’s site — look here. … “Nebraska football has worn black shoes for a number of seasons, maybe the duration of their contract with Adidas,” writes Bryan Hansen. “But in Saturday’s spring game, it looked like they may be in transition to a white/red shoe. There were several players in the (presumably old) black shoes and others wearing a new white/red shoe.” … Here’s the latest story on the tensions between teams, leagues, and media in the new-media era — recommended reading. … If the Blue Jays can make throwback powder blue uniforms, can’t they make a throwback smock for Joihn Gibbons? (Screen grab courtesy of Michael Moss.) … Speaking of managerial attire, what’s up with Terry Francona’s collar? Like, is it tucked under, or did he have it removed? (With thanks to Mark Shipman.) … Holy-moly (courtesy of David Soline). … Jeremy Brahm reports that the 2011 Women’s World Cup logo will look like this. … Cool old photo of Lou Gehrig here (rare non-Wisconsin contribution from Nicole Haase). … Speaking of Gehrig, did you know he’s the only Yankee ever to have worn No. 4? Or that the other players wore Joe D.’s No. 5 while he was in the military? You would if you’d read this excellent piece about Yankees uni numbers (with thanks to Alan Kreit). … Adidas can’t be happy about Shaq wearing a Nike compression shirt (good spot by Brett Crane). … “Looks like the Raptors are rolling out a new logo for the playoffs,” writes Sean, who didn’t give his last name. “Basically just the original dino logo but de-purple-ized.” … The Fresno Grizzlies wore autism-awareness jerseys on Friday (with thanks to Aaron Wiens, who also sent along some pics of the most disturbingly purple car I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing). … “Lance Armstrong was at Fenway on Saturday (because he’s running the Boston Marathon on Monday), and some players on both the Red Sox and the Rangers wore yellow wristbands (not to be confused with the Livestrong bracelets) to support his charity,” writes Mark Mihalik. “Unfortunately the only picture I could find was this one. I also noticed that Jacoby Ellsbury went a step further by wearing a yellow arm band and yellow shoelaces.” … Another Rangers/Bosox report, this time from Nick Freeman: “I was at Friday’s game and noticed in the 1st inning that the Rangers’ bat boy was wearing their gray away uniform even though the team was wearing the blue alternates.We all sat there making fun of the Rangers for being too cheap to buy the bat boys proper jerseys. But then in the 4th, the bat boy had switched and was now in blue. Throw this in with all their other jersey issues and this is a team in trouble.” … “The Ravens, now under John Harbaugh, have stepped up their practice unis,” reports Joe Hilseberg, “going from Brian Billick’s high school rejects look to pretty darn close to the game-day jersey, even with names on the back. … Good interview here with the Sneaker Wars author, although the accompanying photo gallery has several caption errors (with thanks to Chris LaHaye). … My browser refuses to play this video, but David Sonny says the last 20 seconds or so show a sneak preview of the U. of Cincinnati’s new football uniforms. … Personal Foul, Abusing the Uniform, Part 1: Will someone please get these guys a box of Kleenex? … Personal Foul, Abusing the Uniform, Part 2: And while you’re at it, get this guy a snack. … The official wire service caption for that last photo, by the way, begins like so: “Rodney Stuckey #3 of the Detroit Pistons looks on while playing the Philadelphia 76ers…” That brings up a pet peeve: What’s the deal with the term “looks on”? I’ve been seeing it in sports photo captions since I was a kid, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it used in any non-sports context. It’s such a lame-o cop-out of a term — says nothing, means nothing. And yet a quick check of Yahoo! Sports (who I could never work for, if only because that exclamation point would drive me out of my fucking mind) reveals that there are currently 793 “looks on”-inclusive photos out there, which means there are some seriously lazy caption writers. I mean, whatever else Rodney Stuckey is doing, he’s not looking on. Please join me in campaigning to eradicate this annoying term from the sports lexicon. … Remember, Roberto Clemente documentary tonight on PBS.
No comment? No — comment!: As many of you are aware, our spam filter got all bitchy on Friday night and started grabbing every single reader comment. This forced Bryan, John, and me (well, mostly Bryan and John) to spend the weekend going into the filter and manually approving every pearl of wisdom you chose to share with us. Now, don’t get me wrong — it’s not that we don’t enjoy wading through hundreds of porno-spambot posts just to find the one legitimate reader comment that consists of a quotation from a Seinfeld episode — but we wouldn’t want you to think we were having too much fun, so John installed a new spam filter late last night. It appears to be working properly so far, but we’re still learning its quirks (and it’s still learning that terms like “stirrups fetish” are not cause for alarm), so it’s possible that some of your comments may still get waylaid, and/or that some spam will find its way onto the site. I trust you’ll bear with us as you continue to share your photos of USC cheerleaders (and high-minded reactions thereto), references to Major League, and all the other insights that make the comments section such a vibrant, stimulating forum. Thanks.
April 21st, 2008
How would you like to be a college undergrad and already have designed something that’ll be appearing in the Olympics? Or two things? That’s the case with Ryan Muraro, who, thanks to a lucky series of connections, ended up designing the suits worn by speed skater Phil Brojaka and by the Ukrainian speed skating team. He recently chatted with me about how he ended up in this unusual corner of uniform design.
Uni Watch: How old are you?
Ryan Muraro: I’m 21. I’m a junior in the industrial design program here at UW Stout.
UW: Do you have a specialty in terms of the kinds of designs you do, whether it’s furniture or packaging or whatever?
RM: I kind of run the gamut right now, because I haven’t found a niche. I originally came here because I wanted to be a car designer. But that’s probably not gonna work out, because there are so many car design schools. I enjoyed doing a lot of furniture last semester, and I also like doing athletic apparel. I’ve got to say, though, I really like doing chairs.
UW: Yeah, you sent me some photos of a pretty interesting chair design.
RM: My suspension chair? Yeah, that one gets some pretty weird feedback.
UW: Tell me more about that.
RM: The whole point of it was that I wanted to make a chair that was kind of egotistical, like you had to pay attention to it.
UW: The chair itself is egotistical, or just the person sitting in it?
RM: The chair itself — and also its creator. The other day I was showing it to one of my friends. She kind of jumped onto it and almost flew off to the side! People compare it to a claw game, a bear trap.
UW: What grade did you get on it?
RM: Technically, I got a B-plus, but it was a week late, and the teacher said he docked me a full letter grade because of that.
UW: So it would’ve been an A-plus.
RM: Yeah!
UW: OK, enough about chairs. Growing up, were you always a big sports fan?
RM: Yeah. And I played Little League baseball. I didn’t wear stirrups, though — sorry.
UW: That’s OK. In an e-mail you sent me earlier, you said you’ve basically wanted to be an artist or designer since you were very young, because you figured out at an early age that you could draw well, right?
RM: Yeah. But at the start I wanted to be a cartoonist, or an illustrator. But then I started to want to design actual things. At first I wanted to design airplanes, but then I realized that’s more of an engineering thing. Then I wanted to be an architect, but I figured that required too much math. So then I worked my way back to product design.
UW: So when you were a kid, were you combining your interests in art and sports? Did you doodle logos and uniforms and such?
RM: Oh, yeah. When I was in fifth grade, I entered a Campbell’s Soup contest. It was a bunch of anniversaries all converging — the 10th anniversary of Andy Warhol’s death, and the 25th anniversary of his Campbell’s Soup can paintings, or something like that. I don’t remember all the details. Anyway, they held this drawing contest for kids, and I entered, and what I did was a Green Bay Packer catching a ball, only he’s thinking the ball is a Campbell’s Soup can. And I won third prize.
UW: OK, now let’s talk about these speed skating suits you’ve designed. First of all, were you even a speed skating fan before this whole thing went down?
RM: No. I’d watch it in the Olympics, I guess, and then not care about it any other time.
UW: Can you even skate?
RM: Yes, although I didn’t actually learn how to do that until high school.
UW: Had you ever done apparel design before taking on this project?
RM: I’d do random sketches of uniforms, but that’s it. I’ve done a couple of sports logos, though — one for the Stillwater High School lacrosse team, and one for the St. Paul Stars synchronized swimming team. I don’t have that one anymore, though.
UW: Did you burn all the evidence so nobody would know you were associated with something as lame as synchro swimming?
RM: Kind of. If you want to edit that out of this interview, that’d be fine with me.
UW: How’d you get connected with Philip Brojaka, the speed skater dude?
RM: My sister was working at the Petit National Ice Center outside of Milwaukee, which is one of the two U.S. training facilities for speed skaters — the other one’s in Salt Lake City. My sister basically had a gopher job, meaning she had to shadow the skaters.
UW: What do you mean, “shadow”?
RM: Escort them around town, keep them occupied, make sure they’re on schedule so they don’t miss their heats, that sort of thing. And one day she had to do this for this Phil Brojaka guy, who was training there. And they hit it off and they’ve been dating ever since.
UW: But Phil isn’t American, right?
RM: His background is Ukrainian, but he was born in England and he skates for the British team.
UW: But he was training at the American facility?
RM: Great Britain doesn’t really have any long-track speed skating history. Phil holds all the records, but they’ve only been keeping them since, like, 1991. He says he always had to compete with the curling team for ice time, so that’s why he came over here to train.
UW: So they hit it off and started dating — and when was that?
RM: The fall of 2006.
UW: And they’re still dating now.
RM: Yes.
UW: And how good is he? Like, is he going to the Olympics?
RM: Yeah. He’s really good.
UW: And how’d he end up coming to you to design his suit?
RM: He was originally a short-track skater, and short-track suits are different than long-track. They have kneepads and stuff. He didn’t have a long-track suit, and he was borrowing them from other skaters. Anyway, he has an agent, this guy named Sander, who sets up sponsorships for him and stuff like that, and he got Kia to agree to sponsor Phil if he put up a World Cup qualifying time.
UW: Kia, the car company?
RM: Yeah. They’re a big speed skating sponsor. And part of the sponsorship agreement was that he’d be able to get his own suit. And he could pick his own designer, but he’d have to pay for the design, so my sister told him to come to me.
UW: So when did he approach you? Or was it your sister who approached you?
RM: It was both of them, in a joint phone call, which was somewhat awkward.
UW: And when was this?
RM: January of 2007.
UW: Did he give you any guidance in terms of his likes and dislikes and so on? Did he spell out any preferences?
RM: Absolutely not. I was asking him different things, asking if there were other suits he liked that he wanted me to base his design on, and he said no. He gave me free reign, because he wanted it to be completely original.
UW: Did he even look at your portfolio first, to make sure he thought you were a good designer?
RM: Nope. He just took my sister’s word for it.
UW: Did he, or anyone else, pay you for this?
RM: No. I just got a piece for my portfolio.
UW: So what kind of research did you do? Did you go on YouTube and start looking at lots of speed skating video to get a feel for the way the suits typically look? Did you try on any speed skating suits yourself?
RM: No, none of that. He said he wanted it to be totally original, so I didn’t look at anything speedkating-related. I did look at other things, like the British flag, Chelsea kits [the EPL team], because at the time I thought he was a Chelsea fan.
UW: So you didn’t want any preconceived notions about speed skating. You kept your mind pure and unbiased.
RM: Yes.
UW: Did you know what company would end up executing your design?
RM: No. All I knew was that I was doing it for Phil, and I figured he’d be handling the logistics.
UW: Did he give you a template, or any information on fabrics or dyes or anything like that?
RM: Oh, no. None of that came up until about nine months later, when it was time for the suit to go into production.
UW: OK, so all you were dealing with was the graphics. What kind of thinking went into your design choices?
RM: I wanted to keep it pretty close to the British colors — red, blue, and white. And then I thought it would be good to introduce one additional color, silver. So I had a basic color pallet, and then I created basic templates for the front and back view, and then I started doing sketches. I tried about 20 ideations [the first eight of which are shown here, here, here, and here], and he ended up picking the first one, which made me wonder why I bothered doing the other 19.
UW: How long did all of this take?
RM: I did it within a night.
UW: One night?!
RM: I don’t really sleep, Paul. I just stayed up and sketched and sketched until I couldn’t think of anything more, and then I scanned them and sent them to him.
UW: So then what happened?
RM: It basically sat on the shelf for nine months until he got that World Cup qualifying time, because until then the sponsor wouldn’t pay to have the suit made.
UW: And once he got the qualifying time, what happened after that?
RM: I was put in contacet with Sander, the agent guy. He forwarded the design to the manufacturer, which was Lorini — they make cycling suits as well as speed skating suits. And they said they liked the design, but it wouldn’t work at all.
UW: Why not?
RM: On speed skating suits, they use different materials in different areas, depending on friction and stuff –
UW: In other words, all those things I was asking you about a few minutes ago, which I guess it would’ve been good for you to have known about beforehand.
RM: Yeah. Phil didn’t really know about it either. Anyway, they sent me this diagram that showed all the zones where I couldn’t have any graphics or color changes — from the knees to the stomach area, and from the top of the shoulders to across the chest. And I could only use four specific colors in those areas: black, dark blue, marine blue, or red.
UW: Because those areas use a particular fabric?
RM: It’s not even fabric, really — it’s like this rubber compound. It’s strange stuff. Anyway, in those areas they can have a solid color, but they can’t print a graphic. Except for the sponsor logo, oddly.
UW: Hmmm, interesting. Was Phil disappointed?
RM: At first, yeah.
UW: So did you have to revise your design, or did any of those other 19 concepts fit into the guidelines they gave you?
RM: I thought about going back to one of those earlier designs, but I decided to revise the one Phil liked and make it fit within the parameters they set.
UW: And then you were good to go?
RM: Almost. Instead of using the version I provided, they had me create a “flat” version that would show how the suit would look if it was lying flat.
UW: And once that was all settled, how long did it take to go from art to part?
RM: About a month.
UW: And did they literally make just one of these?
RM: Yes, there’s only one.
UW: And what does that cost?
RM: I have no idea, and I don’t really want to know.
UW: And by now, Phil has worn it in competition, right?
RM: Yes, I’ve seen video of him, and I’ve got plenty of photos.
UW: Were you nervous the first time he put it on?
RM: I was nervous the first time he got it. They added some moisture-wicking side panels that ended up changing some of the graphics, so I was worried he wouldn’t like that, but he ended up loving it. Although I’m still slightly bitter about it myself.
UW: Have you actually been present for any competitions in which he’s worn this suit?
RM: No. I have seen the suit in person, but not during a race.
UW: What does your sister think of it?
RM: She likes it.
UW: Would you say this whole process has enhanced or strained your relationship with her?
RM: I don’t think it’s done anything one way or the other. But I think it’s helped my relationship with Phil, because it gives us something to talk about.
UW: If you had to do this whole thing over again, would you do anything differently?
RM: I would like to have known about those side panels, because they ended up changing my design. But I took those into account when I designed the Ukrainian suits.
UW: Let’s talk about that. How did you get that gig?
RM: Sander came back to me and said he liked what I did for Phil and wanted me to do more designs. It was kind of a short schedule, because the World Cups were about to happen.
UW: When was this?
RM: Last fall.
UW: Was this also for free?
RM: Yeah, because the Ukrainians don’t have a lot of money. But at the time I was thrilled, because I really enjoyed doing Phil’s suit. So sure, why not?
UW: Is there a connection that Phil comes from Ukrainian heritage, and then you end up doing the design for the Ukrainian team?
RM: No, that’s a complete coincidence. The only connection is that Sander is involved with Phil and with the Ukrainians.
UW: Why did the Ukrainians want their old design replaced?
RM: They had that one for a couple of years and they were just ready for a new one.
UW: And how many Ukrainians will be wearing the design you did for them?
RM: Technically, it’s the entire team. But I’ve seen photos of two different skaters, and that could be the whole team right there.
UW: And did they give you any design parameters for this one?
RM: No, again, I was on my own. Except this time I knew about those areas where I couldn’t have graphics or color changes.
UW: So they just turned you loose.
RM: Yeah. I probably shouldn’t get too used to this, because that’s not how it works out in the professional realm, but I’m gonna milk this one as long as I can. I like the freedom.
UW: So how many versions did you do for the Ukrainians?
RM: I only did five ideations, then I picked the one I liked best and did a few color options for it. Then I sent it to Sander [along with the flat version] and figured he’d come back with some requests for changes. But by the next time I heard from him, they already had it in production!
UW: And was this another one-nighter?
RM: Yeah, just a couple of hours. I work really fast.
UW: How would you feel if one of the Ukrainians was wearing your suit against Phil? Would you be conflicted?
RM: No, I’d be rooting for Phil.
UW: And what if either Phil or the Ukrainians are skating against the Americans.
RM: Hmmm. I’d definitely root for Phil, but I’m not sure about the Ukrainians. I just wouldn’t want them to make asses of themselves. Maybe they could just lose by a hair
UW: Has this whole experience made you more of a speed skating fan?
RM: Yeah, I’m actually keeping track of it now, mainly because it’s possible that I might do more designs for Sander, so I want to stay in touch with the sport.
UW: Do you think this could end up being a new career avenue?
RM: It seems like unless you’re working for Nike, you don’t make much money on these things. So I don’t know.
UW: Don’t you think it’s weird that speed skaters don’t wear socks? I mean, I know the skates are specially custom-molded to fit their feet and all, but it makes me uncomfortable just looking at it.
RM: Yeah. That’s probably why I didn’t take up speed skating myself.
========
Yeah, I knew there was a reason I never took up speed skating either…. Anyway, big thanks to Ryan for sharing his story.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Thanks to everyone who explained that the number on Dave Brown’s hip in this photo is the Seahawks’ 10th-anniversary logo (also visible here). This logo isn’t shown on Football Uniforms Past and Present, which makes this another reminder that we shouldn’t rely on such sites as the last word on uni history. … Here’s a new one: punishment by uni number. … And here’s yet another new one: changing your uni number due to adverse fan reaction. … Speaking of uni numbers: The Mets have put a countdown tracker on the outfield wall, counting down the number of games remaining at Shea. Prior to each game, someone gets to pull down the previous day’s number to reveal the new number (it’s currently at 74). Last night, play-by-play radio man Howie Rose mentioned that as the numbers get down into the range that includes baseball uni numbers, the team will have former Mets players remove the numbers associated with their uniforms. In other words, Tom Seaver will probably get to pull down the 41, Jerry Koosman will no doubt pull down the 36, and so on. Steven Colbert held up a Philly mashup jersey the other day. … Glenn Stern reports that Texas A&M’s practice jerseys now have NOBs –with huge lettering. “This is the first time the practice jerseys have had names,” he says. “The only thing I can figure is that the new coaching staff needed some help keeping track of all the players and learning their names.” … The minor league Kansas City T-Bones will be wearing prison-striped jerseys on May 28th. Why? Michael Vick Welcome to the Neighborhood Night (Vick’s prison is 15 minutes away from the T-Bones’ park). … The visiting clubhouse at the Trop has a hat stretcher (with thanks to Doug Simpson). … Peter Kaszczak forwarded a particularly nauseating case of logo creep. … The much-discussed blog Stuff White People Like (discussed primarily because its editor just landed a huge-ass book deal) has finally weighed in on uniforms (with thanks to Jonathon Binet). … Major milestone in this week’s New Yorker: this cartoon, which I believe marks the first instance of a NYer cartoon showing a baseball player with low-cuffed pants. … What’s the deal with that shadow on the Staples Center court? … This company appears to be a soccer version of Ebbets Field Flannels (as forwarded by Peter Kurilecz). … PBS’s excellent The American Experience series will air a Roberto Clemente documentary next Monday night. Man, check out the texture on that undershirt — I love that. … The Louisiana-Monroe baseball team will wear camouflage jerseys on April 29th for “Military Night” (with thanks to Chris Mycoskie). … Remember Packers seamstress Marge Switzer? Here’s another “team”-specific seamstress, of a more disturbing bent (fascinating find by Hugh C. McBride). … The Twins almost didn’t get to tribute Jackie Robinson on Tuesday, because their 42 jerseys were sent to Minneapolis instead of Detroit. Fortunately, equipment manager Rod McCormick managed to improvise — full details (plus info on third base coach Scott Ullger burning a hole in his pants) here (with thanks to Karl Anderson and Jon Marthaler). … “That’s Deion Sanders on the left,” says Greg Riffenburgh. “He’s wearing a pair of Nike’s football cleats on the baseball field, though I’m sure they were customized (metal spikes instead of replaceable conical cleats) for the diamond.” … This trend of giving jerseys to coaches is so lame (with thanks to Anthony Congi). … Josh Homan reports that Adidas has come out with a new lacrosse stick, the AdiStrike, complete with lots of triple-striped details. … Max Weder wrote in to mention that the cover of last fall’s Ebbets Field Flannels catalog was painted by his wife, Jennifer Ettinger. A gallery of her baseball-related work, which features lovingly detailed uniform elements, is available here, and you can see some of her hockey, golf, and other paintings on her web site. … Pretty amazing sneaker site here (with thanks to Don Montgomery). … Rare photo here of Stick Michael in a Bosox uni — he never actually played for them, although he was went to spring training with them in 1976. That photo is yet another gem from Steve Dewing’s mind-blowingly great photo site. Speaking of which, Steve says, “The Expos had the whitest home uniforms, followed closely by the Dodgers” — a reference to the slightly off-white hue of most pre-polyester uniforms. … Here’s yet another insight from Steve’s collection: You probably know that the 1973 Pirates wore a “21″ sleeve patch in memory of Roberto Clemente. What you might not know, however, is that they wore a completely different memorial during spring training: a black rectangle, which looks like it was affixed with Velcro. That last photo also shows a bygone protocol: a catcher keeping his shinguards on while on deck with two outs. That was a fairly common sight in the ’70s, kids. … In volleyball, the libero usually wears a contrasting jersey. But Jeremy Brahm has found something different: a libero wearing a colored bib. “I’ve never seen this before,” he says. “It’s supposedly from the 1996 World Grand Prix, but the libero was only adopted by the FIVB in 1998, so maybe this was a trial in a tournament.” … Chad Moeller wears No. 19, so why does his catcher’s helmet have No. 6? (Screen grab courtesy of Michael Romero.)
April 17th, 2008
By Bryan Redemske
In 1997, marking the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s major league debut — and therefore the breaking of the color barrier — teams wore sleeve patches to mark the occasion. President Clinton participated in a nice ceremony honoring Robinson’s legacy, and all was well.
Since then, things have progressively gotten bigger and bigger, making me wonder how much longer it will be before every team requires its players wear only Robinson’s No. 42 on April 15, and whether the numbers 4 and 2 will also be the only ones allowed in that day’s boxscores. True, Robinson’s debut had a large impact both historically for baseball and socially for the nation. But couldn’t one say the same thing about, say, Babe Ruth’s legacy? Would there have been a stage for Robinson to grace if not for Ruth? And why did it take 50 years to honor Robinson across the game if April 15 was so important?
There’s a far-reaching — and likely heated — discussion that could be set off at this point, but let’s steer clear of that for now. It’s time to count the 42s. Be prepared — there were lots of them. According to this story (which also includes the full list of players on each team), nine teams had a full compliment of 42s — the Angels, Athletics, Rangers, Rays, Mets, Nationals, Cardinals, Pirates and Dodgers. All of the others had at least one representative, and all 42s were NNOB.
Some 42s of note:
• Ken Griffey Jr., who started the wearing of the 42 a year ago, obviously followed it up. Dusty Baker also wore it, but understandably didn’t venture out of the Wrigley Field visitors dugout too much.
• New York Governor David Paterson, who’s legally blind, threw out the first pitch at Shea Stadium. Insert your own inappropriate joke here. Oh, and he’s wearing a Cool Base jersey, too.
• Several teams — Phillies, Marlins, Braves, Brewers, Orioles, and Giants — only had one representative.
• The Mariners have only four players listed, but had more than that in uniform.
• Other than the number itself, Derrek Lee doesn’t look too strange. The Cubs were NNOB in 2005 and 2006.
• Jimmy Rollins was the only Phillie with a 42, but got the double-number treatment.
• David Ortiz had a successful night on two fronts: No. 42, and he got a hit! But like most of the 42ers, his helmet number didn’t match his jersey number. Note also, the Indians wore their blue alts at home. They started doing that again last season. And check out Garko’s nameplate. Who set up that radial arch, David Paterson?
• The Blue Jays’ jerseys actually look good without a name on the back. OK, not really good, but substantially better. They chose a busy font and color scheme, and losing a good portion of it cleans things up. Nice(ish). Also in Baltimore, the Orioles’ Adam Jones had his very own T-shirt giveaway night. The problem? He was wearing No. 42, not his usual No. 10. Thanks to Dan Sliwinski for the tip.
• While the Dodgers obviously all wore No. 42, Chaka Khan, sadly, did not. Plenty of good seats still available, by the way, if you’re out driving around and thinking about a ballgame. Interesting note: The Dodgers played the Pirates in one of three games that featured two full teams of 42s. The others were Angels/Rangers and Mets/Nationals.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Paul here. First and foremost, major thanks to Bryan for handling today’s main entry (a task he assumed on just a few hours’ notice), which allowed me to take care of some other urgent business last night. Much obliged, Bry. … Now then: As we’ve discussed a few times, Michigan will become an Adidas school this fall but is still technically a Nike school for now. But Seth Gladstein notes that several of the players in Saturday’s spring football scrimmage wore Adidas cleats with Nike socks. … A few days ago I mentioned the Expos’ retired numbers banner, which currently hangs in the Bell Centre. Here’s a really good photo of it (along with Andre Dawson and Gary Carter in Habs jerseys), courtesy of Costa Galanis. … The question of wearing a jacket while running the bases is addressed, somewhat inconclusively, in the last entry on this Q&A page (with thanks to Don Montgomery). … Mark Fightmaster reports that the Cincy Bearcats are wearing some awesome striped stirrups. … Obama of Dreams lives! That’s Ben Kozyak, posing with singer John Legend on Monday. … Here’s a Philly incident I hadn’t been aware of: Mike Schmidt once referred to the locals as “beyond help” and Veterans Stadium as a “mob scene, uncontrollable.” In his next game after those comments were published, Schmidt came out wearing a “disguise,” consisting of a wig and shades, which reportedly prompted a standing O from the boo-birds (nice find by Andrew Hoenig). … John Wright sent me this photo of Dave Brown. Is that a uni number below his left hand? If so, it clearly isn’t No. 22. I’ve never seen numbers on the Seahawks’ pants before. Can anyone shed any light on this? … Sigh. … At first glance, this story isn’t uni-related — until you get to the sixth graf. … Looks like we’ve got our first case of Cool Base-induced mismatched grays (great spot by Bryan). … Check this out: Dan Marino had a numbered towel and a hand-warmer pouch during his days at Pitt (with thanks to Doug Keklak). … Also from Doug: John Russell (current Pirates manager, former MLB catcher) had a “Jo. Russell” NOB back in his Texas Rangers days. … Awesome old sneaker ad here (with thanks to Matt Mitchell). … Attention NYC-area readers: Big literary event tomorrow evening, as Mets by the Numbers author/webmaster Jon Springer will be reading at Word Books, and he’ll be joined by Spike Vrusho, author of the newly published Benchclearing: Baseball’s Greatest Fights and Riots. Most of you know Springer by now (if not, get acquainted with his web site here and his book here); as for Vrusho, he’s the former editor of the brilliant 1990s baseball-centric zine Murtaugh, which featured, among other things, Tony Millionaire’s “Batty” comic (including the fondly remembered do-it-yourself installment) and such masterpieces of poetic verse as “Ode to Marge Schott” and “Dallas Green Is a Douche.” In other words, we’re talking two serious heavyweights of baseball literature here. First pitch is at 7:30pm.
April 16th, 2008
