In general, I have no problem with one-off turn-back-the-clock days. For the most part, things are researched and executed pretty well. At first glance, Saturday’s Pirates-Nationals game — which featured both teams wearing Homestead Grays uniforms — looked perfect. (As a bit of background info, the Grays were based in Homestead, Pa., near Pittsburgh, but also played a lot of “home” games in Washington, D.C., hence, both teams wearing Grays uniforms.)
But here’s my pet peeve with Saturday’s unis — and one-off throwbacks in general: They don’t spend the extra $500 and get matching helmets. Dark blue/black caps: cool. Red helmets with current-day Nationals logos on them: lame. I know how much helmets and stickers cost — not that much, especially if you’ve already dropped several thousand dollars on the uniforms. Finish the deal. For the love of obsessive studies of athletics aesthetics, finish the deal.
Totally random side note: Thanks for being generally pleasant and civil while Paul was away last week — it’s much appreciated. I know Vince and I can’t deliver uni news quite like Paul, but we were happy to do so. Thanks again. — Bryan
#1 by Josh Petty on 05.04.08 7:13 am |
I think I found the ultimate in logo creep. I emailed this to Paul Friday night, but I have no clue whether it made it to him or not. Just to be sure, I figured I’d post it here…
http://www.dicksspor...
#2 by Stuby on 05.04.08 7:17 am |
Don’t the Nats have dark blue road helmets? All you’d have to pay for is the sticker. I’m happy they made the pants short enough that the players had to wear them bloused, although the guy crossing the plate in the “lame” picture looked like he was wearing capri pants.
And thank you Bryan and Vince for doing such a stellar job in Paul’s absence.
#3 by Stuby on 05.04.08 7:19 am |
Josh Petty said:
At least that lives up to the name “Under Armour”.
#4 by C.N. on 05.04.08 9:41 am |
I say this with full acceptance of the fact that I will probably be accused of “not getting it…”
But, I’m not completely sure I agree with the idea of adding matching batting helmets.
Yes, it would be correct, and closer to real life (this is assuming they wore batting helmets in those days — I’m not certain of when that tradition began).
However, isn’t one of our main qualms with colored alts that it makes it more difficult to tell at a quick glance the different between, say, to use a well-documented example, the Diamondbacks and the Astros? I appreciated the fact while watching Baseball Tonight last night that I could tell which team was which, based on their helmets, despite the fact they wore the same team’s uniforms.
Just a thought to chew on.
#5 by brian on 05.04.08 10:03 am |
today’s article reminds me of the first ‘nakeds gun’ movie, which i watched again last night; the Angels and the Mariners wire regulation uniforms and hats, but the Angels had plain red helmets (pretty sure they had blue helmets with red brims then) and the M’s wore plain blue helmets, no logo on theirs either…. any particular reason??
#6 by James Craven on 05.04.08 10:07 am |
We can do one of my favorite lines about a subject covered Friday from the first Naked Gun movie, but I don’t want to be 86′d from here. Something about taxidermy, though if you know what I mean.
#7 by Steve on 05.04.08 10:15 am |
James Craven said:
Niiiiice Beaver….
#8 by The Ol Goaler on 05.04.08 11:03 am |
First, an attempt to close the italics tag…
The Negro Leagues didn’t have any helmets; it wasn’t until the 1950’s that batting helmets were introduced by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
And from the “reasonable people may disagree” department, I think this looks wonderful, even though the baserunner is wearing the “standard” Nats’ home helmet. The red helmet brings out the red numbers and trim, in my opinion.
#9 by The Ol Goaler on 05.04.08 11:05 am |
Arrgh! Forgot to close the “bold” tag!
#10 by lwiedy on 05.04.08 11:51 am |
If cost is not the issue (which you state you know, and I agree) then there has to be a more legit reason they don’t wear “one day” helmets. This issue has be discussed here several times before and of the several professional players I’ve spoken to, each agree there are certain items they tend not liking to change up, if possible. Three are glove, shoes and helmet.
The personal fit of each, they feel, can affect performance. So just throwing out new ones every once in a while for aesthetics, we might like it, but may not be favorable and avoided if possible. Doesn’t mean it can’t or hasn’t been done.
BTW, shouldn’t then the use of a Wilson A2000 and Nikes bother you just as much?
#11 by Bryan Redemske on 05.04.08 12:00 pm |
lwiedy said:
If you’re going to go with the “personal fit” argument, then they shouldn’t have been wearing the period-correct hats, either. Players wear their hats far more than a helmet.
By the way, the A2000 has been around since (I believe) the 1950s. So in that case, the model number of the glove would be close, at least.
#12 by Talon Lardner on 05.04.08 1:38 pm |
Bryan Redemske said:
Good point there. The ONLY thing I could think of is the bulk of the helmets, and finding storage for them, but either way, I don’t think it was too big of a deal.
#13 by DCM on 05.04.08 1:47 pm |
Can anyone think of an example when a team DID wear period-correct helmets on a turn back the clock day? The Braves did wear those white brimmed / royal-backed helmets a few years ago when they wore the feather unis, now that I think about it.
Many times the unis are auctioned off for charity afterwards, so any helmet expense could be recovered at that time.
But bitching about helmets when we had two nice sets of unis to watch is close to picking nits, in my book.
And Francoeur wore some nice stirrups last night…now to get the old striped ones back next year would be even better.
#14 by DenverGregg on 05.04.08 2:43 pm |
It wouldn’t be that difficult to make an over-the-helmet shell out of, say, Mylar, to make a contemporary helmet look different without changing the fit and feel of the helmet. The new dino-baby ridged/vented helmets are a bit of a different story, but even there it could be done.
#15 by Juan Grande on 05.04.08 3:04 pm |
But bitching about helmets when we had two nice sets of unis to watch is close to picking nits, in my book.
This is our horse. This is us beating our horse to death. I agree with DCM. We all love our uniforms here but the vast majority of the rest of the planet doesn’t care nearly as much about alternate jerseys, stirrups, batting helmets, and commerative patches as some of us do. Let’s just be happy the Nats and Pirates decidied to do something cool. To quote a famous U.S. American: “Can’t we all just get along?”
#16 by kida on 05.04.08 3:15 pm |
The Padres usually wear the brown-yellow helmets when they were those uniforms. I dont know about the orange-white ‘SD’ or the all browns.
They also wear the green helmets with the camo unis.
Though the brown-yellows and greens are not just one day things, they probably have them in storage or something.
#17 by simon on 05.04.08 3:48 pm |
I think he was referring to helmets for one-off throwbacks, otherwise the Jays powder blue flashback friday unis have proper two coloured mets too.
IIHF scores again with the retro uni, this time with Latvian navy V, but Canada with the ooogly new home whites is off to a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st.
#18 by Jerry Cohen on 05.04.08 3:50 pm |
Hi, Jerry from Ebbets Field here. We did the unis for the Nats-Pirates game in 2 weeks time. Thank you for all the nice comments. They basically left the design to us, so we could be as authentic as possible. We made no allowance for long pants, etc. I’ll stay out of the helmet controversy, except to say since they didn’t actually HAVE helmets in 1942, they would have had to invent ersatz vintage ones.
#19 by Philly William on 05.04.08 3:57 pm |
Yesterday, some people were talking about the Molinas wearing their caps under their catchers helmets. I was wondering if their were any major leaguers who wear their caps under their batting helmets? I always put my cap on under my helmet in high school, but that was more because I have a small head and the helmets would never fit right.
#20 by =bg= on 05.04.08 4:02 pm |
Phillies wearin’ those great retro’s today @ home vs. the Giants.
PS- problems with site today? Verrrrrrrrrrrrrry slow to access site, and even worse to access forum.
#21 by Randy Williams on 05.04.08 4:04 pm |
Philly William said:
Juan Pierre. No photo yet…
#22 by drizzle on 05.04.08 4:07 pm |
Lots of high socks and old-style stirrups in the A’s/Rangers turn back the clock game today.
#23 by Chad on 05.04.08 4:10 pm |
Check out Texas and Oakland today. They’re wearing throwback helmets with their throwback unis from 1968……
#24 by simon on 05.04.08 4:32 pm |
nice!
Love the TEX-OAK look.. as a one-off throwback thing. wouldn’t wanna look at that bright shiny green everyday :P
#25 by Benjamin Bonnet on 05.04.08 4:48 pm |
Santana is throwing so hard today, the blue piping on his right sleeve is falling apart!
#26 by Philly William on 05.04.08 4:54 pm |
Randy Williams said:
Good call – thanks!
#27 by Philly William on 05.04.08 4:57 pm |
Philly William said:
My Bad!
http://i.a.cnn.net/s...
#28 by =bg= on 05.04.08 5:03 pm |
GREAT throwbacks over at the Oakland Masoleum:
OAKLAND (with era-appropriate helmets)
http://img.photobuck...
http://img.photobuck...
–
TEXAS (er, Washington)
http://img.photobuck...
#29 by Bryan Redemske on 05.04.08 5:07 pm |
Jerry Cohen said:
Hey Jerry — thanks for stopping by today. My point with the helmets obviously takes into consideration the lack of helmets in the past. But that doesn’t mean a helmet couldn’t be made to look like the particular hat being worn. The Yankees didn’t have helmets in the 1940s, either, but it looks like they got something figured out.
#30 by =bg= on 05.04.08 5:20 pm |
More from Oak-TX: groovy retro number fonts.
http://img.photobuck...
http://img.photobuck...
http://img.photobuck...
#31 by Chuck Ryals on 05.04.08 5:26 pm |
Chad said:
One pet peeve I have about these throwback games are the fuddy duddy players who refuse to take part by not doing the socks right. Vasquez for Texas is one such killjoy today.
#32 by LI Phil on 05.04.08 5:30 pm |
might not a possible solution for the bucs-nats game have been for the players not to wear helmets at all?
/just sayin
#33 by Ben on 05.04.08 5:37 pm |
Talon Lardner said:
They wouldn’t have to store them…auction them off for charity or remove the stickers and donate them to a local high school or college for their use.
#34 by Ben on 05.04.08 5:43 pm |
=bg= said:
I really like those Oakland throwbacks…did they actually wear “oakland” on their home vests? The city name usually goes on the road uni.
#35 by lwiedy on 05.04.08 5:49 pm |
=bg= said:
Here is what it looked like when it actually happened and thank you for not calling them “Red Sox Numbers”. Many teams had these at that time and were indigenous to McAuliffe (sp?) uniforms who also happened to make the Sox unis.
This is my heaven. Nothing quite like seeing your personally most nostalgic memories recreated very well. If the A’s can do this somewhere else, like in Anaheim, they’d be wearing the gold version and the Angels would have halos on the cap, and I’d die a happy man. Sorry to all the “traditional” uni fans, but this is MY nirvana.
#36 by lwiedy on 05.04.08 5:53 pm |
Ben said:
For 1968, the photo I posted looks to be from 1969, I just thought it really looked alot like what was happening there today.
#37 by Zach on 05.04.08 5:56 pm |
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Rangers-A’s throwbacks. They went all the way with the helmets, caps, even awesome stirrups! I really loved Santiago Castilla’s stirrpus on the yellow socks (as opposed to the white most the teams had) and the A’s yellow helmets.
Seeing the old Senators throwbacks, I almost with that the Nationals had gone with a different logo on their cap/helmet since they didn’t choose the Senators name. It’s as if they wanted to be classic but not go all out.
#38 by Marty Hayes on 05.04.08 6:16 pm |
Zach said:
Makes me long for the days when baseball was the “National Past-time”…ahhh, when it was a game…
Thanks for sharing the awesome images..!!!
#39 by Blake on 05.04.08 6:19 pm |
also dig the A’s coaches white hats. did they have those back in ‘68 too?
#40 by Mayer on 05.04.08 6:35 pm |
Does anyone know why Beckham wore a black armband last night? Was it for Lampard’s mother possibly?
#41 by bar57988 on 05.04.08 6:35 pm |
LI Phil said:
right, and so what would the base coaches wear?
#42 by LI Phil on 05.04.08 6:57 pm |
LI Phil said:
gotta say, “I HEAH YA LARRY”
not quite sure how old ya are, but i would hazard a guess you’re within 2-3 years of me…and while i wouldn’t call this my “nirvana” (although, great use for the term…;))
those
garishbeautiful late 60’s early 70’s unis are what i grew up with, and bring me back to the days of my own blissful youth…while im not longing for the astros rainbows anyday soon, i’d love for some old school 73 a’s or 69 pods or any of the psychadelic-ish (hey, it is baseball…they could have gone even crazier) double-knits with high stirrups everyone else prolly detests…now…i love tradition, but just for one day…gimme stuff like this
#43 by Valjean on 05.04.08 7:09 pm |
Ben said:
Dressed to the Nines says yes for ‘68 — and having been an A’s fan nearly that long, I remember it that way too.
The coaches wore white caps at least by the early 70s; can’t say for ‘68. Interesting that the A’s have their city name at home while the Sens/Rangers have their nicknames on their road grays.
Agree in spades with all the kudos — gorgeous look, and great nostalgia trip to boot. Having complained about the Nats helmets yesterday it’s great to see the A’s busting out the garish yellow lids — not to mention some serious stirrups.
BTW, Oakland had a giveaway for those vests today (my bro is at the game), so they’ll probably be a run of them on eBay tomorrow. Some ugly corporate BS plastered somewhere, no doubt, but might be worth a look.
#44 by LI Phil on 05.04.08 7:19 pm |
bar57988 said:
touché
#45 by =bg= on 05.04.08 7:20 pm |
Under Armour in the news lately with the launchof their shoe line. Who @ Under Armour missed the marketing chance to get a tie in on Iron Man?
IE, what Iron Man wears Under his Armour?
PPS GREAT movie, too.
#46 by Loren on 05.04.08 7:23 pm |
The Rangers did use their regular blue shoes today. The only thing that wasn’t era-appropiate.
#47 by LI Phil on 05.04.08 7:41 pm |
thanks for all the screencaps…
here’s some from getty via yahoo…
just how gorgeous are these?
only thing bad: big hurt’s shoes and of course, every pair of
nationalsrangers’ cleats#48 by LI Phil on 05.04.08 7:45 pm |
just noticed this…
jack hannahan has failed…epically
#49 by KT on 05.04.08 7:56 pm |
I don’t believe it’s legal to not wear batting helmets.
And it always strikes me as odd when a team wears throwbacks and it’s from a team they used to be. I mean, nobody in DFW gives a rat’s ass about the Washington Senators, there’s a team in Washington again now, and probably not a whole lot of folks in the Oakland crowd thought the whole effect of having the Washington Senators back for a day was really necessary.
Interesting that it was 1968 for a day, but you’d have to be over 50 for that to have any real meaning.
#50 by Mike on 05.04.08 8:49 pm |
Mayer said:
It’s to signify he’s the captain of the team.
#51 by LI Phil on 05.04.08 8:49 pm |
KT said:
damn…and here i thought i had the perfect solution
LI Phil said:
true…but isn’t this part of like 4 days (i think all sundays) where they’re celebrating 40 years out in the bay area? so…this was the 60’s…they’ll also be doing a 70s, 80s and 90s…also…someone said they were giving away a jersey…i think today was ‘campy’…not sure who else, but i wanna say vida blue for the 70s, and dave stewart and hendo for 80s & 90s…and they’ll wear the ‘proper’ uni for each day…
maybe you had to be 50 to ‘have any real meaning’ in terms of today’s unis, but it’s also an historical retrospective of the past 40 years…
#52 by LI Phil on 05.04.08 8:50 pm |
Mike said:
it’s to mark the death of his relevance in the sport
#53 by =bg= on 05.04.08 9:46 pm |
Raiders RB Darren McFadden will wear No. 20, according to the team Web site. He wore No. 5 at Arkansas, but in the NFL, running backs must be assigned a number between 20 and 49. — SF Chronicle
#54 by QualityStarts on 05.04.08 10:00 pm |
I was surfing the web today and came across an article that said there were t-shirts handed out at game 6 of the playoff series between the Wizards and Cavs. The shirts were sponsored by Papa Johns and said “Crybaby” with the number 23 underneath. Interesting that Papa Johns would sponsor something like that. I would think someething that said wizards would do the trick without alienating Cleveland fans. Pictures and article here
#55 by Drew McKay on 05.04.08 10:18 pm |
http://38pitches.com... This is Curt Schilling’s personal blog. On the April 9th entry, Schilling puts up a picture of all the champinship rings he has won laid out side by side.
#56 by Chad on 05.04.08 10:18 pm |
just noticed the cubs first base coach is wearing one of those qb wristbands. if theres a decent shot of it i’ll get a screen grab
#57 by Loren on 05.04.08 10:21 pm |
LI Phil said:
OK, maybe I don’t fully GETITtm yet but, what is so bad about jack hannahan uniform in today’s game? He looks right perfect to me!
#58 by Chad on 05.04.08 10:24 pm |
nevermind, looks like it was soriano’s shin guard
#59 by Josh Petty on 05.04.08 10:32 pm |
Mike said:
The blue one is the captain’s armband
#60 by Josh Petty on 05.04.08 10:33 pm |
Ron Washington, Texas Rangers manager, “forgot” to take the stickers off of his Nat…err…Senators hat
http://sports.yahoo....
#61 by LI Phil on 05.04.08 10:34 pm |
Loren said:
stirrups
#62 by Ben on 05.04.08 11:07 pm |
LI Phil said:
I was just getting ready to point that out…we were taught at 5 yrs old how to wear stirrups. Ahhhh, the good old days.
#63 by C-Dublin on 05.04.08 11:10 pm |
If you ever want to see Josh Hamilton on the Nationals…
Thats about as close as you can get.
#64 by simon on 05.04.08 11:42 pm |
IHWC
Italy looking not that different in their throwbacks (similar expectations for Swedent)
http://jhockey.files...
Latvia looking gorgeous, but lost 7-0 to Canada
http://jhockey.files...
Slovenian goalie with old school brown pads, catcher, and blocker
http://jhockey.files...
#65 by Rob on 05.04.08 11:43 pm |
Ben said:
1968 also was the first year the A’s were in Oakland, after moving there from Kansas City after the previous season.
#66 by Jeff Beef Bone on 05.05.08 12:29 am |
Not a huge fan of the “Oakland” across the front of the vest, but otherwise, that could be the best uniform I have ever seen. The giant “A” on the left side of the vest is better. Amazing how much that uniform jumps at you. I love the three colored hats/helmets. Amazing touches. I might need to order a reproduction of that era hat, and I don’t even like the Oakland team!
#67 by lwiedy on 05.05.08 1:54 am |
LI Phil said:
For the record, I’m closer to 40 than 50 and those had massive “uni” meaning to me. My time machine would whisk me back to 1969 for an afternoon contest at the Coliseum for the A’s vs. Pilots (power blue roadies) then down to the “Big A” for my Royals vs. the Halos (literally).
When I was growing up one of very few baseball book with color photos was called “This Great Game”. This photo was among several others showing the A’s and Senators from the 1968-69 era. I posted that photo because unlike many throwback games that just look like current players wearing old style uniforms, this really looks like this, IMO.
#68 by caknuck on 05.05.08 3:03 am |
Loren said:
Not quite the only thing… Gerald Laird wore his usual blue Rangers flapless helmet under his catcher’s mask.
#69 by James Craven on 05.05.08 6:42 am |
Uni-Related Jersey Number Food News: The folks at Papa John’s will sell one-topping pizzas in Cleveland for $.23 on Thursday as part of an apology for making promotional T-shirts given away at last Friday’s playoff game at the Wizards calling LeBron James a “crybaby” and will donate $100K to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ charity.
#70 by James Craven on 05.05.08 6:50 am |
Correction and link: The donation is $10K to the Cavs’ Youth Fund, not $100K, plus the coasts of said pizzas will also be given to the fund as well.
Story from cleveland.com.
#71 by Mark in Shiga on 05.05.08 9:21 am |
That Oakland number font is fantastic!
Are the layers green-yellow-green or is the outermost layer black?
Either way, it looks great. Make those the regular home jerseys!
#72 by Pete on 05.05.08 11:03 am |
Sorry if this has been asked already. In the Oakland- Texas throwback game– did the Oakland coaches have WHITE batting helmets on when they were coaching at 1st and 3rd? P from England
#73 by Dan on 05.05.08 11:15 am |
I was at the Pirates-Nationals game on Saturday, and have a few issues with the throwbacks. First, as a Pittsburgh native and DC resident, I take offense to the Nationals claiming the Grays as a DC team. But beyond that, why wouldn’t the Pirates wear Crawfords uniforms?