Uni Watch » Hello, Wilson? I Want to Place a REALLY Big Order…

Hello, Wilson? I Want to Place a REALLY Big Order…

As many of you know, I collect uniform catalogs. I usually prefer the ones that include fabric swatches, but a few weeks ago I scored a 1962 Wilson catalog with an unusually large amount of great material. No swatches? No problem. Here’s a peek at some of the stuff that had me oohing and ahhing as I flipped through the pages:

• Gotta love a company that refers to its uniforms as “Coloramic.” But that does seem to be the appropriate term for these designs (dig those vertically striped socks, too — remember, this was 1962, when the Broncos were wearing their vertically striped hose).

• I don’t know what to make of a term like “Action Fitted Pants.” Like, as opposed to sitting-on-the-bench-fitted?

• What’s better than a page of jackets and capes? Two pages of jackets and capes.

• I think you all know how much I love striping option pages.

• Here’s another one of those helmets with a padded crown. Wilson called theirs a “shock absorbing panel” — pretty bland compared to the “Absorblo” found in that 1969 MacGregor catalog that Jeff Fedenko let me look at a few weeks back.

• These shoes look so totally bitchin’. No swooshes, no doodads, just black leather, white laces, and stitching. The stitching around the toe area almost looks like a cap-toe dress shoe — nice.

• I’ve seen square-toed kicking shoes before (they’re now banned), but until now I’d never seen a kicking toe attachment that could be added to a conventional-toe shoe.

• Most of my uniform catalogs don’t include officials’ gear, but this one does. And hey, don’t you miss the days when the end of the quarter was marked by a pistol shot?

• Lots of hoops unis here as well, and I’d say coloramic is once again the operative term (all kidding aside, I love that design shown at far right).

• Pages like this send me into a total swoon. I mean, look at some of those designs! Love the super-precise descriptions, too: “One row 3/8 inch and one row 7/8 inch rayon braid 7/8 inch apart around bottoms and pyramids.”

• I’d shove my own grandma out of the way to get my hands on any of the garments shown on this page. Actually, I don’t have any living grandparents, but you get the idea. This page is almost as good. And check out the sleeve options shown at the bottom of this page.

• Women’s hoops, alas, gets a rather cursory treatment.

• You knew this was coming — the hosiery pages. Coloramics strikes again, as this page various stitch options (never seen that choice offered before) and this one sets me into a fit of Homer Simpson-esque drooling. Love how the uni-numbered hose are described as being “for the well dressed team!”

Raffle Reminder: Remember, I’m raffling off a free two-color NameFrame — perfect for Father’s Day. If you haven’t already entered, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (please note that this is not the regular Uni Watch e-mail address) by this Friday at 10pm eastern. One e-mail per person, but membership program enrollees will automatically get three bonus entries. I’ll announce the winner next Monday.

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Anniversary Celebration, Continued: On Monday I announced that Nina Dubin had designed a new Uni Watch T-shirt (available here). Not to be outdone, Scott M.X. Turner has designed four new T-shirts. And I’ve gotta say, they are totally the bomb.

The first three shirts are based on a circular design that Scott has rendered in each of the three Uni Watch colors — gold, green, and burgundy. And for people who prefer a non-circular graphic, there’s also this version. I hope you’ll agree that Scott has hit a home run with these — I’m really proud to see the Uni Watch name on them.

Here are the actual shirts: gold circle, green circle, burgundy circle, no circle (plus they’re all shown in the Uni Watch store). And of course you can choose to have these graphics on a black tee, a brown tee, or whatever, so there’s a near-limitless supply of mix-and-match possibilities. Well, almost limitless — for reasons not worth explaining, the three circular designs can only be printed on dark-colored tees. But most people prefer dark tees anyway, right? Click through all the shirt style and color options and I’m sure you’ll find something that floats your boat.

Uni Watch News Ticker: While searching for something else, I came across this 1969 photo of Jerry Grote. Look at that white outline on the NY logo — never never never seen that before on a Mets batting helmet. … And while search for a different something else, I found this awesome shot of the 1940 Pirates. … Matthew Lepke reports that Craig Monroe was getting a bit creative with the eye black over the weekend. … Dave Kendrick sent along word that there’s a hockey team in Atlanta whose players all have “Ramone” NOBs. And what is this team called? Take a look. … Wil Ledezma was showing some Philly tag on Monday. … Hope for America’s youth: This is a player from the Leroy High Bears in Leroy, Alabama, who recently won their second consecutive 2A state championship (with thanks to Jonathon Binet). … My recent column on racing silks led Amanda Gustin to point me toward this site, which is all about the proper attire for fox hunting. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Interesting batting helmet being worn by the Chinese national team. … The biggest design story of the day — and probably the decade — was this. … Dan Alexander of the AFL’s Chicago Rush taped a cross onto his facemask on Monday. Doug Steffenson, who was the first of several readers who forwarded that photo to me, says he hears through the grapevine that Alexander may receive a reprimand from the league. … Someone needs to button up (with thanks to Brent Hardman). … Check this out: Garry Maddox in spring training, early 1980s, wearing sanitaries but no stirrups! … I’ve been convinced for a while now that nobody could look worse in a baseball uniform than Eric Gagne. But it turns out that someone can. And that someone is Eric Gagne (big thanks to Nicole Haase).

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#1 by Matt D. on 05.21.08 8:50 am |

The Grote helmet is really, really weird. I wanted to say it was his catching helmet and a hand-painted logo (which it really looks like), but from this card , Grote used the backwards cap.

#2 by Roger Faso on 05.21.08 8:50 am |

New membership level?

Coloramic!

#3 by Paul Lukas on 05.21.08 8:52 am |

The Grote helmet is really, really weird. I wanted to say it was his catching helmet and a hand-painted logo (which it really looks like), but from this card , Grote used the backwards cap.

Yeah, for half a second I thought of that too, but Grote never wore a helmet behind the dish — always wore a cap.

#4 by Original Jim on 05.21.08 8:58 am |

Dan Alexander is not the first person to tape a cross onto his facemask. I’ve seen it at many levels of football…usually it’s white tape on a light-colored facemask so it’s not as obvious.

#5 by RedWing in Colorado on 05.21.08 8:59 am |

I love the fact that the officials socks offered in the Wilson catalog are actually stirrups. Does anyone know if they were worn over sanitaries in the early days of football officiating, back when they wore those sweet hats?

#6 by Ian on 05.21.08 9:03 am |

The belts on the basketball shorts are a nice touch. It’s hard to tell from the photos, though, whether they’re real belts or just belt-ish styling on the front of the shorts. Drawstrings? Eh, whatever.

#7 by Mike Edgerly on 05.21.08 9:03 am |

It would be way cool if the hockey team had this on the front of their sweaters…

http://www.oneposter...

#8 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 9:08 am |

I love the fact that the officials socks offered in the Wilson catalog are actually stirrups. Does anyone know if they were worn over sanitaries in the early days of football officiating, back when they wore those sweet hats?

football refs have worn stirrups in the past, and up until fairly recently wore them in college level games (that pic is from 1986, but they wore them more recently than that)…however, i wouldn’t expect them to ever return, especially now that rbk has introduced that horrible cold wx pants…except of course for, when it snows

#9 by teamcinnamon on 05.21.08 9:08 am |

Capes!

Queue up the discusson about Frank Costanza’s lawyer..

#10 by Rick on 05.21.08 9:09 am |

There is no such thing as a baseball uniform anymore, apparently. Lets just start calling it ‘colors’, because that’s about the only thing that is uniform within a team.
I have seen high school classes dressed more uniform than the average pro baseball team; and they did not have school uniforms either.

#11 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 9:13 am |

i posted this late last night about piazza (and kid)…thought we might want to continue this little debate today…just as a point of information…within the quotes…paul is arguing against mike going in as a met, while im supporting it

So now that Piazza retired the debate begins…if/when Piazza goes into the Hall is it as a Met or Dodger. I am hoping for Marlin.

I suspect as a Met. I know there’s the sentimental ties to LA, but he won the pennant in New York, and he played a couple more seasons in blue and orange than in Dodger Blue alone.

Much like another HoF backstop, Gary Carter, Piazza had his greatest team success as a Met but had his best numbers during the pre-Mets portion of his career. Look at those two chapters of his career — the Dodgers numbers and the Mets numbers — and it’s no contest. He staked his claim to greatness as a Dodger, just as Carter did as an Expo.

Paul- I agree with your comments, but in a statement today, Mike P said he had his fondest memories playing in NY.

Mike Piazza’s fondest memories, I’m fairly certain, are of cashing his checks. I really don’t care what his preference is (Carter wanted to wear a Mets cap on his HoF plaque too, but the HoF chose to put an Expos cap on him). Personally, I’ve always seen him as a huge hypocrite and a major disappointment on many, many levels, so I kinda don’t want to see him enshrined in a Mets cap, but that’s ultimately neither here nor there. The only thing that matters is his career, and if you look at the numbers, the reason he’s Coop-bound is because of the numbers he put up in L.A.

paul’s absolutely correct based on numbers alone

clearly, a much better player as a dodger than a met (although he sure didn’t suck as a met)…carter had many reasons for wanting to go in with an interlocking ny, including 1986 and the fact that, and im paraphrasing here, ’some kid’s gonna see my bust with that “M” and wonder who the hell that team was’

piazza never won a world series for the franchise and, in fact, lost to the yankees in his only trip to the championship round…here’s a player who had 655 RBI, 1,028 hits, 220 home runs in 972 games for the Mets and it wasn’t good enough for some fans…i guess paul’s one of them, but i don’t argue with his logic…my preference would be for piazza to go in as a met, but ultimately, in 2013 we’ll find out…

the next to last quote is from paul, and the last one was from me…let the debating continue

#12 by Seth H on 05.21.08 9:15 am |

The “R” on the back of player No.7 of the “Name on the Back” team looks to have been put on backward.

#13 by Joe H on 05.21.08 9:15 am |

Scott M.X. Turner has designed four new T-shirts. And I’ve gotta say, they are totally the bomb.

——–

Sweet shirt!!!!! Great concept….however, why is it that when “faked” stitching is depicted in screen printing the stitches extend past the number/letter. Nike does it too with all of their “faked” items. That would never get out of the shop if it really looked like that.

#14 by Mark in Shiga on 05.21.08 9:15 am |

Is that really a white outline on Grote’s helmet? It looks to me like the “NY” logo area was painted white first, with orange paint over that, and the orange paint is wearing away.

Speaking of Gary Maddox not wearing stirrups, I could have sworn that Steve Carlton also didn’t at one time. I remember having a 1987 (?) Fleer baseball card of Carlton, and he’s got plain white socks on. The card has a special blue background, so I wondered if they just accidentally cut the socks out while editing the picture, but you never know. Anyone remember this card?

And Paul, did you ever get the stash of Japanese baseball catalogs I sent you about a year ago? I never heard back from you.

#15 by KT on 05.21.08 9:21 am |

Piazza sure seemed to enjoy being a Met (but the Hall makes the final call). Personally, I don’t think it matters.

As for officials’ socks, the stirrups have gone the way of the dodo. The “official” official socks are these for high school/college guys and these for NFL guys (though, oddly enough, you can still get sanitaries.

I’m going to guess there are still some old school cats out there wearing stirrups, I just can’t remember seeing any recently. I’ll keep an eye out, though.

#16 by Paul Lukas on 05.21.08 9:21 am |

And Paul, did you ever get the stash of Japanese baseball catalogs I sent you about a year ago? I never heard back from you.

Yes! Sorry not to have acknowledged them. Mea culpa!

#17 by Mike Edgerly on 05.21.08 9:22 am |

I love the fact that the officials socks offered in the Wilson catalog are actually stirrups. Does anyone know if they were worn over sanitaries in the early days of football officiating, back when they wore those sweet hats?

football refs have worn stirrups in the past, and up until fairly recently wore them in college level games (that pic is from 1986, but they wore them more recently than that)…however, i wouldn’t expect them to ever return, especially now that rbk has introduced that horrible cold wx pants…except of course for, when it snows

Refs still wear stirrups in the CFL.

#18 by Paul Lukas on 05.21.08 9:27 am |

here’s a player who had 655 RBI, 1,028 hits, 220 home runs in 972 games for the Mets and it wasn’t good enough for some fans…i guess paul’s one of them…

Just to clarify, here are my problems with Piazza, most (but not all) of which have to do with leadership/character issues:

1) The way he handled the inevitable move to first base was an embarrassment and a disgrace — he basically hung the team out to dry via the media. A classy player would’ve stepped up and said, “I’ll do anything to help the team — where do you want me to play?” But Piazza kept playing dumb, tossing out quotes like, “Well, they haven’t said anything to me about it, so I really don’t know.” Right, the whole fucking city is talking about it but you have no clue. Sure. And then he acted all offended when he “learned about it from the press.” Just play where the manager tells you to play and shut up. And no, nobody cares who hit the most HRs as a catcher.

2) Of course, once he finally played first base, we found out why he’d been avoiding the issue: The guy’s a horrible athlete. Great HITTER, yes, but not a good athlete. No coordination, no footwork. And it went way beyond his inability to play first base. I defy you to find one instance — ONE FUCKING INSTANCE — when Mike Piazza properly executed a slide into second or third base. Never happened. Why? Get this: MIKE PIAZZA CAN’T SLIDE. It’s true. When he tried to slide, he’d spaz out and trip. I’m not making this up.

3) When the Post implied that he was gay, Piazza held that little press conference where he declared his heterosexuality. OK, fine. But he missed a huge opportunity to say, “But what if it was true? What if I was gay? So what? What if one of my teammates is gay? What if one of YOU is gay? It’s no big deal. Listen, I’m straight, but this whole thing is really a non-issue.” In a city with a huge gay population, that was an opportunity to show some real community leadership, and he totally spit the bit. Instead he just did the selfish thing and moved on. No vision, no leadership, no courage. Asshole.

4) A few days after Clemens beaned him, Piazza said that the incident had made him reassess the DH. Paraphrasing here: “I thought the DH could be a good thing for me later in my career, but now I see that it’s bad for baseball, because the pitcher can throw at the batter with no fear of retaliation.” So what did he do after leaving the Mets? He shopped himself to American League teams with hopes of becoming a DH. None of them were interested, so he signed with the Padres, but then he went to the A’s, where he happily DH’d. Hypo-fucking-crite.

5) When Clemens threw the bat at him in the World Series, why did he just stand there looking confused, like a big fucking lug, instead of charging the mound or at least showing some fire? Answer: Because he’s a big fucking lug. Seriously, he’s the most boring superstar I’ve ever seen.

6) “The runner goes, here’s the throw from Piazza — and it comes in on two hops.”

Did Mike Piazza have some major moments as a Met? Totally. Did I often cheer for him? Yes. But he never fulfilled his potential as a star, in the fullest sense of that term. Great hitter, so-so baseball player, weak person.

#19 by Nicole on 05.21.08 9:28 am |

Just realized my bedroom light fixture is prominently displayed in that Eric Gagne photo. So sorry. I was so disturbed by Gagne’s appearance I grabbed the camera and snapped away!

#20 by Jim on 05.21.08 9:28 am |

I love the fact that the officials socks offered in the Wilson catalog are actually stirrups. Does anyone know if they were worn over sanitaries in the early days of football officiating, back when they wore those sweet hats?

football refs have worn stirrups in the past, and up until fairly recently wore them in college level games (that pic is from 1986, but they wore them more recently than that)…however, i wouldn’t expect them to ever return, especially now that rbk has introduced that horrible cold wx pants…except of course for, when it snows

Refs still wear stirrups in the CFL.

Sweet! I didn’t know refs were allowed to tackle in the CFL, gotta love those Canadians!!

http://www.nancarrow...

#21 by Mike on 05.21.08 9:33 am |

http://farm4.static....

bitchin catalogue. i didn’T know lebron james was playing in 62 (pic with the sailor collar)

#22 by Broadway Connie on 05.21.08 9:37 am |

“Hope for America’s youth: This is a player from the Leroy High Bears in Leroy, Alabama, who recently won their second consecutive 2A state championship (with thanks to Jonathon Binet)…”

Your existence is hereby vindicated, Dr L. Those duds and how the youngster wears them do indeed inspire hope for the future of the Republic. The concept of civic duty is alive and well at Uni Watch.

Speaking of civics, the Olympic Games are soon upon us, Dr L. Do you plan on treating your followers to a comprehensive review of every uniform sported by every participant from every nation since the revival of the Games under Baron de Coupertin? If not, please cancel my subscription.

#23 by Swine the Mad on 05.21.08 9:40 am |

Love the retro catalog!

I have a Georgia high school yearbook collection that’s mostly 1950s and 1960s and I’ve been scanning football and basketball photos out of those. Unfortunately, there aren’t many color photos, but I can see some of those designs employed.

http://picasaweb.goo...

#24 by Eriq Jaffe on 05.21.08 9:45 am |

Is that really a white outline on Grote’s helmet? It looks to me like the “NY” logo area was painted white first, with orange paint over that, and the orange paint is wearing away.

I had to go back and look at it twice to see what was so interesting about the picture. My first thought was, “So what? The decal is just wearing away.”

#25 by kj on 05.21.08 9:49 am |

The Ramones NOBs reminded me of a team in Toronto called 16 Guys Named Moe.

With my size, should I ever find myself playing for them, I’d be Moe Mentum.

#26 by Dave on 05.21.08 9:57 am |

The Ramones NOBs reminded me of a team in Toronto called 16 Guys Named Moe.

With my size, should I ever find myself playing for them, I’d be Moe Mentum.

I have a few more pics of the team including the goalie. I’ll Flickr them tonight.

#27 by interlockingtc on 05.21.08 9:59 am |

That Wilson catalogue is so good. Did everything look better in the ’60’s? And no, I was not old enough to be taking hallucinogenics.

Scott’s new design is really fantastic. Beautiful.

#28 by Dave on 05.21.08 10:00 am |

The “R” on the back of player No.7 of the “Name on the Back” team looks to have been put on backward.

Sorry it’s not more clear in the pic, but the R is correct. More than one of the players has an upside-down “W” in place of the M, though.

#29 by tedkerwin on 05.21.08 10:07 am |

The link in the float your boat has an extra h in the http causing firefox to say it doesn’t exist.

#30 by Robert on 05.21.08 10:08 am |

I cared who hit the most home runs as a catcher back when Johnny Bench held the record. I happened to be at the game in 1990 when Carlton Fisk tied the record, and I wanted to cry. Well, almost.

#31 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 10:13 am |

here’s a player who had 655 RBI, 1,028 hits, 220 home runs in 972 games for the Mets and it wasn’t good enough for some fans…i guess paul’s one of them…

Just to clarify, here are my problems with Piazza, most (but not all) of which have to do with leadership/character issues:

1) The way he handled the inevitable move to first base was an embarrassment and a disgrace — he basically hung the team out to dry via the media. A classy player would’ve stepped up and said, “I’ll do anything to help the team — where do you want me to play?” But Piazza kept playing dumb, tossing out quotes like, “Well, they haven’t said anything to me about it, so I really don’t know.” Right, the whole fucking city is talking about it but you have no clue. Sure. And then he acted all offended when he “learned about it from the press.” Just play where the manager tells you to play and shut up. And no, nobody cares who hit the most HRs as a catcher.

2) Of course, once he finally played first base, we found out why he’d been avoiding the issue: The guy’s a horrible athlete. Great HITTER, yes, but not a good athlete. No coordination, no footwork. And it went way beyond his inability to play first base. I defy you to find one instance — ONE FUCKING INSTANCE — when Mike Piazza properly executed a slide into second or third base. Never happened. Why? Get this: MIKE PIAZZA CAN’T SLIDE. It’s true. When he tried to slide, he’d spaz out and trip. I’m not making this up.

3) When the Post implied that he was gay, Piazza held that little press conference where he declared his heterosexuality. OK, fine. But he missed a huge opportunity to say, “But what if it was true? What if I was gay? So what? What if one of my teammates is gay? What if one of YOU is gay? It’s no big deal. Listen, I’m straight, but this whole thing is really a non-issue.” In a city with a huge gay population, that was an opportunity to show some real community leadership, and he totally spit the bit. Instead he just did the selfish thing and moved on. No vision, no leadership, no courage. Asshole.

4) A few days after Clemens beaned him, Piazza said that the incident had made him reassess the DH. Paraphrasing here: “I thought the DH could be a good thing for me later in my career, but now I see that it’s bad for baseball, because the pitcher can throw at the batter with no fear of retaliation.” So what did he do after leaving the Mets? He shopped himself to American League teams with hopes of becoming a DH. None of them were interested, so he signed with the Padres, but then he went to the A’s, where he happily DH’d. Hypo-fucking-crite.

5) When Clemens threw the bat at him in the World Series, why did he just stand there looking confused, like a big fucking lug, instead of charging the mound or at least showing some fire? Answer: Because he’s a big fucking lug. Seriously, he’s the most boring superstar I’ve ever seen.

6) “The runner goes, here’s the throw from Piazza — and it comes in on two hops.”

Did Mike Piazza have some major moments as a Met? Totally. Did I often cheer for him? Yes. But he never fulfilled his potential as a star, in the fullest sense of that term. Great hitter, so-so baseball player, weak person.

i have a bunch of issues with pizza-boy too, most of which were not related to his on field play…teh stupid hair dye, the whole is-he-or-isn’t-he-gay which was a bad soap opera at best–who the fuck cares?–…etc..etc…etc…

hey, some players, a certain cincinnati red and a certain yankee come to mind) who were far superior athletes and also caught the majority of their careers gracefully made their exits from behind the dish…mikey held on to get that goddam homerun record and may have cost the mets a few games in the process

but he sure did have some (many) great moments in the blue and orange (and occasionally the black and blue and orange) including that incredible home run after 9/11 against the braves and taking roidger for a granny, to name a few…and, c’mon now…in 1998 he gave us INSTANT credibiilty, something we were sorely lacking after vince and booby and bret et al…do you remember 1993?

neither do i…piazza erased that year to us met fans

the numbers as a dodger speak for themselves…piazza’s tenure as a met speaks for itself…either cap would be fine, but i’d prefer the ~~black~~ blue and orange

#32 by seven on 05.21.08 10:15 am |

The picture of the football cleats reminds me that sometime in the last decade a company came out with a line of casual shoes that were modeled on old football shoes. They were truly gorgeous, but I guess not really popular because I haven’t seen them in years. Anyone remember the company that made them?

#33 by Paul Lukas on 05.21.08 10:16 am |

The link in the float your boat has an extra h in the http causing firefox to say it doesn’t exist.

Thanks. Now fixed.

#34 by Steven on 05.21.08 10:18 am |

http://withleather.c...

George Washington wore UA?

#35 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 10:18 am |

The picture of the football cleats reminds me that sometime in the last decade a company came out with a line of casual shoes that were modeled on old football shoes. They were truly gorgeous, but I guess not really popular because I haven’t seen them in years. Anyone remember the company that made them?

and people wonder why there are 3 stripes and a swoosh on cleats now…

#36 by teamcinnamon on 05.21.08 10:22 am |

I love the fact that the officials socks offered in the Wilson catalog are actually stirrups. Does anyone know if they were worn over sanitaries in the early days of football officiating, back when they wore those sweet hats?

football refs have worn stirrups in the past, and up until fairly recently wore them in college level games (that pic is from 1986, but they wore them more recently than that)…however, i wouldn’t expect them to ever return, especially now that rbk has introduced that horrible cold wx pants…except of course for, when it snows

Terribly inconsistent. I wish they’d really come out with a standard policy on when to wear these and when not to wear them.

I remember some chatter about it here last year, but it basically came to the conclusion that it was up to the head official’s discretion.

As a corollary to that, I seem to remember a game played indoors last year where the refs wore the cold weather gear!

#37 by Jon on 05.21.08 10:24 am |

I coach football in mass. and we had a kid play against us who used a special shoe to kickoff. he actually got a full ride to play at uconn(linebacker) but when we complained about the special shoe the ref’s let it go saying as long as it was a differnet shoe and not an attachment and he changed on the field there was nothing we could.

#38 by Dave F. on 05.21.08 10:30 am |

Damn, those shirts are pretty sharp. I’m torn between the gold and burgundy circles, though.

#39 by Max on 05.21.08 10:32 am |

I’ve been convinced for a while now that nobody could look worse in a baseball uniform than Eric Gagne. But it turns out that someone can. And that someone is Eric Gagne (big thanks to Nicole Haase).

Apparently Nicole has not seen Manny Ramirez in the last 5 years.

#40 by Brian from Short Island on 05.21.08 10:35 am |

here’s a player who had 655 RBI, 1,028 hits, 220 home runs in 972 games for the Mets and it wasn’t good enough for some fans…i guess paul’s one of them…

Just to clarify, here are my problems with Piazza, most (but not all) of which have to do with leadership/character issues:

1) The way he handled the inevitable move to first base was an embarrassment and a disgrace — he basically hung the team out to dry via the media. A classy player would’ve stepped up and said, “I’ll do anything to help the team — where do you want me to play?” But Piazza kept playing dumb, tossing out quotes like, “Well, they haven’t said anything to me about it, so I really don’t know.” Right, the whole fucking city is talking about it but you have no clue. Sure. And then he acted all offended when he “learned about it from the press.” Just play where the manager tells you to play and shut up. And no, nobody cares who hit the most HRs as a catcher.

2) Of course, once he finally played first base, we found out why he’d been avoiding the issue: The guy’s a horrible athlete. Great HITTER, yes, but not a good athlete. No coordination, no footwork. And it went way beyond his inability to play first base. I defy you to find one instance — ONE FUCKING INSTANCE — when Mike Piazza properly executed a slide into second or third base. Never happened. Why? Get this: MIKE PIAZZA CAN’T SLIDE. It’s true. When he tried to slide, he’d spaz out and trip. I’m not making this up.

3) When the Post implied that he was gay, Piazza held that little press conference where he declared his heterosexuality. OK, fine. But he missed a huge opportunity to say, “But what if it was true? What if I was gay? So what? What if one of my teammates is gay? What if one of YOU is gay? It’s no big deal. Listen, I’m straight, but this whole thing is really a non-issue.” In a city with a huge gay population, that was an opportunity to show some real community leadership, and he totally spit the bit. Instead he just did the selfish thing and moved on. No vision, no leadership, no courage. Asshole.

4) A few days after Clemens beaned him, Piazza said that the incident had made him reassess the DH. Paraphrasing here: “I thought the DH could be a good thing for me later in my career, but now I see that it’s bad for baseball, because the pitcher can throw at the batter with no fear of retaliation.” So what did he do after leaving the Mets? He shopped himself to American League teams with hopes of becoming a DH. None of them were interested, so he signed with the Padres, but then he went to the A’s, where he happily DH’d. Hypo-fucking-crite.

5) When Clemens threw the bat at him in the World Series, why did he just stand there looking confused, like a big fucking lug, instead of charging the mound or at least showing some fire? Answer: Because he’s a big fucking lug. Seriously, he’s the most boring superstar I’ve ever seen.

6) “The runner goes, here’s the throw from Piazza — and it comes in on two hops.”

Did Mike Piazza have some major moments as a Met? Totally. Did I often cheer for him? Yes. But he never fulfilled his potential as a star, in the fullest sense of that term. Great hitter, so-so baseball player, weak person.

Who’s the hypocrite here? He’s the second best player this team has ever had, and I’ll never forget watching the game on 9/21/01 from the Upper Deck and just jumping for joy after his home run.

As a defensive player, he was very good at keeping the ball in front of him and pitchers loved throwing to him. Look at someone like Mike Pelfrey this year and the splits between when he throws to Schneider and when he throws to Casanova. It’s something like 4 runs on the ERA, and it’s no coincidence. There’s more than just throwing.

Do you really think he’s not a true Met because he didn’t stand up for gay rights? Is running for president here or is he a ballplayer?

It’s very convenient to pin the first base thing on him, but it’s a difficult position and Art Howe (remember him? truly awful manager) completely screwed up his transition there. Remember Todd Hundley? (If you’re looking for a scumbag, there’s a scumbag.) Remember him in Left Field? Positional changes don’t just happen. Piazza wasn’t a true athlete like Carlos Beltran is, but Beltran isn’t half the ballplayer Piazza was.

Finally, are you asking Piazza to get ejected from Game 2 of the World Series and suspended for Game 3 (the only game they won) for charging the mound? He’s smarter than that. The San Antonio Spurs are boring, but I sure wish they played in New Jersey and were called the Nets.

Seriously. I’m booking my hotel in Cooperstown as soon as they let me.

#41 by Justin Howland on 05.21.08 10:43 am |

RichRod stepped up and owned his mistake with handing the #1 jersey to a non-receiver. Bottom of this page:
http://www.detnews.c...

#42 by Steve on 05.21.08 10:48 am |

I would suggest that the white outline is actually the bottom layer of the pressure sensitive logo. It appears that there is an orange layer that is peeling back revealing the white

#43 by Richard Bruns on 05.21.08 10:53 am |

Mike Piazza was a great hitter, as Paul said. You can argue that Piazza was the worst defensive catcher of all time. Cecil Fielder could’ve taken second on him. Is he a Hall of Famer? Yes, first ballot. Is he a huge douchebag? Yes, without a doubt.

#44 by MetsFan AZ on 05.21.08 10:56 am |

The picture of the football cleats reminds me that sometime in the last decade a company came out with a line of casual shoes that were modeled on old football shoes. They were truly gorgeous, but I guess not really popular because I haven’t seen them in years. Anyone remember the company that made them?

and people wonder why there are 3 stripes and a swoosh on cleats now…

The name of the company was Hyde. I can’t find any evidence that they are still around or even an example of the cool hightop style “cleats” they made. It looks like they were part of Saucony if anyone wants to keep looking.

#45 by Philly William on 05.21.08 10:58 am |

Sorry if this has been explained before, but where does the term “Philly Tag” come from?

#46 by Paul Lukas on 05.21.08 11:19 am |

Sorry if this has been explained before, but where does the term “Philly Tag” come from?

Here:
http://www.uniwatchb...

#47 by FX on 05.21.08 11:31 am |

wore Wilson gear in high school (basketball, football and baseball) during mid ’60’s…trouble with nostalgia is you keep remembering it!!! and yes, we did look as dorky as the “models” in the catalog!!! today’s posting is absolutely terrific!!! btw paul, despite what others might say (your family excepted), U B Da Man!!!

#48 by dilbert719 on 05.21.08 11:34 am |

The Ramones NOBs reminded me of a team in Toronto called 16 Guys Named Moe.

With my size, should I ever find myself playing for them, I’d be Moe Mentum.

Now this is an excellent topic (and I’m not just saying that because the team template is the previous Flyers Black template.)

Any other takers for a “16 Guys named Moe” name? I’m considering Moe Torbote, or possibly Moe Munnay.

#49 by KT on 05.21.08 11:42 am |

Great hitter, so-so baseball player, weak person.

Hot wife.

#50 by David on 05.21.08 11:50 am |

I’m surprised there hasn’t been any talk about the currency ruling. I for one hope this leads to a redesign, as I’ve always thought the branding of US bills was rather disjointed. It seems that whenever they institute any sort of enhanced anti-counterfeiting features, they roll out one bill at a time instead of releasing the changes as a series. All denomination bills $5 and higher have been redesigned twice since 1995, but the $1 bill has remained the same (with no plans for a redesign). Explain that.

#51 by lsufan on 05.21.08 11:53 am |

Seeing the football jackets and capes in the Wilson catalogue reminded me how much times, and fashions, have changed. I remember the very first LSU game I attended in 1957, when I was seven years old. The year before LSU had switched to the gold pants/white jerseys/gold helmets uniforms that are essentially the same ones they wear today. However, during pre-game warmups every player was wearing a warm-up jacket zipped up to the neck. I don’t recall the color…either purple or gold, but I recall that they had no numbers so that none of the players were identifiable, except perhaps by numbers on their helmets.

#52 by Proud Canuck on 05.21.08 12:01 pm |

Great catalogue. What a hoot! Couple of points:

• Apparently “coloramic” didn’t extend to the models. The 1962 Wilson catalog – last bastion of the all-white football/basketball teams.

• Loved the “ladies’ pages”. Apparently mom liked to shoot hoops in between baking cakes and cleaning the bathroom.

• On the “…pages like this make me swoon” (sorry, I’m a terrible linker), check out the shorts on the bottom left (#B3632). Paul’s discovered the genesis of the Vancouver Canucks’ flying V jerseys…

#53 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 12:01 pm |

Great hitter, so-so baseball player, weak person.

Hot wife.

sweet beard

I’m surprised there hasn’t been any talk about the currency ruling. I for one hope this leads to a redesign, as I’ve always thought the branding of US bills was rather disjointed. It seems that whenever they institute any sort of enhanced anti-counterfeiting features, they roll out one bill at a time instead of releasing the changes as a series. All denomination bills $5 and higher have been redesigned twice since 1995, but the $1 bill has remained the same (with no plans for a redesign). Explain that.

i believe the us mint is still trying, unsuccessfully, to get us to use dollar coins, similar to every other country in the civilized world…it would take some getting used to, but it would work…i know in my many trips to canuckistan, the loonie and the toonie take some getting used to, but you can deal

now if i could just get a double-double at a timmy’s here…all would be good

#54 by Joe Morano on 05.21.08 12:02 pm |

Grote helmet- Any thoughts to the great Grote helmet mystery- very unique, give the uni history. As a fellow Met uni obsessor, I’d like to know what you think, Paul?

I recall having seen a picture of that helmet in days past and just assumed that the lettering was some form of decal or application where the edges of the ornage logo were frayed and worn , giving the appearance that it has a white outline.

If it is indeed painted on (?) would the painter have put white as a base coat on the helmet to stabilize the orange, and when the paint started to wear the white came through?

Any thoughts?

#55 by Brendon on 05.21.08 12:02 pm |

http://withleather.c...

George Washington wore UA?

Now that’s my kinda president!!!!

#56 by Please keep me anonymous on 05.21.08 12:03 pm |

My dad was lucky enough to get to throw out the first pitch at Shea several years ago. He threw to Piazza and we asked the Mets rep if he could get Piazza to sign the ball as a memento. The rep immediately said that Piazza doesn’t usually do that. A few days later, we got the official “no.”

Piazza = Jerk.

#57 by Brendon on 05.21.08 12:05 pm |

RichRod stepped up and owned his mistake with handing the #1 jersey to a non-receiver. Bottom of this page:
http://www.detnews.c...

Who cares about UM anyways?

GO BUCK!!!!

O-H!

#58 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 12:06 pm |

My dad was lucky enough to get to throw out the first pitch at Shea several years ago. He threw to Piazza and we asked the Mets rep if he could get Piazza to sign the ball as a memento. The rep immediately said that Piazza doesn’t usually do that. A few days later, we got the official “no.”

Piazza = Jerk.

how could you verify if the “X” you would have gotten was really his anyway?

#59 by DGL on 05.21.08 12:07 pm |

I can see why a square-toed shoe for kickers would make sense when everyone kicked straight-on, and I could see why a kicker’s toe attachment would make sense when rosters were smaller and “kicker” wasn’t a specialized position (so your middle linebacker or left guard or whoever kicked could get the square toe without having to change his shoe). But now that every kicker in the league kicks with the instep/laces (remember when they used to actually be differentiated and called “soccer-style kickers?”), why is there a need for a ban on square-toed kicker’s shoes?

Oh, and those big insulated sideline capes rock.

#60 by lsufan on 05.21.08 12:15 pm |

DGL: “…why is there a need for a ban on square-toed kicker’s shoes?”

As I recall, some square-toed kicking shoes were also weighted on the toe. The toe was hard, like a steel-toed boot.

#61 by Rick White in Cedar Park, TX on 05.21.08 12:17 pm |

Great hitter, so-so baseball player, weak person.

Hot wife.

sweet beard

I’m surprised there hasn’t been any talk about the currency ruling. I for one hope this leads to a redesign, as I’ve always thought the branding of US bills was rather disjointed. It seems that whenever they institute any sort of enhanced anti-counterfeiting features, they roll out one bill at a time instead of releasing the changes as a series. All denomination bills $5 and higher have been redesigned twice since 1995, but the $1 bill has remained the same (with no plans for a redesign). Explain that.

i believe the us mint is still trying, unsuccessfully, to get us to use dollar coins, similar to every other country in the civilized world…it would take some getting used to, but it would work…i know in my many trips to canuckistan, the loonie and the toonie take some getting used to, but you can deal

now if i could just get a double-double at a timmy’s here…all would be good

Raised swoosh on the $1, Three raised lines on th $5 …

#62 by Wade on 05.21.08 12:22 pm |

Great hitter, so-so baseball player, weak person.

Hot wife.

sweet beard

I’m surprised there hasn’t been any talk about the currency ruling. I for one hope this leads to a redesign, as I’ve always thought the branding of US bills was rather disjointed. It seems that whenever they institute any sort of enhanced anti-counterfeiting features, they roll out one bill at a time instead of releasing the changes as a series. All denomination bills $5 and higher have been redesigned twice since 1995, but the $1 bill has remained the same (with no plans for a redesign). Explain that.

i believe the us mint is still trying, unsuccessfully, to get us to use dollar coins, similar to every other country in the civilized world…it would take some getting used to, but it would work…i know in my many trips to canuckistan, the loonie and the toonie take some getting used to, but you can deal

now if i could just get a double-double at a timmy’s here…all would be good

The toonie was hard as hell to get used to, but the loonie was one of the best things to happen.

They’re actually looking to eliminate the penny. How it would effect things, I have no clue.

#63 by Stan aka the took on 05.21.08 12:23 pm |

Gagne looks like a beast… a very badly dressed beast. Lordy Eric I know your fat and no one wants to see another C.C. Sabathia (now that’s bad) but get your shit together.

#64 by teamcinnamon on 05.21.08 12:24 pm |

Great hitter, so-so baseball player, weak person.

Hot wife.

sweet beard

I’m surprised there hasn’t been any talk about the currency ruling. I for one hope this leads to a redesign, as I’ve always thought the branding of US bills was rather disjointed. It seems that whenever they institute any sort of enhanced anti-counterfeiting features, they roll out one bill at a time instead of releasing the changes as a series. All denomination bills $5 and higher have been redesigned twice since 1995, but the $1 bill has remained the same (with no plans for a redesign). Explain that.

i believe the us mint is still trying, unsuccessfully, to get us to use dollar coins, similar to every other country in the civilized world…it would take some getting used to, but it would work…i know in my many trips to canuckistan, the loonie and the toonie take some getting used to, but you can deal

now if i could just get a double-double at a timmy’s here…all would be good

I’m all for that - if we could kill the penny!

#65 by Chad G on 05.21.08 12:26 pm |

My dad was lucky enough to get to throw out the first pitch at Shea several years ago. He threw to Piazza and we asked the Mets rep if he could get Piazza to sign the ball as a memento. The rep immediately said that Piazza doesn’t usually do that. A few days later, we got the official “no.”

Piazza = Jerk.

Why didn’t your dad just ask Piazza himself after he gave the ball back to your dad?

#66 by kings33 on 05.21.08 12:28 pm |

My dad was lucky enough to get to throw out the first pitch at Shea several years ago. He threw to Piazza and we asked the Mets rep if he could get Piazza to sign the ball as a memento. The rep immediately said that Piazza doesn’t usually do that. A few days later, we got the official “no.”

Piazza = Jerk.

I hate these sorts of comments. Singular instances of autographs given/not given make a guy classy or an ass. That’s just bogus. It wasn’t good enough for your Dad to throw out a first pitch, but he’s owed an autograph as well? Get over yourself. The ball is enough.

I don’t have an opinion of the guy one way or the other, but I think a Dodger hat is the more likely HoF choice.

#67 by Jim on 05.21.08 12:41 pm |

I can see why a square-toed shoe for kickers would make sense when everyone kicked straight-on, and I could see why a kicker’s toe attachment would make sense when rosters were smaller and “kicker” wasn’t a specialized position (so your middle linebacker or left guard or whoever kicked could get the square toe without having to change his shoe). But now that every kicker in the league kicks with the instep/laces (remember when they used to actually be differentiated and called “soccer-style kickers?”), why is there a need for a ban on square-toed kicker’s shoes?

Oh, and those big insulated sideline capes rock.

Laces out DAN!!

Good Ole’ Finkle…

#68 by FX Maloney on 05.21.08 12:41 pm |

ss… out of sync with the flow…before soccer kickers, (back in the 1960’s) you could use an “appurtenance” on your cleats…mine was a high-impact plastic thingy which attached to the toe with rubber bands… looked effective but my record proves otherwise!!! once i bounced an extra point off a defensive rusher’s helmet!!! didn’t he feel stupid!!! thanks for the memories!!!

#69 by Richard Bruns on 05.21.08 12:44 pm |

RichRod stepped up and owned his mistake with handing the #1 jersey to a non-receiver. Bottom of this page:
http://www.detnews.c...

Who cares about UM anyways?

GO BUCKS!!!!

O-H!

I-O!

#70 by Paul Lukas on 05.21.08 12:44 pm |

The reason the $1 bill hasn’t been redesigned is that the redesigns have primarily been done for anti-counterfeiting reasons, and nobody bothers to make counterfeit $1s.

#71 by Joe H on 05.21.08 12:44 pm |

this has to be one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen

http://www.nextnatur...

and can we please stop all of the Piazza talk unless it’s about his uni!

#72 by Eric on 05.21.08 12:45 pm |

now if i could just get a double-double at a timmy’s here…all would be good

Where the heck are you located that a Timmy’s can’t give you a double-double? That’s a serious issue that needs to be rectified!

(Unless you mean that you need a Timmy’s near you, then I rescind my statement, but still feel your pain!)

#73 by Adam on 05.21.08 12:47 pm |

All denomination bills $5 and higher have been redesigned twice since 1995, but the $1 bill has remained the same (with no plans for a redesign). Explain that.

I believe the reasoning was that they were redesigning the other bills to make them harder to counterfeit, and since people don’t often counterfeit the $1 bill it wasn’t worth the expense to change it. In fact, I believe (although can’t find proof after my quick search) that a law was passed prohibiting spending any money on redesigning the $1 bill.

#74 by chance on 05.21.08 12:51 pm |

My dad was lucky enough to get to throw out the first pitch at Shea several years ago. He threw to Piazza and we asked the Mets rep if he could get Piazza to sign the ball as a memento. The rep immediately said that Piazza doesn’t usually do that. A few days later, we got the official “no.”

Piazza = Jerk.

Why didn’t your dad just ask Piazza himself after he gave the ball back to your dad?

Sounds to me as though they were being polite, making sure it was okay ahead of time rather than putting Mike on the spot.

That’s what you get for being nice. Shoulda just done it, handed him a pen in front of twenty thousand fans, daring him not to sign it.

#75 by Bob Sullivan on 05.21.08 12:52 pm |

Eric Gagne worst dressed? You must be joking, because he obviously got style tips from Derrick Turnbow. Gagne only wins because Turnbow is now off the team.

http://espn.go.com/i...

http://i31.photobuck...

#76 by Jim on 05.21.08 12:58 pm |

this has to be one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen

http://www.nextnatur...

and can we please stop all of the Piazza talk unless it’s about his uni!

WTF……

Seriously, I was in the middle of biting into my bolonga sandwich when I saw that…… gross.

#77 by mtjaws on 05.21.08 12:59 pm |

The current (May 26) issue of Sports Illustrated has a comic drawing of “Bizarro Baseball” with the Rays in home whites and Jeter in road greys, but the game is at Yankee Stadium. Not sure if that’s part of the Bizarro “rules”, but maybe it was intentional. Also, the Rays get zero mention in SI’s short list of what is actually depicted on the cover.

http://sportsillustr...

#78 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 1:03 pm |

now if i could just get a double-double at a timmy’s here…all would be good

Where the heck are you located that a Timmy’s can’t give you a double-double? That’s a serious issue that needs to be rectified!

(Unless you mean that you need a Timmy’s near you, then I rescind my statement, but still feel your pain!)

the second one…i live on lon gisland

i dated a canuck for a while, and also visited canada on numerous occasions prior to that…if you guys can build a timmy’s in afghanistan…how hard could it be to plunk one down here?

#79 by AK on 05.21.08 1:05 pm |

“The first three shirts are based on a circular design that Scott has rendered in each of the three Uni Watch colors — gold, green, and burgundy.”
Sean Taylor tributes?

#80 by Matthew on 05.21.08 1:07 pm |

Hey Paul!

Loving the weekly stirrup updates in your softball games. Just wanted to pass along my collection in which I try and rotate between my weekly games and leagues.
http://i14.photobuck...

Also, the new t-shirts for sale look great, but have you ever though of designing a “Uni Watch” inspired stirrup for sale to members/readers? This site has some amazing colors and styles and even makes them with up to a 9″ opening!

http://www.essesco.c...

#81 by DarkAudit on 05.21.08 1:08 pm |

RichRod stepped up and owned his mistake with handing the #1 jersey to a non-receiver. Bottom of this page:
http://www.detnews.c...

Pfft. No way in hell he owned up to it on his own initiative.

Go fuck yourself, DickRod.

#82 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 1:13 pm |

My dad was lucky enough to get to throw out the first pitch at Shea several years ago. He threw to Piazza and we asked the Mets rep if he could get Piazza to sign the ball as a memento. The rep immediately said that Piazza doesn’t usually do that. A few days later, we got the official “no.”

Piazza = Jerk.

are you laura bush?

#83 by LI Phil on 05.21.08 1:14 pm |

My dad was lucky enough to get to throw out the first pitch at Shea several years ago. He threw to Piazza and we asked the Mets rep if he could get Piazza to sign the ball as a memento. The rep immediately said that Piazza doesn’t usually do that. A few days later, we got the official “no.”

Piazza = Jerk.

are you laura bush?

ah…christ…make that JENNA or BARBARA and it might be funny…my bad

#84 by MPOwers1634 on 05.21.08 1:15 pm |

And so it begins:

http://www.eastbay.c...

#85 by MPOwers1634 on 05.21.08 1:16 pm |

And so it begins:

http://www.eastbay.c...

http://a712.g.akamai...