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Archive for May, 2008
Yesterday I highlighted a bunch of uni-related items currently being auctioned off by Leland’s. As I mentioned at the time, they have a separate auction catalog just for old photos, many of which are doozies. Here’s a rundown of some that caught my eye:
• You’ve heard of a player winning “the batting crown,” but how often have you seen him wearing an actual crown to mark the occasion? That’s Dixie Walker, who led the National League with a .357 average in 1944.
• Here’s something I’ve never seen before: Ralph Kiner going totally bare-armed (à la Big Klu).
• We’ve all seen old baseball jerseys with lace-up closures. But I’ve never seen the laces look as, well, lace-y as they do here.
• You all know how I’m fond of old-school baseball sweaters, so you can imagine how much I love this shot of Christy Mathewson.
• Great cross-sport photo here: Ty Cobb in golf attire.
• Although I’ve seen it before, it’s always hard to accept that old-time ballplayers kept their fielding gloves tucked in their back pockets. (Also: Lots of dead-ball players looked sort of stiff and unathletic, at least by contemporary standards, but this shot — which is of Larry Doyle, circa 1910s — looks unusually supple and fluid for a hitter from that era.)
• We’re so used to the Yankees wearing “NY” at home and “New York” on the road that it’s easy to forget that they wore “Yankees” — on the road — from 1927 through 1930.
• Here’s future American League prexy Joe Cronin wearing a very unusual uniform. The shot — which is one of the nicer baseball portraits I’ve ever seen — was taken in 1922, when Cronin was only 16 years old and playing for the Columbia Park Boys Club team. Look closely at the chest logo and you’ll see that it repeats the “CPBC” lettering on the placket — unusual case of an acronym appearing twice on the front of a jersey.
• Major find here: a bunch of old San Francisco 49ers publicity pics. These were shot in 1946, when the team was about to begin its inaugural season in the All American Football Conference. Not sure if they didn’t have real uniforms yet or if the stenciled jerseys were their regular practice attire. Either way, very cool.
• Speaking of the Niners, did you know that they originally wore red helmets? Check out these shots of them playing the Browns in 1954. Not sure who the other team is in this shot, but that’s the Niners trying to block the punt, and they’re running the ball here. (And as long as we’re talking about the Niners, check out this interview shot — are those old mics and logos totally hot or what?)
• Check this out: some pics from the Baltimore Colts’ first season, 1953. No shoulder stripes!
• Sixty-eight years after the fact, the Chicago Bears’ sleeve striping is instantly recognizable, even in black-and-white.
• Awesome Uni Watch fodder here, as Blackhawks coach Paul Thompson is shown inspecting the team’s new 1944 uniforms.
• I guess they needed an XXXXL jersey for this guy. That’s Leo Durocher being a good sport.
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the NameFrame raffle. If you haven’t already entered, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (not to the regular Uni Watch e-mail address, please) by 10pm eastern tonight. One e-mail per person, but membership program enrollees will automatically get three bonus entries.
I originally said I’d announce the winner next Monday, but I’d forgotten about the long weekend, so instead I’ll reveal the winner on Tuesday. And that brings us to…
Holiday Schedule: We’ll have a weekend-style entry on Monday. Back to regular office hours on Tuesday.
Research Project: Shea Stadium has Cow-Bell Man (who’s a fan), and PNC Park has Camera Guy (a working photographer, who actually has his own MySpace page). Do other stadiums have folks who regularly roam the stands wearing a uniform with an entrenched NOB persona? I’m not talking about some yayhoo who shows up every now and then, or about a team-employed mascot — I mean a regular person who everyone knows because he’s always at the game, and who happens to wear some sort of specialized “fan name” on his back. If you know of any, please get in touch.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Clever jersey display at PNC Park (with thanks to Ryan Connelly, who also provided that Camera Guy photo). … I’m sure the NFL was pleased to see Rocky Mountain News cartoonist Drew Litton using the league’s new logo. … Hanif Johnson, a high school track-and-fielder in Pennsylvania, apparently favors some seriously rad socks (with thanks to Rich Canulli). … This is hilarious (and for those who want more coverage, I believe my ESPN colleague Jim Caple will have something on it today on Page 2). … Very cool Coca-Cola uniform catalog available here. … UAB has unveiled its new football uniforms. Details here (with thanks to Shane Maddox). … Shane also got access to some screen grabs from an upcoming NCAA video game. “Looks like Sryacuse went back to a little of McNabb’s era on the helmet. The S on the side is outlined in white now, too.” … I’m going to be out and about for most of today, so Bryan will be minding the store, and I’ve entrusted him with the site’s top-secret self-destruct sequence, so play nice or else. Happy Memorial Day Weekend to one and all — see you next week.
May 23rd, 2008
It’s been a while since I’ve run a selection of uni-related items up for auction at Leland’s. Their current auction, which runs through June 6th, is divided up into two separate catalogs — one devoted to objects and another devoted to photographs — and there’s a ton of great stuff in both categories, so I’m going to divide my coverage into two entries. Today I’ll look at physical objects; a subsequent entry (maybe as soon as tomorrow, maybe next week) will look at the photos. I assure you both entries will feature enough material to stand on their own.
Off we go:
• Here’s another one of those experimental satin uniforms, which several teams used for night games. Details and additional photos here.
• I never saw a game at Three Rivers Stadium, so I never saw this sign (details here). You know what part of the illustration I like best.
• I’ve written before about World Series press pins. Here are some gorgeous examples from the 1920s (details here). And there’s a whole separate category: World Series clubhouse passes — hadn’t seen those before. Love the die-cut shape (details here).
• Love this beautiful batch of 1933 hockey cards (details here). And these 1961 basketball cards are even nicer (details here).
• I’ve always loved the simplicity of this NHL All-Star Game uniform. Look at those grommets! (Details and additional pics here.)
• Really interesting batch of European and Russian hockey jerseys here (with details and additional pics here).
• It’s always weird to see cowboy imagery mixed with hockey. Cases in point: the Calgary Cowboys (details here) and the Denver Spurs (details here, and here’s the road version).
• Check out this old Montreal Canadiens portrait (details here). I especially like the coaches’ sweaters.
• This painting of Jack Dempsey (details here) is interesting. Instead of the usual elasticized waistband on the trunks, it appears that he had a belt or sash running through real belt loops.
• Speaking of boxing, remember when fighters wore tights, instead of trunks? Then check out these figurines (details here).
• Lots to like in this 1938 Detroit Lions jersey: the long sleeves, the huge uni number, and check out all those buttons on the crotch tab. Great label, too. Details here.
• You have got to be kidding me.
More to come soon.
Wanna Be a Designer?: Reader T.J. Leibowitz has an interesting proposition for you all:
My high school is getting new lacrosse uniforms next year, and our coach has asked the players to design the uniforms. This should really be a dream come true for me. Frankly, though, I’m tapped for ideas, so I thought I’d throw it out here and see if any Uni Watch readers can contribute a good design for us. This would be good for me (hopefully a good enough design from the Uni Watch faithful will mean no “mustang” design; I really would rather not be the Denver Broncos of high school lacrosse) and good for Uni Watch (the site would be having an actual impact on uniform design, if only at the high school level).
Here’s the web site for Z-Wear, our uniform supplier, and their lacrosse uniform creator. However, a sales rep for Z-Wear told us that they can also use the football patterns and scale them for lacrosse jerseys, so you can play around with the football uni creator if you prefer the styles there.
I’m trying to find exactly what our league uniform rules are (I’ve downloaded every PDF on the THSLL site, but to no avail), but I’m pretty sure most number/font choices can be scaled to fit.
I originally posted all of this in the comments, and I got some great suggestions, but many of them involved trim colors that our athletic department simply will not allow. So please note that our school colors are green and white, and that they can NOT be tinkered with. Additionally, we have an athletic department standard for font (it’s not available on the uni creator and I’m not quite sure what it is, but I’ll deal with it later). Aside from that, you’re free to roam.
If you come up with something, please e-mail me. Either a screen shot or plain text listing of what your choices are is fine.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Interesting note from Pat Duffy, who writes: “A site I write for will be running a contest over the next two weeks to find people who have rare Buffalo Bills jerseys, stories, and weird memorabilia. We’re going to display the pictures of the coolest stuff we get all week, including things from other teams, and there will be a Bills-themed prize (looks like a either a jersey, or a pair of tickets to the VIP night practice at Bills training camp). We have some photos of rare Bills jerseys and memorabilia posted now, which might interest Uni Watch readers.” … Speaking of contests, the University of Florida is holding a competition for students to design next season’s student section T-shirt. Details here (with thanks to Evan Goldfarb). … Add the 1980 Tacoma Tigers to the list of all-time ugly uniforms (with thanks to John English). … AS Saint Etienne is outfitted by Adidas. And, as Jeremy Brahm notes, their logo has three stripes. Coincidence? … The Orioles stirrups that I wore the other day reminded Paul Wiederecht of another set of orange-based hose: the set worn by the Colt .45s. … Here’s a rarity: an Expos pillbox cap (with thanks to Scott Schul). … A few days ago I mentioned that the Lions will be wearing a “75 Seasons” patch this year. Now comes word that they’ll be wearing throwbacks for two days (with thanks to Doug Mooney and Yakki Cohen). … Here’s a better shot of Eric Gagne’s high-pants look. … Joseph Chiaccio reports that the Rays will be wearing St. Petersburg Pelicans throwbacks on June 21st. … Did you know Mike Piazza once wore No. 25 with the Dodgers? I didn’t, until Paul Kamras sent me this. … Chris Dias notes that NBA tights appear to be making a comeback. … “Tuesday night’s game between the Greenville Drive (Red Sox affiliate) and the Charleston River Dogs (Yankees farm club) featured both teams wearing the uniforms of their MLB parent clubs,” writes Ronnie Poore. “Of course, no retired numbers were allowed, so several guys had to have new numbers.” Dozens of additional photos here. … The logo for the 2010 Men’s World Volleyball Championship in Italy will look like this (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: Logo trouble at the Olympics. … John Muir reports that British Airways held a fashion show of its past and present uniforms on Wednesday in Tokyo, to mark the 60th anniversary celebration of the launch of the company’s service to Japan. … Notes from yesterday’s Chelsea/ManU match in Moscow, courtesy of Morris Levin: “Chelsea wore lower-case NOBs; because it wasn’t a Premier League match, the teams could do what they wanted with number and name fonts, so both teams used different ones than normal; both teams wore the Euro equivalent of championship game patches with multi-line embroidery on the front of the kits; and the Chelsea goalkeeper was not only wearing a road-crew bright-orange uniform but also full padded headgear. He played well but looked terrible.” All of these details are on display in this gallery. … Many of you have expressed doubt that the Tigers ever wore this jersey, but look — proof! … Anyone who thinks I get too much positive feedback (or who just wants a good laugh) should read the comments at the end of this piece. … Looks like they needed a blood jersey — and also some blood pants — last night in San Diego. … Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich appear to have a very special relationship (big thanks to Ronald Covert). … Big Klu’s daughter? Nope, it’s a member of the Wilson Memorial High School softball team in Virginia (nice find by Steve Hicks). … For those of you who remember my old zine: Beer Frame may be dead, but the T-shirt lives again. … And speaking of T-shirts, if you missed yesterday’s entry, check out all the cool new Uni Watch tees for sale here.
May 22nd, 2008
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.
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).
May 21st, 2008
Back in August of 2005, when this site didn’t yet exist and the Uni Watch News Ticker ran as part of my ESPN column every two weeks, I wrote an article that included this little nugget (which originally included some photo links that have long since expired):
The Marlins recently tried a bit of team uni-ty by agreeing to have everyone cuff their pants up high. “I heard Paul LoDuca started it, to give the team a spark,” reports Marlins fan and Uni Watch reader Kevin Sorg. “Todd Jones won’t wear it on the mound when he closes, but the second he gets the last out, he pulls up the pant legs to show the socks up.”
Three seasons later, Todd Jones once again finds himself on a team looking to strike a note of hosiery-based solidarity. This time it’s the Tigers, who went high-cuffed on Saturday (additional info in the sixth graf of this story, and note that Miguel Cabrera’s socks were logo emblazoned).
Just as he did with the Marlins, Jones chose to stay low-cuffed when he entered the game and then hiked up his pants after getting the final out. But that’s where the similarity ends. Back in Florida, Jones had full-length socks under his pants (no pics, but I saw video of it at the time, trust me). But when he pulled up his pant legs on Saturday, he revealed something else altogether — ewwwww. And although it’s tough to see in that screen grab, those are official NBA quarter-socks — a rare (and, in this instance, rather off-putting) case of cross-league apparel.
In addition to adjusting his cuffs at the game’s conclusion, Jones also went untucked. Unfortunately, no single shot showed the full bare-legged, shirttails-a-flappin’ effect, presumably because no camera was capable of capturing such an image without exploding.
And yet Jones didn’t seem the least bit ashamed of his appearance. In fact, you might say he looked proud out there, almost like he was rubbing the victory in the D-backs’ faces. Why be confrontational like that? See Todd Jones, hear him roar.
But I guess he’s got rights, or whatever.
Jones, incidentally, isn’t the only player wearing teeny little ankle socks. Reader Laren Richardson informs me that Jim Edmonds fouled a ball off his ankle during last night’s Cubs/Astros game and then rolled up his cuff to reveal this. Is this the new trend in baseball? Dainty little sockie-poos instead of gloriously full-fledged hose? And people wonder why this country’s going down the crapper.
Uni Watch News Ticker: While poking around in the Sporting News archives, I came across an incredible article about the Cubs’ 1937 uniforms. The Cubbies made a lot of changes that year, going from this to this (which featured, among other things, history’s first zipper-front jersey). Stop whatever you’re doing and read this — you won’t be sorry. … Bit of a javelin mishap in Utah the other day. Details here. … The Duke lacrosse team is wearing American flag left-sleeve patches — execept for Zack Greer, who’s from Ontario, so he has the Canadian flag (with thanks to Cosmo Santullo). … George Sherrill’s flat-brim look is catching on (with thanks to Jeffrey Soderberg). … Not uni-related, but I’ve been meaning to mention that when I was in Seattle a while back, Ebbets Field Flannels prexy Jerry Cohen took me to this amazing sandwich shop, which has its own curing room (in case you hadn’t figured it out, about the only thing I love more than design minutiae is meat). … John Lüders found a nice gallery focusing on corporate sponsorships in German and European soccer. “This shot shows something I’ve never heard of before in Germany,” he writes. “In 1988 FC Homburg wanted to advertise condoms (the brand was called London Rubber Company), but the German football league wouldn’t let it pass — too raunchy for the times apparently (personally, I think the overall jersey design is the far worse crime). And this one shows Eintracht Braunschweig in 1976. Back then, advertising was basically forbidden in German football, so what did the club, very high in debt, simply changed their whole emblem into the Jägermeister sign. The jersey now has reached cult status among supporters (similar to the Commodore shirt Bayern Munich was sporting in the early ’80s).” … My recent material about smoking athletes led Dan Jeffers to inform me that Leo Durocher once had Dodgers pitcher Tom Seats drink some brandy before a game, to settle his (the Seats’s) nerves. GM Branch Rickey was outraged by this impromptu bartending, so what did he do? He released Seats. Details here. … Matt Ryburn reports that the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes ran an American Gladiator Night promotion over the weekend, complete with AG-styled uniforms (additional pics here and here). … Ryan Connelly notes that Marty Biron has something written on the inner back panel of his mask. Anyone know what that’s about? … I grew up watching Thurman Munson wearing orange gear without thinking twice about it. But as Clark Farrand notes, that’s an odd color choice for a Yankees catcher. Anyone know the story behind that? … While researching something else, I stumbled upon something I’d forgotten about: When the Mets introduced their black jerseys in 1997, they sometimes paired them with blue sleeves. … The Lions have added a “75 Seasons” patch (with thanks to Eric Szczesny, who notes that this is the Lions 75th year in Detroit but actually their 79th year in the league). … Buried in last night’s AP beat story about the Yankees (with thanks to Bryan, who noticed it): “The Yankees will switch equipment sponsorship from Adidas to Nike next year under a five-year deal that has been agreed to in principle, Sports Business Journal reported. Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said the company wouldn’t confirm or discuss the report until after the season and Yankees spokesman Howard Rubenstein said he wasn’t able to reach any team officials for comment. Adidas has sponsored the Yankees since 1997. All big league teams’ on-field apparel, however, is covered by Major League Baseball’s agreements.” … NASL-o-rama on eBay (with thanks to Bob Saietta). … College football query from Matt Powers, who writes: “Circa 1999, the NCAA instituted the rule governing the use of gray receiver’s gloves for all players, to make infractions such as holding more visible to officials. In 1998, my teammates and I were still allowed to wear non-gray gloves, as were the athletes at the major schools. I believe the rule is still in effect, although I still don’t know the particulars. Today, I received my Eastbay catalogue, which included this page. The gloves shown on the page are also linked on the Eastbay site. My question is this: There’s an all-gray model for sale, but all of the gloves are majority gray, with an accent color. Would all of these gloves be legal under current NCAA regulations?” Matt lost me about two sentences in, but I trust someone out there can help him out, yes? … John Hansen notes that Anika Sorentsam is apparently trying to max out her sponsorship $$$ before her retirement kicks in. Cool Swedish belt, though. … Erik Johns has found a site featuring some incredible Russian posters, several of which are sports-related (at least tangentially). I particularly like this one. … The additional site-anniversary announcement will have to wait an extra day — more details tomorrow.
May 20th, 2008
Bad weather, travel, and work conspired to keep me off the softball field for nearly a month, but yesterday I finally made my second appearance of the season. As you may dimly recall, I’m wearing a different set of stirrups each time I play this year (details here), so here’s the latest installment of that project:
This week’s design: orange with black and white stripes, medium-cut.
Ideal for feeling like a member of: the Baltimore Orioles, 1966-71.
Color-coordination factor: I own almost no orange clothing. But I do have this (here’s a closer view), so it was sort of like I was wearing the entire 1969 World Series.
How they looked: Every time I looked down, I had to pinch myself.
How I felt: Like Brooks Freakin’ Robinson, baby.
How I played: 1-for-3 at the plate (BB, 1B, F9, F8), 2 runs scored, 1 RBI. Had some fun on the basepaths (a nifty hook slide got me the call on a bang-bang play at third). Uneventful day in the field.
It’s interesting to note the differing approaches used by teams that wore this stirrup design template over the years. The Orioles and Red Sox put the key team color (orange and red, respectively) on the bottom. But the Pirates put gold on top.
Still Working on That Anniversary Sleeve Patch: As briefly noted last Friday, the site’s second birthday passed over the weekend. And as promised, I’ve got a few announcements to mark the occasion.
• First, Brooklyn-based intern Nina Dubin has designed a new Uni Watch T-shirt. As you can see, it’s a guide to vertical arching (here’s a bigger view of the logo), and there’s a tagline on the back. This shirt is available to all — get yours here.
• Second, we’ve finally gotten around to designing the special seal for charter members who choose to order new membership cards. The seal looks like this, and it will appear on the front of the card like so (yes, it’s a new color set, but we wanted the seal to stand out). As I’ve explained previously, there’s no need to order a new card if you already like the one you have — all memberships are of the lifetime variety, and all charter members (i.e., members who joined during the first two months of the program) are already listed in boldface on the membership roster. But if you’re a charter member and want a new design for the back of your card, your new card will include the seal on the front. If you’re happy with the back design but just want a new card that includes the seal on the front, we can do that for you too. Either way, a new card costs $15. Full membership program details, as always, are available here.
• Third — well, the third announcement isn’t quite ready to be announced yet. Tomorrow, I hope. But let’s just say I think you’ll like it a whole lot.
Father’s Day Raffle: Last month I wrote about reader Joe Hilseberg’s new business venture, the Jersey NameFrame, which basically a framed jersey-style name/number treatment, complete with professional-quality stitching. Now Joe has generously offered to provide a free two-color NameFrame to one lazy-ass reader who can’t come up with a good Father’s Day present lucky winner.
To enter, 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. Nobody will be reading these e-mails, so don’t bother putting anything in the body of the message. Only one e-mail per person, but membership program enrollees will automatically get three bonus entries. I’ll announce the winner next Monday.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I stumbled across this on eBay over the weekend, and I heartily recommend it to anyone reading this. Got my own copy back in ’73 and still love the magnificent illustrations. A Uni Watch reader really ought to get this. … Lots of other cool stuff currently up on eBay, starting with this really nice vintage baseball uni. … And here’s another. … And check out this early Nebraska jersey. … Great labels and tagging on this old football kit. … Here’s a cool 1963 Spalding ad. … Never seen these patches before. … Amazing 1960s Oral Roberts practice jacket here. … Spectacular 1930s varsity sweater here, and a 1960s cheerleading sweater here. … And this really speaks for itself. … I’m pretty sure that this was originally a black-and-white photo that was hand-tinted. Still, odd that they chose to make the uni number blue instead of red, and the underbill blue instead of green (with thanks to Mike Engle). … Response to Saturday’s post was so inspiring that we have something really special planned for this weekend: Bryan will personally steal a four-year-old kid’s candy, push him into a puddle of mud, and laugh uproariously. … Topher Davis reports that the College of St. Scholastica, a Division III school in Duluth, Minnesota, is adding football as a sport this fall and has unveiled its new uniforms. “Looks like there was some LSU influence, or just plain old lack of creativity,” says Topher. … If you really love your team, put their logo onyour prosthetic leg (with thanks to Mark Kaplowitz). … Ben Rothfield wrote to Adidas to find out what kind of sneakers NBA refs wear. Here’s what he heard back: “Actually, Adidas doesn’t have a contract with the NBA’s officials association, so they are free to wear whatever sneaker they want, as long as it’s all black. However, many choose to wear the Superstar 2’s, in all black. Another popular choice is the Falcon.” … There’s something really sad about the sight of a portly Ted Williams being fitted for one of those elastic waistbands. That shot was taken during spring training of 1978, when the Splendid Not-Very-Splinter was a hitting instructor (courtesy of Jared Wheeler). … When I attended last Thurday’s Mets game, the gal sitting next to me had Mets-themed socks. … If you click ahead to Page 6 of this e-magazine, you’ll find this. I’m assuming those are prototypes, but if anyone knows more, please speak up (nice find by Rich Canulli). … Speaking of NHL prototypes, I knew the Capitals had flirted with a new design several years back. But I hadn’t seen a large version of the prototype logo until this morning, when someone on the Chris Creamer boards posted this. … Weekend NBA observations from Brett Crane, who notes that Trevor Ariza was wearing earplugs and Joe Smith had his uni number on his teeth. … Some uni-related Olympic fencing info is available here. “Highlight from the article include information that the Chinese shoes and socks will have a consistent stripe (which will no doubt misalign),” writes CJ Fleck. “Also: The U.S. will have a red-soled shoe, and Nike is reluctant to sell a product directly to people who would buy it. They’re hesitant to sell it to fencing outfitters — I have no idea why.” … There’s a slew of really tremendous — like REALLY tremendous — old MLB photos here. Among the many highlights: Al Kaline sporting a huge-ass helmet decal, and an unusually good view of the Pirates’ old helmet flocking. Essential stuff (big thanks to Bob Andrews). … Speaking of old photos, Claude Jacques was at a yard sale and discovered a bunch of old pics, including shots of Stan Musial, Roy Campanella (from his days with the Baltimore Elite Giants), and, I think, the Dean brothers. Is this Ty Cobb? And who’s this? … Rhode Island is flipping the colors on its football helmet, going from a blue horns on a white shell to vicey-versey. “Sadly, since the only change is inverting the colors, I fear this won’t be nearly enough to change our reputation as one of the worst uniforms in both college football and sports in general,” writes Dan Burnham. … This just in: Bryan will also give the four-year-old kid a wedgie. … The windbreaker-under-the-jersey thing sure looks weird when the jersey is a vest. Plus it might’ve helped if the windbreaker had been red. … Similarly, it might’ve helped if this windbreaker had been green. … Too much information. … Ditto. … The always excellent Fleer Sticker Project site has a good post about the images used for those old NFL posters, plus the surprising news that the Pats were briefly officially known as the Bay State Patriots. Full details here. … Two notes from Jeremy Brahm regarding the women’s volleyball Olympic qualifying tournament in Tokyo: The Polish team’s jerseys are so sheer that you can see an internal tag through the material, and the Romanian captain’s uni-number underscore is slightly off-center. … Came across this great patch in a vintage clothing shop the other day. … Cardinals farmhand Cory Rauschenberger, who could have tied Jarrod Saltalamacchia for the longest surname in MLB history if he’d made it to the show, has retired. … One of my softball buddies yesterday was wearing a T-shirt featuring racing silk designs (here’s the back view). … Not sports-related, but there’s some really fascinating logo-related info here (thanks, Scott). … Anyone know why the Rays wore their BP jerseys in yesterday’s game against the Cards? … Interesting Penguins/Flyers note from Steven Wojtowicz, who writes: “Not only did Sidney Crosby not touch the Prince Of Wales trophy after the game, which is common, none of the Penguins players put on the Eastern Conference Champion hats while they were on the ice. I don’t recall ever seeing this done in any sport before.” … Christmas in May. … The Lakeland Flying Tigers, Detroit’s Class A affiliate in the Florida State League, are honoring Dick Rossi, one of the original World War II Flying Tigers, with a sleeve insignia worn on special uniforms worn each Thursday home game. Details here (with thanks to Wayne Koehler). … Good story here about a guy who specializes in cleaning hockey gear. … Derek Hinson attended one of those old-timey base ball games over the weekend (organized by these guys) and got a bunch of photos. The action shots are nice, natch (additional pics here, here, and here), but I also really like the striped bats and unusually stitched balls. And if you ever doubted the value of hosiery in determining two teams’ respective visual identities, look at the left portion of this shot. … As promised, WNBA teams wore McDonald’s patches for their season-opening games over the weekend (thanks, Vince). … Okay, but only because you demanded it: Bryan will finish things off on Saturday by kicking the kid’s dog and adding, “And your mother’s fat!” for good measure.
May 19th, 2008
Just two weeks after Eight Belles broke down on the track at Churchill Downs, the jockeys at the Preakness Stakes had a uni-bourne salute on Saturday. You can see it there on Kent Desormeaux’s right boot — a small sticker in red and white. Gabriel Saez, who was riding Eight Belles two weeks ago, put it on his cap. You can also see Saez’s layered goggles, as mentioned in Paul’s last Page 2 column. Jockeys in Saturday’s Barbaro Stakes (no, really — the Barbaro Stakes) also wore the tribute.
And if horse racing isn’t your thing, but the drinking that accompanies it is, there’s this. Ah, the Sport of Kings … — Bryan
May 18th, 2008
Sweet fancy Moses! Anybody want a crack at this kid? I’ll skip the state and school on this one, because last time I showed a high school kid who looked like a dumbass everybody lost their minds for the rest of the day.
This kid has pretty much everything required to be the “wrong” side in a right/wrong diagram for proper apparel. Before he’s rightly grilled, however, he does get credit for at least rolling the elastic of his pants cuffs under. Also, the jersey isn’t his fault, though he could choose to tuck it in.
But that hat — bangs out, huh? Cool. And the sweet face paint! (It’s not clown paint, kids. Remember that.) And the soon-to-be-required-on-all-athletes Phiten sleeve. Had those sleeves been available sooner, I’m convinced Tommy John would just be known as some guy who pitched a long time. Titanium cures all — even torn ulnar-collateral ligaments. Protect yourself accordingly today. — Bryan
May 17th, 2008
[Editor's Note: Today we have a guest book review from reader Mike Engle, who's done a great pinch-hitting job. Enjoy. -- PL]
By Mike Engle
As a McGill student whose parents live on Long Island, I’ve logged my fair share of train travel from Montreal to New York City. In order to pass the time (all 11 hours of it), I always make sure I have a new book to read. Recently the book in question was Brad Snyder’s 2006 work, A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports, which turned out to have plenty of Uni Watch material.
For those who don’t know the story of Curt Flood, there’s plenty of background on his pivotal role in sports history here, here, and here. Now, onto the uni-related goodies:
• The “StL” logo has gone through a bit of evolution over the years. The book’s cover shows the logo of Flood’s time extremely well. Here’s the current version for comparison.
• The front number is clearly red with navy outline in this photo, which makes the “Cardinals” script look red without an outline. The Cardinals also had pants piping, which has since been abandoned. Also note the short sleeves, which are shorter than modern short sleeves. However, the coolest detail is on Flood’s left stirrup — that’s a “17″ inscription, even though Flood was No. 21. Very strange mismatch.
• Here are Flood and Bob Gibson posing with their 1965 Gold Glove Awards. These awards are specific to handedness and position. The difference would be more obvious if Flood were a left-handed first baseman instead of a right-handed outfielder, but look closely — Flood’s award glove is clearly a long-ish outfielder’s glove, while Gibson’s is a shallow-pocketed pitcher’s glove.
• This is just an all-around good shot of the uniform. We have glorious striped stirrups, logo-free cleats, a flapless batting helmet, and some extremely 3-D NOB typography, which is red with navy outline.
• This is Flood playing for his Oakland-based Post American Legion team, Team Captain Bill Erwin. Dig the dapper umpire in suit and tie.
• Here is Flood in a minor league uniform, posing with his Savannah Redlegs teammates. Even though all of the caps match, the man on Flood’s immediate left must have the parent club’s jersey.
• Flood was a man ahead of his time, not only with his fight for free agency, but also with his jersey tribute to Jackie Robinson. During his first season with the Cardinals, in 1958, he wore Jackie’s 42. After that, he switched to 21, specifically because it was half of Jackie’s number.
• This is a copy of Flood’s famous letter to MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn, which started his epic battle against the Majors. Check out his special business stationery — it’s from his St. Louis-based photography business, which was to symbolize his reluctance to play for anybody other than the Cardinals, let alone the Phillies.
• Here’s Reds pitcher (and The Long Season author) Jim Brosnan. Brosnan, along with Jackie Robinson, Hank Greenberg, and owner Bill Veeck, testified in support of Flood. As a child who started following baseball in the ’90s, I was surprised to see that the pinstriped cap predates me by many years. Also, why is there that pinstripe-free side panel under his left arm? Finally, add Brosnan to the list of spectacled ballplayers.
• Two of Bowie Kuhn’s biggest headaches: Flood and Denny McLain. This was during Flood’s brief 1971 stint with the Senators. That’s Sens manager Ted Williams on the left — seeing him in a non-Red Sox uniform will never look right to me.
• These are the nine Supreme Court justices at the time of Flood v. Kuhn (1972). Warren Burger, the Chief Justice, is in the middle, but his robe lacks any distinctive markings. The man in the back row, to the far right — William Rehnquist — added sleeve stripes to his robe when he became Chief Justice 23 years later, which just goes to show that uni watching can extend beyond the athletic realm.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Paul here. Finally heard back from Mets stitcher Russ Gompers about Johan Santana’s sleeve piping (if you missed that entry, look here). In Russ’s words: “Johan likes his sleeves very loose, so he actually stretched the sleeve out with his hands and the piping frayed. Charlie [Samuels Mets equipment manager] ordered new shirts for him with one inch more room on the sleeves.” I really thought there was some extra stitching or ornamentation on the piping, but that turns out not to be the case. … The WNBA is becoming the McNBA. What a joke. … Yowza (great find by Erkki Corpuz). … Erik Little has discovered Texas vs. the Nation, a college football all-star game between top Texas players and top non-Texas players, and sent along some pics from the Feb. 2007 game. “Seems like a regular Senior Bowl game — the players wear their own helmets and extra decals from other teams. No special jersey patch for the game, though — just an ‘El Paso’ decal on the back of the helmet. Other photos show a nameplate malfunction, self-expression with red tape, and what happens with all the extra decals after the game.” … “The Russian soccer team that won the UEFA Cup on Wednesday played the game in their all-white strip,” writes Adam Sell. “But as soon as the game ended, they donned gold jerseys. … Rob Ullman has really outdone himself here and here. … Gary Alexander has found a very interesting photo. According to this eBay page, it shows several Japanese players playing with the Fresno Giants in 1964. But what’s with the “New York” insignia? Were old N.Y. Giants jerseys still being used as hand-me-downs in Fresno in ’64? … Awesome set of old gumball helmets, complete with some great packaging, here (great find by Brinke Guthrie). … USF’s new road uni will look like this (with thanks to Chris Freet). … The Kitchener Rangers have unveiled a new WW I memorial jersey (check out the “C” and “A” placement here). Details here. … Check out the “Say No to Drugs” message on the towel of this 1988 Nebraska player (nice find by Robert Eden). … Those of you who keep track of such things may be aware that the second anniversary of this site’s launch is tomorrow. I hope to mark the occasion with a few minor announcements on Monday. For now, my continued thanks to all of you who’ve made the site’s second year even better than the first — you all rock.
May 16th, 2008
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