Uni Watch Stirrups of the Week
A serious thunderstorm brought yesterday’s softball game to premature end, but not before I’d road-tested a new design from the sock drawer. Let’s take a look:
This week’s design: gray with brown and orange stripes, low-cut.
Ideal for feeling like a member of: the mid-1930s St. Louis Browns.
Color-coordination factor: Tricky — it’s not like I have tons of brown/orange/gray attire. But I found a gray T-shirt with an orange logo and topped it off with a brown cap — not bad.
How they looked: A little drab, no? Not really the greatest color combo. And I didn’t love the effect of gray stirrups and white sanitaries — not enough contrast. The whole thing made me feel somewhat less than resplendent.
How I played: We only got four innings in before the rains came. I was 0-for-1 but made a nifty sliding catch on a sinking line drive to left.
I was due to lead off the next half-inning when the skies opened up. There was this incredible super-cell forming (I’m not a meteorology geek, but I went on a storm-chasing trip once, back when I was a travel writer, and I learned enough to recognize a super-cell when I see one), which was sort of majestically menacing, so we all high-tailed it out of there. Oddly, the storm didn’t hit Queens, so I got to watch the rest of the Mets game once I got home. Pinstripes with black caps/socks/sleeves — ugh.
Uni Watch News Ticker: More than a year ago I ran pics of Lou Brock wearing odd decals on both sides of his helmet during the 1975 All-Star Game. Now, thanks to Brian Finch and Jennifer Jackson of the Cardinals Hall of Fame, we finally have a better view of what those decals were: Look here and here. But here’s the thing: First, it’s not yet clear if there’s another decal on the other side (the helmet is inside an exhibit that’s not easy to get into, but Jennifer is working on it). And second, that helmet was apparently used by Bob Gibson. And no Gibson wasn’t in the ’75 ASG. So that decal was apparently used by more than one player, and not just for all-star purposes. Still trying to get to the bottom of this one. … Jeremy Brahm reports that Japan’s gymnastics uniforms for the Olympics will look like this. But what’s with the “Hulk will smash!” posture from the fellas? … Mark Kluczynski reports that the “NCAA” patch on college football officials’ jerseys will be replaced by a “CFO” patch (for “College Football Officiating”) this fall. … New uniforms for the Boy Scouts here, and for the Navy here. … Still more fuss over the LZR swimsuit. … How much do they miss NFL football in L.A.? So much that a Bengals logo has appeared on a termite-control truck (good spot by Matt Shevin). … Check out this photo of Sam McDowell. Not only does he have stirrup extensions, but one of the extensions actually changes the direction of his stirrup! … Michael Gawley found a photo of Baron Davis wearing a Dodgers cap with an upside-down “LA” logo. Details toward the bottom of this page. … Another old example of sleeved high school hoops jerseys (and I bet there are stirrups under those white socks, too). … Reprinted from Friday night’s comments: Amazing video here showing a one-legged catcher who plays in a Kentucky-based Little League. And he’s left-handed, too. … Wanna immortalize yourself in bobblehead form? Look here (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … Here’s a new one: Jeremy Brahm reports that some of teams in Japan’s Master League (sort of a senior’s tour for baseball) wear tassels on their caps — totally bizarre. ” “They were about 4 inches long in the first year used (2006),” says Jeremy. “But they were extended to 5 inches long last year.” … Plus one of the teams in that league has a rainbow striped batting helmet (that uni is in the running for all-time ugliest, no?) … Lots of stained sheets at Mets fans’ homes on Friday, as the Amazin’s wore blue caps, sleeves, and socks on the road for the first time in a decade, and holy shit did it look awesome. Equipment manager Charlie Samuels (aka “The guy who’s to blame for the few remaining things in this world that aren’t George Bush’s fault”) decided to trot out the blue gear to commemorate the team’s final appearance at Yankee Stadium. But here’s the thing: If you’re going to look good for a special occasion, why not look good for every occasion? Blue Mets = true Mets! … Meanwhile, in the nightcap, Pedro Martinez was displaying virtually every conceivable button configuration: fully buttoned, top button open, and the Uni Watch special. Speaking of which, I’ve decided that the open second button will henceforth be known as the Pedro Porthole, a name that was suggested by Jared Wheeler, who wins himself a free Uni Watch membership for his efforts (Jared, let me know what you want on the back of your card). … Padres and Mariners wore 1978 throwbacks on Friday night in San Diego (where this vendor apparently was never told that it’s hard to sell stuff to an empty section). Yeah, they should have had waistbands instead of belts, the M’s wore thw wrong helmets, everything was too baggy (look at the drop-shoulders on Ichiro’s jersey), blah-blah-blah, whatever. Just be glad your favorite team never dressed like either of these two. … Harry Halloran and his family recently visited Mt. Rushmore, where they stopped in at the Gutzon Borglum museum. “Apparently the workers on the sculpture, in addition to battling acrophobia and blasting dynamite, had a baseball team,” he writes. “Not only that, they had fans who were devoted enough to have special ’sweater jackets’ made up, one of which was on display. The placard reads: ‘SWEATER: This type of sweater jacket was worn by fans who followed the Keystone/Mt. Rushmore baseball team. The emblem on the back is representative of an early design for the Memorial.’ Sure enough, if you look at the back of the sweater, the first question is, ‘Where’s Teddy?’ This is so cool on so many levels. If they’d had these for sale in the gift shop, I would’ve spent many more dollars than I already had. Unfortunately, no jerseys were on display — I would’ve been taking one of those home too, if they’d been available. Maybe the fine folks at Ebbets Field Flannels should look into this?” … Last year Mario Fontana guest-wrote a great entry about the Wiffle Ball tournaments at Little Fenway and Little Wrigley, which were for the benefit of the Travis Roy Foundation. He plans to write another entry based on this year’s tourney. If you want to donate to help support the cause, you can do so here. … Holy shit (amazing find by Mike Engle). … Negro Leagues throwback game between the Rays (dressingup as the Jacksonville Red Caps) and Pirates (representing the Pittsburgh Crawfords) on Saturday (additional pics here, here, here, here, here, and here). Interestingly, although the host Pirates didn’t wear throwback helmets, the visiting Rays did — sort of. Tim Burke explains: “Rays TV reported that when the team arrived in Pittsburgh and found the (well-designed, but sparse) uniforms waiting for them, Rays clubhouse manager Chris Westmoreland took it upon himself to acquire color-matched batting gloves and a blue ‘J’ decal to apply to the helmets for authenticity’s sake (even though, obviously, the Jacksonville Red Caps never wore batting helmets, and their caps were, well, red). He should probably be recognized for going the extra mile in this case.” Indeed! … About two hours after writing that last item, I opened my Sunday paper and found this in the coupon supplement. Hmmm, notice any similarities? … Jonee Eisen sent along some additional scorecard art by Otis Shepard (the Wrigley’s gum art director who also did some work for the Cubs), and holy shit is it amazing. Amazing cover designs here, here, and here, and check out this awesome guide to the Wrigley Field flags. … Great find by Mark Fightmaster and Robert Eden, the latter of whom writes: “Sunday’s Cincinnati paper had a little article on the day Dusty Baker stole second, third and home in a single game. It was June 27, 1984. But look at the accompanying photos — looks like the Reds were wearing their batting practice jerseys.” Personally, I would have assumed that the Reds were just wearing a solid-colored alt jersey, but as Robert points out, Cincy didn’t introduce a solid-red alternate until 1985 (the following year), and that design feature the city name, not the C-Reds logo. Indeed, the jerseys shown in the Dusty Baker photos appears to be this. A very early example of a team wearing its BP jersey for a game. Anyone know of any earlier instances, and/or if the Reds did this on a regular basis? … David Eckstein was hit by a pitch around his waistline on Saturday. As he trotted to first base, his belt buckle was flapping — the pitch had opened his belt! He addressed the situation a few moments later (with thanks to Geoff Loughton). … NSFW: topless soccer with painted-on jerseys (blame Bob Kile). … Still more Speedo LZR intrigue (courtesy of Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: “The Polish women’s volleyball has been wearing a memorial ribbon over their flag on the front of their uniform in their matches in the FIVB World Grand Prix. It’s for former national team member Agata Mroz, who died after a bone marrow transplant while battling leukemia. Also: Looks like #17 for Italy has blue numbers, not black like her teammates, and the Turkish team is still wearing Adidas uniforms with Nike kneepads. The mark on their socks is the logo of the Turkish Volleyball Federation. … Good little Q&A article here on the Bears’ equipment manager (with thanks to Jeremy Gracyalny). … Hadn’t noticed this before, but someone on the Chris Creamer board pointed out that MLB’s “Welcome Back Veterans” caps have a star-spangled MLB logo on the back (except, of course, for the Blue Jays’ version). … I’m gonna be off the grid today (Rich Levin is having me fitted for leg irons), so play nice.
138 comments June 30th, 2008
