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Archive for February, 2009
By Phil Hecken
Spring is in the air. The ‘hot stove’ is over. It’s time to play the games.
And so, much like the first crocus of spring, we begin anew…a new awakening…a new birth…spring training is underway.
The practice of traveling to warmer weather locales to hone the craft of baseball is almost as old as the game itself. It has been reported that the first ever spring training took place in 1870, when the Chicago White Stockings (not the current American League franchise, but rather, the club that would become the Cubs) and the Cincinnati Red Stockings first held organized baseball camps in New Orleans. Others believe it was the Washington Capitals of the National League who pioneered spring training in 1888, holding a four-day camp in the city of Jacksonville, in Florida. Regardless of the specific time and locale, by the turn of the 20th century, spring-training became firmly established as a rite of baseball spring. It’s a long and interesting story, this spring training history, but that’s for another day. So, let’s kick back, take a quick swing around Florida and Arizona and see what’s up with the teams this spring.
One of the best things about spring training is the chance to get lots of autographs, sometimes even from superstars … Yeah…it’s still 60′ 6″ away …
Lots of rookies and younger guys sporting sock (love those red socks) this spring which is a welcome sign …
Color vs. color is common, since baseball is the one true sport where it’s very difficult to confuse the offense with the defense …
While most clubs opt for the batting practice (”BP”) jerseys for spring training games, there are a few teams who refuse to take part in such silliness …
There’s always lots and lots and lots of shades to be found, although not always used …
What city do the Orioles play in? That’s a beautiful jersey script, even if it is only the BP jersey. Too bad the cap has the grammatical error … Speaking of the “O’s,” ya gotta love the sleeve patch — here’s another view.
Is the Mizuno chest protector new this year? I don’t remember seeing it last season …
The Toronto Blue Jays sport black (of course), but at least you can see what city they play in … but why put a lot of blue on your gear when you can garnish with gray? …
One can usually spot the guys who won’t be making the trip north … There are exceptions to the high number rule, of course, but usually someone donning #72 will be riding the buses come April …
This man owns 10 out of the 26 rings — enough said … the new away BP jerseys now mimic the regular aways … unfortunately, the numbers on back aren’t so hot … looks like the fans still don’t wanna invest in a $2 thread puller … Jeter calls his shot, whilst the bench sports various combinations of 5950’s and 3930’s …
The Giants new BP cap and block letter jerseys are a nice change, especially since the tops no longer have “pit stain striping” … the Bosox have nifty red jerseys and caps, with just a smidgen of a pit stripe … meanwhile the Pirates cap and buccaneer-adorned jersey look good, but the two-toned striping kills off any good feelings of that combo …
They may be the defending World Champions, but the Phillies red lids and blue jerseys with the white NOB and numbers just don’t look right. At least their home spring training unis don’t look too bad … The Nationals will be sporting new unis this year, but their BP cap and jersey aren’t all that great, and the red lid, blue jersey and white name and number fall prey to the same aesthetic misstep as the Phils …
It’s funny, but the Oakland A’s BP unis don’t look so bad …
It’s pretty cool to see the Cards in their away unis with home caps … of course, the Tigers also participate in this home & away mix as well — only in spring training …
The bat racks look the same, but you don’t see high numbers like that anywhere but spring training … and, despite what Crash Davis may have told you, you don’t hit white balls for BP … You do, however, get your choice of glove …
Take away the jersey piping and multi-color cap and that is one sweet BP uni … even the two-tone, flapless helmet looks good …
The seats may be a little less comfortable and the stands may be a bit emptier, but it’s still the greatest game in town … The fans can let loose … hopefully there will be lots of souveneirs …
Hey Jose, Turk Wendell just called, he wants his number back … Is it really possible? Is Mike Pelfrey sporting a BLUE cap with the away uniform? (thanks to Brian Hughes for the pic) — apparently that’s what happened when the Mets’ B squad took on Italy on Friday (please, God, let this be a sign of things to come, and not some uni screw up by Charlie Samuels) …
Uni Watch News Ticker: Reader Adam Skollar has sent along links of the new Yankees’ caps — here’s the front and here’s the back with the HUGE “Inaugural Season” patch — I wonder what genius thought the ‘rear patch’ was a good idea, versus the typical side style patch? … Speaking of the Yankees new cap, Michael Lipinski passed along this article which basically bashes the patch as well … With St. Patrick’s Day but a couple weeks away, Paul Riccardi has sent along this link — great, now the colleges are getting into the merch act too … Matt Garcia points out this article from the San Jose Mercury News regarding new uniforms for the 49ers for the upcoming season … John Vivino “was watching the Yankees Spring Training Game from Thursday and the pitcher Phil Coke had a jersey with the “M” Majestic logo on the sleeve, I only continued to watch the game and realized he was the only one with this on his jersey, all the real players (Jeter, etc.) did not have it. I was scared the Yankees succumbed to the pressure of advertising. Sorry I couldn’t get a picture.” … David Muir noticed that at the NFL combine which took place this week, many players wore soccer boots for the 40 yard dash … also from David, this nice set of Getty images from the NFL combine with various participants in the 40 yard dash. David notes that many of the players are wearing red pumas … Mark Doescher found a something in this thread — if you look about a 3/4this of the way down the page, you’ll see a red pillbox Cardinals cap, something he’d never seen before … Where are they now? Jeff Ash found this really nice article on Philadephia sports stars, including the really sweet pic of Cookie Rojas featured as the first photo in the gallery … Chris Cruz checks in to send along “Loads of Chelsea and England program(me)s here. Includes lots of old unis and logos.” … Following up on yesterday’s article on goalie masks, Doug Brei remarks, “Actually, that photo of Gerry Desjardins is not the mask he was wearing when he suffered the career-ending eye injury that you mentioned. Just weeks before, GD appeared wearing this beauty — and as a young Sabres fan I was thrilled with the design. The mask was very short-lived though, as his eye injury occured shortly after unveiling his new mask.” … Chuck Nolan found this awesome article from the March 12, 1956 edition of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, featuring Warren Spahn with a negative jersey number! … Nice bunch of 80’s-inspired football t-shirts found by Kayce Harris … On yet another serendipitous spring training note, Nick Scott sent this picture is of Chris “Disco” Hayes, the submariner. According to Nick, “Hayes gave an interview saying the Royals gave everyone these socks for spring training. Viva la stirrups!!!!” … Aaron Steele reports that an interesting thing happened Friday. The Cardinals used a DH and the Mets didn’t. Side note, the Mets pitcher batted 2nd. That’s the second day in a row Mets Manager Jerry Manuel has batted his pitcher in the two-hole … Chris Warfford noticed that in Friday’s game between the Orioles and the Marlins, Baltimore’s Batting Helmets are now sporting an orange brim. They used an all black helmet last year … Bill Kirby checks in with this, “Know you’re not a fan of adverts on uniforms, but thought you’d enjoy this article about how the sponsor for the Welsh rugby team gets around a French law prohibiting beer ads at sporting events.” Bill adds, “the rugby equivalent of a touchdown is called a try, which ads to the cleverness.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The University of Minnesota joins the growing list of schools severing their ties with uni maker Russell … Ole Miss will be going green today as part of an environmental initiative, or some such feel good effort … James Huening notes this pretty cool screen splash in remembrance of recently departed Johnny “Red Kerr” and Norm Van Lier … Welcome to Beantown, Mr. Marbury …
February 28th, 2009
By Phil Hecken (with a glove save and a beut by Teebz)
A couple of weeks ago, I was approached by a reader who asked me about goalie numbers. Being that I’m not really a hockey guy, I forwarded that request to Hockey Wing President Teebz, suggesting to the reader that Teebz could probably answer the questions off the top of his head. Sure enough, he did, and I suggested we should put together a piece on that for Uni Watch. Unfortunately for me, by that time, Teebz had already turned it into a fantastic story for his own blog. Undeterred, I approached Teebz to assist me with something even more interesting than the goalie number: the goalie mask. There’s quite a history behind this invention-out-of-necessity. Below, we’ll examine it’s origins and humble beginnings, taking it from its roots to the beginning of its modern form (which I expect we will explore further at another time). Before we begin, a quick word from Teebz.
When Phil and I originally discussed this idea, I had grandiose visions of a complete history of the goaltender’s mask from its humble starts to the various paint jobs seen today. However, when I really began investigating the mask, it became apparent that it has evolved more than any other piece of equipment in hockey. And, for those of you who think this is just a hockey article, there is information about how hockey intertwined with baseball and fencing. Who knew these sports were related?
When one considers dangerous professions, several come to mind: policeman, fireman, tight-rope walker, trapeze performer. But rarely do we consider hockey goaltenders as a dangerous profession. With the modifications in equipment and advancements in technology, today’s goaltenders are more like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man than “masked men”. But it’s that very piece of equipment that has changed the way the game has played, and how the goalie mask got started is an interesting look at the history of the sport.
The first recorded instance of a mask being worn in a hockey game by a goaltender came in the late-1920s. There is some debate as to who was first, but we’ll start with the first instance as recorded by the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Hall features an unidentified North American goaltender protecting the net in Switzerland wearing a baseball catcher’s mask. However, there is a photo from 1927 of Elizabeth Graham donning a fencer’s mask in a game for Queen’s University. As to which was first, there is no certainty, but the late-1920s was definitely the first era to have goalies were primitive masks.
The catcher’s mask used in Switzerland was similar to the first mask introduced in baseball by Fred Thayer. Thayer was the player-manager for Harvard’s Baseball Club in the 1870s, and couldn’t find anyone to play catcher for his team. Players weren’t too keen on catching foul balls in the face as they crouched behind home plate. Thayer went about designing a mask for catcher with strong metal bars spaced far apart for better vision than a fencing mask. The finished mask was debuted in spring of 1877, and the first mask was sold in 1878 for $3.
The first mask seen in the NHL was worn by Montreal Maroons goaltender Clint Benedict in 1930. Benedict dropped to make a save on Montreal Canadiens’ star Howie Morenz when he was struck in the face, knocking him unconscious. He awoke in the Montreal hospital with a badly broken nose and a shattered cheekbone. Six weeks later, on February 22, Benedict returned with a mask to protect his still-healing face. It was made of leather supported by wire, and protected the forehead, nose, and mouth, but not the eyes. The nosepiece obstructed Benedict’s view, and he ditched the mask several days later after the first game. Unfortunately, Benedict’s career ended on March 4, 1930 when he was hit in the throat by Howie Morenz. His injury forced him to hang up the skates for good.
The next major mask innovations came about because of another piece of face equipment – eyeglasses. Japanese goaltender Teiji Honma wore his historical cage at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany to protect his eyeglasses. The mask has been modified to protect the frames of his glasses. Ironically, Roy Musgrove wore a half-mask used for field lacrosse while playing for the Wembley Lions of the British National Hockey League in 1936 – coached by none other than Clint Benedict! Musgrove donned the half-mask to protect his glasses while he tended to the twine.
The NHL, though, didn’t see another mask worn until a gentleman named Delbert Louch from St. Mary’s. Ontario sent all six goaltenders a clear, plastic, full-face shield in 1954 that was a precursor to visors seen in the NHL. There were complaints of it fogging up, causing glare, and being too warm for goalies to wear, but it was endorsed by Detroit goalie Terry Sawchuk and Toronto goalie Johnny Bower. However, it was never worn in a game.
November 1, 1958 changed the way fans saw the game forever. Andy Bathgate, who just had his number retired by the New York Rangers, fired a high backhand on net that caught Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Jacques Plante in the face. The resulting cut on Plante’s face sent him to the trainer’s room, causing a 45 minutes delay in the game. When he returned from getting stitched up, his face was dramatically different – he was wearing a mask!
Bill Burchmore had witnessed Plante getting hit in the forehead with a puck, resulting in a 45 minute delay in the game while he was being stitched up. While at work the next day, Burchmore was looking at a fibreglass mannequin head when he realized the he could design a contoured, lightweight fibreglass mask that would fit the goalie’s face like a protective second skin. Burchmore gave Plante his idea, and Plante was persuaded by his trainers to give it a try. A mold was taken of Plante’s face by putting a woman’s stocking over his head, covering his face with Vaseline, and allowing him to breath through a straws stuck in both nostrils while his head was covered with plaster. Burchmore layered sheets of fibreglass cloth saturated with polyester resin on top of the mold. The result was the flesh-toned 0.125 in (52 mm) thick mask that weighed only 14 oz (397 g).
Despite Toe Blake’s resistance to allowing Plante on the ice with the mask after he recovered from his injury, Plante donned the mask for the rest of the season. Burchmore finally built up the courage to write to Plante with his molded fibreglass mask idea in the spring of 1959, and convinced Plante to have his face covered in fibreglass. Plante began wearing his new formed mask at the start of the 1959-60 season, and showed a renewed courage in standing up to blasts.
Burchmore’s mask wasn’t three months old when he came up with a new mask design. This new design was made of fibreglass yarn instead of sheets of fibreglass. This allowed for better ventilation as the yarn could be fashioned into “bars” much like the baseball catchers’ masks of yesteryear. The first design that Burchmore gave to Plante resembled that of a twisted pretzel, and the “pretzel mask” was born. Due to the design of the bars, however, this mask weighed a tiny 10.3 oz. The pretzel mask, with its improved ventilation and light weight, was worn by NHL stars such as Cesar Maniago and Charlie Hodge into the 1960s.
Detroit Red Wings trainer, Ross “Lefty” Wilson, came up with another design in the early-1960s after Terry Sawchuk went down with another facial injury, infuriating Red Wings’ GM Jack Adams. Wilson’s primitive mask design was accepted by the Leatherface-looking Sawchuk, and he donned it permanently by October, 1962. Wilson began making masks for a large number of goalies throughout the NHL who wore them in games and practices, charging a mere $35 for his creations.
Roy Weatherbee advanced the pretzel mask again by furthering the protectiveness of the mask by studying the tensile properties of fibreglass, and his improved design was worn by a large number of older goaltenders as we entered the 1967 Expansion age. However, a large number of the up-and-coming netminders were already wearing the next mask design at this time.
In 1962, a young netminder named Neil Higgins was complaining to his father, Ernie Higgins, about the store-bought mask he was wearing while at Boston College. It didn’t fit properly, but it was all the younger Higgins could wear. Ernie Higgins went about designing a new mask for his son, and, after five years, had perfected his design and mask-making technique.
After the design that Neil Higgins was wearing made it into the Boston Gardens’ home team dressing room, Ernie Higgins was invited to meet with Ernie Johnston and Gerry Cheevers about his design. Cheevers wasn’t fond of the flat Wilson mask as he found it to slide around on his face while he played. Higgins recognized the need for a more curved mask to hug the face, and went about getting a mask ready for Cheevers that wouldn’t move. In 1968, Cheevers debuted a model that had a few recognizable Higgins traits: the ventilation slits across the forehead formed a T-shape, and the cheek ventilation holes were triangular for maximum ventilation.
By 1969, Higgins was a full-time mask maker, retiring from his first profession of plumbing. He continued to tinker with his design, adding the back plate to secure the mask tightly to the head, and extending the sides to protect more of the goaltender’s head and face. In the mid-1970s, the helmets worn by Doug Favell and Gary Smith were essentially the precursor to the masks seen today. As an aside, Higgins work in masks led him to designing prosthetic devices and casts for injured athletes and accident victims, most notably for the leg of Boston Red Sox slugger Ken Harrelson.
Jacques Plante returned to the mask scene in 1970 when he founded a company called Fibrosport in Magog, Quebec. Fibrosport made masks of fibreglass and an epoxy resin that featured ridges to deflect pucks away from the face, preventing the full impact of the puck from being absorbed by the goalie’s face. The price for a Fibrosport mask ranged from $12 to $150, and was worn by a large majority of goaltenders until 1979 when masks changed significantly.
Mask designers got a huge shock from the Summit Series in 1972 when the Canadian NHL All-Stars squared off against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It was here that everyone first witnessed the peculiar “birdcage” mask worn by Vladislav Tretiak. Tretiak’s mask allowed for good ventilation and an excellent field of vision, resulting in better play compared to his Canadian counterparts. This new cage would be the next major piece in the evolution of the mask. The “birdcage”-style of facial protection wouldn’t make it to the NHL, though, until 1976.
Greg Harrison and Michel Lefebvre added to the Fibrosport design by extending the chin downward to cover the throat. Harrison added a hinge to his throat protection for better movement, but the large extension downward was cumbersome for goaltenders who needed to be able to look from shoulder-to-shoulder.
In 1976, New York Rangers’ goaltender Gilles Gratton donned a helmet with a cage, looking a lot like Tretiak’s mask seen four years earlier. It wasn’t long before Buffalo Sabres’ goaltender Don Edwards followed suit, and the “birdcage” began to catch on as the mask of choice. Fibreglass masks appeared to be heading the way of the dodo.
Additionally, 1977 saw Buffalo’s Gerry Desjardins suffered a horrific injury when a puck caught the eyehole in his fibreglass mask, putting his vision in serious jeopardy. It caused him to retire prematurely, and, in 1978, the Canadian Standards Association banned the use of fibreglass masks for minor hockey. Bernie Parent’s eye injury the following year forced a large number of goaltenders to abandon their fibreglass masks for the birdcage design.
In 1979, the fibreglass mask was nearly dead. However, change was already on the way. Veteran goaltender Dave Dryden and designer Greg Harrison met in 1977. Dryden was convinced that the cage was the safest facial protection for goalies, but wanted the tight fit to the head that the fibreglass mask provided. Harrison mocked up a design that incorporated both the cage and the tight fit. What was born was the “hybrid mask”. Phil Myre was the first to adopt the hybrid, wearing it for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1981.
The hybrid mask is what is worn by the majority of goaltenders today (Chris Osgood not included). It is secured by a back plate to allow for movement of the head, and features a large cage for good ventilation and vision. The chin protection helps to protect the throat, and it provides the most protection while being lightweight.
Clearly, the innovation and evolution of the goalie mask is a large story. 70 years of changes saw the mask evolve from baseball catchers’ masks and fencing masks to intricately-designed pieces of artwork.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Japanese baseball expert Jeremy Brahm sends along a picture of the pennant from the first Japan Series in 1950 … also from Jeremy: this Yokohama Bay Stars’ jersey, interesting because of their putting a notch on their sleeves (Jeremy also suggests calling this a “Hama-notch” and adding it to the ever-expanding “Glossary of Uni Watch terms” … Daren Stoltzfus writes that “As Sports Director for the student television network, I have been on the floor filming the games and observing Wayne Chism’s sock flair throughout the season. Last night against Mississippi State he took it to a new level. It appears he has taken two shooting sleeves with the padded elbows and used them as socks.” … Johnny Okray notes that the Brewers All-Star RF, Corey Hart is sporting a new tattoo on his right forearm … Reader Kenneth Guckenberger passes along this nugget about a Denver team who got new unis, and yes, it’s a “throwback look” … A bit of serendipity at Spring Training, as Andrew Tucker notes that Brew Crew skip Ken Macha was sporting stirrups … Todd Fisher points out that someone at Yoplait must read Uni Watch … Dan Cichalski from MLB.com reports that Luis Castillo is rocking the “Pedro Porthole” … Interesting little site found by Tom Adjemian which is a cool way to take a look at the myriad signs that litter our roadways. Also, Tom is “pretty sure that website is responsible for the seizure I just had…let it be said, though, that it was a fashionable seizure.” … Aaron Steele weighed in with this: “This didn’t actually happen, but LaRussa was close to using Orioles pitchers to pitch against their own team. Too bad it didn’t happen no? uni choice would have been nice to see.” … Aaron also notes that only in spring training do you get to see the Cardinals with their gray away uni’s and home red hats … Dan Merker notes that not one, but two Royals prospects are in camp with stirrups and double-earflapped helmets. He’s not sure who they are, but notes it’s a “good sign nonetheless.” Agreed … Good Lord: Matt Harris found out why Jeets is wearing the “real” cap and not the BP one: it’s got a giant patch on it! (you can read more here and here) … Chuck Allen read Paul’s Latest ESPN column and sent along this photo of Alex Rodruguez he took during Seattle Mariners’ July 18, 1998 Turn Ahead The Clock promotion. You can read all about it here … We wouldn’t want to reopen the Apostrophe Catastrophe debate again would we? Gabe Kleinfeld found this little article from The Washington Post in which the author feels the apostrophe gets no love …
Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: James Huening brought to our attention the sad passing of Norm Van Lier, the AP ran this story shortly after the news broke … Following up on yesterday’s “Lance a lot” piece, Mark Fightmaster has provided us with all of the new Livestrong helmets, and he likes the look actually … Jeff Landset thought we’d find this thread interesting, which contains outtakes from a commercial for FSN and the Angels … Richie Rich from Home Run Derby sends us this “throwback” news story of the time Michael Jordan tried to play baseball … also from the last night’s comments: Michael Jordan wearing #35 with the Scottsdale Scorpions … shockingly, Teebz has found 5 reasons why the NHL is better than the NBA … also from Teebz: here’s Ryan Whitney in his shiny new Ducks uni … Trevor Williams points out one of spring training’s unique uni-matchups — not only is it “color on color,” but it’s blue on blue … Pittsburgh UW correspondent Doug Keklak checks in with the following: “Saw this story linked to the PA Helmet project page. Don’t recall seeing it referenced in UW but they give UW and Paul a shout out.” … also from Doug: From the White Sox cards blog — Zisk was traded from the Pirates, (love the pillbox sans the “P” — airbrushed logos all around due to licensing issues no doubt) … and this: Awesome old-uni footage here in celebration of Edmonton being award the 2010 Grey Cup (thanks, Douggie) … Reprinted from last night’s comments: looks like the Angels may have added a patch but only Vlad is wearing it.
This and That: When you make $27 million per season and are no longer on the ‘juice,’ sometimes you need a little help applying your own eyeblack … well, that didn’t last long … congratulations philly fans, you earned it (but it will look better next year in Citi Taxpayer Field) … you just gotta see Ronnie Paulino’s levitating ball trick in person … not all teams wear those ridiculous BP jerseys and caps — now THIS is a classic look … that’s gonna leave a mark … still strange to see him bend it like that for A.C. Milan … when did they let the refs play soccer? … MLBers aren’t the only ones who had their portraits taken recently … spring is in the air — that means it is time to get used to softball guy again … How’s your wife and my kids? … I has a trophy — it matches my logo … Tropical Storms’ goalie Cam Ward celebrates an OT victory … Welcome back, Marty … Vector on the bucket, wordmark on the breezers and a fist to the face … “Enjoy your trip to Hartford…you suck!” … Baseball players are getting smaller — either that or their unis are getting bigger … More new women’s soccer league jerseys are released … and can a Brasilian star save the WPS?
February 27th, 2009
[Editor's Note: Uni Watch bench coach emeritus Bryan Redemske checks in today to bring us up to date on the cycling scene. -- PL]
By Bryan Redemske
Hey, Lance Armstrong is back — you may have heard about that. His comeback with Team Astana started in January at the Tour Down Under in Australia and continued last week at the Tour of California.
Since he’s, well, Lance, both races enjoyed record crowds and heightened media exposure, which made some uni-related oddities a lot more noticeable.
Lance has always lived by his his own set of uni rules (he wore three different lids in his final Tour de France alone), but this comeback has taken things even further. In training, Lance wears full Livestrong kit, rather than the Astana kit worn by his teammates. And this is the team-issue Astana helmet … which Lance doesn’t wear. He’s worn a pair of Livestrong-branded lids so far — one with more yellow than the other. Note also the visor on that second one. That model (Giro Ionos) isn’t available — or even compatible — with a visor. More custom work, to be sure.
The weather was pretty brutal for the first few days in California, which brought out vests, jackets and everything short of snowmobile suits. Most riders went for a team-colored vest or jacket, but Lance did not. Not even close. He also opted for black Nike arm and knee warmers, rather than team-issue navy blue.
Lance’s bike was different from his teammates’, too. That’s been one of his hallmarks for a number of years — he’s always had three or four different paint jobs on hand. Astana’s Levi Leipheimer (who won the race) had a special paint job on his time trial bike as well. That’s a bear, by the way, on the frame — Leipheimer lives in California (though he’s actually from Montana).
Finally, there’s the yellow band on the left cuff of Astana’s jersey and shorts. It symbolizes the Livestrong band, which was present through all three years of Lance’s Discovery Channel sponsorship, and is now on the Astana kit this season (but not last season). But Lance’s bands actually say Livestrong. They didn’t in the Tour Down Under, however.
In non-Lance news:
• Check out the writing on the left leg of this Cervelo TestTeam rider. That says “Innovate, Sacrifice, Unite, Succeed.” The interesting part is the orientation — it’s right-side up to the wearer only.
• Team Columbia-High Road (formerly T-Mobile) wore two different styles of shorts. One was mostly white, one had more black. Neither helped take attention away from those stupid jersey abs.
• Rock Racing, the team that had nearly two dozen different kits last season (viewable — and available for purchase — here), is back. Rumors flew all winter about whether the team would even start the season. So the theme is “Rock’s Not Dead.” OK … but maybe there should have been more consideration toward word placement. Having “dead” scrawled across my junk wouldn’t be the first choice. Plus, the kit design in general kind of makes them look like clowns.
• Frank Schleck’s Luxemborg national champion jersey (center) is one of the few that look awesome with a team logo. Here’s the standard Saxo Bank (formerly CSC) kit. Combining a national champion’s colors with a team kit rarely works so well. We’re looking at you, Rock Racing. That’s U.S. national champion Tyler Hamilton at the front, by the way. The stars and stripes are in there somewhere.
Ah, the crack of the ball on the bat, the prick of the syringe on the butt cheek…: Paul here. My annual spring training roundup column is up now on Page 2. This column also includes the first working installment of the long-planned Uni Watch Glossary, which I’ll later make into a permanent page on this site.
Raffle Results: That’s right, you didn’t win again — unless your name is Steve Seager, that is.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Classic Old School Gear prexy Alain Nana-Sinkam was recently hired for a project by Kansas State: “Their Marketing and Promotions Director saw my ad on Uni Watch and e-mailed me mid-January about making jerseys for four players whose jersey numbers would be retired at the end of the season,” writes Alain. “There are two women (Priscilla Gary and Tammie Romstad) and two men ( Willie Murrell and Mitch Richmond). The jerseys we did were based on photos and other research and are meant to match what the players wore during their careers.” … The Arkansas baseball teams has unveiled four new uni designs, two of which are shown here and here (with thanks to Charlie Shields). … Good spot by Shawn Bleiler, who notes that the current Eastbay and Modell’s catalogs are using the same cover photo. … Soccer note from Patrick Runge, who writes: “Crystal Palace rolled out a series of choices for next year’s kit design. The fans were less than pleased, a local paper ran a mildly critical article, and now the team is boycotting the paper.” And now the fans have come up with their own design proposal. … Kenn Tomasch notes that the Houston Dynamo were wearing a black armband the other day, but he’s not sure who it was memorializing. … The Women’s Professional Soccer league should be out of business within, what, four months or so, right? So take a look at their uniforms (several of which feature skirts) while you can. … Oh, but wait, it turns out that the skirts won’t be worn in games because the league will fold before any games are played (thanks to Craig Justice for that clarification). … And there’s some further analysis of the WPS uniforms here and here. … The Marquette women’s hoops team wore collared, sleeved throwback tops (but not shorts) on Saturday, but only for warm-ups (with thanks to Blain Fowler). … If you normally pull your pant cuffs down over your heels, what do you do for footwear-free sliding drills? Pull your cuffs down over the heels of your socks (good find by Phil Johnson). … Uni number news from Yankees camp, where Brett Tomko is now wearing No. 28 and Melky Cabrera has No. 53 (with thanks to Stephen King). … Speaking of uni numbers, Jose Valentin is in Mets camp as a non-roster invitee and is wearing No. 99. I’m not positive about this, but I think that’s because 9 + 9 = 18, which was Valentin’s number back in his first stint with the Mets. That number is now worn by Jeremy Reed. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Not sure if I’ve ever seen a pennant design like the one shown here. … Lots of photos of Auburn’s new retro-styled baseball uniforms here (with thanks to Jonathon Binet). … The best uniforms I’ve seen so far this year can be found in this comic (genius find by Larry Torrez). … “Looks like the Cubs may have switched back to traditional helmets,” says Bryan, who’s really back in force today. “Either that, or they don’t ship Cool-Flo helmets to Arizona. That seems unlikely, given the rest of the stuff that gets shipped.” … Thomas Miller, who’s the assistant minor league equipment manager for the Milwaukee Brewers and Nashville Sounds, sent along some pics of the team’s minor league complex, where they have framed jerseys of all the Brewers affiliates. … FNOB alert, of sorts (with thanks to Dan Cichalski). … Kenny Crookston snagged this for two bucks at a thrift store. “Not exactly uni-related,” he says, “except that I plan on wearing it to the Indians’ home opener on April 10th.” … You may have heard and/or seen that Rich Eisen ran a 40-yard “dash” while weaing a suit at the NFL combine the other day. What you might not have noticed (but Chris Flinn did) is that the old NFL logo appears at the very beginning of the video segment — which is particularly odd given that this footage is from the NFL Network. … Bosox minor leaguer Ryan Khoury wore a plain double-flapped helmet in last night’s spring training game against the Twins (screen grab courtesy of Nick Hanson). … Mirko Vucinic got caught on-camera making some extracurricular adjustments the other day (with thanks to Matt Beaudin). … Everything from here to the end of the Ticker is from Phil: In a shocking display of misplaced financial priorities, a Cincinnati elementary school is taking funds that were budgeted for buying basketball uniforms and using them to help a sick kid. … The Bobcats’ D-League affiliate will dangle the NBA carrot in front of its players’ noses on Saturday by having them wear Bobcats uniforms. … The Illinois hoops team has already announced that it won’t have NOBs next season. … Hey, wait, here’s one more WPS uniform. Oops, it’s actually the latest Oregon cheeleading outfits, coming soon to a Girls Gone Wild video near you.
Steeltown-Bound: By the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to Pittsburgh. Phil will be handling the site from now through next Monday (thanks, buddy). All e-mail sent to the usual Uni Watch address will be forwarded to him, or you can send him Ticker contributions directly.
Hope to see lots of you on Sunday, 1pm, at Max’s. Rob Ullman (who hails from Pittsburgh but now lives in Virginia) sent me a small batch of these Steeler Girl decals to distribute at the shindig. First come, first served, so it’ll pay to arrive early. Too bad this auction won’t end until after the party, but one of your Pittsburghers out there really ought to bid on it anyway.
February 26th, 2009
As you can see from the graphic on the screen, that’s Victor Harris at the NFL Combine the other day. So if his name is Victor, why does he have an “M. Harris” NOB? Because, of course, his nickname is Macho. And now, if you’ll excuse me a moment, I need to vomit. (Thanks to Brendon Yarian for the screen shot.)
New ESPN column today. Link coming soon. tomorrow, as it turns out. — Paul
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day for the cashmere soccer scarf raffle. For details, look here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The A’s plan to retire Rickey’s number. … Really, really great survey of consumer brand logo evolutions here (thanks, Ek). … Here’s something I didn’t know: Back in 1938, Joe Louis had a barnstorming baseball team (great find by Bruce Menard). … I sure hope Chris Hayes makes the KC roster (with thanks to Patrick Chippeaux). … Good article here on players wearing batting helmets in the field, including the entire 1953 Pirates team (with thanks to Nate Budziszewski). … That Mickey Mantle, he was a classy guy (with thanks to Mike Nachreiner). … “The AHL’s Norfolk Admirals held an alumni game last weekend, featuring members of the previous ECHL Admirals teams,” writes Tris Wykes. “‘Rocket’ Rod Taylor wore the very first helmet he ever owned, beginning at age four. He said he just loosened it up a bit and it fit fine. The green circles are his own ‘award decals’ he put on there when he scored childhood goals back in Lake Orion, Michigan. Admirals coach Darren Rumble played in the alumni game and used his coaching gloves, which include a whistle attached to one finger. Sadly, he never took advantage to blow a halt to play when his team had given up an odd-man rush.” … More Admirals news from Tris: “In addition, the Admirals unveiled third jerseys virtually identical to those worn by the original ECHL Admirals team in 1989. These are a big hit with the fans, a majority of whom seem to dislike the current uniforms [and who can blame them -- PL]. The Admirals will wear the thirds on home Fridays the rest of the season.” … I’m fairly certain this is the first time most of you have seen a Twins Hula-Hoop. Tris Wykes says it was hanging in the Metrodome dugout. … According to Bill Henderson’s guide, the Yankees’ BP jerseys from 1997-2001 looked like this. But Stephen King has turned up this photo, which he says is from 2000. “The Yanks wore this alternate design for a few games in the spring of 2000,” he says. Personally, I don’t much give a shit about BP jerseys, but presumably some of you do. Any thoughts or insights? … The Chiefs’ 50th-anniversary logo appears to be included in this banner, which appeared in a ticket-promo e-mail received by Jake Reed. … Michael Princip has written a good breakdown of an old Riddell helmet model. … I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s enough to make me rethink my position on over-the-calf basketball socks (with “thanks” to Jason Dulin). … Remember the College Vault book series? They’ve now got new editions covering the basketball programs at Kansas, UNC, and Kentucky, plus the women’s hoops team at Tennessee (with thanks to Mike Hersh). … New Manchester United road kit unveiled here (with thanks to Jeff Kneis). … Great video report here on the Stowe family, which has been working the Reds’ clubhouse for over half a century (with thanks to Dwayne White). … Here’s an update on that story about American Indian mascots in Wisconsin (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: Yet another university has severed ties with Russell due to the company’s labor practices, and the latest financial fraud case is affecting golf sponsorships.
February 25th, 2009
Many of you may know Stall & Dean as a throwback apparel operation. But back in the day, it was an active sporting goods company that made uniforms and accessories for lots of top-level pro teams in several sports. The company’s archives have been decimated over the years as the Stall & Dean name has been sold and licensed, but a small cache of old S&D materials remains. It currently resides in an industrial park in New Jersey, and our own Scott M.X. Turner was recently hired to index and document it. Two Fridays ago I tagged along with him to take a look.
It turned out to be a spectacular day. Here’s a small sampling of what I saw (and, in some cases, tried on):
• As soon as we walked in, I saw a big pile of hockey jerseys and immediately fixated on this one because of its green/gold design. Interesting to see the front uni number on a jersey of this era.
• More green and gold here. This one had a front uni number and some odd front initials — not sure what that was about. Also, note the rounded uni number font, which Scott says was common for S&D jerseys.
• I was ready wear this baby home, especially when I saw the back design, but Scott politely told me that wouldn’t be possible. He made sure to get a shot of the sleeve number, though.
• Scott says this is his favorite piece in the entire archive. Neither of us had ever seen anything like the pleat at the bottom of the placket — odd. Love that crest.
• There was a whole box full of old labels. Some were manufactured in big spools (I regret not getting a photo of that), others in small boxes (ditto). I especially like that Puckmaster design at upper-right.
• Speaking of tags, I was fascinated when I saw this box, which contained assorted size tags and some sort of gadget to apply them, or make them, or something. This was one of many things I meant to go back and investigate more fully, but I kept getting distracted by other things and then the day slipped away from me. So after I got home, I looked on eBay and found this, which indicates that the gadget was actually for applying paper price labels, not cloth tags. Hmmmmm.
• This jersey struck me as unremarkable — until I saw the amazing sleeve patch.
• This was my favorite baseball jersey of the day. Something so simple and nice about that script (which, if you look closely, was rendered in felt over tackle twill — unusual format).
• I didn’t actually like this design all that much, but it was interesting to wear a satin jersey.
• Not sure about the story here, but Scott thinks those are Hebrew letters on the chest patch.
• It was amazing to see this box of hand-drawn, hand-cut lettering templates, some of which were accompanied by a finished sample. Here’s another example, with lots of handwritten annotations on the template.
• There were some very interesting basketball shorts. This set had built-in hip pads; this set was made from a flecked wool fabric (sort of like a Donegal tweed) and an unusual back closure; and this one had an unusually thick belt.
• I hadn’t realized that S&D also made gloves.
• It’s not clear if this was a company team or a S&D-sponsored team. Either way, very cool.
• Highlight of the day: I spent more than an hour poring over hundreds of typed index cards, some of them dating back to the 1920s. Each one described the design, construction, and materials for a specific S&D product, sometimes with accompanying sketches (I especially like the little sketches for these zippered football and basketball carrying cases). This one was so detailed that it continued onto a second card. I photographed over 30 of these, all of which can be viewed in this slideshow.
• There was a big pad of order sheets. Here’s a closer look.
And just to bring things full circle, there was one other green/gold item I lusted after: this vintage loveseat in the lobby. They better have it nailed down next time I’m there!
Late-breaking research request: I’m putting together a Uni Watch glossary. The terms I’ve included so far are here. If you have suggestions for other terms that should be included, please contact me asap. Thanks.
Raffle Reminder: I’m currently raffling off a cashmere soccer scarf. For details, look here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday I linked to this shot of Rogers Hornsby’s son. That prompted Todd Radom to send me a shot of the same kid, eight years earlier. … Good rundown of ugly basketball jerseys here (with thanks to long-lost Kenn Tomasch). … The Cavs awarded framed jerseys to ESPN’s Tom Jackson and members of the O’Jays on Sunday night (with thanks to Corey Buck). … “I watched nearly every second of the Cavs/Pistons game on Sunday night, waiting for the moment where Wally Z. had to guard Rip Hamilton mask-to-mask,” says Kenny Crookston. “Has this ever happened before?” … Our latest DIYer is Brad Spence, who created a Ravens onesie for his infant son, Palmer. “Yes, as a true Baltimore fan, I was able to talk my wife into allowing me to name my first-born after Jim Palmer,” he says. “I used a plain white onesie, some iron-on transfer paper for our printer, and got the logos off of the internet.” … Alex Minnehan noticed some very odd shoulder seams on this Bills jersey. … Speaking of the Bills, I can’t say I’m in love with the Bills’ 50th-anniversary patch. Where did they get that “5″? Woof. … This is a really bad idea. But the real question, of course, is whether the apostrophe is properly oriented (with thanks to Joe Hilseberg). … Greg Scholand was going through a box of his old childhood stuff and came across this book, which has a page devoted to each team. Not only does the Browns page feature the phantom CB logo, but there are several illos of Lou the Toe, all of which show him wearing the logo that never was. … New powder blue alt jersey for UNC baseball (with thanks to Chris Warfford). … Speaking of college baseball, several new uni designs for Mississippi State, too. And as long as we’re talking about the Bulldogs, the football team is going back to a maroon helmet (with thanks to Demi Brown). … Yesterday’s note about MLB players pulling their pant cuffs down over over their heels prompted this note from Tod Tompkins: “I’m a uniform manufacturer, so it’s my job to pay attention to fads and designs. At a middle school game last year, I noticed almost the entire team pulling their pants down over their heels. I had to inspect it closer, so after the game I asked one of the kids to show me his cleat. The kids all pulled the pant bottoms down over the last heel spike, and poked it through the pants. It made a hole in the pant, but at least it stayed. I asked him why he did it and he said, ‘Cuz it looks tight!’ Since then, we have developed several different versions for coaches, so the kids don’t rip their pants. The obvious one is the Clemson cut with outer stirrup. We actually make the stirrup the same color as the shoe to cover it up better. Then we offer an inside stirrup that goes around the foot like a traditional sock that you can’t see from the outside.” I’m sure I don’t have to tell everyone how appalling I find all of this. Tod, you’re what’s known in the trade as an enabler. … With the auto biz in the crapper, Buick has ended its sponsorship deal with Tiger Woods. This means, of course, that Woods might end up on skid row, but fortunately another company was willing to step into the breach. Phew. … In a move that strikes me as a rather unusual marketing partnership, the new Pottery Barn Kids catalog features a bunch of MLB-licensed bedding (additional pics here, here, and here). I suppose you could say that this is just the spiritual heir of the old Sears catalog stuff, except that Sears was for working-class families and Pottery Barn is for yuppies, all of which probably says more about the current state of sports marketing than anything I could come up with on my own (with thanks to James Huening). … Cool vintage 7-Up baseball uni available here. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Really fun time-lapse video of the Tigers’ Photo Day photo sessions here. … Two weeks ago, I wrote, “I don’t much care for the new Tropicana OJ package graphics, but I admit I’m a total sucker for the new navel orange-shaped plastic cap.” Now, sure enough, they’re bringing back the old packaging. And here’s a small note, buried deep in the article: “One aspect of the new Tropicana packaging is being salvaged: plastic caps for the cartons … that are shaped and colored like oranges.” I’m happy to take full credit for this corporate turnabout. … Here’s something that really drives home the point about players not wearing their regular jerseys for Photo Day shoot: Several of the Giants posed in a Russell jersey (good spot by Michael Korczynski). … Jesus Christ, Jerry, tuck in your jersey. … Here’s an excellent view of both of the Twins’ sleeve patches for this season (neither of which is appearing on their BP jersey, by the way). … New road uniforms for the Orix Buffaloes (thanks, Jeremy). … … Lookie what I just won! … Five MLB teams have somehow neglected to wring every last cent out of St. Paddy’s Day (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … Terry Proctor sent along some amazing pics of the Livonia (NY) High School basketball team, circa 1973: “The team is wearing Russell Athletic uniforms in the Atlanta Hawks style,” he writes. “How do you like the stirrups? Stirrups were still very popular with basketball players until the early 1980s. That’s about the time when Patrick Ewing started with the goddamn T-shirt-under-the-jersey look and basketball has been going downhill ever since.” For the record, I don’t much care for stirrups on the basketball court. Looks too much like a rip-off of baseball, plus it doesn’t make any sense: Nobody’s gonna get spiked playing basketball, so why do you need a stirrup over a sani? Why not just wear colored tube socks?
February 24th, 2009
Photographers taking photos of ballplayers is nothing new. But there’s only one time when photographers take photos of other photographers, and that’s spring training, where Photo Day portraits are such an essential part of the proceedings that the photo sessions themselves are documented, just like wind sprints and bunting drills.
From a uniform perspective, Photo Day portraits are interesting on several levels. First, since most of the photos are straightforward front views, it doesn’t matter whether you’re wearing someone else’s jersey (as several readers noted when I ran that photo in the Ticker last week, that’s obviously not Tom Glavine) or a jersey that’s blank on the back. Hell, if they shoot you from the waist up, it doesn’t even matter if your pants don’t match, or if you’re wearing mandals.
But as the Photo Day portraits begin circulating over the wire each February, what really interests me is how the various photographers try to impose their “artistic vision” on the proceedings. When Getty Images shutterbug Nick Laham photographed the Rays, for example, he clearly told everyone to turn either their body or their head slightly off to the side. But when Laham photographed the Red Sox, he opted for these soft-focus mug shots that give the players a vaguely old West feel.
Here’s a look at how the photographers handled some of the other teams:
• Cardinals: The Cards were all shot on a green background (which I love, of course), and each player was given a prop — sometimes a bat, sometimes a ball, sometimes a ball and glove. I like.
• Reds: Very similar approach to the Cards — lots of bats and balls — so I was surprised to find that it’s not the same photographer. The St. Looey pics were taken by Doug Benc, Cincy by Chris Graythen.
• Phillies: Graythen also took the Philly photos, which have a more atmospheric backdrop, although many of them rely on the same clichéd poses.
• Yankees: Nick Laham — the same guy who took the Bosox shots — took these, as you can tell from all the soft-focus stoicism. But he chose to do the Yanks pics on a white background (as opposed to the darker backdrop on the Sox shots), which creates an oddly ethereal effect. Also: Some very odd cropping.
• Brewers: Shadowy men on a shadowy planet, an effect that’s accentuated by the dark alt jerseys. Great for Halloween, not so great otherwise.
• Indians: Very similar to the Brewers (it’s the same photographer, Ronald Martinez), but the white uniform makes the whole thing a bit less pretentious. (Ditto for the Mariners.)
• Nationals: “Hey, you know what would be cool? Let’s shoot you guys like you’re in confessional. Yeah, I know, it sounds weird, but work with me here — it’s just a different creative approach. And besides, you guys kinda suck, so you have lots of sins from last season to confess.” I think there were several Brewers shots in this same motif, but they’ve already moved off the wire and I can’t find them now.
And so on. About half the teams’ portraits haven’t moved over the wire yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for any other interesting motifs.
Incidentally, anyone else notice how nearly none of these players are smiling? Jeez.
(Extra-special thanks to Phil, whose Herculean research help — on very short notice, I might add — made today’s entry possible.)
Yet another raffle: As you all know by know, I don’t know jackshit about soccer, but I’m told that the fans like to hold up team scarves during the games. This is the inspiration for Stephen Wong’s series of cashmere soccer scarves. Stephen, who’s a big Uni Watch fan, has generously offered to have me raffle off one of these cashmere beauties, which retail for $200 a pop.
To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the raffle address (not to the usual Uni Watch e-mail address, please) by this Wednesday, February 25th, at 7pm eastern. Note that this is an earlier deadline than for most of our other raffles. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing can send four entries. I’ll announce the winner on Thursday.
Steeltown Reminder: Uni Watch party on Sunday, March 1st, 1pm, at Max’s Allegheny Tavern. There’s even a vaaaaague chance that I may wear a jersey to this one, because I just scored a very cool garment that I’m looking for excuses to wear.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Duke unveiled some very odd new uniforms yesterday and wore them last night against Wake. Additional pics here and here. … Do you miss Peter Puck as much as I do? Even if you don’t, you should check out these old PP cartoon here. … Here’s something you rarely see: a high school basketball team with uni-numbered socks. “The school is Lake City (SC) playing at Dreher (Columbia, SC),” says Michael Orr. “Also the numbers on the jerseys look black in these photos, but they were a deep navy blue. Very strange to see the color-on-color numbers like that.” … Hmmm, that Reebok wordmark is everywhere. Rob Ullman took that shot at his local Target last week. … Junior Griffey’s return to Seattle is, uh, heartwarming. Good pics here, here, and here, though. … Lots of cool stuff on eBay at the moment, including a SF Giants booster club blazer, a killer corduroy baseball jacket, a really nice women’s softball jacket, some cool letterman patches, an awesome cheerleading cardigan, a varsity sweater with some great sleeve patches, and a dynamite football jacket. … There’s skin-tight and there’s skin-less (with thanks to Hugh McBride). … We’ve seen plenty of color-on-color games, but how about white on white? Okay it’s actually light gold on white, as Washington visited UCLA a few nights ago. “It was almost impossible on my cheapie TV to tell the teams apart,” says Glenn Tanner. … Eric Garment was recently at the Smithsonian and took some pics of uni-related items, including a very old women’s basketball outfit, and a Roberto Clemente helmet and uniform (here’s the money shot). … This year’s College World Series logos look really cheesy (with thanks to Dustin Hall). … I really, really like the really nice memorial patchLarry Miller memorial patch that the Jazz have added. They’ll be wearing it for the rest of this season. … Here’s something I didn’t know: When a sumo wrestler’s career comes to an end, there’s a ceremony in which his top knot is cut off. Details here (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Let me get this straight: The auto industry is on life support, and Ford’s idea of a turnaround plan is to buy ad space on Miguel Cotto’s trunks? … Check out WVU’s old mascot. “Dig the boots and checked flannel — a punk precursor?” says West Virginia native Shane Arbogast. … Not uni-related, but this book looks really promising. … Reebok’s wordmark encroachment on NHL goalie mask continues. That’s Mathieu Garon’s new lid (with thanks to Justin Shawley). … If you’re as intrigued by abandoned buildings as I am, you’ll want to check out this site (with thanks to Trevor Williams). … The mascot for the Arkansas Warriors — a semipro basketball team — appears to be a DIYer. … “Keep your eyes out for a shot of Chien-Ming Wang’s new glove,” says Tyler Kepner. “He has a huge Chinese symbol for his name on the outer webbing. Nike made it custom for him. Not sure if he uses it for practice because he just got them, but there are 2 in his locker. … Reprinted from Saturday: Rafer Alston is listed as No. 2 on the Magic roter, but he had to wear No. 36 with NNOB on Friday night, because his new jersey wasn’t ready in time for the game. … FINA is trying to amend its swimwear regulations. … Also from Jeremy: new uniforms for Thespa Kusatsu, a J-League team. … Given the financial limitations of most collegiate athletic programs — especially for a sport like lacrosse — isn’t it odd that most college lacrosse teams have two helmet designs, one for home and one for the road? (Good observation by Travis Holland.) … Pirates prospect Daniel Moskos has a blog, and in this exchange he mentions that the organization has imposed a high-pants rule throughout its minor league system this year (with thanks to Daniel Weimann). … Someone on the Cardinals appears to have an NOB but no number (good spot by Aaron Steele). … Think my piece about CC Sabathia’s pinstripe count was a study in minutiae? That’s nothing compared to this story about him. … We’ve seen plenty of instances of players stretching their pant cuffs down under the heels of their shoes, but look at this shot of Big Papi. Looks like he’s got an extra panel of fabric attached to his pants. Either way, looks like shit, but I’m curious about the logistics of it. … And speaking of pants pulled down over the heels, look at Hanley Ramirez. … Jason Varitek’s “C” looks a tad low, no? … Not positive, but I don’t think we’ve seen Tyler Clippard wearing glasses on the mound before. … One of the many great things about spring training: Where else would you see a photo like this?. … The Orioles’ new Japanese pitcher, Koji Uehara, is wearing orange shoelaces. … Bryan Martin Firvida notes that Nikita Mescheriakov’s surname is spelled very differently here and here. Can anyone explain? … “Looks like the Flyers are ready to fight Mad Max,” says John Muir. … Some good historical details on game-used Cowboys jerseys here (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … The PBA had a throwback tourney of sorts over the weekend, requiring all bowlers to use old-school plastic balls (big thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Yesterday’s post about Slap Shot prompted this note from Terry Proctor: “Here is a photo on the site below of the NAHL Philadelphia Firebirds whose uniform style was used by the Blades in SlapShot. The colors are kelly green, orange, athletic gold and white. You will note that the Firebirds are wearing color-coordinated gloves in the photo. Probably the movie company didn’t want to spend the extra bucks for them. They ended up having both the Gears and the Presidents teams wear green/gold/white gloves (North Stars-style), since both teams’ base color was kelly green. No doubt the two teams used the same gloves in the movie. The Blades’ sweaters were made by HSI out of Phila., who supplied the Firebirds their unis.” … The Trenton Devils recently retired Scott Bertoli’s number, and the team wore a patch for the occasion. “This is particularly noteworthy since the Devils very rarely allow jersey patches on any level,” says Paul Roper. … Check out this awesome photo of Rogers Hornsby’s son Bill, taken on 7/6/34. Not clear if he was the bayboy or just hanging out on “Take your kid to work day” (great find by Bruce Menard). … Buncha stuff from Phil: Lousiville won yesterday, so they can get their practice gear back; this video clip has gotta be the weirdest uni-related promotion ever; with the economy in the shitter, logos are getting more upbeat; and if the Giants and Jets can share a stadium, why not the Niners and Raiders? … Way back in the fall of 2007, I wrote an entry about an article in an old issue of Inside Sports, in which some menswear designers were hired to create prototype uni designs that were modeled by some sportscasters. Fast-forward to last night, when David Soline was watching a 1981 Bosox/Chisox game on the MLB Network and heard that article being discussed by Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersal: “Harry mentioned the uniform design contest and the designer uniforms that he and Jack Buck wore for the article. He said the pants were so baggy, like the Sox used to wear. Piersal said he did not like the pants he used to wear, as the elastic was too tight. Then he said, ‘But these uniforms today [in 1981] are the best.’ And then added, ‘Maybe not ours.’” … Good primers on several kinds of non-sports uniforms here (with thanks to Morris Levin). … Rockies coach Jim Tracy wore a jacket with $200 in cash attached to it yesterday, as motivation for a fielding drill/contest, which was won by Jhoulys Chacin. … Is the Italian WBC jersey cream-colored, or is it just the lighting? … Check out Jeff Clement wearing one of those little paddle gloves during a catching drill. … Nice. … Iowa finally wore their new System of Dress uniforms yesterday. … LSU’s new baseball stadium opened over the weekend, so the team wore jersey patches for all of their weekend games. Here’s a closer look at the patch design, although the actual patch doesn’t appear to have the Sonic logo, thankfully (with thanks to Mark Jones and Chris Mycoskie). … Kudos to Penn State, the latest school to sever ties with Russell Athletic due to Russell’s labor practices (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … After the Super Bowl, several people noted that Larry Fitzgerald’s team wordmark was curved during the game. But Doug Keklak points out that it looked perfectly normal in the first half. … Big congrats to Ma & Pa Uni Watch, who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary yesterday (that’s known as the Maris anniversary, natch). Love you both!
February 23rd, 2009
[Ed. Note: Tonight is the annual Academy Awards presentation. In celebration of this, Doug Keklak approached me about authoring a piece detailing two movies near and dear to him, one of which is an absolute classic and referenced here all the time ("Slap Shot"), starring the recently-departed Paul Newman, while the other marked one of the earliest appearances ever of one-time stud and now scientologist and freak-show Tom Cruise ("All The Right Moves"), both of which were filmed in his hometown. Doug takes an in depth at the various uni-goodness found in both movies below. Enjoy. --Phil]
By Doug Keklak
In honor of Oscar Night, I thought I would share some uni-related memories of two movies filmed in my hometown of Johnstown, Pennsylvania: Slap Shot and All the Right Moves. Although these movies are very different in their tone and choice of sport, they share notable similarities as well. Both are set in dying steel towns. Both have central characters that are plotting their way out of said dying steel towns. Both include bona fide movie stars in Paul Newman and Tom Cruise (two men that would team up some years later to do The Color of Money). However, Cruise’s career was in its infancy when he set foot in the Flood City while Newman was a Hollywood leading man by the time Slap Shot was being filmed, having starred in such blockbusters as Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting.
Although many of you know me as a Pittsburgh guy, I’ve only lived there for ten years. I was born and raised in Johnstown, which is an hour and a half east of the Steel City. To many of us natives of Johnstown, these two movies are a sense of civic pride. For instance, there’s me with my mini-shrine to Slap Shot in a corner of basement with a chair from the arena I got when they upgraded as well as my MacFarlanes. While it’s most likely no big deal for natives of New York, Los Angeles and other large cities to see their cityscape on the big screen, for those of us from small towns there is something extra special about watching a hockey movie with scenes shot in the same arena they had their high school graduation. The same goes for a football movie with scenes shot in the same stadium that you played your high school ball at. So, while I’ve attempted to stay away from getting too sentimental in my post, focusing on uniform and equipment elements, it’s hard for some of those moments not to slip in so I apologize in advance.
Before I get into the meat of the post, I’d like to take a moment to explain the meaning of the title of the post. “Flood City?”, you may ask, similar to the way the Hanson Brothers did in a pregame locker room interview, “what are you talking about?” After the steel industry, when most people think of the City of Johnstown they think of floods and that is because we have suffered through three major floods. The worst of these was the Great Flood of 1889 but there were also notable floods in 1936 and 1977. The high water marks of these three floods are noted on the town’s City Hall. OK, that’s enough of a history lesson other than recommending David McCullogh’s Johnstown Flood and the Charles Goggenheim documentary The Johnstown Flood (which incidentally won the academy award 20 years ago for Best Documentary, Short Subject).
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Without further adieu, as T.O. would say, “get your popcorn ready” and let’s take a stroll down memory lane:
 ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: Generally thought of as the lesser of the two J-town movies, ATRM is by no means a wasted hour and a half, it’s just that it’s never been thought of as a classic and never really had the same cult following as Slap Shot has. Sure, some of it is cliché but if you haven’t seen this movie, you won’t be disappointed but you probably won’t be blown away either.
The movie is set in fictional Ampipe, Pennsylvania which derived it’s name from the American Pipe and Steel Company (also fictional and where the great majority of the townfolk are employed). Ampipe High’s football team was one of these varsity jackets being worn in town. I’m not sure if extras were able to obtain them or what, but they were a great conversation piece. As to my own memorabilia from the movie, I have an Ampipe practice jersey and a Knights pennant (although I didn’t get a good screencap of that, they were very similar to the Ampipe ones.)
Here’s Stefan Djordjevic (portrayed by Mr. Cruise) strolling across a bridge on his way to school early in the movie. My first sentimental item as those onion domes belong to my church!
Oh no! He gets to school meets up with his girlfriend Lisa (portrayed by Lea Thompson) and look them: both wearing Nikes!
A little bit later we are introduced to Coach Nickerson (portrayed by Craig T. Nelson) and although his character in ATRM was more hard ass than the role he would play on Coach as Hayden Fox, I’m convinced this role typecast him into roles as coaches (he was also a coach in Blades of Glory) and central figures of authority high on ego (The District). Anyway, you’ve got to love that foam front, mesh back coach’s cap. That’s total 80’s right there!
Although most, if not all the movie is shot either in the City of Johnstown or Greater Johnstown School District facilities, Ampipe was given the black and gold colors to most likely parallel the Steelers and other Pittsburgh teams. The ironic twist there is that although many extras in the movie were Johnstown High students, the uniforms worn by Ampipe those of Ferndale High School, a small school in a bordering borough. While Johnstown’s colors are blue and black, Ferndale had the black and gold in football, cheerleader and band uniforms that the movie producers were no doubt looking for.
I was unable to find any Ampipe player wearing anything other than a Bike helmet. You know, the props department could have done such a better job on those award stickers no? As an aside, seeing that gray mask really makes me wish the Steelers would have opted for it instead of the black on their throwback helmets.
Random 80’s goodness: Check out the forearm and elbow pads, you just don’t see those anymore, especially since interior offensive lineman can use their hands now … The power of the neck roll! … Old school down and distance marker … Ricko, you got a goofy looking wristband like that in your bag-o-bands?!? … Also, you might dig that Dave Parker tape job on the Ampipe’s kicker’s shoe! … Today’s high school coaches have all kinds of high tech gadgetry at their disposal — This shot shows an old peg board with tags for the depth chart — This was a mainstay in my locker room which extended through the mid-90s … This character was supposed to be a coach on a recruiting trip from Boston College. Is that a sweater that someone representing BC would have worn? I’m asking because I’ve never seen anything related to the school with just a “B” and I’m wondering if this is a Hollywood-type continuity error or legit gear … Although it’s no big deal in high school ball, where refs still wear stirrups regularly, it’s refreshing to see it in action, either in real or fiction football! … Two things here: peep the sleeve length and full stripes! Also, and I swear I NEVER noticed this pre-UW days, but some early logo creep from Russell Athletic (that logo is huge, even for me, a self-describe anti-logo creep!)
Ampipe’s rival: Walnut Heights: The game sequence in ATRM was between Ampipe and their archrivals Walnut Heights. These two schools were very different demographically. While Ampipe had the blue collar, ethnically diverse background, Walnut Heights were the yuppie, suburb WASPs with the great facilities and white collar families with more money.
Walnut Heights was the fictional name derived because an actual school in the area, Westmont Hilltop, shared the WH initials and their red and gray colors were used in the movie for uniforms. The Ampipe/Walnut Heights dynamic is not unlike the real-life perception Johnstown (the city school) has with the suburb schools (Richland and Westmont Hilltop) and the Catholic school (Bishop McCort).
That’s Walnut Heights’ coach Don Yannessa (playing himself). Although Yannessa only had the one speaking line, he was instrumental to the film as a consultant, especially to the game sequences. In real life, Yannessa just retired from a distinguished career as a high school football coach. A teammate of Mike Ditka at Aliquippa, he became the Quips head coach at age 31 in 1972 and coached there until 1988. He left Aliquippa for Baldwin in 1989 and stayed there until 2002. In 2003 he entered his last job as he coached Ambridge until his retirement last fall. Ironically, Ambridge was named due to the American Bridge Company. Ampipe was loosely based on Ambridge as well.
It’s a crappy shot, but the Walnut Heights award sticker is much better than Ampipe’s. If you decrease the size of the photo, you can make out the detail of the knight on the horse.
I won’t bore UW with the continuity errors that only locals would get, but I will show two uni-related items I have issue with: First, I was in attendance one of the nights the game sequence was shot and as you might guess, that rain was fake. Most of the night was spent watching players slide and get dirty in the baseball infield of the stadium. So, did these extras portraying Walnut Heights’ players spend all that time getting dirty and then hose off their white converse cleats?! How ridiculous does that look? The other questionable item is that although many pro teams and some college teams like to wear white at home, in Western PA it is extremely rare if not non-existent (I’m sure there have been some exceptions to that rule in the past 30 years or so). However, this was a home contest for Walnut Heights, yet they came out in their white jerseys. While I understand that Ampipe was in yellow and not a traditional road white, the home color for Westmont Hilltop’s jerseys (which as we mentioned are the inspiration of the entire Walnut Heights theme, not only from a uni-perspective but overall) were red. It would have been more realistic for the movie folks to go with the red and have a color-on-color matchup because that is much more common in the region than home teams wearing white.
That’s about it on ATRM, other than to say there are enough shots of the cuteness that was early 80’s Lea Thompson to fill an entire blog post (as well as one VERY NSFW picture in the gallery of photos that weren’t used for this post!) But, since that’s not the kind of blog this I’ll leave it at that. As a quality movie, I don’t think Leonard Maltin’s 2 1/2 stars is that far off.
All my screencaps from ATRM can be viewed here.
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 SLAP SHOT: Moving on to Slap Shot, I say this without any bias, this is my absolute favorite movie of all time. Not my favorite hockey movie. Not my favorite sports movie. My favorite movie, period. I am of the opinion that the late Paul Newman was the greatest American actor of our time and his portrayal of aging player-coach Reg Dunlop was absolutely brilliant (not to mention he did all his own skating). I’m only stating this because I want to get out of the way my feeling for the movie itself. Not that I don’t have the emotional attachment of it being filmed in my hometown, but I’m speaking only in terms of the quality of the movie. Some people watch Star Wars movies or Monty Python movies and know all the words, well, this is my version of that. I’ve seen this movie so many times I’ve lost track. I won’t watch it with someone that hasn’t seen it before because my reciting the movie word-for-word would probably be pretty damned annoying.
Leonard Maltin gives the movie 3 stars but another critic, the late Gene Siskel gave the film a mediocre review at first but upon further review said that was his greatest regret and that the Slap Shot was one of the greatest American comedies of all time. Of course I couldn’t agree more!
The movie is set in fictional Charlestown, home of the Chiefs, the toughest team in the Federal League. Other Federal League teams included the Hyannisport Presidents, the Peterboro Patriots, the Syracuse Bulldogs, the Broom County Blades, the Long Island Ducks and the Lancaster Gears.
Since Slap Shot has much more game action, this part of the post will break down each team in the movie, then the briefly the refs and finally a miscellaneous category as a “catch all”.
CHIEFS: Being that fictional Charlestown was really Johnstown, it made sense that the Chiefs cribbed the style of the actual minor league team that was in town at the time, the Jets.
Although the first Chiefs jersey we see on screen is the road blue, the first game action we see it at home in front of a less-than-capacity crowd at the War Memorial. I always wondered why Reg didn’t wear the “C” as he was a player-coach. Wouldn’t that make him the unquestioned on-ice leader? However, the honor of the “C” went to Johnny Upton (Allen Nicholls), who was also the only main character to wear a helmet on the Chiefs. Speaking of that helmet, what was up with it? What is that, a piece of foam or rubber on the back of it? Was that a popular, early-style helmet back in the day? I’m also not familiar with the brand name “LANGE“.
Alternates were Jim Ahern (Stephen Mendillo) and Jean-Guy Drouin (Yvon Ponton).
That’s Morris “Moe” Wanchuk (Brad Sullivan), the sex-crazed one of the bunch and although it’s a fictional character, that’s a good “athlete smoking” shot.
Aside from the Hanson Brothers (don’t worry I’m getting there), one of the more eccentric characters was Yvon Barrette’s portrayal of Denis Lemieux (no relation to the Magnificent One). Check out how his mask changed from the tame to the wild as the Chiefs’ personality as went from boring to old-time hockey. Also, who else forgot that Louisville Slugger made sticks?
Meet the Hansons: that’s Steve, Jack and Jeff from left to right, so masterfully “portrayed” by Steve Carlson, Dave Hanson and Jeff Carlson respectively. I put portrayed in quotes because I’m not sure how much of an act they were doing! As many of the other actors in this movie, these guys actually played hockey. In fact, the reason Hanson was called on to play the third Hanson was because the third Carlson Brother, Jack, was called up by the Edmonton Oilers to play in the WHA playoffs while the movie was being filmed (here’s a shot of him from his days as a New England Whaler). The real-life exploits of the Carlson Brothers were no doubt the inspiration for the fictional Hansons and to this day, the line between fiction and reality with these guys is blurred to a point of no return.
The Hansons were picked up by penny-pinching GM Joe McGrath (Strother Martin) from the fictional Iron League. In fact, the boys are all sporting jackets with the league’s logo on them. Although the Iron League doesn’t exist, it’s inspiration may have come from the first professional squad the Carlsons played for: the Marquette Iron Rangers.
What section of the Hansons would be incomplete without a few shots of the boys puttin’ on the foil?!
BULLDOGS: Without a doubt the biggest rival of the Chiefs in the movie, led by their coach and “chief punk” Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken (Paul D’Amato), who also wears the “C”. Overall, Syracuse’s jersey is pretty bland seeing that their mascot is a Bulldog but whatever. Also, orange and black reminds me of the Flyers so of course I’m going to hate it! I will say this though, their goalie had a pretty cool mask.
GEARS: Lancaster was the first road trip for the boys but the game sequence isn’t that detailed, in fact, this is the only quality shot of the Gears’ jersey I could get. Looks inspired by the Detroit Red Wings and sort of reminds me of the logo the Johnstown Wings used later in the 70’s.
BLADES: This sported a multi-colored deep green, white, yellow and red ensemble (that’s “lard ass” Barclay Donaldson as portrayed by Ross Smith). Donaldson went sans helmet, but this player opted for a very nice dark green Cooper model. Speaking of helmets, check out this shot of their bench and mix-and-match approach taken by the players, some with no helmet, some with white and some with green. Here’s a shot of their goalie.
PATRIOTS: This was the most underwhelming jersey of the film, especially since the logo on the Federal League page that I posted earlier has such great potential for a hockey jersey. This is a shame too, because it’s this team that gives us one of the more famous scenes in the movie, the pregame fight with no refs on the ice.
DUCKS: The Long Island Ducks were actually the name of a team that played in the Eastern Hockey League in the late 60’s and early 70s. When the EHL disbanded, two leagues formed, the NAHL and the Southern Hockey League, with teams from the defunct league moving to where they fit geographically in one of those two leagues. The Slap Shot version of the Ducks wore a very distinct looking black, gold and white jersey with some wavy stripes at the top and a unique shoulder and neckline pattern. Yes, that’s Hanrahan, the goalie that Reg drives off the deep end by making some less than polite remarks about his wife! Here’s a slight consistency issue: although all the lettering and numbering on the Ducks’ jersey are either black or black trimmed in white, the Captain’s “C” is just white for some reason.
PRESIDENTS: Aside from the Chiefs, the Presidents are the only team we get to see in both their home and road unis. These unis are probably my favorite in the movie, aside from the Chiefs. I especially like the green road unis with the white shoulders (dig that old goalie equipment and mask and Northland stick). This was the first hockey uniform I can recall, real or fictional, with the front number on the top corner of the jersey. I viewed the sequence with their road jerseys several times to find a “C” or “A” but couldn’t find one. However, you can make out the “A” on the white home jersey I linked above. (Continuity error: that’s the same character, Brophy, in both shots, yet he’s wearing the “A” in one shot but not the other.)
REFEREES: Pardon the poor image quality on this shot, but for the movie you can see that while the linesmen wore traditional black and white zebra stripes, the referee sported red and white. Another nice touch were the names AND numbers on the backs of the jerseys. (A couple of other good looks here and here).
MISCELLANEOUS: I’m not sure what the deal is with both Lily and Ned Braden sporting this ratty looking St. Louis Cardinals hat. Neither Lindsay Crouse or Michael Ontkean hail from the midwest … Although the blue and black of my alma mater was snubbed in ATRM, it figures prominently in Slap Shot as the band plays at both the championship game and the celebratory parade … There was some talk in the comments not too long ago about whether the patch on the Chiefs’ jersey was a Federal League patch or a patch for the All-American City. This shot shows it was the latter … Grammar fail from the Charlestown fans! … Who’s that foxy lady with the 70’s flair? None other than Newman’s daughter Suzanne.
All my screencaps of Slap Shot can be viewed here.
Phil asked me to explain “what’s the story with that dog?” Reg Dunlop’s “that’s the dog that saved Charlestown from the 1938 flood” is a line that has confused local folklore for years! For the REAL story, check out these links.
Art imitates life: in Slap Shot, fictional Charlestown was going through tough times as the mills were closing and the Chiefs were going to fold. In real life, the Jets were forced to fold in due to the 1977 flood. They would have had to sit out the year anyway because the NAHL folded. Hockey came back for a two-year span that gave Johnstown fans the lowly Wings and Red Wings for the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons. Poor attendance and decreasing economic woes caused the sport of hockey to leave Johnstown until 1988.
It was that season that Johnstown was awarded a franchise in the now defunct All-American Hockey League. You want to talk about old-time hockey? That first season had games with all-out brawls on a regular basis (including goalies). The next season the ECHL was formed as the East Coast Hockey League and although the squad has struggled to average 2,000 fans a game in attendance, they are currently the sole charter member of the league that has survived.
When it came time to name the squad, the new owners wanted to name them the Jets but the previous owners would not relinquish the rights to that name. So what was their second choice? Obviously, the Chiefs!
The Hanson Brothers make regular appearances at the War Memorial and from time to time the Chiefs sport throwbacks of either the movie Chiefs or the Jets. People from all over the world make pilgrimages to the Cambria County War Memorial to say they were in the arena where Slap Shot was made.
Well, that’s all folks, I hope you enjoyed your double-feature of Flood City cinema. I’ll leave with the immortal words of Charlestown Sportswriter Dickie Dunn (M. Emmett Walsh): “I tried to capture the spirit of the thing.”
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Thanks Douggie! I think it’s time to fire up Slap Shot on the ol’ DVD real soon. Lets try to keep the Slap Shot quotes to a minimum ;).
This and That: Got this note late last night from UW reader Jeff Shirley: “Phil, Here’s a closeup of the patch the Jazz wore tonight in honor of Larry Miller’s passing. I thought the patch looked great. I also thought you might enjoy the tribute, complete with the old school note. (too bad they didn’t wear the high striped socks too).” Nice touch. The Jazz basketball team owner Larry H. Miller died of complications from Type 2 diabetes Friday, Feb. 20, 2009. He was 64. … Talk about your color on color matchup … can someone who follows soccer please explain What the hell is on Pumas’ kit? … Dude (or is that a chick?) — You’re wearing the wrong color sweater … good to see there’s no logo creep in boxing … nice closeup here of Roberto Luongo’s facemask — complete with vector wordmark … Interesting take on the “rent-a-player” joke … and despite shutting out the Dev’s 4-0, I still HATE the Isles socks they wear in their third uni.
Enjoy the Oscars. — Phil
February 22nd, 2009
By Phil Hecken (turning the double play with UW Graphics Star, Paul Soto)
A few scant weeks ago, during a discussion in the Uni Watch comments section, a question was posed as to whether teams, like the Milwaukee Brewers, who currently wear “Team” names on their roadies, should sport their “City” name instead (as the Baltimore Orioles once wore, and will again be wearing during the 2009 season). “Ask and ye shall receive” was the refrain shortly thereafter in the comments, as UW stalwart Pretty Boy Paulie produced this fantastic concept jersey to give us all a visualization of what the Brewers away uniform might look like if the team were to place their city’s name on the front, instead of their current incarnation.
I must note here that others, such as UW poster Chance Michaels, have also conceptualized some new unis for the Brew Crew; here’s another concept. While coming up with new concepts for “your team” is nothing new, there has to be a reason the Brewers keep coming up as a team in need of a “tweak,” with an overriding desire to place the city name on the away jersey. Why hasn’t Milwaukee already done so?
It couldn’t be that “Milwaukee” is “too long” or would appear unweildy. After all, the Brewers have also worn these. Is it just resistance to change? Is it fear that by removing “Brewers” and replacing it with “Milwaukee,” they may lose (or alienate) fans from other Wisconsin towns? That is, of course, a subject for another day and time. But with Paulie producing that graphic that day on Uni Watch, my interest in the conceptualization of alternate jerseys was placed into overdrive from it’s already hyperactive normal state.
Paulie didn’t just “tweak” the Brewers uni, he took on others as well. He produced two more images that day, one of the St. Louis Cardinals, and one of the Tampa Bay Rays, each graphically depicting how those two team’s road uniforms would look were they to include their city name instead of the team name. Shortly thereafter, I contacted Paul to see if he’d be interested in ‘producing’ other concept jerseys for the other teams. He happily obliged, and has already provided me with more than sixty such depictions, some of which will be shown in this column. They range from the aforementioned “city-name-on-away” jerseys, to tweaks to current uniforms, to entirely new concepts, to what we have been calling on Uni Watch, the “fauxback.”
Uni Watch founder Paul Lukas didn’t coin the term, but I asked him for his definition of the word, to which he replied, a “fauxback” is “A retro-ish uniform that is clearly meant to evoke a particular design from the past but does not quite duplicate that design faithfully (sometimes due to laziness or inattention to detail, sometimes intentionally).”
But that’s Paul’s interpretation of someone else’s term. Pressed further, he continues, “I don’t know who coined it, and I’m not positive I’m interpreting it correctly. One reason I haven’t used it myself is that I’m not entirely comfortable with it — ‘faux’ has a very negative connotation, and I think some ‘fauxbacks’ don’t deserve the negative vibe. The Brewers’ throwback, e.g., isn’t an exact replica of their 1982 uniform, but the differences are intentional and, I think, perfectly acceptable. It’s not a ‘pure’ (i.e., exactly accurate) throwback, but I don’t think that’s a negative thing.”
With that in mind, two examples of what I deem a “fauxback” are found in the Phillies alt and the Indians alt. Because the term is still open to interpretation, however, I must note that Mr. Lukas doesn’t consider the Indians alternate to be a “fauxback” whereas I do. Your thoughts on this are welcome and encouraged.
So, without further ado, lets meet the man behind the UW “fauxbacks”, Mr. Paul Soto, also known as “Pretty Boy Paulie.”
Phil Hecken: So Paul, I, like so many others who frequent Uni Watch, love uniforms. First question: “What drove you to ‘tweak the MLB uniforms”?
Paul Soto: With a little Adobe Photoshop dexterity and imagination, anybody can make their uniform dreams come true.
PH: Well, I have Photoshop and I’d like to think I have an imagination, but I can’t do what you do. Anyway, what’s your take on major league uniforms?
PS: In my opinion, I believe most uniforms in the MLB are just a tweak away from perfection. Whether it is a logo switch, addition of a sleeve patch or just a splash of color on the number trim. Some, on the other hand, need a total revamp *cough* Blue Jays *cough*.
PH: How’d you get your screen name, and is that also your nickname?
PS: The nickname “Pretty Boy Paulie” is a childhood name that was given to me during my elementary years. Coach Jimmy Paul, my softball/baseball coach, would always heckle me from the dugout. I had a “thing” where I would dust off my uniform, straighten up my high cuffed socks and make sure my jersey was buttoned up and tucked in. I did this before every at bat, as soon as I got on base and in the outfield between pitches. Coach Paul would yell out “Quit being such a pretty boy Paulie! Get dirty!”
PH:: So, you’re kind of a “throwback” player, then. I’m impressed. Do you still do this?
PS: My strange tick has never disrupted a play nor has it ever took my attention away from a game. That was around 15 years ago and I still kinda do it.
PH: Nice. Do you have any other quirks, uniform or other?
PS: In my junior year of high school, I always wore different colored and striped socks for every game. I was about the only one who wore the striped socks and coach didn’t care for them. So homecoming game we were going to play at a stadium that had a turf field. That gave me more footwear freedom. I decided to break out a pair of gold and white Air Jordan XVI’s with white and navy striped socks. Our uniforms were replicas of Notre Dame’s. When coach saw me he said “Dammit Paul! Why do you have to be such a damn pretty boy”.
PH: OK, back to what we’re about to see. Which version of Photoshop do you use (because that’s obviously what’s holding me back), and can you tell me how you do it?
PS: Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is my current program for image manipulation (I know it’s kinda old). I pretty much start but using a the current uniform template of a team, you can find these on Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos. Then I paint over the logos, wordmarks and/or numbers that I plan to remove or adjust. You can use the paint bucket at a 10% tolerance, to ensure you don’t overpaint it and you get a smooth color. The “magic wand” is also a great tool to use when you’re try to remove unwanted colors and lines to ensure you get a seamless design placement.
PH: You lost me there, but that’s OK. We decided to do our first column on “fauxbacks,” which are my personal favorites for teams that absolutely, positively insist on having an alternate uniform. What do you think of them?
PS: “Fauxbacks” really should be utilized by all teams in the MLB…at least where applicable. It’s a great marketing tool and fans love nostalgia.
PH: What was your inspiration for the “fauxbacks” we’re about to see?
PS: I feel that “fauxbacks” shouldn’t just focus on one year or design in particular. They can take elements from different decades and generations and try to fuse them together. I just wouldn’t take a design from the 40’s and use logos from the 80’s on a uniform…but that’s should be common sense, no?
PH: Common sense and baseball design sometimes seem mutually exclusive. But for the most part, I LOVE your “fauxbacks.” Let’s have a look-see, and maybe you can describe your inspiration or guidelines for each one.
PS: Sure. Here we go! Some of these “fauxbacks” could actually become the team’s uniform! My designs are in bold.
Oakland A’s: You gotta love this one! This is one my favorites. The color combination is awesome! It’s based on the 1973-1984 design. Most of the design elements are still intact minus the green and yellow striped elastic waistband. The stripes were shrunk down in order to appeal to today’s modern crowd but still be true to the original. The A’s current colors were used, which really haven’t changed at all. Today’s colors are just a few shades darker. The green jersey can be worn at home as well as on the road. I did not produce a yellow jersey because I’m not sure if it would even be welcomed today. It would be best to keep the yellow jersey as a “throwback.” As a testament to the Athletics’ past.
Chicago Cubs: My second favorite! Last June the Cubs hosted a “Turn Back the Clock game” where the Cubs and Braves wore uniforms of the mid to late 40’s. Both teams looks MAR-VE-LOUS! The only problem was the Cubs’ uniforms were inaccurate. They wore navy caps that had a red wishbone “C’ with white trim….the Cubs never wore this hat. A royal blue cap with a red wishbone “C’ during those years. Their uniforms were pure white and not cream. So I wanted to correct that by doing a basic cream uniform that used their current numberals and current cap. The primary logo on the jersey was used from 1957-1978 which featured a thin blue ring around “Cubs”. Royal blue stir-ups with red stripes makes a return and is simply dashing. The road jersey’s design is based on an early 40’s design and the wordmark was used from the early 50’s to the late 60’s. The jersey is to be worn as a vest and not a sleeveless jersey…there is a difference. Striped sleeves on the undershirt may be tough to pull off but a phone call to Nike and Majestic may get things sorted out….or am I being unrealistic? Striped stir-ups are worn and current numbers and cap is also featured.
Cleveland Indians: This one is inspired by the “adventurous” mid-70’s look. From 1973-1977 the cartoonish wordmark and cap logo rebelled, so to speak, from the Indians usual conservative look. The Indians’ current uniform template and typeface was used to balance out the color and wordmark. Red to stun at home and a navy blue jersey to keep it classy on the road.
San Francisco Giants: Another flashy design from a team’s conservative history in uniforms. From 1977-1982 the Giants jersey bore a script wordmark. San Fran’s current uni template and numbers are used. Black jerseys were used as an alternate and orange was on the road. Several years ago the Giants experimented with a black alternate but it featured black wordmark and numbers with orange trim…horrible. The Giants have worn black jerseys before and black is part of their color scheme. So I felt that it needed to be revisited and done properly. The wordmark and numbers now feature orange with white trim much like the original alternate jersey. The cap also harks back to that age with an orange brim…but the “SF” logo on the cap features a white trim. This was a personal decision…it matches the jersey’s typeface and it just looks better.
Baltimore Orioles: Now this jersey is a tricky one to pull off. It may look good on paper but how will it look on the field? I’m gonna roll the dice on this one and say the Orioles can pull it off. The Giants have also worn an orange jersey but the “busy” wordmark strains the eyes a bit. Baltimore wore an orange jersey begining in 1971 and continued from 1975-1992. The smooth “Orioles” script wordmark keeps it toned down. Current design template and cap is used. An old friend of the Orioles also appears on the sleeve patch. The smiling oriole was featured on the caps from 1966-1988.
Chicago White Sox: Most Sox fans that I have spoken with agree that the uniforms worn from 1982-1986 is their favorite. One reason being that it liberated them from the “worst uniform in baseball history”. You know which one I’m talking about…the shorts…the collar…the untucked jersey…the HORROR! The cap features a script “C’ that was worn from 1987-1989. Now the original early 80’s jersey featured a massive blue stripe with red trim across the chest and sleeves. I really don’t think that would work now a days so I cut it down to the edges of the sleeve and kept the simple “SOX” block wordmark across the chest. The player number is also featured on the front of the pant, a small call back to the days of yesteryear.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: The Angels haven’t radically changed their uniforms since their debut in 1961 (well, I’m ignoring the 1997-2001 Disney designed uniforms). Their current wordmark, minus the drop shadow, and typeface was kept. The same sleeve and collar striping was worn from the early 70’s through the early 90’s. It looked clean and sharp and it was brought back for this one. A navy cap with red brim is also featured with the current primary logo that has a gold halo. A lil bit of controversy may get stirred up with the sleeve patch. From 1970-1985 the Angels wore a sleeve patch that featured the state of California in red, with a gold halo and gold star placed where the Angels play. It may evoke emotions of communism…some may not see it at all. You decide.
Houston Astros: Ok so this one I had lots to choose from but I decided to keep it simple. I could have gone with a takedown of the CLASSIC “Tequila Sunrise” jersey but I’m sure I would do more harm than good. I used the current logos, wordmark and typeface. Blue, orange and splash of sunrise yellow was used to call back to the ‘Stros past. Something had to be done to show their history of flash and uniform pizazz. So I added a thin strip of piping from the colar down to the edge of the sleeve connecting to matching sleeve trim. This is inspired by the shoulder stripes of the 80’s.
Atlanta Braves: Last but not least is my third favorite. This one is reminicent of the Hank Aaron days in the ATL. “Braves” wordmark from 1972-1986 streaks across the chest. Royal blue cap with the “A” used on the batting practice caps is used here. I think this logo works better with the fauxback than on the practice cap. The pants have red, white and blue piping much like the original uniform from the early 70’s did. Clean and simple is the jersey with thin red piping above the edge of the sleeve and the best part of this uniform is the sleeve patch. The feather sleeve treatment was around from 1972-1979. On this jersey the red trim of the feather sleeve patch should seamlessly fuse with the piping. If Majestic can get this right it would be so awesome!
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Awesome indeed Paulie. Thanks for sharing those “fauxbacks”!
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This and That: Central Michigan University will be outfitted by the 3 Stripes next year…The “Magic” is back: Michigan State will be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of its 1979 NCAA hoops championship…Blaming labor pains, Cornell will be severing ties with Russell, begging the question: Swoosh, 3 Stripes or Vector?…Dumping the “racist” Johnny Reb for a Griffin…what the hell is a griffin?…It’s ok to “be like Mike,” but I guess you can’t be like LeBron…“We’ve become bit of a nemesis because we don’t mind tweaking the Yankees every chance we get.”…Golf course not making any cashish? Close it down and bilk thousands out of unsuspecting suckers in the name of “charity”, reopen it as a philanthropic enterprise…Does your kid need a custom-fit school uniform? Perhaps (s)he’s not getting enough exercise…And finally, newly acquired Rafer Alston went NNOB last night against the ‘cats, being forced to wear the emergency, nameless No. 36 jersey the Magic carry with them on the road.
Pretty in Pink? The Pink Parade continues this weekend, with the Missouri State Lady Bears donning the pink against Wichita State…Kansas will host the Iowa State Cyclones on Sunday, Feb. 22 in its annual “Pink Zone” game…Arkansas State University will oppose Denver in another “Pink Zone” faceoff.
February 21st, 2009
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