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Archive for June, 2009
Check out all the little scribblings on Ramon Ramirez’s cap last night. They’re a little smudged, but they’re definitely handwritten inscriptions arranged in a symmetrical pattern, not just random bits of resin or something like that.
After reader Tom Hedrick tipped me off to this phenomenon, I went back and checked Ramirez’s previous appearance, which was on June 25th — sure enough. Has he been doing this all season? Anyone know what it’s about?
New ESPN column today — look here.
Raffle Results: The following lucky folks have each won a pair of tickets to see Wilco next month: For the Brooklyn show, Dan Grunfield and Max Meyer; for Wappingers Falls, Joel Keller and Matt Comeau; for Wilmington, Michael Princip and Brett Klopp; and for Lowell, Skylar Nipps and Bob Sughrue. I’ll be in touch with all of you shortly to go over the particulars.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Interesting article on PBA jerseys here (with thanks to Brian Russell). … Jeff Scott notes that the Cardinals are using different NOB type formats for Mark DeRosa, Tony LaRussa, and Kyle McClellan. … Brendon Yarian attended the World Junior Football Championships, being held in Canton, and provided a bunch of pics. … Magglio Ordonez is auctioning off some of hair for charity. And so reasonably priced (with thanks to James Huening). … Awesome sporting goods tag here. Comes from this jacket. … Spoke yesterday with Rangers equipment manager Zach Minasian, who said Josh Hamilton’s half-and-half jersey was a gift from a fan and that Hamilton, who’s on the DL, just wore it for kicks during pregame warm-ups. … Did you know there were special sneakers just for skateboarding? OK, so you probably did if your name is Matt Powers, but I didn’t, at leat not until Russ Havens pointed me toward this exhibit. … Absolutely killer Topps baseball card blog here (great find by Mike Hersh). … The Supreme Court has decided to hear that American Needle case. … Check this out: MLB has apparently created an old-timey version of the silhouetted batter logo. Adam Elkana-Hale spotted it on one of those decorative arches being used to promote the All-Star Game in St. Looey. … Surprising that Fernando Nieve gets away with wearing this glove (which he’s been wearing for a while), especially since, as Phil points out, section 1.15(a) of the rulebook stipulates that “[t]he pitcher’s glove may not be white or gray.” … Here’s Chuck Daly memorial patch that the Pistons will be wearing next season. … Nebraska will wear throwbacks on September 26th, to mark the team’s 300th consecutive sellout. … New soccer kit for Hull City (with thanks to Les Motherby). … I’d totally forgotten about this tiger-striped mask from 2003. … Brutal news buried in the middle of this article: “[I]t appears as if [Josh] Outman’s season is over. He was placed on the 60-day DL … and there is a strong chance he will need Tommy John surgery. … [H]e could be looking at missing the rest of this season and all of next season. … His entire locker has been packed up.” Get better soon, Josh — your arm may be sore, but your shins inspired an entire nation.
And new a quick word from Bryan: Last week, when Paul told you of my latest bike mishap, he also mentioned the rest of the stuff that’s gone awry for me this year. I know a lot of you out there have gone through similar or worse things (OK, maybe with fewer bike crashes), so it was especially heartening to receive such a generous gift.
More than the dollar amount, which was certainly nice, I’m thankful for your thoughtfulness and care. My wife and I have been the beneficiaries of such compassion time and again this year (pretty much all my fault), and we’re no less grateful now. Thank you.
June 30th, 2009
New ESPN column today — link coming soon. tomorrow.
Meanwhile: Several uni-related discussions during yesterday’s ballgames. Let’s start in Milwaukee, where the combination of a blowout game and one of those stupid text-vote promotions gave Brewers broadcasters Brian Anderson and Bill Schroeder the opportunity to have the following uni dialogue:
Brian Anderson: Our U.S. Cellular Text to Vote: your favorite logo. The ball-in-glove is W, the X logo is, uh, I don’t know what you call that one, a crest? And then the current Brewers logo is Y.
Bill Schroeder: A crest?
Anderson: I don’t know what’d you guys call that one?
Schroeder: It was a Notre Dame logo.
Anderson: Notre Dame?
Schroeder: Kind of reminder me of the ND.
Anderson: Is that something you’re comin’ up with, or is that what they called it?
Schroeder: Just looked like it to me.
Anderson: Kind of blew my crest out of the water there, and then you came back with a Notre Dame logo!
Schroeder: I’m tryin’ to help.
Anderson: Sitting here in Marquette country and you’re gonna drop a Notre Dame on us.
Schroeder: That logo didn’t last long. It really didn’t.
Anderson: That wasn’t, it wasn’t, that wasn’t a high point. And it was associated with some pretty bad ballclubs as well.
Schroeder: Yeah. The dark days in Brewer history.
Anderson: You were in the ball-in-glove era…
Schroeder: Yes sir.
Anderson: …and you were in the California Angels era, right?
Schroeder: Right. The Brewer era with the baby-blue road uniforms, pool-over jerseys [I swear that's how he pronounced it -- PL], the no-belt look
Anderson: A nice tight fit.
Schroeder: The Mod Squad era.
Anderson: I think more teams should bring back the baby blues. I know the Royals have done it. … Had a question about the ball-in-glove uniforms earlier in the homestand. I was walking through the stands on the way out, and it used to be every Friday they’d have Retro Friday. Now it’s once a month. [Cameraman obligingly shows this fan.] The ball-in-glove with the cheese hat — that’s about as Milwaukee as you can get right there. … Your Notre Dame logo was used from ’94 to ’99.
Schroeder: Longer than I thought.
Anderson: Yeah. Some decent years in there. Phil Garner…
Schroeder [interrupting]: I associate that with the John Jaha era of Brewer baseball. He could hit.
Anderson: What about Barrel Man? Barrel Man was a popular logo in the ’70s. That didn’t make our U.S. Cellular list today.
Schroeder: That was, uh, the first one, right?
Anderson: Yup. That was the very first logo coming from Seattle, when they were the Pilots. [They had] Barrel Man for about eight years. Most of the ’70s it was Barrel Man, until the late ’70s, when the ball-in-glove made it. Tommy Meindel designed that ball-in-glove logo. He was an art history student at UW-Eau Claire, and he won the contest. It’s one of the greatest logos in the history of the game.
Schroeder: What do you think he got for it?
Anderson: I heard he got…
Schroeder: Coupla tickets?
Anderson: A couple of grand. [That is correct, at least according to this article. -- PL]
Schroeder: Tickets, maybe a bat.
Anderson: He got a big “Attaboy.”
Geoff Poole, who tipped me off to this discussion, adds the following: “By the way, the ball-in-glove logo won the poll question with nearly 75% of the vote. I’d say the Brewers’ fans have good taste.”
Meanwhile, over in Pittsburgh, Pirates broadcasters Tim Neverett and Bob Walk engaged in a bit of helmet banter when Royals catcher Brayan Peña was batting:
Tim Neverett: Peña, a switch-hitter. See, he doesn’t have to have two helmets because he uses one with the double flap. Sometimes a switch-hitter likes having only one helmet. Other times they’ll get one with the ear cut off on either side. You don’t see the double-flaps a ton at the big league level. Most of the time it’s cut off on one side or the other.
Bob Walk: Somewhere we saw someone wearing a double-flap who was not even a switch-hitter, which you really don’t see very often. Was it with the Indians? The left fielder, I think..?
Neverett: It was, uh, Shin-Soo Choo.
Walk: Yeah.
Neverett: He’s a left-handed hitter, but he has the double-flap. That’s something you rarely see.
Walk: I knew who it was, but I was gonna wait for you to pronounce the name.
Would’ve been nice if they’d mentioned that double-flaps are mandatory in the minors, but this was generally a much higher level of uni observation than we see from most broadcast teams. Slowly but surely, the rest of the world is catching up to us.
Finally, there was also some uni-related discussion during yesterday’s blue vs. blue game in Arlington, where Rangers broadcasters Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve were getting a lot of e-mail from their viewers:
Josh Lewin: Bo,y one e-mail theme we’re definitely getting tonight is everybody is HATING this look of both teams being in blue.
Tom Grieve: Boy, I can’t agree more.
Lewin: It’s a different shade of blue…
Grieve: There should be a rule against it.
Lewin: Padres are the only team on the field with the sand-colored pants, however. That’s one way you can discern between the two tonight.
Grieve: I mean, at the very least, the home team should declare their uniform, and the visitor should NOT be able to wear a dark-colored jersey. They should have to wear a light-colored road jersey.
Lewin: I agree with you, and in the NBA when the Mavs choose to wear their home greens and they happen to be playing Boston, the Celtics, I guarantee you, would not also be wearing green.
Grieve: Nope.
[Unfortunately the conversation ends abruptly when Scott Hairston hits one out of the park. Later in the game, however, the discussion resumes.]
Lewin: What do you think of the blue and sand uniforms for San Diego?
Grieve: I’m not a big fan.
Lewin: Better though than the old, brown orange and yellow?
Grieve: Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of those either.
Lewin: What about the original mustard-color, all-yellow, Nate Colbert/Mike Ivie style?
Grieve: Ha, no… Served its purpose, but not a fan.
Lewin: Rangers are classic baseball Americana. They feature the red, white, and blue of that Texas state flag…
Grieve: Yeah I’m still a traditionalist. For a home game I like the all-white uniform. I love the red for a weekend game like the Rangers have been using it… The uniforms in this game make it look like a Spring Training game.
Lewin: Agreed. But, just back to the old brown, orange, and yellow… that’s the one that Steve Garvey said made him look like a taco.
Grieve: There’ve been some doozies of uniforms over the years. Cleveland’s all-red one comes to mind…
Lewin: Ugh. Nolan was the only guy I thought that made the Astros’ paint sampler uniform look good.
Grieve: Yeah, that was obviously a different-looking uniform. Of all the ones we’re talking about though, I would prefer that one over the other ones.
Lewin: They never made you wear the 1977 White Sox short shorts?
Grieve: Ha, no. Played against the White Sox when they wore ’em though.
Lewin: Putting Wilbur Wood in that uniform was just not, not fair.
Grieve: The jerseys that they wore were made to hang out of their uniform, and even when they weren’t wearing shorts they wore that year, they wore them with a collar on them. Kind of a little V-neck, with a collar. Tapered and tailored to hang out of their pants. To not be tucked in.
Lewin: To maximize dorkiness.
Grieve: They were probably very comfortable. If you weren’t self-conscious about what you looked like.
Lewin: Was that considered stylish at that time? I mean I was like 9…
Grieve: Well, it was stylish in that they were the only ones wearing it. It wasn’t stylish enough to catch on anywhere else as far as I know.
Special thanks to pseudonymous reader u2-horn for providing the transcript of that last one.
Research Request: If anyone out there watched a lot of MTV in the 1980s and would like to assist me with a research project, please give me a shout. Don’t worry, I promise it has nothing to do with Michael Jackson and plenty to do with uniforms. Thanks.
Raffle Reminder: Thanks to everyone who donated to Bryan’s relief fund. That project is now closed, and today’s the last day to enter the raffle for the Wilco tickets. If you haven’t already entered, submit your entry (one per person, except for Membership Program enrollees, who can submit four entries) by sending a blank e-mail to the raffle address. The subject line should have your name and which of these four shows you wish to attend. If you can attend more than one, please list them in order of preference. I’ll announce the winners tomorrow.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Ebbets Field Flannels prexy Jerry Cohen has started a new historical blog, Flannel of the Month. … Nice feature on awful soccer kits here (with thanks to T. Faust). … Bruins blogger Greg Ezell has begun a historical survey of the team’s uniforms, beginning with the 1920s. … Good soccer patch contribution from James Robertson, who writes: “FIFA came up with unique tournament patches for each team in the Confederations Cup, featuring a silhouette of the trophy that the team won to get to the tournament. Spain has the European Champions trophy on their sleeve patch, for example, and the U.S. has the Gold Cup theirs.” … Interesting to see that Rodrigue Beaubois had a little French flag on his French cuffs at the NBA Draft (with thanks to Mike Verna). … The Edmonton Eskimos will wear 1960s throwbacks for three games this season. Further details here. … NHL draft prospects discuss their favorite and least-favorite jerseys here (with thanks to Thomas Leibowitz). … If you click here, you’ll see the lead singer from a Boston band called the Fools giving a tour of Fenway Park. It’s only a so-so clip, but the interesting thing is that he’s wearing a Red Sox cap I’ve never seen before, featuring the standard B combined with the hanging socks. Just a fashion cap, natch, but it’s a new one to me. … Good article here about the development of the Philadelphia Union brand. If you want more, this article suggests that the team’s logo was ripped off from Nike. … Interesting merchandising legal case at issue here. … Last section of this article mention’s David Eckstein’s penchant for wearing NFL receiver’s gloves instead of batting gloves (with thanks to Dusty McGowan) … “Marathon Gas Stations sold these Kentucky Colonels tumblers in like ’70 or ’71,” writes Brinke Guthrie. “They are called Pro Star Portraits, by the artist Jim Volpe. You got them with a fill-up. They came in 8×10 format, or in a poster I believe with all the photos on it, and these tumblers. We used to trade these in school like crazy. Just got ’em on eBay for like 14.95 or so — the seller forgot to use the word ‘Volpe’ in the title or they would’ve sold for a lot more.” … Knicks draft picks Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas donned Mets gear prior to Friday night’s game at Shea. … Adam Elkana-Hale was Kilkenny vs. Galway in the Leinster provincial hurling semifinals when he saw the Kilkenny goalie wearing a Chicago Bears cap. “It’s not even a color match, because Kilkenny is black/gold,” notes Adam. Bizarre. …. Chris Mayberry snapped this shot at a recent Royals game. … Cerveceros vs. Gigantes in Milwaukee on Saturday night. … The Royals and Pirates did the Negro Leagues thing on Friday and Saturday nights. First time I can recall back-to-back throwback games. As you can see, KC had some color-coordination issues. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Josh Hamilton, who’s on the DL, wore some sort of bizarro half-and-half jersey while stretching before Saturday’s Rangers/Padres game. The NOB is his nickname (also found on his batting gloves), but what’s the deal with the Lokai and Bele jersey treatment? Do the Rangers routinely do this for players who are rehabbing while on the DL? I’ll try to find out. … I love the jackets in this photo. … Denis Repp reports that the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh has a new exhibit on Forbes Field. “It includes a nice uni find: a Homestead Grays uniform, circa 1947,” he writes. “It was worn by Euthumn Napier, who became the Grays’ starting catcher in 1947 after Josh Gibson died the previous winter.” There’s also a Pennsylvania Turnpike exhibit with a toll clerk’s uniform. You can see both uniforms here. … Latest CFL team to unveil a throwback element: the Calgary Stampeders (with thanks to DeForest Maitland). … Yet another Nats problem, as explained by Dave Raglin: “The Nats have had a problem with the out-of-town scoreboard ever since moving into Nats Park. This picture is from Tuesday 6/23, and it shows #63 as the winning pitcher for the Tigers and #37 the loser for the Cubs. Those uni numbers are switched — 37 is Brandon Lyon, the winner for the Tigers, and 63 is Kevin Gregg, the loser for the Cubs. The funny thing is that it only affects finals, not games in progress (note in the Reds/Jays game on the board, for example that #51 for the Reds is Jared Burton and #54 for the Jays is Jason Frasor, and those are correct).” … You have got to be kidding me (blame Hugh McBride). … A museum in Germany has been exhibiting someone’s collection of over 2000 sports trophies (with thanks to Rob Walker). … Somewhat bizarre uni note from Matthew Hiett, who writes: “The Coca-Cola bottle at Turner Field is covered in authentic MLB equipment, including red alternate jerseys. They used Cool Base jerseys, and now the ventilated pits have faded more than the rest of the jerseys.” … Tim Wood has singled out an interesting little sub-niche of sports design: private yacht signal flags, many of which are gorgeous. “For years, I’ve had this flag, which belonged to my wife’s mother’s boat, hanging in my office,” he writes. He’s scanned a bunch of pages from the 1948 Lloyd’s Register of American Yachts and put them here. “The signals in the book are arranged based on the dominant color(s) in the design,” he explains. “At first I thought that this had something to do with making it simpler to print. But a better explanation might be that it made the book more useful as an identification guide. If you see a yacht signal and want to know who it belongs to, you can start by looking in the section with the signal’s main color and work from there –much easier than if they were arranged alphabetically or chronologically or some other way that would require looking through all the designs until you found the right one.” … Alain Nana-Sinkam was driving through Media, Pennsylvania the other day when he spotted two Eagles helmet carts — one featuring the team’s current helmt design, one from the Jaworski era — parked in back of a gas station. “They were in a body shop/junkyard type of lot that was fenced off, so I asked a guy that worked there if I could take some pictures,” he writes. “He checked with the owner and then came back and said the owner refused to let me take any pictures since ‘he makes them for the Eagles.’ So I left but did my best James Bond and snapped a couple of pics with my phone as I drove away. Unfortunately, I was too far away to get much detail, but the modern one is unlike any helmet cart I’ve ever seen. It looked like it was bolted on an actual vehicle, as opposed to the golf cart kind I’ve normally seen.” … Last week Mariano Rivera wore Alfredo Aceves’s batting helmet. Last night he wore Cody Ransom’s (screen shot courtesy of Terence O’Donohue). … In other Yankees headwear news, still no Yankee Stadium patch or MLB logo on Brian Bruney’s cap (with thanks to Chris Gordon for the screen shot). … Chad Todd just got back from Baltimore, where he wore these stirrups for a visit to Camden Yards. “Got lots of compliments,” he says. “Can’t thank Robert Marshall enough for pulling some strings to get this all done in time for the game.” … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Lengthy article about stirrups here. Recommended reading.
June 29th, 2009
 By Phil Hecken, with Pacific Rim Correspondent, Jeremy Brahm
I’m once again joined by Uni Watch’s resident expert on all things Asian, Jeremy Brahm. Jeremy enjoys bringing us a look at the uniforms throughout the globe we rarely get to glimpse. Today, he takes an incredibly in-depth look at the uniforms of the Korean Baseball Organization, or “KBO.” So, with that, here’s Jeremy: [--PH]
After helping Bill Jones with a gumball helmet project on Japan, he asked me if I had any information on the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), and I replied, “I do not really know that much about it.” But, after doing some research over a weekend, I have found that Korean professional baseball has only been around since 1982 and that there are only eight teams, with a few changes in names and sponsorships, which of course have led to different uniform combinations. In today’s article, I have listed the eight current teams in alphabetical order. In today’s article, I have listed the eight current teams in alphabetical order. Also, after seeing Flip Flop Fly Ball’s (which Paul featured in a recent column) KBO Map, you can place the teams with their cities.
The Doosan Bears: Based in Seoul, Doosan acquired the sponsorship of the Bears in 1999 from Oriental Brewery (OB). Their home uniforms and road uniforms at that time had blue and white boomerangs respectively on their uniforms and Doosan Bears was written over the heart. Their hats have a slanted D in blue with a yellow outline on a blue cap and helmet.
At present the Bears wear this for their home uniform and shrunk the boomerang and moved behind the text on the heart. The same can be said for the road uniform as well.
The Bears have also worn some special uniforms, such as an OB Bears throwback in 2007 and 2009 but the team used a D on their hats and caps instead of OB.
Also the Bears wore pink this past May for breast cancer awareness. But you could wear some funky catching helmet if that suits you.
Hanwha Eagles: Based in Daejeon and took over the sponsorship of the Eagles from Binggrae in 1994. The old logo looked like this. This is their first road uniform set, a red top with white pants, Hanwha in Hangeul and Eagles in white. Here is their home uniform in 1999, a white base with red sleeve stripes and a red cap. The road uniform had a red top with white pants. The top had Eagles in white script with black outlines and Hanwha in Hangeul in white lettering. Also black and white sleeve stripes and pant leg stripes.
The Eagles then shifted to a home uniform with red pinstripes, red raglan sleeves and a red yoke outline, with the Eagles script in red and the old Eagle hat. Hanwha was in Hangeul under the Eagles script in black. The road version had a red base with horizontal red pinstripes on the white raglan sleeve, with the Eagles script and Hanwha in Hangeul both in white.
Soon after the Eagles got rid of the Eagle logo on the hat and changed to the script E on the hat for the home and the road.
After the 2006 season, the Eagles changed their logo and colors to orange, black and white. Here is their home uniform, a white base with and expanding line from the collar to the sleeve in orange with black edges and the Eagles script in orange with white outlines and black shadows. Also an orange hat/helmet with an E and black/orange pant leg stripes. The road uniform has an orange top with an expanding black line with white edges and the Eagles script in black with white shadows. White pants with black/orange pant leg stripes.
Lastly, this year the Eagles became the first KBO team to put Romanized player names on the back of their uniforms. But don’t forget.
KIA Tigers: Based in Gwangju, KIA Motors acquired the sponsorship rights to the Tigers after the 2000 season from Haitai. The home uniform for the KIA Tigers in their first year was a white base with red yoke lines, KIA’s script with a small Tigers patch over their heart. The logo in white on the red hat for the Tigers was based on the old KIA Motors logo. The first road uniform probably looked this road uniform, but this is a little different than the first road uniform because it has different cap, a red K with a white outline. I would bet that the old KIA logo hat was used.
In 2004 or 2005 the Tigers changed their home uniform to say Tigers across the front in a Texas Rangers-like font, with a small KIA over their heart. The team retained the red K hat. Their road uniform changed to a red top and black sleeve stripe, with white pants with black pinstripes. Tigers was in black with white outlines and KIA was in white as well. Also notice the Tiger patch on the right sleeve.
The current Tigers home uniform looks similar to that previous version, but the red cap was changed to a black T with “Tiger stripes” on the brim, according to Aaron Shinsano over at East Windup Chronicle. The stripes are not on the batting helmets. The same can be said of the road uniforms.
LG Twins: Based in Seoul, LG took over the sponsorship of the MBC Blue Dragons after the 1989 season and renamed them the Twins. Here is an up close picture of their 1990 home uniform, which had a white base with black pinstripes (top and bottom) and double black shoulder stripes and double black pant leg stripes. LG was written in cursive in red letters with a black outline and Twins was written in Hangeul in black below the LG. Notice the Twins patch on the right sleeve. The cap/helmet was black with a red T with a white outline.
The road uniform kept the white pants with black pinstripes, but had a black base top with double white shoulder stripes. Also LG was written in cursive in red letters with a white outline and Twins was written in Hangeul in white below the LG. The Twins kept these uniforms from 12 years until the end of the 2001 season. In 1999 the Twins added an alternate home uniform for the summer that was a sleeveless vest. It did not have a Twins patch, nor did it have double black shoulder stripes. They also added a road alternate uniform in the summer that dropped white shoulder stripes and put the LG logo on the right sleeve.
For the 2002 season, this was their new home uniform. It changed to a button from a pullover. The same could be said of the road uniform as well.
In 2004, the Twins changed to a black sleeveless vest for their top, while keeping the pinstriped pants for their road uniform. The Twins also added a pinstriped sleeveless vest for their alternate home uniform.
In 2006, the Twins shifted from LG over their heart to Twins across their chest on their home and road uniforms. The Twins lettering is shadowed on both uniforms and both uniforms have the LG logo on their right sleeve.
This year the Twins added silver LGs in block letters over the heart for both uniforms.
Lotte Giants: Based in Busan, they are one of the original teams of the KBO. What is surprising to me is that the Lotte Giants and Chiba Lotte Marines (and Lotte Orions, 1969-1991) look very similar in logos designs, and in the past with their uniforms. Lotte does own both teams, but you would think that they would want to have them look different.
Here is the Giants home uniform in 1982. Now lets compare it to the Lotte Orions uniforms of the time. The only major differences that I could see would be the logo on the hat an L with a G circling it, as opposed to an L circled by an O and that the Giants LOTTE is a little bulkier or more rounded.
The road uniforms for the Giants and Orions were also similar as well.
The Lotte Giants did have a GIANTS patch on their right sleeve and a BUSAN on their left sleeve on both uniforms, while the Orions had no patches at all. The Giants kept these uniforms until the mid 1990s. I think that the Giants changed their uniforms at about the same time as the Marines did when they brought in Bobby Valentine to manage in 1995. Here is the script logo change.
The 1995 home uniforms looked very different from the old uniforms. White base with black pinstripes, LOTTE in arched black lettering with white and black outlines. The cap/helmet has the G with the baseball flying through it. I can’t tell if it light silver or white, but it would match what the colors of the Marines. The road uniform was a grey pullover with LOTTE in arched black lettering with white and black outlines.
Here is the Giants home uniform in 2006. The Giants even introduced a Sunday uniform that looks kind of similar to what the Marines used to wear.
Here is what the Giants wore on the road in 2008, a black top with white pants with black pinstripes. The serif was brought back for the G, which is orange, orange and white sleeve stripes and a white yoke. But you can also show who will be your cleanup hitter and your new starting pitcher.
This is what the Giants are wearing this year for their uniforms. The white is their home uniform with black pinstripes and the Giants script in black with orange and black outlines. LOTTE is written of the chest. Hat changed from an orange brim to a black brim. The road uniform in black has GIANTS in orange block lettering with white outlines, an orange yoke and orange panels that extend over the top of the shoulder.
The Giants have also had a tribute to South Korean military on Memorial Day in 2008. This website has tons of pictures, including a Mexican flag on Karim Garcia’s uniform for that game.
The Samsung Lions: Based in Daegu, they are an original member of the KBO. The Lions home uniform in 1982 was a white base with Daegu in dark blue with red sleeve and collar stripes. Their cap had an interlocking S (Samsung) and L (Lions) in red with white outlines.
The home uniform in 1984 had Lions in red script, a red cap with a blue brim and the interlocking SL in blue. From 1985, the Lions changed to a white, baby blue and yellow color scheme. The home uniform had Samsung written in pictographs in baby blue on the chest, baby blue and yellow sleeve and pant leg stripes. The cap kept the interlocking SL, but changed to white letters with a baby blue cap color. Here is an example of the road uniform.
This is a picture of the 1993 home uniform for the Lions. You can see that they had added a lion patch on the right sleeve and the Samsung logo on the left sleeve. Also, Samsung on the chest was from pictographs to Hangeul. The cap/helmet also changed to a blue base with a white front panel with a slanted S than interlocked with the cursive L. So it is a little sideways on the S. You can the see the road version in this photo (2nd from the right).
In 1999, the Lions dropped yellow as one of their primary colors. The home uniform changed to a white base with blue pinstripes and blue double shoulder and pant leg stripes. LIONS is written is blue with white and blue outlines. The cap/helmet also changed to dark blue with a singular S. The new road uniform had a blue top with double white shoulder stripes and kept the white pants with blue pinstripes and blue double pant leg stripes. LIONS is written is white with blue and white outlines.
In 2008 the Lions made another change in their uniform, changing to a script Lions in a lighter blue on their home uniforms and adding SAMSUNG above Lions. The also changed their cap by using to a side-by-side SL on their cap/helmet. The road uniform had a similar change, except that Lions and SAMSUNG would be in white. The Lions did wear a 1985 throwback in 2008 as well and can be seen here.
The Seoul Heroes: Used to be the Hyundai Unicorns but after the 2007 season, Hyundai chose to not renew their sponsorship. An investment group called Centennial Investments bought the sponsorship in February 2008 and in turn signed a sponsorship with Woori Tobacco to be name the Woori Heroes. Here is a picture of their three uniforms.
The hat logo also had an interlocking W in white (Woori) and a gold T (Tobacco). However, the business relationship between Centennial and Woori got so bad that Woori wanted out of the agreement. You can read more about it here.
So after one season, the Heroes had to get a new uniform set made. You already saw the new logo above; here is the new home uniform, road uniform and hat.
I have to say these are a huge improvement on the Woori uniforms. The maroon works well with the white and grey and the hints of yellow.
The SK Wyverns: Established as an expansion team in 2000 and based in Incheon. What is a Wyvern? It is regarded as a dragon according to Wikipedia.
The original home uniform that the Wyverns wore was a white pullover with blue pinstripes and a red SK over the heart. Wyverns was written in blue script with a white outline. Their road uniform, a dark blue pullover with white shoulder stripes, Wyverns in grey with white outlines, white pants with blue pant leg stripes. The cap/helmet was blue with a white W. Later in the season, they added a home alternate and a road alternate. I have to say that both of these are improvements over the beginning of the season.
Then in 2002, they went backward with their uniforms. Big SK in the middle of the chest and putting the Wyverns script below that and shifted to the left. Plus adding SK to the cap. They should have just burned them like Kevin Brown did in the bullpen for the Dodgers. They tried to save the look by adding a W back on the cap, but by the end of the 2003 season they had to move onto something else. Hell the could have even used their alternate home uniform in 2003 instead which had Incheon in script in dark blue, a dark blue yoke and dark blue raglan sleeves.
In 2004, realizing their mistake, the Wyverns went with a dark blue yoke on their white base. Clean and simple look and you still see the SK. For the road uniform just flip the colors. Again, clean and simple.
In 2005 they wore a special uniform for Incheon when their military team won the national championship in 1955, hence the 50th anniversary of them winning.
For the 2006 season, the Wyverns changed their color scheme to red, orange, black and white. Still a very solid look.
The following season they added a Saturday special home uniform that had Incheon in orange lettering with red raglan sleeves and a red yoke. In 2008 the Wyverns wore the 1994 Pacific Dolphins throwbacks for one game. While for another they wore Sammi Superstars throwbacks. But for the Sammi throwbacks, they changed the letters to SK Wyverns.
And with that said, you may have seen these pictures of the KBO umpires in the 1980s, who used to wear this and this, and now they look like this.
Thanks, Jeremy. Next weekend Jeremy will be back with more uniforms from around the globe.
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 Just when you thought we’d run out of uniform trackers, we find another. Steve Fetch has been tracking the Minnesota Twins. Here’s Steve:
I saw the guy on your blog who compiled the Indians record by uniform worn, so I decided it would be fun and cool to do it with the Twins. Note that I am also unemployed for the summer, surely that cannot be a coincidence.
The Twins have five uniforms this year, the home whites, road grays, navy alternates, the disgustingly awful vests, and what I’ve lovably termed, the dome throwbacks, for their first year in the Metrodome. The breakdown is as follows:
Home Whites: 8-6 record, 76 runs scored, 70 runs allowed, +6 differential
Road Grays: 8-14 record, 67 runs scored, 90 runs allowed, -23 differential
Navy Alternates: 12-10 record, 127 runs scored, 92 runs allowed, +35 differential
Dome Throwbacks: 3-4 record, 42 runs scored, 38 runs allowed, +4 differential
Vests: 4-2 record, 28 runs scored, 33 runs allowed, -5 differential
All Saturday home games are the dome throwbacks, but on days other than that the starters pick. Francisco Liriano loves the vest, Scott Baker is more of a traditionalist, Kevin Slowey likes the navy alternates, and the other guys have no real rhyme or reason to them. Their huge run differential in the navy alternates is partially due to a 20-1 win against the White Sox, although the fact that Slowey likes the navy uniforms and is the Twins best pitcher probably helps as well. The terrible record in the grays is mainly due to the fact that the Twins are bad on the road as it is, and although their best winning percentage is in the vests, I’d still like to never see them again for selfish reasons.
It’s probably better explained here.
Thanks, Steve.
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: You guys are too good. So this one shouldn’t be of any difficulty.
Guess The Game.
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Have a great Sunday everyone.
June 28th, 2009
 By Phil Hecken & John Okray
(”Johnny O”)
I’m joined today by longtime UW reader John Okray, better known by his nom de post “Johnny O.” I had been wanting to collaborate with Johnny for a long time, and we were supposed to get together last weekend during the U.S. Open, since, aside from Johnny’s passion for everything Milwaukee, he’s also an avid golfer and a club pro. Which means that if I ever do hit the links with him, I’m leaving my wallet at home. Johnny’s also getting married in like a week so I want to offer to him, in advance, my deepest condolences heartfelt congratulations. You da man, Johnny! While he was going to write on John Daly’s lower body stylings, I was going to take you with me on my little sojourn to the U.S. Open.
Unfortunately, Johnny had a personal matter which precluded our getting together last weekend. But, like the man whose stylings we’re about the hear about, Johnny has come back strong and we’re going to be hearing from him now. So without further ado (but with apologies and a tip of the cap to Ed McMahon), heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny:
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I started playing golf when I was nine years old, I started working at a golf course when I was 15, and now I am an assistant golf pro at Glen Erin Golf Club in Janesville, WI … so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I follow the PGA Tour regularly. Something took me by surprise a month or so ago, when I noticed John Daly’s name all over the internet again. And this time it wasn’t because he did something stupid. It was because he was playing half way decent over on the European Tour (He was playing across the pond because he was suspended from the PGA Tour for six months).
Something else caught my eye about Big John Daly. It was the way he was dressed. On May 3rd, Daly was wearing some pretty funky pants at the Open de Espana.
Kind of strange? Yes. But certainly nothing too out of the ordinary when it comes to the dress of some guys on the Tour. And my personal favorite.
Anyways…getting back to Daly, this look was strange for him, but nothing alarming. It wasn’t until the later in the week that Daly really put it into high gear with the fashion. For the next few days of the event, Daly wore this and this. In the words of my birthday buddy Keith Jackson… “Whoah Nelly!”
What in the world are you wearing Big John? Did you get dressed in the dark? I thought this occurrence might be a one week thing. I was way off. Turns out, the next week at the Italian Open (Daly finished in a tie for 2nd place) Daly wore these outfits: this, this, this, and this.
You will notice in that last photo, the belt buckle on Daly looks like an “L” and an “M”. So, I did some digging and found out that John Daly is now being sponsored by a company called Loud Mouth Golf. When perusing the site, you will find that Loud Mouth Golf not only features funky-style golf pants, but they make them in European fit, American fit, big and tall, shorts, belts, hats, and even sport coats.
Taking this quote from former Brewers announcer and now Padres announcer Matt Vasgersian … “Santa Maria!”
Over the next few weeks on the Euro Tour, Daly dressed up in many combinations from the folks over at Loud Mouth Golf. Some psychedelic examples can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and finally, here.
And if that weren’t bad enough, here is what Daly wore to try and qualify for the U.S. Open on June 8th.
Coming from a golf pro’s point of view, I think this is a cool thing for Daly to do. He has dropped 40 pounds, and supposedly gotten things together mentally, and with his golf game. He even started a trend a few weeks ago to support awareness when Amy Mickelson was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was Daly’s idea to wear pink for support (not that he invented the idea or anything) and it was the PGA Tour who did the same thing the following Saturday.
I think the fashion on the PGA Tour has been kind of bland in the past decade or so. I think it is great that more and more guys are expressing themselves through their clothing. Even Ricky Barnes (who entered the final day of play sitting on top of the U.S. Open Leaderboard) has a cool sense of style.
Getting back to John Daly, his six month suspension was lifted last week at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, where Daly played on a sponsor exemption, made the cut, shot +1, and tied for 59th. Daly didn’t let up on color combinations either.
I would love to hear other opinions on the new style of Daly. I know it’s kind of off the wall, but I kind of like it. Since Daly’s sponsorship, I have had at least three guys come into the pro shop with Loud Mouth pants on. I always ask if they know that John Daly has been wearing those brand of pants, and they reply, “Oh yeah, that’s why I got them. If he can make them look good, so can I.” The pants go for $90, come in a ton of colors and patterns, and have cool names associated with them … what’s not to love?
Thanks, Johnny. Lord knows, golf has never been known for loud pants, although Daly may be breaking new ground in that area, that’s for sure.
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 So, I was lucky enough to attend both a practice round and the second rain-delayed first round of the U.S. Open last week, located in Bethpage, New York, a scant 10 miles from my home. Ya can’t bring a camera to the “real” golf, but they let you take pics at the practice round. Of course, Tiger plays at like 6:00 am, so by the time I got there, he’d finished up his practice round. Did catch him on the practice green though, where he flashed those Tiger whites after sinking a long one. After Buick went belly-up, Tiger is now sporting AT&T on the bag.
They sold these huge giant golf balls in the merch tent. Why would you need a huge giant golf ball? The better to get autographs of course. Most of the players were pretty accommodating. This dude wanted to sign my camera. Actually, he was signing one of these flags, which were also apparently hot sellers.
Moving on to the course, I followed Sergio Garcia for a few holes. If you weren’t aware who he has a clothing contract with, all you had to do was check out his belt loop. The Long Island crowds were actually pretty nice to him considering in 2002 he flipped him the bird. And check out that photo (first one in the article). Then compare it to this one (like so). Yeah…I’m in the wrong business.
Angel Cabrera, the Masters Champion, was also on the course. What a nasty SOB. Didn’t smile, didn’t sign autographs, walked right by little kids with those big balls and flags. This was him teeing off on the 208 yard 17th. Nice swing. Douche bag.
It’s a big course. In fact, it’s like 7,426 yards long, and I think I walked every foot of it. I actually used to play this course back in the early 1990’s. And yep, they had that sign back then. Greatest golf moment in my life came on this course, when I missed aceing the 8th by a foot.
Caught Rory Sabbatini for a hole. While perhaps more famous for his ‘feud’ with Tiger (and why I personally believe he’s no longer with Nike), Rory now has Nerf as a sponsor. He’s also famous for some really crazy belt buckles, although when I saw him, he was much more reserved.
Former Masters Champ Mike Weir was also on the course. He was pretty cool, getting into it with the crowd. Astute hockey fans, are we Long Islanders, even if we don’t have a professional team, and the fans good naturedly chided him with “how about them Penguins?” (Weir, a canadian, is a huge Wings fan). He’s cool (oh yeah, I already said that).
There were like 900 merch tents scattered throughout the grounds, selling all kinds of stuff. Considering a hot dog was $6, a water was $3 and a brewski was $9, this was a relative bargain. New Era, are you paying attention???
Not sure why I took this picture, since I don’t recognize who’s teeing off, but if you notice the volunteers all have pink sweatbands, a nice gesture towards Phil Mickelson’s wife, Amy. Here’s another shot with those same volunteers, this time with boy wonder Rory McIlroy jacking a drive.
It really was a beautiful course, with lots of deep rough. Lots of deep bunkers awaited errant shots, strategically protecting greens.
All in all, a good day, as I went the only two days (practice rounds and actual tournament included) that didn’t have a drop of rain. Caught a few more notables, including two-time defending British Open Champ, and PGA Champ Paddy Harrington. Caught Brent Snedeker on the practice green, as well as former Masters’ champ Zach Johnson. Out on the range, caught former US Open champ Jim Furyk and Ryder Cupper Kenny Perry (who is taking what looks like an Al Czervik swing, but drilled that particular one about 300).
Good times. Good times. Took about 350 photos, and I’m sure there are some I should have included besides these, but that’s what I uploaded. Only regret was not seeing Phil Mickelson during the practice round, because he didn’t arrive until the following day, but I made up for it on Friday, when I followed his group (which included Ernie Els and Retief Goosen) for about 9 holes.
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: I have a feeling I’ll never be able to stump you guys. But I’m going to try once again. There are clues on the scoreboard (shouldn’t have much trouble figuring out WHERE they’re playing this game). As always, please include the location, date and final score, all of which can be found by linking to Baseball Reference or Baseball Almanac. Good luck. Ready? Guess The Game. As always, if you guys have any scoreboards you’d like to submit for this game, drop me a line.
Have a good Saturday, folks!
June 27th, 2009
As Kirsten and I were meandering our way to Baltimore last week, we passed through York, Pennsylvania. A few miles outside of town we spotted the very enticing York Barbell complex, which includes the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame. This clearly merited further study, so we stopped in for a visit.
The dude sculpted in bronze out front is York Barbell founder and legendary strongman Bob Hoffman (or at least he appears to be legendary in York; I’d never heard of him before). There’s another sculpture of him inside, along with several displays devoted to his life, career, and achievements. He apparently liked softball as much as weightlifting.
The rest of the Hall was a hodgepodge of barbells, strength equipment, and old photos (I really like that one, which shows U.S. Olympian Steve Sheppard), along with some interesting displays. Here are some highlights:
• This belt (additional views here and here — sorry about the glare) was presented to strongman Warren Lincoln Travis in 1907 by the National Police Gazette, recognizing him as “The Strongest Man in the World.” Ol’ Trav was the namesake of the1500-pound Travis Dumbbell. How big is it? This big. According to the Hall’s promo literature, “When the ends were removed, the gloves could be separated and filled with water, sand, scrap metal, or leadshot, to dramatically increase its weight. Travis, who weight approximately 190 pounds, hip-lifted this gigantic hunk of iron at each of his roughly 80 shows per week for years.”
• Someone — maybe Travis? — supposedly ripped this licence plate to shreds with his bare hands.
• The best room in the Hall is devoted to competitive weightlifting, with lots of displays featuring Olympic pins, ticket stubs, medals, ribbons, photos (I couldn’t stop gawking at Paul Anderson’s freakishly huge thighs), charts, and even trading cards.
• Uni-wise, it was interesting to see many of the international lifters wearing their national crests, as seen on these competitors from great Britain, Russia, Egypt, and Japan.
• In weightlifting, as in any other sport, everything looks better in striped socks.
• And things look even better than that with a striped jersey.
• All the photos were nice, but I was disappointed by the near-total dearth of tourney-worn uniforms. The one exception: these old boots.
All in all, a very nice roadside diversion. Free admission, too. But I’m still not interested in eating spinach.
Incidentally, that sign that first caught our eye (which I believe is Bob Hoffman again) doesn’t just sit there — it revolves! How cool is that?!
Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of talk about hidden symbols in logos here (with thanks to Chris Ashworth). … “The University of Michigan-Flint (basically one of the lesser satellite campuses) has started a club football team,” writes Aram Sarkisian. “Instead of using the classic Michigan look, they decided to tweak the uniforms a little bit. As a Michigan grad and lifelong fan, the helmets are making me dry-heave over here. This is why you don’t mess with the classics.” … A low-budget airline has struck up a marketing deal with the Raiders. Note that the player in the middle is clearly a lineman, and is therefore wearing the wrong number (good spot by Noel Basnight). … Speaking of wrong uni numbers, look at this old photo of Shaq (with thanks to Terence O’Donohue). … Outraged observation from Jerry Pilarz, who writes: “Here in KC, there is no rival in any sport more hated than the Denver Broncos (yes, for previous generations it was the Raiders, but now it’s the Broncos, fortified by the fact that Elway had more 4th quarter comebacks against the Chiefs than against any other team). Anyway, one of the suburbs is building a new arena tailor made for minor league hockey, capacity 5,000. The new team announced their new mascot and logo yesterday. Fail! I don’t see a bright merchandising future for this team in this market.” The bigger question, of course, is why the logo character appears to be wearing Cooperalls. … And hey, speaking of bad minor league hockey team logos, this was unveiled yesterday. Man, what a stinker (with thanks to Stan Capp). … Check out this spectacular military baseball team from 1911 (great find by Bruce Menard). … SNY has produced a new documentary about the 1969 Mets (there’s a trailer here). Unfortunately, the show’s official graphics all feature apostrophe catastrophes. … I think we’ve shown Central Michigan’s new football uni on a mannequin, but here it is on a player (with thanks to Andrew Monson). … There was a decent uni discussion on Wednesday’s PTI, and Doug Keklak has performed a public service by providing a transcript. … Always fun to see Mr. Irrelevant honored with a No. 256 jersey. … The White Sox wore 1959 throwbacks yesterday. … Those Iranian soccer players who wore green armbands in support of the political opposition movement have been banned from the team. … New home kit for Man U (with thanks to Anthony Emerson). … In other soccer news, the recently unveiled Feyernoord kit didn’t go over well with fans, so the team and Puma have decided to change the design (with thanks to Stephen Wong). … The Yomiuri Giants will wear 1936 throwbacks on July 7th-9th against the Yokohama Bay Stars (as reported by, of course, Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: “The Hanshin Tigers have been wearing a green wristband. It says ‘Let’s shou [in pictograph] time!’ It is a promotion to shorten (shou) games and use less energy for night games. They are hoping to average three hours a game for all games. Right now they are at 3:06.”
June 26th, 2009
Two interesting moments during last night’s Yanks/Braves game in Atlanta.
One of them came during the top of the 9th, when Mariano Rivera got a rare turn at bat — only the second regular-season plate appearance of his career, and only the fifth overall. So this was a very unusual chance to see him in a batting helmet.
But hey, what’s with the “91″? It was on the back of the helmet, too — apparently Rivera had to use Alfredo Aceves’s helmet. Granted, closers don’t bat very often, but are you really telling me that the spare-no-expense Yankees couldn’t be bothered to have a helmet for a Hall of Famer? Next you’re gonna tell me that Derek Jeter’s range isn’t what it used to be. (For the record, Rivera flied out, stranding three runners. Clutch performer my ass.)
The more interesting tidbit occurred in the bottom of the 8th, when Brian Bruney came in to pitch. Turns out he didn’t have the Yankee Stadium patch on the back of his cap. No biggie there — as we’ve previously noted, Jeter and Robinson Cano have also gone patch-free lately. But they’ve at least had the MLB logo on his cap, while Bruney did not have it last night.
I did a little checking and discovered that Bruney’s cap was also plain-backed during his two previous appearances, on June 19th and June 16th. His last appearance before that was on May 19th (he spent several weeks on the DL), and in that game he had the stadium patch. So his no-frills cap appears to be something he’s worn only during his latest stretch of activity.
Here’s the thing: Where can you even find an authentic Yankees cap without either the stadium patch of the MLB logo? Bruney might just have a collector’s item.
(Thanks to everyone who sent submitted info and screen shots, including Doug Keklak, Terrence O’Donohue, Jesse Ghiorzi, Chris Merce, Brian Harvey, and of course Phil.)
Raffle/Redemske Reminder: I’m currently raffling off four pairs of Wilco tickets and taking up a collection to help out former Uni Watch bench coach Bryan Redemske, who broke his back in a cycling accident last week. Full details on both of these projects here.
Last Chance to See That Thing You Never Cared About Anyway: This is the last weekend that the Candela Structures exhibit will be up at the City Reliquary. Also, I’m giving a private showing of the exhibit to a couple of people at noon tomorrow. If anyone wants to get in on that, let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Brooklyn Cyclones became the Baracklyn Cyclones two nights ago. Photo gallery here. … Brian Schulz reports that former Vikings player Randall McDaniel had some interesting things to say during a radio interview yesterday: “He said he was going to give Canton his shoulder pads, which he was issued on day one as a Viking and wore his entire career. They also asked for his practice jersey, because he had only used ONE practice jersey his entire career as well. He said it was so patched and stitched up that it barely resembled a jersey any longer, and that the only way you knew it was purple was because the end that tucked into his pants was still a brighter purple, while the other parts of the jersey was a mismatch of lavender and white stitching. He went on to say that it’s currently hanging in his home and that he told Canton no, they couldn’t have it.” … Pawtucket and Durham recently held a Negro Leagues night, and Peter Romano took a bunch of photos. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The 76ers didn’t quite revive their old logo exactly intact — they slightly altered the 6. … A few days ago I mentioned the Spaghetti Bowl. Turns out there’s a bunch of photos of it in the Life archives (with thanks to Lance Smith). … Interesting ESPN branding/style guide here (good find by Alan Borock). … Amazing old jersey available here (with thanks to Kevin Marks). … NOBs are being restored to Utah’s basketball uni. … According to this story, UNC “will wear throwback uniforms in a number of games that honor a championship team from the past” for the upcoming season (with thanks to Chris Warfford). … Mike Hersh reports that the College Vault folks have branched out into horse racing, as well as non-sports topics. … You know how Phil and several other readers are tracking various teams’ records by uniform? The Mets are doing that too (with thanks to Greg Michelena, who took that shot prior to last night’s game at Shea). … Georgia Tech’s hoops team will wear throwbacks through the 2009-10 season to honor the anniversaries of the 1960, 1985, and 1990 teams. According to this item, the team’s home whites will resemble the 1960 uni, and the road golds will be patterned after the 1985 and 1990 designs (with thanks to Glynn McGehee).
June 25th, 2009
So guess what: I kinda like them.
I mean, I don’t like them the way I like USC’s uni set, or Michigan’s. But it’s sooooo much better than what they’ve worn for the past few years. Like it or not (and I’m in the “not” camp myself), Oregon is its own aesthetic category these days, and this is the best look that the category has come up with so far.
Would it be nice if they stuck to one helmet? Yes. Is it nuts for any team to have two different white jerseys? Yes. Did I crack up during the press conference when Nike’s Todd Van Horne boasted that the little D-rings on the belt are now made of titanium and are therefore 50% lighter? Yes. Is the center stripe on the texture-patterned helmet totally silly? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
But let’s count the positives:
• The wings are a huge improvement over the diamondplate. In fact, if the wings had been used back in the 1940s by the Eagles or any other bird-named team, we’d all think it was a classic design and wish someone would resurrect it.
• No more yellow helmet.
• No more yellow pants.
• No more vertical “Oregon” wordmark on the thighs.
• Number font has been improved (although it still has a long way to go).
• I think this look is great — vintage Oakland Raiders! You say these colors have nothing to do with Oregon or its heritage? Dude, this football program hasn’t had anything to do with Oregon’s heritage in a long time. Just dig the look and be glad it doesn’t have a cape or something.
• I’m actually fine with the patterned helmet thingie. Up close it looks textured; from a distance it just looks gray. As gimmicks go, this one’s reasonably subtle.
• Look at this photo. Now put your hand over the yellow-jerseyed guy on the far right, and try to forget that this team has worn a bunch of bad superhero costumes for the past few years. Just look at the other four guys and be honest. Not so bad, right?
No, not bad at all.
Two points that you might have missed unless you were watching the press conference: First, although it’s not shown in any of the official photos, the set does include a white set of pants. Yes, this just adds to the mix-and-match nonsense, but it’s hard to argue with white pants. And second, you may have noticed that the gray helmet had a pale-gray logo decal on one side and yellow on the other. They will not be worn at the same time; the idea is that they can switch decals depending on which jersey the helmet is paired with. And one thing I missed myself until I saw this photo: The gray pants apparently have a white stripe.
Oh, and I realize Nike and Oregon aren’t using the word “gray,” but I refuse to go along with any of their comic book color names, and I hope nobody else will either, at least on this site. Look, no matter what they call it, it’s green, yellow, gray, and black, the end. Don’t believe me? Just ask Mrs. Blandings’s painter.
As for all the “lighter, faster, dryer” performance points, nobody cares. Wake me when there’s a new uni set that doesn’t make all these claims. Until then, it’s dog bites man.
Anyway, I’m more interested in how it looks. And although I didn’t expect to be saying this, some of it looks stupid, but a lot more of it looks good. Who’da thunk?
Raffle/Redemske Reminder: Many thanks to those of you who’ve donated to the Bryan Redemske Relief Fund while entering the Wilco ticket raffle. For those of you who don’t know what I’m referring to, please look here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Check this out: Barbie foosball (with thanks to Ryan Connelly). … Remember all those charts from yesterday’s post? There’s an interview with the guy who designed all of them here (with thanks to Jennifer Muller). … And here’s an even better chart, but someone else. Further info here (with thanks to longtime Uni Watch pal Rob Walker, whose Murketing blog remains essential reading). … High school teams can’t sell ad space on their uniforms, but they could do so on warm-ups and practice gear (with thanks to Jason Hillyer). … Jeff Provo has a pet peeve: “In 1994, the Raiders wore a throwback uniform with a white helmet shield, which was supposed to represent the 1963 helmet. This has since perpetuated into every single using a white shield to represent the 1963 uniform. But the shield used in 1963 was not white. It was un-filled, and thus silver. Please help stop the spread of the white shield myth.” Consider it done. Happily, they appear to have gotten it right for the upcoming AFL throwbacks. … Thirty years ago, a Westbury, Long Island catcher named Tom Donohue had a cup of coffee with the Angels. “When the Angels came to Yankee stadium in June of that year, the town of Westbury announced ‘Tom Donohue Day’ and actually had it recognized on the Yankee Stadium field before the game,” writes Donohue’s nephew and Uni Watch reader Bryan Molloy. “But Angels manager Jim Fregosi, with probably half the town of Westbury in attendance, benched him the entire game. My dad still curses the mention of Fergosi to this day.” So last weekend, Molloy and a bunch of his relatives decided to throw a surprise party to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Tom Donohue Day. “I’m a graphic designer,” says Molloy, “so I wanted to treat it as if Tom Donohue was a superstar player (he was to us). I tried to come up with something that would be a fitting design if a MLB team was honoring one of their best players. The next thing I knew we were not just getting T-shirts, but ice cream helmets, jersey patches, a giant banner, giant cardboard cut outs of my uncle from his minor league days, and more.” Very nice — you can see photos from the event here. … The 76ers have officially gone back to their classic logo. According to a team source, “Uniforms will be announced at a later date, but will be an updated interpretation of the Hardwood Classics uniforms,” which is consistent with what I’ve seen and heard from other quarters. … Here’s the annual Roger Federer Wimbledon/fashion article (with thanks to Stephen Wong). … Darren Rovell called me yesterday to let me know he’d just written a CNBC scoop about Sammy Sosa’s elasticized sleeve cuffs. He seemed a bit disappointed when I told him I’d written about that many times over the years. I also don’t agree with his analysis that Sosa was trying to make his biceps look bigger, but hey, that’s just me. … Anyone know what logo is on Tom Brady’s cap? (As spotted by Matt Englander.) … There used to be a watchmaker’s school in Elgin, Illinois. And their basketball team was called, of course, the Watch Makers (with thanks to Jonee Eisen). … Second photo in this slideshow shows Wilt wearing No. 16. What’s the deal with that? (With thanks to Shawn Bleiler.) … Brutal Tiger Stadium demolition photos here (with thanks to Ethan Shull). … Reader Will Horowitz tipped me wise to golfer Anna Rawson, who has some interesting ideas about golfwear. … The Jets are the latest NFL team to opt for ads on their practice jerseys (with thanks to Brooks Simpson). … Nice story from Jonathan Backstrom, who writes: “I recently got married on June 13th, and we were able to get Carl Beane, the voice of the Red Sox, to announce our wedding party at the reception. He ended up bringing his two World Series rings with him for guests to take photos with. Our uni numbers alluded to the date of the wedding.” … Doug Keklak notes that Pirates pitching coach Joe Kerrigan was wearing the wrong cap last night. … Corporate naming rights aren’t just for stadiums anymore. The subway station in question is eight blocks from my house. As Brad Thomas suggests, I might need to make an “I’m Calling It Pacific St.” shirt. … Here are the shirts that the Reds gave out at the Civil Rights Game. “They were shirts, not vests, had the sponsor logo on the right sleeve, used black instead of navy blue, and the nameplate was one-color black instead of red with navy blue border,” gripes Mike Miller. On the plus side, the scoreboard featured old logos. Look closely and you can see that old Comiskey in the background of that shot. Meanwhile, you may know that Bill Cosby donned a Homestead Grays uni for the pregame festivities, but did you know he didn’t wear shoes? “He said the groundskeeper told him he would kill him if he did any damage to the field wearing spikes,” says Mike. And one final detail: “The White Sox coaching staff didn’t have navy shirts to wear under their jerseys, they wore their normal black instead.” … New Bundesliga jerseys here (with thanks to A.J. Zydzik).
June 24th, 2009
Back in the early 1990s, when I was working as a book editor, our company published a book called The Designer’s Guide to Charts and Diagrams, written by a guy named Nigel Holmes, who at the time was the “explanation graphics” editor for Time magazine. (He’s now an independent designer and consultant, with a nifty web site.) I was pretty fascinated by charts, so I was pissed off when the manuscript got assigned to one of the other production editors.
Nearly two decades later, I’m still fascinated by charts and diagrams. So I was excited when reader Ben Wideman recently pointed me toward the awkwardly named site Flip Flop Fly Ball, which presents a bunch of baseball-related info in diagrammatic form. Think of it as an interesting little cul de sac of athletics aesthetics. The topics range from the conventional (MLB field configurations, when each MLB team broke the color barrier) to the unusual (a projection of when the Yankees will run out of numbers, an analysis of World Baseball Classic rosters), but almost all of the charts are worth a look. The biggest surprise for me was this one, which shows the wide range of MLB stadium orientation. So much for the universality of “southpaw.”
The site is the work of a European gent named Craig Robinson, who appears to be particularly fascinated by the concept of distance. He’s charted the distance the Royals will travel this year, the distance of all the pitches in the 2006 MLB season, and the distance traveled by all the 2006 baserunners.
Robinson also appears to be a bit of a nut, and I mean that in the best way. Flip Flop Fly Ball shouldn’t be confused with his other web sites, which are called Flip Flop Flying, Flip Flop Flyin’, and the very simple and endearing CraigRobinson.com. In addition to all the charts, he also likes to create sports illustrations (many of which I quite like) and teeny-tiny pixilated portraits he calls minipops (whose charms elude me). I knew he was our kind of people when I saw that he collects and documents Tic Tac containers with Tic Tacs stuck on the inside. Now that’s a niche obsession!
I haven’t been in touch with Robinson yet, but I was surprised and pleased to see that he likes Uni Watch (see his blogroll on this page). Craig, get in touch once you see this post — I’d love to hear more about your work.
Meanwhile, just to bring things full-circle, here’s a baseball-related diagram by Nigel Holmes, the guy whose book I didn’t get to edit. Frankly, I like Robinson’s material better.
Danger, Will Robinson!: In what is probably a classic case of burying the lede, this small, unassuming item informs us that Oregon will be unveiling new football uniforms later today. “They are believed to be motocross-inspired,” says reader Ben Jamin, which I guess means the offensive line will look like this. Anyway, the whole thing will be live-streamed at goducks.com, 1pm Oregon time. I’ll say this much for Nike and Oregon: Good for them for keeping this announcement under wraps until a day before the unveiling.
New Sponsor Shout-Out: Everyone knows Ali and Foreman fought in the Rumble in the Jungle back in 1974 in Zaire. What you might not know is that there was also a huge soul music festival that was promoted alongside the fight. A new documentary called Soul Power, set to open on July 10th, takes a look at this mix of music and sports (sort of a music-themed companion to When We Were Kings) and the movie’s official merch licensee is now offering T-shirts — check out their ad in the right-hand rail.
Raffle/Redemske Reminder: I’m currently raffling off four pairs of Wilco tickets and taking up a collection to help out former Uni Watch bench coach Bryan Redemske, who broke his back in a cycling accident last week. Full details on both of these projects here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Nice set of vintage Bengals drinking cups here. … Newcastle United has unveiled a new orange kit (with thanks to Ross Hazlett). … Alan Kreit along close-up pics of the old Shea’s home plate, pitching rubber, and third base, now situated in the new Shea’s parking lot. … And Jason Libes provided similar shots for all the old Veterans Stadium landmarks in Philly. … Those controversial new swimsuits have been approved for competition use after all. … Remember Mark Penxa, who I interviewed last year? He’s done a bunch more gorgeous sports paintings, including portraits of Roy Halladay, Jacques Plante, Johnny U, Steve Yzerman, and Jean Béliveau, and Deacon Jones. Further info here (big thanks to Sam McCullough). … There’s a Kellen Winslow jersey prominently featured in this video clip, but you might find it being overshadowed by something else (with thanks to Brendon Yarian). … Check this out: When switch-hitter Delwyn Young was with the Dodgers last year, he wore No. 3 and his left-handed batting helmet had a backwards 3 decal, presumably so he and the equipment staff could easily tell it from his right-handed helmet. Never seen that before (great catch by Rick Subrizio). … Matt Duchene, who is expected to be selected at the top of the upcoming NHL draft, designed his high school team’s jersey. Details here (with thanks to Taylor Buckley). … LSU’s basball team keeps a lucky charm in the dugout (with thanks to David McGee). … Underbill update from Roberto Santiago, who reports that Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez has written quite a screed under the right side of his visor, plus a few additional lines under the left side. Can’t make out what any of it says, though. … Rough time for Ian Stewart (no, not that Ian Stewart) last night in Anaheim, as reported by Jeff Fields: “In the second inning, he ripped a huge hole in the seat of his pants scoring from second. In the ninth inning, a pitch pulled his jersey right out of his pants for a hit-by-pitch. He unbuckled at first base and adjusted/retucked. The Rockies announcers joked that he ‘almost pulled a Psycho, but not quite’” (a reference, of course, to Steve “Psycho” Lyons, who once famously pulled down his pants at second base).
June 23rd, 2009
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