Bruce Menard recently informed me that the folks at Heritage Auction Galleries have a ton of good stuff in their current auction catalog. Here’s a sampling:

• According to the auction listing, Robin Roberts wore this throwback replica while throwing out the first pitch at the 1976 All-Star Game. I’ve never heard about this before. Anyone know more?

• Totally digging the typography on this 1929 World Series program cover. And dig that little bear!

• And speaking of World Series programs, here’s a doozy.

• Here’s a rarity: A Pro Bowl helmet from the days when the players wore conference-specific headgear.

• Love all the quote-marked nicknames in this poster.

• I’m always a sucker for these college all-star uniforms. Rare to see one that includes the pants and the helmet. And man, those “4″s!

• Oh man, check out these killer Giants programs. Interesting uni note: Check out the shin of the Jints player in the lower-right illo — looks like he has a pad under his sock.

• Oh, for the days when the Bears played a beer-sponsored team.

• When I was at the National in Cleveland a few months ago, one of the most drool-inducing items I saw was this Tulsa Oilers hockey jersey. Here it is, up for auction.

• Never seen anything like this Ottawa Senators jacket or this Blackhawks jacket.

• Also new to me: This amazing Red Wings cardigan, with a white version to boot. Looks like they have the American flag facing the wrong way on the left sleeve, though.

• Remember the barber pole design that the Blackhawks wore in the Winter Classic? Here’s the original. But I think I like this design even better.

• If you’ve been wondering what to get me for my half-birthday (coming up next Monday, don’tcha know), this jacket wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

• Worst hockey jersey ever? Eh, close enough.

• Best hockey program cover ever? Eh, close enough.

• Lots of great ticket stubs on offer, including tix from the 1971 World Series, the ’51 Series, the ’57 Series, the 1962 Mets home opener, and more.

• Gorgeous hockey officiating sweaters here and here

• Not sure what this has to do with sports, but it sure is purty.

Want to see more? You can download the auction catalog as a PDF here.

And look, there are still a few hairs I haven’t pulled out: My Earthlink e-mail finally appears to be behaving, so forget about the alternate address I’ve been using for the past few days and go back to my usual addresses. And please keep your fingers crossed.

About Time: Big congrats to Jerry Dior, who’s finally been recognized as the designer of the MLB logo. He’ll be honored on the field at Yankee Stadium today and at Shea on Friday. I’ve written about Jerry several times (to see those columns, look here and here) and have always been impressed by what a gentleman he is — a class act all the way. I’m glad he’s finally gotten the recognition he deserves.

Research Reminder: My thanks to everyone who contributed thoughts, anecdotes, and historical notes regarding football gloves yesterday. If you have anything to contribute that would help document the history and culture of this largely overlooked uni element, don’t be shy.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Hadn’t noticed until now that Wisconsin is using those rounded-corner nameplates. Good view of them in the next-to-last photo in this gallery (as spotted by Ben Simon). … According to the fourth graf of this story, the Predators’ new alt jersey includes “a dark checkerboard pattern that can only be seen at close range” (with thanks to Nick Church). … You may know that Chad Ochocinco wore gold shoes and gold gloves on Sunday, but did you know he also had two fingers taped together? Never seen a receiver do that before. Anyone have any insights? (As spotted by Bob Wilzbach.) … Lenny Dykstra, financial genius. … A freelance designer is suing NYU for allegedly stealing her logo design. … Now that’s a helmet (with thanks to David Cline). … New Irish national rugby kit (with thanks to Joe Alvernaz). … Colorado will be wearing 1937 throwbacks this weekend. Additional info here, and there’s a photo gallery here. … Dave Forbes notes that Jeff Garcia previously wore No. 7 with the Eagles but will have to take a different number in Philly this time around because Michael Vick is now wearing No. 7. … Corey Zoldan reports that the following note appeared in the U. of Maryland school paper: “The [baseball] team will be ditching its red and yellow jerseys in favor of pinstripes, because [coach] Bakich wants to be able to sell future recruits on the opportunity to ‘play in the Terrapin pinstripes.’” Uh, right. … What’s worse than an Argentine soccer team with Walmart-sponsored jerseys? An Argentine soccer team with Walmart-sponsored socks, which must surely qualify as a new low for civilization (with thanks to Dario Moretti, writing all the way from South America). … We’ve talked several times over the years about the ribbed seams found on some Bears’ linemen’s shoulder areas. Now Aaron Schlesinger notes that the Eagles appear to be doing something similar. … Hey look, it’s minor league hockey. And the refs are wearing those stupid orange sleeve stripes that debuted during last season’s all-star game. … Good article about Vanderbilt’s merit decals here (with thanks to Lee Wilds). … Last week’s New Yorker featured two cartoons — appearing on facing pages! — that were very Ticker-worthy.

Highest Recommendation: I have a good friend — let’s call him Jim — who I’ve known for over a decade. Jim is a trained engineer and an experienced manager who’s particularly strong on strategy, marketing, product development, and finance. I’ve never met Jim’s parents, but they sure must have raised him right, because Jim is — and I’m not exaggerating here — the nicest, most congenial, most stand-up guy I’ve ever known. Really. In other words, he’s as much of an asset in the clubhouse as his is on the field.

Jim is currently between jobs. I can say with absolute certainty that he’d be a major plus for any company. If you’d like to see his résumé and some position papers he’s written, please get in touch and I’ll send them to you. Thanks.

I hate the DH — hate it — but even I think it should always be used in the All-Star Game, regardless of where the game is played. Who wants to see a pitcher hit in an All-Star Game?

But Bud Selig and Co. don’t see it that way. Good thing, too, because pitchers’ at-bats are the best bets for all-star uni anomalies. Sure enough, when Roy Halladay came up to bat last night, he wore a blank navy blue helmet instead of Toronto’s usual black lid. The rear view revealed that it was Evan Longoria’s helmet with the Rays logo decal removed (note the MLB logo rendered in Rays colors). And look the announcers actually picked up on it. I’m tellin’ ya, everyone’s a uni watcher these days. Now we just have to teach Buck and McCarver the difference between a sticker and a decal.

Meanwhile, now that base coaches have to wear helmets, that provides a new avenue for helmet oddities — especially since managers often serve as coaches in the All-Star Game. Joe Torre, for example, didn’t bring a Dodgers helmet to St. Looey, but it was kinda cool to see him in a Cards helmet again.

In more mundane developments:

• Ichiro was wearing some nifty silver cleats. Here’s a closer view.

• Lots of players in white shoes, including David Wright, Albert Pujols, and Dan Haren.

• The scoreboard showed Jason Bay of the Red Sox in a Pirates cap. It also misspelled George Hendrick’s name (particularly unforgivable when you consider Hendrick used to play for the Cardinals).

• The Prez wore a Chisox jacket and Levi’s for throwing out the first pitch. (Unfortunately, Fox showed him throwing the ball but didn’t show where it went, presumably because they didn’t want to let anyone see in case the President tossed a two-hopper, or hit Keith Olbermann’s mom in the face, or whatever. Total chickenshit move on the part of Fox and/or the White House staff. As it turned out, his pitch made it on the fly, just barely, as you can see toward the end of this video clip. )

• It’s great that Willie Mays wore a Giants cap with his suit, but couldn’t they have gotten him a 5950 instead of a BP model?

• A bunch of Cardinals greats, all of them wearing red blazers, were introduced before the game. It wasn’t until I checked the photo wire that I realized the blazers weren’t identical. That’s Lou Brock with the bird on the bat.

One footnote to the game: Tim Wakefield brought along a special catcher’s mitt but didn’t get into the game. Too bad.

(Thanks to everyone who contributed screen shots and other info, especially Luis Roldan, Maks Skuz, Bryan Heaton, Jeremy Brahm, Mark Haarmann, and of course Phil.)

Raffle Results: The winner of the Man City jersey is Matt Argo. Matt, if you haven’t already done so, please give me a shout. Thanks.

Uni Watch Rust Belt Tour: I’ll be in Cleveland later this month to cover the National Sports Collectors Convention for Page 2, so let’s have a Uni Watch gathering on the evening of Thursday, July 30th. Figure 7pm, probably at the Prosperity Social Club, but I’ll confirm the time and place in a day or two. Naturally, Uni Watch intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek will be on hand, which will mark only the second time he and I have been in the same room, whoop-whoop. See you there.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Check out this awesome durene shirt I recently scored on eBay. Love the stripes, natch, and the felt lettering is hot-cha-cha. … Brian Harkness is a national semifinalist in KFC’s charity T-shirt design contest. Please vote for his entry (No. 6, “Stand with the Colonel”) so he can get a lifetime supply of really bad fried chicken. … In a vaguely related item, Justin Rectenwald, knowing my fondness for chicken tails, sent me some pics of his wife’s Brazilian cousin Eduardo, aka Master of the Fried Chicken Tail. “Seriously, this guy cooked non-stop,” writes Justin. “These were like little crunchy chicken candy, filled with gooey, chicken fatty goodness.” Let’s see the Colonel top that! … Here’s an excellent site devoted to Super Bowl tickets (with thanks to HHH). … Wilco’s summer tour program includes this nifty little scorecard. Love the note at the top. … I know we’ve covered this before, but please remind me: What’s the handwritten “63″ for? … Comi-tragic story here of how MLB design honcho Anne Occi convinced the Devil Rays to wear the worst uni design in baseball history. Highly recommended reading (with thanks to Ken Guckenberger). … Color change for Stockton, a D3 school (with thanks to Tim Smith). … Rob Ullman was nice enough to send me a copy of his new hardcover sketchbook, Atom Bomb Bikini, which includes lots of his cheesecake uni portraits. You can buy it here. … Best view yet of Carlos Peña’s upside-down sleeve patch. … Regarding yesterday’s ESPN column, Craig Ramirez notes that the guy sitting on the right end of the front row, I.D’d as trainer Bill Zeigler, looks exactly like Rafael Palmeiro (who, just for the record, was 12 yrs old when that photo was taken). … The Lakewood BlueClaws are dusting off their BruceClaws promotion. Assuming they use the same jersey design from last year, the uni will look like this. … Here’s a site devoted to Kansas high school football helmets (with thanks to Patrick Chippeaux). … Looks like the Steelers’ old golden triangle design is a bit hit with Bud Selig. … How come nobody had told me about Batting Stance Guy? … In the spirit of last week’s Tecmo Bowl entry, Eric Trager has written a piece about the logos and graphics used in the baseball video game Hardball 5. Check it out here. … HHH has created still more city flag jerseys. … Brinke Guthrie scanned two ads from the 1990 World Series program. As you can see, the idea that you could buy the same gear that the pros wear was still quite a novelty at that point. And speaking of novelties, dig those Angels logo stirrups!

I know, that screen shot looks like it’s from a video game, but it’s actually Carlos Peña from last night’s home run derby, where his Rays logo sleeve patch was upside-down (it’s supposed to look like this). Peña’s BP pitcher had an inverted patch as well, as you can see here.

Me, I didn’t see any of it cuz I was off at Keyspan Park watching Wilco and Yo La Tengo (whose frontman, Ira Kaplan, wore a Mr. Met T-shirt and lobbed a bunch of baseballs into the crowd because, as he put it, “That’s why you come to a baseball stadium, to get a foul ball, right?”).

Thanks to Tim Graham, Kevin “Lunchbox” Monahan, Greg Riffenburgh, and Tim Burke for their eagles eyes and screen shots. Thanks also to Phil, who notes that the A.L. and N.L. caps bore at least superficial resemblances to certain past and present team logos.

New ESPN column today, revisiting a topic we first debated here last fall, but now with some new information added to the mix. Look here.

Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day for the Man City soccer jersey raffle. Details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: “Strange things going on with Michael Owen at Monday’s Manchester United training,” writes Mike Orr. “Articles have him taking on the coveted No. 7 shirt for United (previously worn by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham and George Best). But in two separate photos today he appears to have a 15 and 19 training shirt on. No clue what’s up with all that.” … Lots of good stuff in this 1984 All-Star Game slideshow. … Lots of CFL retro action in store for the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and B.C. Lions (with thanks to Richard Musterer). … “I had one of the weirdest uni experiences while watching the U.S. military all stars,” writes Paul Friedlander. “They had camo pants, brown jerseys, and camo helmets. Some of them wore camo hats, others wore brown. To make it even weirder, they had a couple of ‘Latin Stars’ playing with them wearing red jerseys and gray pants. But the craziest part was the back: the NOBs were important names linked to their uni numbers.” Bizarre, right? Additional examples here, here, and here. … HHH has added more designs to his collection of city flag jerseys. … Super-cool Michigan hockey jersey, circa 1947 (with thanks to Tom Wilcox). … Luis Castillo had a piece of gum on the back of his batting helmet on Sunday. Additional views here. … Jim Ransdell found a notebook where he’d designed some modern NBA logo concepts back when he was in high school, over 20 years ago. … Chris Cooley has some thoughts about the NFL’s uni rules. Scroll down to No. 3 on the “Ten Things I Think I Think” list on this page (with thanks to Jake Reed). … Steve Mandich has updated his collection of All-Star Game ballots.

By Phil Hecken, turning two with Larry Wiederecht

I’m rejoined today by Larry Wiederecht (”Lwiedy”), my double play partner, as today we look the pages of another All Star Game program, this time from the Midsummer Classic in Milwaukee, 1975. Although this would be the first time the Milwaukee Brewers would play host to the game, it was not the first All Star Game to be held at County Stadium, Wisconsin. That honor belonged to the 1955 Milwaukee Braves. The ‘75 game was the 46th playing of the classic, and the game was played on July 15th, 1975. Additional information on the actual game can be found here. I love this really neat patch from the game, featuring the words “All Star Game 1975″ in blue and gold on one circle, and the swinging “barrelman” on the other. (Although, Larry notes that the patch not worn on the uniforms, but rather was based on the press pin from that year [third row, fifth from the left].)

So, without any additional ado, let’s get into Larry’s ASG pics:

‣ Rather boring team photos (by All-Star standards). The American League and the National League. The only real uni anomaly that I know of (Vida’s all gold get-up) didn’t even show up. These came from the ’75 Series program.

‣ Less than dramatic cover artwork by a fellow named Robert Deuel

‣ Obligatory welcome letter from the Commissioner, Owner, used car salesman.

‣ Nice piece on the history of Milwaukee baseball

‣ Like in the 1972 program, Medalist/Sand Knit shows their wears

‣ No way I have Suzy Q’s in center (nice home plate, too)

‣ If you are going to use little action shots of Garvey & Cey, at least put them by their own head shots. Sutton, Seaver & Gossage were “misplaced” as well

‣ The Hammer takes in a little USC-UCLA

‣ One of the most recognizable ad campaigns of all time. Always wondered if you couldn’t just put a bullet through the shank, though.

‣ Hey Johnny O, can you still get a Graf/s?

‣ Also a staple of AS & Series programs are the ring ads

‣ With a lot of help from ChampionshipRings.net and a little deductive reasoning, I came up with the following list (top to bottom then left to right)

1971 Dallas Cowboys
1971 Utah Stars
1971 or 1972 Boston University Hockey
1966 SMU
1967 Philadelphia 76ers
1958 Baltimore Colts
1959 Oklahoma Sooners Orange Bowl
1970 USC Rose Bowl
1967 Southern Illinois NIT
1964 St. Louis Cardinals
1969 Minnesota Vikings NFL Champions
1965 Los Angeles Dodgers
1968 New York Jets
1953 New York Yankees
1972 Boston Bruins (World, not Stanley Cup Champs?)
1970 or 1971 Nebraska Cornhuskers Football
1967 St. Louis Cardinals
19?? UCLA Basketball (Pick a year)
1966 Baltimore Orioles

‣ Finally, a nice little pullout program poster.

And that’s not all, Larry also found us some pretty nice pics from that game:

‣ Pretty good staff leading the NL. Over 50 years of managerial experience, seven world championships and nearly a dozen pennants.

‣ Yeah they shook hands, but they never looked at each other.

‣ Speaking of Thurm, missing was his familiar gear. He must have borrowed from the Brewers.

‣ Don’t know how often this combo was worn, but it wasn’t often.

‣ Bernie Brewer’s sister, wife? She’s Bonnie Brewer.

‣ Don’t really know what Billy’s black armband is for.

‣ Hank’s 24th and final All-Star Game.

‣ Yaz pinch hits with a cap insert. He even had to explain to home plate ump Bill Haller what he was wearing.

‣ Gary Carter corrals the final out in left wearing his batting/catching helmet.

Thanks again, Larry. Those are awesome. See ya again soon when we look at our next All Star Game Program!

Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: This one is difficult, but not impossible. The location should be easy, and there are other clues right there on the scoreboard. You shouldn’t need any hints with this one. Date, location and final score are required. Based on the comments yesterday, if you do get the answer, shoot me an email but post something like “I GOT IT” in the comments. This way, people can take guesses throughout the day. I’ll post the winner’s name and some of the good “deductive” guesses at the end of the day. Ok? Ok! Good luck. Guess The Game From The Scoreboard

Another Uniform Tracker has answered the call. Matthew Bohman “Namhob” is a Cincinnati Reds tracker. Here’s his update:

Phil,

The Cincinnati Reds have had their fair share of uni shenanigans in the past, but nowadays they have kept it pretty standard with a traditional home, away, and softball alternate home uniform. Thankfully, baseball’s oldest franchise has avoided the dreaded away alternate and in doing so has kept many a Laundromat in business on the road. At home, there seems to be 2 rules the Reds follow: 1) the traditional “Sunday Red” is alive and well in Cincinnati and 2) for every home series, the red alternates have to make at least one appearance. The only deviation from this rule so far has been a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday series against the Astros where the Reds wore home white every game (which didn’t stop the Astros from wearing their red alternates for EVERY GAME of that series). Actually, looking through the Astros games for the first 2 months I have counted 24 away games and they have only worn their away grays twice! And one doesn’t even count as an away gray since they were wearing the Stars & Stripes hat on Memorial Day! Hint to the Astros, you are undefeated in your away grays; try them on sometime!

Sorry, back to the Reds…Being an excel spreadsheet junkie, I am tracking the Reds 3 different ways*: overall record by uniform, game-by-game, and per pitcher. For being an average ballclub, the Reds are .500 in both the home whites and the red alts. They’ve had some success on the road this year and it shows with a 14-11 record. As it stands, they are still undefeated in wearing anything apart from the home whites, road grays and red alts (1-0 is undefeated, am I right?). That will probably change as they are expected to get fancy for July 4th and September 11th as well as the Civil Rights game against the ChiSox on June 20th (they’ll be wearing throwbacks of the 1964 Cincinnati Reds). In the end, I predict they will finish 2-2 in the “special attire” category to remain at .500.

* As of June 1, 2009

In case you missed yesterday’s post…a NOB research project, by UW Historian/Research Architect, Timmy Brulia:

Hello All,

This is Timmy B, the guy who created the “NFL White At Home” database that chronicles what teams have worn their white jerseys at home in the NFL since 1957, and the “Pro Football Uniforms 1933-1958″ database, which describes the uniform designs for each team in the NFL and AAFC from that era.

My next attempt at a database is for all the teams that have worn the player’s name on the backs (NOB’s) of their jerseys in the “Big 4″ sports of football, baseball, basketball and hockey. Specifically, when they started doing it.

Up until 1960, there was only one documented example of a team with the NOB, the defunct New York Americans of the NHL in the 1926-27 season. Then in 1960, the Chicago White Sox began wearing NOB’s on the backs of their away blouses. Later that year, the upstart American Football League featured several teams that wore them at the start of the season. From all indications, by season’s end ALL teams wore NOB’s in the AFL. The Raiders went so far as to feature the players’ FIRST name as well as their last.

When the AFL merged with the NOB-less NFL in 1970, the NFL absorbed the idea and adopted the look for all 26 teams.

The NBA, already with several teams sporting NOB’s, took a shining to the idea and also made NOB’s mandatory starting with the 1971-72 season.

Not wanting to be left behind, the NHL adopted a league wide NOB policy in 1977-78 (with ONE notable exception which we’ll get to later).

Finally the National League, in 1979, mandated that all 12 teams at least have NOB’s on the teams’ road jerseys. To my knowledge, the American League never has adopted an NOB mandate. However, the NL’s rule seems to have been “waived” or not enforced as the Ddogers went NOB-less for several years earlier in the decade.

The purpose of the database is to be an easy to follow guide as to WHEN teams started to wear NOB’s, either before a league-wide edict, or especially in MLB, when there were gaps from exactly when they first started wearing NOB’s, then dropped them, and then added them. So if you’re wondering when – say the Braves – started wearing NOB’s (1963), when did they stop, and when did they resume the NOB’s. So, as an example, the Braves entry might look like this (years may NOT be correct):

Braves: 1963-1964, 1976-current.

or for hockey:
Rangers: 1970-71 thru 1976-77 (home only), 1977-78 to date.

What I am asking of you, the Uniwatch faithful, is for your help. I think I can cover the NFL and the NHL pretty well. However, for the NBA and especially MLB, if you can send me any photo samples with some verification as to when certain teams started and/or stopped wearing NOB’s it would be hugely appreciated and I will make sure to give you props in the database with your particular contribution(s).

To close, as promised, the NHL exception for 1977-78. In 1977, John Zeigler took over as NHL President, succeeding the long tenure (30 years) of Clarence Campbell. One of Zeigler’s first actions was to mandate that all NHL teams get with the program and affix NOB’s on the team sweaters, both home and away. 17 of the 18 teams complied, with no problem. One did not. The Maple Leafs owner, the crusty Harold Ballard, refused to follow the edict. They went half a season before Zeigler finally said to Ballard, put ‘em on or be fined. Finally, Ballard complied, by having blue NOB’s on the away blue sweaters! Zeigler, said, “Not funny” and then was ready to clamp Harold with some fines. At last, some time in late February, Ballard and the Leafs followed orders, but only for the blue jersey, with white letters. However, Ballard said to Zeigler, I will not do it for the home whites as he had an iron-clad clause with the Maple Leaf Gardens program printers NOT to adorn NOB’s on the home jerseys. Zeigler relented but ordered Ballard to comply fully starting with the 1978-79 season, which he did.

Thanks and again any and all help will be appreciated!!

You can reach Timmy by emailing him with any info.

Last FINAL Call For the RPM Stirrup Club: Got a note from Robert Marshall, the bobble boy. “phil, could you give a last call on the oriole stirrup, and make mention this weekend that i sent out this email to people that contacted me, and that if they didn’t get this email, that they should get in touch with me again? i think everyone is on here, but maybe i missed someone. i will be placing the order tuesday, so get in before then, i will not order extras. and they take tck 2 weeks to manufacture, so you should have them in less then 3 weeks from tuesday.” So, here’s that last call:

1) Cost $11 per stirrup. We will go through paypal, and use his rpmarshall art email address. Mr. Marshall does not intend to profit from this, but he doesn’t want to lose either. One of you sent Robert a payment for $10 (that is fine, don’t send him an extra 1$, you can work it out on the next pair), and those paypal bastards took $.60. but the breakdown is this: $7 for stirrup/$1 shipping from tck/$.50ish per envelope/ $.50ish paypal/$1.75 shipping to you (he just shipped a pair 1st class)=$10.75, which leaves $.25 for Robert’s gas/time/cover overruns, and he thinks that is more then fair. So, if you want 3 pairs, Robert will know by the $33 total. Make sure you give him a shipping address through paypal if you can. Please make this as easy on him as possible.

2) No, you are not obligated to buy every stirrup. They are calling it a “club”, and it would be nice if people were “generally” in, but nobody is in a must buy position. Robert will continue to add to this email list, and you will get emails every time they go for another ‘rup. If you want off the list, tell him, and he will take you off. Sure, you may occasionally get duplicate info, but it is easier for him to just have a general email to all involved, and not respond individually, he does not want to turn this into a job, he just want to get us all the stirrups we want :)

3) Clearly the next three ‘rups are the red sox, cardinals, and a’s, a popular, yet distant third choice. Robert provided this graphic with some other possible upcoming rups, most were suggested, others he just added to round out the image. He says we knock out the mlb’s first, then go from there, but we might mix in a crazy one here or there. Also the opening size will vary, this first pair is a 5″, and Robert has a feeling people will be happy with this size, it shows sani without getting crazy (staying classy), but we will more or less match the opening to the era. Or if 24 people get in, he can order twelve (min) 5″ and twelve 7″, he will make as many people happy as he can.

From The Jeremy Brahm files: Bunch of stuff from UW’s Pacific Rim Correspondent today: Here is a picture of the new Speedo LZR Hybrid swimsuit. This one is being made in Japan … Who says golf is dull? Japanese LPGA Golfer Sakura Yokomine is bright in the rain. While Megumi Kido, well it says on her shirt. I Love Golf. Or Chie Arimura hearts golf … Here is a pdf of the FINA swim cap guidelines for the 2009 World Championships. And the Rules in press release … Yowsa! Check out this photo of the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) Lotte Giants … And finally — Remember the Expos helmets with the odd panels? How about this from the defunct KBO Sammi Superstars in 1984. Awesome Jeremy.

A brief candle; both ends burning…An endless mile; a bus wheel turning…A friend to share the lonesome times…A handshake and a sip of wine

So say it loud and let it ring…We are all a part of everything…The future, present and the past…Fly on proud bird — You’re free at last.

The above is for a friend. Everyone have a good Sunday. Peace.

This fine day, I’m joined by one of UW’s finest contributors, Larry Wiederecht. Better known to you all as “Lwiedy,” Larry’s extensive knowledge of uniforms and sports history is the equal of many, if not all, of the Uni Watch family. Whether it be his early loves, the Kansas City Royals, the Kansas City New York Islanders or the Washington Redskins, or his more current favorites and ‘home’ teams, Larry’s keen eye, intricate nose for detail, and general disdain for the current direction of uniforms and uniform design provide us all with a fantastic perspective and is a welcome addition to any uniform discussion.

You all know Larry from his posting, but let’s take a minute to meet Larry the man:

Phil Hecken: You’ve been into baseball forever. Can you elaborate a bit?

Larry Wiederecht: I’ve been involved in organization baseball every year (except 1986) since 1972. ’86 was spent finishing school and working for Tampa Bay’s CBA club, the Thrillers. Played through 1985 in college (Eckerd), when it was pretty obvious I had completely “mined the ore” of my ability which was far less than originally anticipated.

PH: What do you do now?

LW: Although I’m now in hotel management/accounting, I have been associated with a half-dozen baseball organizations since 1987. Mostly in the Florida State League, sometime with the office staff but mostly as an official scorer. Cardinals, MiLB, Blue Jays, Phillies/Threshers, Phillies (rookie) and for the past two years with Rays as the back-up to the back-up official scorer. That has amounted to about two dozen games since 2007. This year I can add NCAA to the scoring resume as I will be handling the Big East Tournament in a couple of weeks. It usually adds up to about 100 games each year.

PH: I love that you’re the official scorer for the Rays. That made for some interesting comments during the season and World Series.

LW: Well, let’s not over do it, a scorer for the Rays. It’s certainly a departure from Class-A ball. I did miss doing the division clincher last year by just one game.

PH: How’d you find UW?

LW: A fellow with the Threshers turned me on to UW in 2007 and I can recall really beginning to participate in January 2008. My biggest UW regret was messing with Teebz over Islanders jerseys. Didn’t know just whom I was dealing with and got crushed. Never made a hockey comment since.

PH: So, UW’s right up your alley, then?

LW: I guess I’m lucky that UW is primarily a product of a pair of 40-somethings like Paul and you (with contributions from many others). Just a bunch of grumpy old men bitching about the good old days. Seriously, it’s remarkable how often they come up stuff that right up my alley. For years, I thought I was the only one who obsessed over vertical-arched lettering on nameplates.

PH: You’re not alone Larry. But don’t give me any credit for UW. That’s Paul’s baby. I’m just happy he lets me share in this wonderful obsession. I’ve been trying to get you to work with me for ages, and I’m just happy this is the first of our collaborations. Want to let the readers know what’s in store?

LW: I do have a couple of projects that I’d like to share with UW audience, one being this All-Star bit. I have every program back to 1969, because that’s when baseball really started (or so says a Royals fan). But it’s really what my budget has allowed. I do have a fairly extensive collection of collectables but most rarely have too much interest because the scope is pretty narrow to what I like (which as most know, is not much). Anyhow, I hope the readers enjoy the selections we are planning of the next couple months leading up to the game this year in St. Louis and feel free to let us know what could make them better.

Thanks, Larry. As he said, we plan to corroborate on a series of posts dealing with All Star Games past, leading up to the Mid-Summer Classic. For this edition, Larry has scored an original 1972 All Star Game program, and has scanned several of the pages for our enjoyment. We begin with the cover. What a beautiful piece of art, huh? And I love that pure-70’s font that was so common (actually, I think it was just becoming common at that time). As we take a look inside, some bullets:

* Larry asks, “Who’s that fellow on the right?

* Larry’s not sure, “but I think this was Sand-Knit’s first venture into MLB unis. Also the illustrations make some references to some not so obvious players.”

* A look at the 1972 AS ring.

* Who says Ty Cobb hated all that was good in the world.

* Recognize anyone on this page?

* Larry’s personal favorite. Full page love for official scorers. There was a time when doing that was a big deal, obviously not so much these days!

* I’m guessing this is an ad but no print of any kind, but it’s great! Anyone going to the game will know exactly where to get a late night stack of pancakes.

* BTW, for those too young to recognize the sign, it was this (a great logo they never should have dropped).

Great stuff Larry, and thanks for sharing! I’ll be back again with Mr. Wiederecht from time to time as the 2009 All Star Game nears with more excellent bits from him.

The 1972 All Star Game itself was a pretty good affair, going into extra innings before the National League ultimately prevailed. The box score and more can be found here, and an additional write up is here. Hammerin’ Hank, playing in front of the hometown fans, gave them all a real thrill when he slugged a home run in the sixth inning of the contest off of Cleveland’s Gaylord Perry, (a shot he called his “most dramatic” of his career — of course that was before he hit #715). Here’s one more shot of the shot.

Nice little writeup of the game is also found on MLB.com:

The All-Star Game came to the South in 1972 as Atlanta hosted its first Midsummer Classic. Hometown hero Hank Aaron pleased the crowd with a two-run homer to left in the sixth inning, which gave the NL a 2-1 lead. In the eighth, the AL got some power from an unexpected source as Kansas City’s Cookie Rojas teed off on Expo hurler Bill Stoneman with a runner on, putting the AL back on top at 3-2. But Wilbur Wood of the Chisox couldn’t hold the lead in the ninth, as the NL managed to scrape out a run to tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the 10th, Mets relief specialist Tug McGraw put down the AL 1-2-3, and in the bottom of the inning, Baltimore’s Dave McNally allowed a lead-off walk to Nate Colbert of the Padres, who was bunted over to second by Chris Speier of the Giants. That brought up Joe Morgan and the Reds’ second baseman drove the first pitch into center on a line, scoring Colbert with the game-winning run.

The Mets own Tug McGraw ended up being the winning pitcher in the game, and he is shown here with his National League teammates, Cincinnati’s Joe Morgan (#8), Chicago’s Ron Santo and Pittsburgh’s Manny Sanguillen.

The “official logo” of the contest mirrored the typography of the All Star Game program. Nolan Ryan, who at this time was pitching for the California Angels (and who was selected to the game), is featured on this baseball card, which shows the ‘historical commemorative patch’ for the game.

Typically, photos from this game are somewhat difficult to find. However, the amazing Steve’s Baseball Photography Pages, hosted by Steve Dewing (and which have been linked numerous times on UW, and have been undergoing a recent update), has some fantastic pics from that 1972 game. In no particular order, here are some of those shots:

* Several members of the AL squad, many of whom would later become HOFers … From the end of that line, here’s Rod Carew & Reggie Jackson chatting.

* Not a bad group: Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell, Hank Aaron & Willie Mays … Bench would later take the mic for NBC.

* Pretty good arms here: Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan, former teammates and current HOFers … Picking up the hardware: Joe Morgan and Joe Torre, and is that Danny Murtaugh? And who’s that behind them? Is that Clemente, Aaron & Pops?

* Couple action shots: Dick Allen manning first … Al Oliver pops up and Pops lets fly the bat … Here’s a great one: Carlton Fisk and Chris Speier (with Speier wearing an Astros helmet) … Sweet Lou Pinella taking his licks … Manny Sanguillen behind the dish (and I’m pretty sure that’s Cookie Rojas at bat) … finally, the Post Game Celebration with Tug, Manny and Cesar Cedeno.

* Bonus pic (which entered the comments a short time ago): did we ever conclusively figure out who this guy was?

OK…that’s it for the main article. Thanks again to Larry for those program grabs. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to find one or more photos from Steve’s website and to find one (or more) uniform you love … and just say why. You can literally get lost on that site for hours, and the shots are pure gold! In addition, there are a number of photographs where the player(s) is not identified. If you have questions about a certain player, or the year of a uni, or something, post ‘em! I’m not even sure I got all the players correct from the 1972 ASG pics I linked to. Happy hunting!

What about Bob(ble)? Our OCD DIYer, Robert Marshall has been furiously working on the first batch of custom bobbleheads. Here’s an “in progress” peek. On Friday, Robert reported to me, “it is a dusty nightmare, and am going to start the painting tonight, should be sending these out mid to late next week.” Freakin’ sweet. The man is an incredibly talented artist (he shared with me a bunch of his stuff, including some absolutely amazing stained glass, which I hope to feature, along with some of his other art, in a future post). If you haven’t yet ordered a bobble, you need to seriously consider it. I’m sure either Paul or I will have early reports from the first batch of bobble-recipients when they arrive. Great stuff, Robert!

And now, a call to those keeping track of “their” team and the records for the different uniform variations your team has been wearing. I had originally planned on having those keeping track sharing their findings around the All Star Break, but let’s do this twice during the season, and once at season’s end. If you guys who are keeping track of such things can report to me (in whatever form you’ve been keeping it and however you’re deciding to do it) in the next week or two (actually, I’d like to post on this the weekend of May 30-31). Feel free to contact me directly and I’ll discuss the column with you. I’d like to include some of your thoughts along with your ‘unikeeping.’

As you are all no doubt aware, I’ve been tracking the Mets and their myriad uniform combinations. Although there is a possibility of eight different uniform combinations, as of Saturday, they have worn six. Because I am a lunatic, I’m keeping track of this two ways: graphically*, with a big chart, as well as in an Excel spreadsheet. (I actually write it all down first onto a steno pad, because, ya know, I’m insane old school).

* (graphic up to date as of their last home stand)

Currently, the Mets record in the snow whites with blue caps has been 5-1; the record in snow whites with black/blue caps is 4-4; donning the actual “official” home uniform of pinstripes with blue caps they sport a 1-2 record; fortunately, they have NOT worn the pinstripes with black/blue caps thus far, but they have worn the even more awful home black jersey & cap with white pants three times, going 2-1 in that combo. On the road, the Mets have three possible uniform combinations, although one of the three is extremely unlikely to be seen. In their standard gray jersey and black/blue cap, the Mets sport a 7-4 record. In the road black jersey & cap with gray pants they are 2-3. They have not worn the gray jersey with blue cap thus far this season.

So…what do the uniforms say about the records? It’s too early to tell, but it’s obvious there are certain combinations in which the Mets have a better record than others. Do the uniforms have any effect on that record? Who knows. When we do our two-month review, I’ll update the Mets records and further elaborate on their uniform preferences. Like many teams, the Mets tend to wear certain uniform variants on certain days of the week, breaking out their pinstripes on Sundays, and there seems to be a preference for “black Fridays,” (although they’ve worn black on other days of the week) so, given another two or so weeks to get a better perspective, we can delve further into the uni-combos and resultant records, and try to draw conclusions from there.

So any of you who’ve been doing the same (in whatever fashion you’ve been doing it) … if you can please contact me within the next two weeks, I’d like to include your findings in a column.

And today marks the Third Anniversary of the launch of the Uni Watch blog. Wow. To borrow a line from Robert Hunter, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” To see how it all began, check out the First Pitch Paul ever tossed. I’d like to be the first of many to offer my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Mr. Lukas for embarking on this venture, for providing us all with our daily dose of uniform news, notes and quotes, and for sharing his own obsessive study of athletics aesthetics (and he’s obviously not the only one). It’s been a great and fun ride so far, Paul.

All the best to you and your many wonderful readers who make this blog such a unique and wonderful place! Congrats on your first three years!

This and That: For some reason, the writers of this article feel that NASCAR has the ‘best’ All Star ‘game’ — as a bonus, you get to see a pic of MJ in this getup … Seriously, I know it’s a “team” thing, but please, for the love of god, PLEASE STOP THIS … Beantown favorite Jim Rice recently toured the HOF in preparation for his July induction, and he learned something about uniform numbers: “Babe Ruth wore No. 3 and Lou Gehrig wore No. 4, and that’s because of where they were in the batting order” … I’m sure this has been mentioned before, but adidas makes catchers gear? … Pink may be the “new red” but it’d be hard to imagine AJ Foyt parading around Indy in a pink car … Art imitates life? Does this remind you of this? OK, me neither, but still … OK — what exactly are those two things on either side of “BACK” supposed to be? Bats? Syringes? Something else? … Philllies … “You throw like a girl!” is not only not an insult, it’s a compliment in this league where one girl shuns softball because “I don’t like the chanting and the uniforms they wear.” … Which way did they go? They went that way … Oh how I wish the Mets could play all their games during the day — how great will those look in blue? And not a bad day at the dish either (3-5, 3 RBI) — Even Johan is checkin’ out the ‘rups … The weathervane has been painted, and the lady is a champ, which is great, because only the usual degenerate gamblers and assorted lowlifes will be at the Belmont now … This is a perfect example of how to ruin a beautiful uniform with piping and striping … Ever wonder what happened to Bjorn Borg? Well, you don’t have to wonder anymore … The Phillies and Nationals played their Jackie Robinson tribute game last night … Wow…is this kid even old enough to have a drivers’ license? … You don’t think bobbleheads are powerful? Well, the Pirates had Nate McLouth bobblehead night yesterday, and guess who went deep? … Anyone know what those things at the base of the numbers on the MLS jerseys are? Looks like all the teams have it. — And apparently it’s not exclusive to the MLS — Other teams from different leagues seem to have some symbol at the base of their numerals. Are those all logos or adverts? I never noticed that before.

NFL Rookie Trading Card Pics were taken yesterday. Couple pics made the wire: Pat White, Miami Dolphins … Derrick Williams, Brandon Pettigrew & Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions … Mark Sanchez, New York Jets … and finally, from the You Cannot Be Serious File, while finding the NFL rookie pics, I came across this story on the AFP wire: “Aspiring players for the Lingerie Football League (LFL) relax after taking part in training drills during an open tryout
session by the New York Majesty team in Freeport, New York, May 14, 2009. The LFL, a 10-team nationwide American football league, featuring women playing football in their underwear, will start in September 2009 for a 20-week season.” Are they serious? WTF? Apparently, they have uniforms. Jeebus.

Have a super Sunday. Happy Birthday UW!

The NHL isn’t the only league that can stage an outdoor hockey game. This past Saturday, the Kontinental Hockey League, which is primarily Russian (further details here) staged its all-star game in Moscow — smack in the middle of Red Square.

Lots of interesting visual details here. In no particular order:

• Wrigley Field makes a nice backdrop to a hockey game, but it’s hard to compete with the Kremlin. Like, really hard.

• The KHL’s all-star uniforms are certainly no worse than what we’ve seen in recent years from the NHL — no extraneous nonsense. From the side, in fact, they’re almost too plain.

• Those Russkies sure have a funny alphabet. (Of course, one word was rendered in perfect English — you can see it just under the collar.)

• Game-time temperature was about 10ºF, and it dropped several more degrees during the game, so there was a lot of this. (That’s Jaromir Jagr, incidentally — I guess he’s not tucking in his jersey anymore.)

• The frigid conditions probably explain why there were so many empty seats. But even if they’d been at full capacity, the bleachers set up for the game could only accommodate 3000 people. As a result, the atmosphere apparently didn’t live up to the backdrop, at least according to several accounts that I read.

You can supposedly watch the entire game here, although that link hasn’t worked so well for me. As a backup, there are plenty of shorter clips available on YouTube.

Party Update: The venue for this winter’s Uni Watch gathering (which, as previously announced, will take place on Saturday the 24th, 2pm) will be Sheep Station — same place as last winter. Looking forward to meeting lots of you there.

Raffle Reminder: I’m currently raffling of a free jersey from SoccerPro.com. Details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Best candy name ever. That page comes from this 1949 candy catalog, which in turn is part of this collection of retro graphics — all very good stuff. … Wayne Chism of Tennessee wore some rad socks against Gonzaga last Wednesday night. “I didn’t see the game, but my dad, knowing my Uni Watch obsession, brought it to my attention,” says Jason Werth. “Not sure if he’s worn them before. Also, according to dad, the announcer made some comment about someone having to be secure or confident in order to wear socks like that.” … Hall of Fame curator Tom Shieber was looking at this photo of Jim Rice and became intrigued by his necklace pendant. Looks like the letters might say “RICE,” but what about the rest of the pendant? Anyone recognize this design? … Several readers noted that Tim Tebow’s NOB was badly off-center on Thursday night. … “Soccer player Lassana Diarra has been signed by Real Madrid to replaced the injured Mahamadou Diarra in midfield,” writes Chris Cruz. Rather than doing a FNOB or “L. Diarra” treatment, they have given him a jersey with his nickname.” Further details here. … Here are some shots of the last guy to wear No. 5 for the Red Sox, and here’s Rocco Baldelli with his new jersey. The navy border around the red numeral looks a lot thicker than usual, no? … The sixth graf of this story assigns blame for the whole pink-for-breast cancer thing (with thanks to Brandon Yarian). … Really interesting tidbit from Nick Hanson, who writes: “At last week’s International Power Showcase High School Home Run Derby, the hitters wore their home state’s two-letter abbreviation instead of a uniform number. For example, this is Bryce Harper, a sophomore from Las Vegas High School in Nevada.” … Greg Netherwood notes that Clark MacArthur of the Sabres has an interesting NOB. … Gorgeous views of the Cubs’ raised helmet logos with the old-style inscribed uni numbers here and here (with thanks to Jere Smith). … Turns out Oregon had diamondplate-patterned gloves for their bowl game (good catch by Matt Calvert). … “Before Hideo Nomo retired last year, he created an amateur club team in Osaka,” writes Jeremy Brahm. “I saw photos of the team’s uniforms the other day and thought the white one was one of the strangest baseball designs I’d ever seen.” … Also from Jeremy: “For the Italian Volleyball League Series A All-Star game in November, the floor was painted like an Italian flag.” … Chris Flinn says he got an e-mail from the Giants the other day that included this attachment. Gonna take a lot more than spam to sell Plaxico jerseys at this point. … “Here’s a video clip shot at Shea Stadium in 1984, from a bad movie called 7 minutes in Heaven,” writes Paul Wiederecht. “It’s got faked-up Expos uniforms, huge NOBs, and a game taking place at Shea in the morning.” … Denny Jones notes that injured Titans center Kevin Mawae wanted to listen in on the play call as he watched his team on offense near the of their game against the Ravens on Saturday, so he picked up one of the radio-equipped helmets and eavesdropped. … Collateral Gammage and I checked out this exhibit of vintage matchbooks on Saturday, and there were lots of sports-related pieces in the show, including die-cut team-logo matchbooks, an old football player series, a Brooklyn Dodgers series, and one for Joe Namath’s Restaurant. Sorry about the image quality, but I only had my camera-phone, and the combination of the glass exhibit case the plastic display sleeves made for a lot of glare. … Korea’s WBC uniforms have been unveiled (with thanks to Dan Kurtz). … According to this story, there’s a disproportionately high rate of ADD among MLB players. … Color-on-color games from Saturday: Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M and Georgia Southern vs. College of Charleston (with thanks to Matt Watson and Benji Boyter, respectively). … Some of you probably knew this already, but the Canadiens’ web site has a great history section, which includes an excellent sweater timeline (big thanks to Mike Kemezis). … Doug Blanchard has created uni illustrations for all the teams in Slap Shot and Rollerball. Regarding the latter set, Doug says: “Clear shots of the Paris and Rome unis are available only in the ‘making of’ feature — James Caan’s Houston team does not play them in the movie although they are shown briefly in video sequences depicting moments in his career. Pittsburgh is mentioned in another video sequence, but they are not shown (it is Rome’s purple unis that are briefly seen).” … Longtime reader Doug Keklak very generously sent me a copy of this excellent book about signs in and around Pittsburgh. The book is based on this web site. Great, great stuff — highly recommended. … Great old shot of the Polo Grounds in this shot of Sammy Baugh coaching the Titans. … Several readers have noted that Donovan McNabb has a black Dymo Tape label just above his fine-print warning decal. It appears to say, “PRIMARY OFF #1 MCNABB,” which I assume means that this is McNabb’s preferred radio-equipped helmet (screen grabs courtesy of John Zajac). … McNabb also had a play yesterday where his chinsnap broke just before the snap. He played that down strap-less and then ran over to the bench for a new chinstrap. … Peter Greenberg tipped me wise to the work of Kevin McNeil, an artist who does really nice charcoal and pastel illustrations. Check out more of his work here. … Two uni number-related items at the very end of Ken Davidoff’s Sunday column. … On Friday I linked to pics of the NFC’s Pro Bowl design. Here’s the AFC version. Fortunately, nobody actually watches the Pro Bowl, so these awful designs will go largely unseen. … Tris Wykes reports that Wyclef Jean was shown wearing Magic and Habs jerseys on last night’s 60 Minutes. … Here’s a double-flapper I hadn’t been aware of: Junior Felix. But he was a switch-hitter, so it’s not as unusual as a non-switch going double-flapped (with thanks to Dustin Pomprowitz). … Cool old catalogs available here, here (note the sliced baseball diagram), here (gorgeous cover), here, and here. … Early contender for stupidest illustration of the year. … Instead of color on color, how about white on white? That’s the Buffalo Bandits vs. Toronto Rock, of the National Lacrose League. Additional pics here (with thanks to Chris Coulson). … Interesting back design for Denmark’s women’s volleyball team (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Major find by Michael Romero, who’s come up with an addition to our list of MLB players with faceguards attached to their helmets: Tony Fernandez, from the 1989 ALCS. … Lots of good NOB finds by Doug Keklak: Mike Santorelli (there are no other Santorellis on the Predators’ roster, so what’s up with that?), Jess Williams, and Maurice and Mike Pouncey. … Also from Doug: “Last week, someone in the comments was wondering about a poster that was in the office on the old show Coach. I was able to get a couple of grabs.” … Hadn’t noticed this before: The NHL All-Star jerseys apparently feature numbers on the sleeves. “I did some research,” writes Mike Kemezis, “and while the Canadiens have hosted 11 previous all-star games, they’ve hosted only three such games since the change in format (it used to be the Stanley Cup winner vs. an all-star team). Those years were 1969, 1975, and 1993, which are the years listed on the sleeves.”

Remember my recent ESPN column about unusual uni-related moments in MLB All-Star Games? We appear to have another one on our hands — or, at the very least, an interesting mystery to figure out.

The incident in question was brought to my attention by reader Joe Alvaro, who forwarded me two photos that a friend recently showed him. The pics show the 1977 American League all-star squad sitting for a team portrait. Notice anything amiss? You might not, because it’s hard to see in that shot, but take a look at the second photo, apparently taken just as the photo shoot was disbanding, and you’ll see that one of the players was wearing a Yankees road uniform — which makes no sense at all, since the game was played at Yankee Stadium.

If you go back to the first shot, you can see that same player standing in the center of the top row, in between Dennis Eckersley (Indians) and, I think, Wayne Gross (A’s). There were five Yankees on that year’s all-star team: Reggie (second row, yawning), Willie (right next to Reggie), Sparky (top row, with his back partially turned toward the camera), Graig (I think that’s who Sparky’s talking to), and Thurman (or maybe that’s who Sparky’s talking to, which means either Thurman or Graig is missing from this portrait). Our mystery player in the road uni definitely isn’t any of those guys.

So I checked the photo against the 1977 A.L. roster and began ticking off names. I found that six players on the A.L. team weren’t present for that photo shoot: Vida Blue, Mark Fidrych, Don Money, Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana (who was named to the team but was injured and probably wouldn’t have around for a photo shoot anyway), and either Thurman Munson or Graig Nettles.

I was hoping one of the missing all-stars would match up with our mystery player. Then we could say with some certainty, “Nolan Ryan [or whomever] misplaced his uniform, so the Yankees’ equipment staff found a spare road uniform for him to wear at the photo shoot.”

But now I’m not so sure, because I don’t think our mystery player looks like any of the MIA players. We can immediately rule out Munson, Nettles, Blue, Ryan, and Fidrych, and I’m pretty sure it’s not Tanana either (who, remember, was injured anyway). That leaves Don Money — I couldn’t remember what he looked like, so I googled him and came up with this. Again, doesn’t look like our mystery player.

So who was wearing that Yankees road uni, and why? It couldn’t have been a batboy or anything like that, because you wouldn’t put a batboy in the center of the top row of a team portrait. If you’ve got ideas, or if you’ve spotted a flaw in my logic, speak up.

Raffle Redux: Our friends at SoccerPro.com have given me another $100 gift card to raffle off. Just like last time, it can be applied to any of their replica soccer jerseys and gear. 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) by 10pm eastern this Friday, September 5th.

Rules are the same as they were for last month’s raffles: If you’re enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program, you can send in up to four e-mails; everyone else gets one e-mail (and I’ll be checking multiple e-mailers against the membership roster, so don’t bother trying to cheat). I’ll announce the winner next Monday.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The NFL announced yesterday that all players will wear a Gene Upshaw memorial patch on their jerseys this season. That article says everyone will wear it on “left chest” area, but I’m assuming they’ll move it to the right side for teams that already have patches in that region this season (Lions, Titans, Rams, Steelers, Jets, etc.). But then what about the captaincy patches, which are worn on the right? I’m trying to find out what the deal is with that — as you may have noticed, the captaincy patches haven’t been worn in the preseason, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be worn when the regular season begins this Thursday. I’ve got a call in to the NFL office about this — will advise. … If you choose to believe a leak of questionable origin — and I’m not saying you shouldn’t — the NBA’s OKC team’s logo will look like this. … Several readers have noted that the raised-felt “C” logo patch has frequently been missing from Geovany Soto’s catcher’s helmet this year, presumably because of friction from the straps of his mask. Now they’ve apparently given up on using the raised felt patch and have instead given him standard decal, as you can see in this screen grab that Bryan sent me over the weekend. … We’ve talked several times about those clear anti-scuff helmet decals that players have been wearing in practice. But Ray Rice was wearing one in a game last Thursday (with thanks to Rick Friedel). … DI-AA Western Carolina has new uniforms (with thanks to Chris Geis). … Lots of cool striped socks at the Australian Football International Cup, as seen being worn by the UK, Nauru, China, and South Africa. The various team captains make for a colorful display (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: The Women’s Baseball World Cup recently took place in Japan. Weirdest team uni was India, whose home uni didn’t even say “India,” except on the cap brim. … The Canucks have released 10 finalists for Curtis Sanford’s new mask design. Plus they’ve posted staff picks and a gallery of past Canucks masks (with thanks to John Muir). … Interesting video clip here about a Blue Jays jersey storage room (with thanks to Ted Stempak). … Interesting eBay listings here and here. … Great article here on college trophy rivalries (with thanks to Susan Freeman). … Some really good shots of Oregon’s reflective uniforms here and here (with thanks to Steve Sundell). … Awesome (but somewhat lengthy) video clip here showing how LSU’s equipment manager applies stripes and decals to the team’s helmets. Amazing stuff (big thanks to Derek Ponamsky, who says there’s more where this came from). … Not really uni-related, but still interesting and fun (courtesy of Jeffrey Waszak). … The Pedro porthole was in full bloom on Sunday. … Speaking of Pedro, Nicholas Schiavo notes that he was wearing an orange undershirt and solid-black cap while sitting on the bench on Friday, while the rest of the team was wearing the black/blue cap. Even worse, he’s become the latest player to start wearing those Phiten-branded socks. Fortunately, that particular disease hasn’t yet spread throughout the team. … Bill Henderson has acquired what he believes to be a prototype for the first knit pullover Royals jerseys for the 1973 season. “Notice the V-neck trim — solid blue, not blue-white-blue like on the team-worn versions. Also note the sleeve end trim — it is a soutache braid, nearly like that on the sleeve ends of the last flannels of 1972. But the real kicker is, to me, the Wilson tag in the collar which has the vertical red line next to the size marking — the style that was used through the end of the flannel era, and last seen in 1973, which is when I would surmise this jersey was made. While it’s possible that a fan could have ordered this as a souvenir in 1973, retail sale versions of MLB jerseys were very, very rare in those days. I am 99% sure it is a prototype.” … The Des Moines Register is running an Iowa State helmet poll (with thanks to Jack Coyier). … No photo, but Dave Shucosky notes that Denny Bautista still has a “D.” initial on his red vest’s NOB, even though Jose Bautista was traded, making Denny the team’s lone Bautista. … Team Handball is going to use “smart ball” technology at the 2009 Men’s World Handball Championship in Croatia (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … A big Uni Watch shout-out to Wynn Pelzer of the Fort Wayne Wizards, whose stirrups are a thing of beauty (courtesy of Stanton Smith). … The Edmonton Eskimos will be wearing green helmets this Friday (thanks to Roy Ellingsen). … Anyone know what that yellow decal is on the back of Arizona’s helmets? … “This is John Afoa of the All Blacks,” writes rugby specialist Caleb Borchers. “Apparently the All Blacks take that extra little step, and initial the gear they give out.” … “The Kansas Jayhawks are touring Canada, playing three exhibition games against Canadian Universities,” writes Moe Khan. “It looks like they’re wearing a different uniform, along with no names on the jersey. Any news on them getting a new look?” That’s news to me. Anyone..? … Vince Young had his number retired by the Longhorns the other day. Since he’s an NFL/Reebok guy, he had to tape over the Nike logo on the pullover he wore for the occasion. If you don’t see this as a symptom of something very, very wrong in our culture, I’m afraid you and I just aren’t living on the same planet. … Pitt used to have this panther-head logo, but then it was revised like so. Now Chris Hilf says the old design is making a comeback: “Our family was at the game Saturday (season tickets, natch) and we saw the old logo everywhere — on the sideline, on the tunnel where the team enters, on the pants, etc. When we ran into someone we know who works in the athletic dept., they told us Steve Petersen is quietly returning to the old panther head logo, with no announcement.” … The whole “Los” thing is lame, and so is the use of a nickname on a team’s jersey. Add those two strains of lame-itude together and you get this. … Bill Monti has a very odd Phils/Pirates hybrid cap. “I got from a family friend when I was roughly 10 or 11 (so, 1983 or ’84). It just so happens that this family friend is the grandson of Pirates Hall of Famer Kiki Cuyler. The grandson was employed by (or owned, I don’t recall) a company that created licensed merchandise. This hat was either an intentional misprint, so to speak, as a gag, or (more likely) simply a mistake with the wrong ‘P’ embroidered on. There are no tags whatsoever on the inside, which probably indicates that it was pulled from the production line before they would’ve been applied. The only identifying mark is a brand name, ‘Natural Season,’ on the plastic adjusta-strap on the back. Unfortunately, since I got it when I was so young, I didn’t really take good care of it. I’m pretty sure the first thing I did was put a crease (or three) in the bill.” … I’m sticking to what I said over on ESPN last week: I think the new Colorado jerseys, with their raised-dot shoulder panels, look pretty cool. Can’t say the same about the pants, however. … Reprinted from Sunday’s comments: Now here’s a cool uniform. … The Marlins all went high-cuffed yesterday, for good luck. That’s Dan Uggla wearing the accursed Phiten-logo sox. … Joe Hilseberg, you’re gonna hate this: Check it out. Is that the lamest job of nameplate sewing ever or what?

So I’m watching the All-Star Game last night with my buddy Large from No Mas. We haven’t seen each other since February (he lives in California these days), so I’m trying to not to get all Uni Watch on him. No need to make a pest of myself by pointing out every single pair of white shoes or other uni anomalies when we can enjoy universal pleasures like making fun of Dan Uggla, imagining what the youth of America is thinking about all the Viagra and prostate-shrinkage commercials, wondering how many pitches it will take for Billy Wagner to blow the lead, and despising Tim McCarver.

So when Ryan Ludwick came up in the eleventeeth inning, or whatever it was, with about 17 things wrong with his batting helmet, I held my tongue. Instead of saying, “Holy crap, look at that!” and pointing out all the aberrations Ludwick was wearing on his noggin, I just said, “I bet Dan Uggla’s sister got made fun of a lot when she was growing up” and reached for another drink.

Inside, though, I was thinking, “I bet my readers are all over this.” And I’m proud to say that you did not disappoint. Fourteen of you e-mailed regarding Ludwick’s headwear, and many more posted comments about it. For those who missed it, here’s Ludwick’s helmet, and here’s what was unusual about it:

• It’s red, which is the Cards’ home helmet. The National League was the road team last night, so he should have been wearing a navy lid.

• Although it’s hard to see in that screen shot, Ludwick was wearing a Coolflo helmet, which none of the Cardinals normally wear. (Albert Pujols also wore a Coolflo last night, but at least it was navy.)

• The weirdest thing is that Ludwick’s “StL” logo was red outlined in white, instead of white outlined in navy. If you look again at the Pujols shot, it’s obvious that they used a road helmet decal on Ludwick’s helmet.

Ludwick wasn’t the only National Leaguer improperly wearing a home helmet, by the way. Aramis Ramirez wore the Cubs’ solid-blue model instead of their red-brimmed road version. Fellow Cubs Geovany Soto and Kosuke Fukudome wore the proper helmet, however.

As for Uggla, that was some performance — I’m afraid all the Viagra in the world isn’t gonna help him now. Personally, I was rooting for the N.L. to run out of pitchers and be forced to put Uggla on the mound (whoever took over at second base would have to qualify as a defensive improvement, no?), but ya can’t have everything. And here’s a tidbit that only one reader caught: Uggla wasn’t even wearing his own wristbands. Maybe that was his problem right there.

(Thanks to Bob Sherron for the Cards screen grabs, and to Brett Crane for bringing Uggla’s wristband to my attention.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: Another brimless catcher: Jim Essian (with thanks to Andy Chalifour). … Another very stripe-centric football team: Ray High School in Corpus Christi (additional pics here, here, and here). “I’m almost positive they’ve worn an entire ‘candy-stripe’ uniform,” says Todd Hotz. “I’m looking for it.” … According to the third item in this web chat transcript, Idaho State will be wearing solid black at home, and the helmet will be tweaked (with thanks to Mark Snider). … “TCU’s top-ranked baseball team has been wearing throwback uniforms for Sunday home games for the past three years,” reports Mark Rybczyk. “They do a pretty good job and, I know that Coach Jim Schlossnagle requires his team to wear the stirrups on Sundays. I especially like the hats, which use a very old TCU Logo.” These are so nice, I won’t even complain about the purple. … With the Spectrum in Philly now slated for the glue factory, the Phantoms (AHL) and Kixx (MLS) will be wearing a farewell season patch (with thanks to Chris Ashworth). … New football uniforms on the way for Vanderbilt. … Jim Parker sent along a photo of some amazing UMich socks from 1953 — love to see more of these.

[Editor's Note: Reader Mike Miller recently attended the the 2008 Carolina League/California League All-Star Game in Myrtle Beach and provided such a thorough report that I've decided to run it as a guest-written entry -- enjoy. I'll see you down at the Ticker. -- PL]

By Mike Miller

The game took place at BB&T Coastal Field, home to the single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Here’s a rundown on the visual aspects of the game.

Batting Practice Jerseys. Nothing too remarkable here. Carolina League, as the home team, had powder blue — err, Pelican blue — jerseys with gold and navy trim and “Carolina” across the front. The design was straight out of the current MLB BP jersey template. (Yes, that’s Roger Clemens’ kid Koby in this shot.) Many of the players had BP jerseys with different numbers than their game uniforms, so I think the jerseys were pre-numbered then had nameplates added when the rosters were finalized.

The California League BP jerseys were similar, except with navy blue as the primary color and “California” across the front. Their numbers were three-layer, with powder blue, then white, then gold. Both leagues’ BP jersey had the all-star logo on the left sleeve.

Game Uniforms. The Carolina League got everyone to wear home whites. The California League couldn’t meet the challenge, with half of their players wearing a colored alternate instead of the road grey.

A few cool and weird tidbits:

• Wilmington probably has the only gold front number on a white uniform of any team in baseball.

• The Stockton Ports, which are an A’s affiliate, go with white cleats, just like the parent club (but they don’t all wear stirrups).

• Although Myrtle Beach wears powder blue caps at home and on the road, they have black batting helmets. I was told that helmet manufacturers don’t make helmets in powder blue and that the team basically didn’t want to pay the money to paint them all that color.

• The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes have a fissure across their cap bill.

• Salem’s jerseys are faux vests (white jerseys with black sleeves). Compare them to the real deal here.

• Winston-Salem, a White Sox affiliate, have White Sox sleeve patches.

• There were a few quality stirrup sightings. The best was Sean Doolittle from Stockton.

Field Markings and Stadium. The logo they painted behind home plate was not the actual all-star logo, but a watered-down version (the full version is much more detailed, with a palmetto tree and crescent moon, which of course are taken from the South Carolina state flag).

The grounds crew had some nice touches, outlining the home plate area and coaching boxes in red, white, and blue, plus they painted each league’s name in the coaching box closest to that team’s dugout. And before the game, the crew put down a stencil of the Pelicans’ “MB” cap logo of behind home plate. So after they watered that area, the logo was clearly evident.

The stadium has a “beach area” down the left field line, where folks can watch the game from beach chairs. They even have a few lifeguard chairs for good measure. Since the main scoreboard is in left field next to the outfield bleachers, they put in a manual scoreboard on the right field foul line so the bleacher folk and beach-dwellers could actually see the score. It’s got to be one of the largest flip scoreboards in history, like the ones you used in gym class. The poor ballboy (blue shirt between the B and S) has to get up after every pitch to change the count.

Some cool things around the concourse too, including a list of every Pelicans player who’s made it to the majors and each year’s Opening Day lineup.

Finally, the gift shop had a heat press for those who wanted a personalized jersey. It got some work while I was watching.

Uni Watch News Ticker: A little birdie informs me that SMU, now being coached by June Jones, is returning to traditional white helmets, and that the new uni “will look similar to throwback Bills — royal jerseys and white pants at home, solid white on the road.” Can’t show any photos yet, but I can tell you it looks pretty hot. Official unveiling to come in the next couple of weeks. … Joe Alexander loves No. 11 so much that he might not play if he can’t get that number (with thanks to Josh Exine). … Pink caps are getting bashed in Boston. … John Blatchford recently attended the http://www.ishof.org/”>International Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida and sent along some photos (look here, here, here, and here). Lots of info on their current “History of Swimwear” exhibit is in this PDF. … Some interesting uni-related content in this video clip about what the UGA baseball team does on an off-day. … Chris Warfford notes that Team Slipstream, in addition their argyle cycling outfits, “are going to have one of the most colorful team photos ever. They’ve got five national title-holders that will be representing their nations during the grand tours, and those riders will be allowed to wear kits that reference their national titles, in addition to the argyle. Of course, we haven’t seen the new kits with the Garmin logo (that will be resolved soon), but if the Giro d’Italia is any indication of the kits, very few colors will be left out of the team photo.” … Not sure if I’ve run this link before, but here’s a good site for UK soccer kits (with thanks to Patrick Murray). … I just scored this nifty old uniform ad. “Preferred by the leaders of Boyville” — how totally great is that?! … Totally love this label (which is on this old uniform). … The Western Michigan White caps are going to wear Star Wars uniforms on Saturday. … Footwear observation from Brian Jud, who writes: “I noticed the SportsCenter commercial with Pierce, Garnett, and Allen shows them wearing road jerseys with white sneakers, when everyone knows the Celtics wear black sneakers on the road. More details here. … Sartorial justice: Maria Sharapova and tuxedo-themed Nike outfit were beaten yesterday by Alla Kudryavtseva, who later said, “I don’t like her outfit. It was one of the motivations to beat her” (good find by Brinke Guthrie). … You know how UMich always wears special shoulder logos for bowl games? Here’s an article on the company that puts them on the jerseys. … Bill Sour was watching the 1984 film Supergirl, which includes a scene in an abandoned amusement park. “I did a double-take when I saw a bunch of bumper cars with NFL helmets on them. After further review there it was, an NFL-themed amusement park ride [additional pics here and here]. I’d kill to find one of these old rides.” Very cool, but they got the Falcons’ logo backwards. … “George Shinn had wanted to own an NHL expansion team in Raleigh, but got pushed aside in favor of Felix Sebates, the NASCAR owner,” writes Tris Wykes. “So he came to Hampton Roads and whipped up ticket and suite deposits and civic interest in his proposed team, the Rhinos. They were in the hunt before being turned down by the NHL in January of 1997. There were billboards and T-shirts and Coke cans with the Rhinos logo. The character’s name was Rhocky.” … By now most of you have seen the Timberwolves’ new logo (which continues the NBA’s odd practice of including a basketball in the vast majority of its logo designs). According to this article, they’ll be unveiling a new uni set in August. … “Sometime last year, I sent along the only unearthed picture of Auburn sporting the hideous orange jerseys from 1979-82,” writes Kris McInnis. “But I was doing some attic shuffling and have found a few more good color shots from a couple of old university yearbooks. I can’t imagine there’d be anymore of these laying around that are actually in color. These shots differ from the original one I sent along, as most feature striped sleeves that are not seen on the tear-a-ways.”

It remains one of the sports world’s enduring mysteries: Every year the NFL selects the best players at each position, gathers them together for an all-star game in Honolulu, and then humiliates them by dressing them in the most god-awful uniforms imaginable. I’m not gonna bother going over every unsightly detail of this year’s design, because it’s pointless — every new Pro Bowl uniform is the worst ever, until the next one is unveiled. It’s almost like the league is saying, “Yeah, okay, so you get your free trip to Hawaii, you get to party with hula girls, you get to drink piña coladas out of a coconut shell, but don’t think you’re gonna get out of this without paying a certain price.”

As you know, medical research has concluded that only 17 people on the planet have the gene required to watch the entire Pro Bowl without falling asleep (and five of them, perversely, are African tribesmen who don’t own television sets), so there’s a good chance you missed at least a few of Sunday’s more noteworthy details. Here’s a quick guide:

• By far the most significant development — and I haven’t seen anyone else mention this, boys and girls, either in the comments section or in e-mails to me — is that all the players were wearing a new pants design, with added seams and panels on the rear thigh (here’s the AFC version), kind of like a football version of MLB’s Cool Base jersey gussets. I’m not sure if this was for added flexibility, ventilation, or both, but man did it look like shit. Let’s hope this wasn’t a test drive for league-wide implementation next season.

• As many of you are already aware, Derek Anderson had quite a little adventure with his jersey patches. A few days prior to the game, he was photographed with his left shoulder patch upside-down. On game day it was fixed (or, more likely, he’d just switched to a different jersey) but now the patch on his right shoulder was askew. Not only that, but compare that last photo, which shows the facemask pointing down roughly to five o’clock, to this shot, which appears to show the facemask oriented more toward four o’clock. Just how many defective jerseys did Anderson wear in one week? (Big thanks to Dominic Atencio and John Boris for the screen grabs.)

• The Chargers’ official lightning bolt logo use to be white outlined in gold, but this season it was changed gold outlined in light blue and navy. So why were all the San Diego players in the game wearing the now-defunct white logo on their shoulders? Interestingly, the jerseys for sale at NFL.com got it right.

• Terrell Owens wore at least two different pairs of cleats: white trimmed with blue and silver (plus, as Nick Hanson notes, he also wore a cross necklace).

• Speaking of cleats, look what Tony Romo was wearing.

• That’s quite a pustule Peyton Manning had on his knee.

• No photo, but Osi Umenyiora still had the Super Bowl XLII decal on the back of his helmet. Anyone notice if the Patriots players had it too?

• The new NFL logo finally made its on-field debut, on the MVP trophy (although it looks like they used the old logo here). And it’s good to see that Adrian Peterson’s uni number gets gunked up in the Pro Bowl, just like in a regular game.

• And that’s finally that.

Next year, let’s have some throwbacks, shall we?

Uni Watch News Ticker: Check out who’s wearing striped socks — the astronauts who are currently up in space (with thanks to Rob B). … A nice selection of Karl Ehrhardt’s sign work is shown in this video clip (a forwarded by Matt Edwards). … Got an on-site query yesterday morning from Ryan Perkins, as follows: “I’m in a restaurant in Jackson, Mississipi, sitting by a huge picture of Kent Hull (who was from Greenwood, Mississippi). I can clearly read ‘Wet Rat’ printed on the tongue of each side of his Reebok Pumps. Did some Googling and found nothing. Any idea if this was on all the pumps or if this was custom-done for Hull? And either way, what did it mean?” Anyone..? … Wake Forest was wearing new kicks on Saturday. Lots of interesting details on these sneakers, including a very subtle Skip Prosser memorial — for the full scoop, check out this page, written by Uni Watch charter member Zach Smith. … Northern Kentucky’s women’s hoops team will be wearing 1970s throwbacks this Saturday. Full details here (with thanks to Steve Hensley). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Lots of coverage here about Rick Pitino changing suits in the middle of a game the other day. … The Aussie rugby team sure looks sharp — yes, even with that little purple ribbon on the guy’s leg. Anyone know what that’s for? … Good interview here with the principals of Plan B Branding, the San Diego-based design firm that’s responsible for a lot of current minor league uni designs (with thanks to Greg Victor). … The Staten Island Yankees have unveiled a new logo for every day of the week. Okay, not quite, but almost. “Looks like a cartoon version of the classic Yankee stuff,” says Tyler Kepner. “I’d actually like the block SINY thing, if it were for a sleeve patch and not a cap logo. Also: A short-season class A team with FIVE cap styles? That’s a little much, no?” Indeed. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Fascinating college hoops game recently, featuring Grand Valley wearing throwbacks against Northern Michigan, whose jerseys have no lettering — just huge uni numbers fore and aft (and those aren’t throwbacks — those are their regular unis!). … Seth Horowitz spotted this at a Yankees game last year. … Doug Keklak reports that Penguins fantasy camper get to wear the team’s original scarf-clad penguin (although the color scheme is an odd choice).