Sowle Train

Back on April 27th, I ran a Ticker item about this page from a 1958 MacGregor catalog. “Dig item G914,” I wrote. “Who’s Ted Sowle?” A reader helped fill in some of the blanks with this comment, but that didn’t address the question of the headgear shown in the old catalog. Had Sowle designed it, or had it been named after him for some other reason?

I got an answer a few days later, when I received an e-mail from one Ted Sowle. But no, not that Ted Sowle. Here’s what the note said:

Ted Sowle was my grandfather. He passed away in 1971, just before I was born. I was researching his past when I came across your question about him. … He holds many patents regarding the safety of, primarily, football athletes. A very creative guy and a hell of a football coach (was asked to coach for Notre Dame but turned it down, or so I’m told).

Ted offered to send me some of his grandfather’s patents — an offer I readily accepted. And sure enough, he designed the eyewear protector shown in the old catalog page (you can see the rest of that patent’s paperwork here). That design was apparently a refinement of a similar contraption he’d patented nine years earlier (full paperwork here).

Ted sent me nine patents in all, and they fell into three broad categories. The two designs I just showed you related to eyewear protection. There were also two harnesses, patented less than a year apart, that were designed to provide hip and body protection for football players, although the gear kinda looks more like S&M fetishwear (full paperwork here and here).

The other five patents were all faceguard-related, and that’s where things got interesting. Remember these photos from the Life archive? That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this (paperwork), this (paperwork), and this (paperwork). But the Life photo sequence is from 1951, while Sowle’s patents are from several years later (and, as I eventually discovered when I read the fine print, are not based on a plexiglass concept).

Sowle’s other two facemask patents, which he received in the 1960s, featured pivoting action — one for a single pivot-mounted bar (paperwork) and the other for a slightly more elaborate assembly (paperwork).

Looks like ol’ Ted was quite the inventer. Had he been a trained engineer or designer, or did he just link to tinker? “Not an engineer — just a coach who cared, I guess,” said the younger Ted.

Amazing stuff, right? Very DIY, when you think about it. Meanwhile, I had lots of additional questions: Did Sowle patent other inventions? Did any of his designs gain widespread acceptance? Were there any designs that he felt were unjustly ignored or underrated? Did he design any non-sports items?

At this point Ted referred me to his father (the elder Ted’s son), who he said would be better equipped to answer these queries. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard back from him yet, but I’ll post some follow-up material if and when he responds. Until then, enjoy these beautiful patent drawings and be on the lookout for other mentions of Ted Sowle in vintage equipment listings.

The advertiser I’ve always dreamed of: As you may have noticed, we now have a dedicated stirrup and sock vendor selling quality hosiery over in the left rail. That would be the aptly named Socks Rock, and I don’t mind saying this is pretty much my dream come true in terms of site sponsorship. Please welcome them aboard and give them a look. Thanks.

Bobble Shoppe Reminder: In case you missed it last week, the amazing Robert Marshall is now offering hand-casted, custom-painted bobblehead dolls to Uni Watch readers. For details, look here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Our friends at Ebbets Field Flannels have started a new blog devoted to uni-related issues. Best of luck with the new venture, Jerry. … Small item buried within this column: “Man of the Weekend was Red Bulls forward John Wolyniec. As seen on MSG, the Staten Island native and former Fordham star was set to enter as a sub, Friday, when he removed his warm-up jacket to reveal a red jersey. His team, however, was wearing its white jerseys. Wolyniec quickly changed, entered” (with thanks to Joshua Paster). … Reprinted from Monday’s comments: This must have been a very odd ballgame. Additional info here. … Good find by Gabe Butler, who writes: “I was browsing on eBay this morning when I stumbled across this replica jersey for a team that played in my hometown in the late 1960s and ’70s. My dad actually played for their junior team before they folded and still has his jersey hanging up at home! Anyway, I read the thread and the guy said he got the jersey made at this site. I poked around it looks like they have some pretty cool stuff.” Indeed — worth investigating. … Those Yankees, nothing but class. … Interesting background info on the 49ers’ new sleeve stripes here (with thanks to Tim Fesmire). … Ryan Connelly recently realized one of his longtime dreams by playing — and scoring a goal! — on the Mellon Arena ice. Photos here. … And so it has come to this: The swoosh has infiltrated the Presidential sock drawer. … Y’know, there are some problems that even striped stirrups can’t solve (with thanks to Chris Chaussee). … Lots of apostrophe catastrophe action over on NHL.com (as spotted by James Huening). … The IFAF (that’s World Federation of American Football) is will be holding its Junior World Championship tournament in Canton, starting in late June. Lots of not-very-inspiring uni photos here (with thanks to Tom Pachuta). … Menswear designer Paul Smith is a cycling enthusiast, and he L.A. shop now has an exhibition of cycling jerseys. Addition info in the second graf of this story (thanks, Vince). … If you’ve always wanted to see Alex Ovechkin in a football helmet, this is your lucky day (with thanks to Ethan Crooks). … Here’s a major, major find: Over 60 photos from the Expos’ very first game (über-thanks to Jean Gagnier). … Here’s Rob Ullman’s latest, a portrait of Tyler Kulasza’s girlfriend, Emily. Love the low-rise Chucks! … Maybe this is common knowledge, but not to me: For a while, Rick DePietro’s mask featured a depiction of Madison Square Garden (left photo, the ear panel). Apparently the mask was later sent back for a touch-up (good spot by Joe DeAngelis). … Really wonderful slideshow of vintage baseball photos here — highly recommended (big thanks to Mike Couillard). … Pricey, but possibly probably worth it. … Nice mash note to the old Bengals identity program here. … Great article in yesterday’s Ausin American-Statesman about Len Barrell’s 1914 uniform (with thanks to Martin Kohout). … New football uniforms for South Alabama (with thanks to Doug Simpson). … New Celtic International away kit (with thanks to JK Chaney). … What happened to the ball that Bobby Thompson hit for his famous home run in 1951? We’ll never know for sure, but there’s a new book that explores the likely answer, and Ken Davidoff has written a very interesting review of it. … Uni number news for the Patriots (with thanks to Tom Adjemian). … Lots of interesting sock action and the Mid-Penn Conference Track and Field Championships (with thanks to Ryan Farrell). … Hey, guess what, some uniforms are ugly (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … Petersburg, Indiana, is the hometown of Gil Hodges, and now it’s also the home of a big Hodges mural. Those pics were taken by Ryan Bowman, who notes that the mural appears to show Hodges wearing a white Dodgers jersey with blue placket piping, which is a design the Dodgers never wore during Hodges’s tenure, although they did wear a road grays with that design. Further info on the mural here. … Look, it’s a bunch of new Bundesliga kits (with thanks to Alex Peerenboom). … Fun rundown of “mistaken identity” baseball cards here. … Hey, check this out: stirrups vs. stirrups! That’s Cleveland pitcher Jeremy Sowers (whose hosiery heroics were first mentioned here last week) and Corky Miller of the Chisox (whose membership in Stirrup Nation is news to me) facing each other last night. … And if that weren’t enough, Luke Hochevar made his debut with the Royals last night, and look what he was wearing. There’s definitely a little trendlet at work here — I think the hosiery pendulum may finally be ready to start swing back the other way (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: Alex Cora played first base in the 10th inning of last night’s Mets/Braves game and apparently didn’t have a first baseman’s glove of his own to wear. Phil breaks down the proceedings: “He warmed up with a light brown mitt, then got handed a darker brown mitt, which he didn’t like and threw back. After that, he motioned to the dugout to look for his glove and then called time as the first batter (Chipper) was stepping in. Then he jogged to the dugout and came back with a regular fielder’s glove, which he wore for the entire inning, including while holding Chipper on at first.”

182 comments May 13th, 2009

Uni Watch DIY Project: I Am That Masked Man

[Editor's Note: Today's entry has been guest-written by Les Holmlund, whose childhood DIY project went above and beyond the call of duty. -- PL]

By Les Holmlund

Way back around 1971, when I was a young lad of 14, I read about Detroit Red Wings trainer Lefty Wilson and others creating face-formed masks for NHL goalies. The process involved smearing Vaseline on the goalie’s face, inserting breathing straws, and layering a slab of plaster of Paris directly onto the face. After it set, the plaster was removed to harden, and then this negative form was filled with more plaster, creating a positive mold. Fibreglass was layered over this, and after some cutting, drilling, and painting, a mask was born.

I got my Dad to help by putting the plaster on my face, much to my Mom’s horror. What my research didn’t tell me was that the darn plaster gets hot as it sets! Also, no amount of Vaseline could prevent some unintended eyelash removal when the plaster was removed.

My first try was a small mask I used for a few games at the end of my last season of bantam hockey (14 years old). As you can see, there’s not much there — safety standards were obviously lower back then, and somehow they let me wear this on the ice. I knew, however, that I could do better.

The next summer I came up with this, based on the masks produced by Jacques Plante’s company, Fibrosport. Jacques wore this style, as did Bernie Parent and others. I used this for half a season while I worked on the next mask.

Mask number three was patterned after masks made by Ernie Higgins. NHL wearers of Higgins’ work included Ed Johnston and Gerry Desjardins. I cut the chin too short, so it was back to the drawing board.

This was the last homemade mask I made. It was as good as I could do, and I wore it for a number of years from age 16 to about 20. It still has the awesome 1973 paint job I applied to (sort of) match the Islanders-based uniforms my team wore. Here is how these four DIY efforts now spend their days, on the wall of the ManPit.

After discovering punk rock, I retired for a few years, and when I returned, went to a Jofa helmet/cage combination. I still play hockey, and am still using a Jofa, but this one is a rare helmet/cage/mask hybrid, which I like a lot.

I sometimes think about trying to design a new kind of mask, and building it from scratch, but the current popular design seems pretty hard to improve upon.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Paul here. Speaking of masks, I was sitting around Uni Watch HQ yesterday, and of course I was wearing my official white surgical mask, what with the pig anthrax or the cat scurvy or whatever the hell it is that the the president’s trying to poison us with. And I suddenly got this feeling of deja vu, which I initially attributed to the goat rickets, but then I realized I was having a flashback to this photo, which originally ran in the Ticker in the fall of 2007. It shows a batter, catcher, and ump all wearing surgical masks during the famous muskrat fever outbreak of 1918. Isn’t it amazing that a public health emergency can’t stop baseball, but a little bit of rain can? … An MLS ref who accepted a jersey from a player has been reprimanded (with thanks to Jason Hillyer). … New uni numbers for the Iggles, Panthers, Rams, and Bears. … Meanwhile, the Pats presented their top draft pick and dressed him up in a Pat Patriot cap. … Cycling news from Sean Clancy, who writes: “Because of weird pro cycling rules that aren’t worth getting into, Astana team members Lance Armstrong (front), Levi Leipheimer (second), and Chris Horner are racing the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico wearing a kit from Armstrong’s Mellow Johnny’s bike shop.” … A little birdie passed along something interesting: MLB’s “Opening Day/Week/Series” style guide. … Latest catcher to wear a front-facing brim: Robinzon Diaz of the Pirates (with thanks to Doug Keklak). … Totally forgot to link to last Sunday’s article about Nyjer Morgan’s stirrups. Too bad about the word “hoses” in the lede graf, though — ugh. … Faaaascinating site here devoted to women wearing military uniforms (with thanks to my buddy Shane Arbogast). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: A-Rod went double-flapped in yesterday’s rehab game. … Dig the subscript NOBs on the 1980-81 KC Kings. … Second item on this page shows just how low the Lions have sunk. … Cincinnati has a bunch of amusing new nerd-ish vigilante crackpots uniformed crime-fighters (with thanks to David Sonny). … Latest genius move by the Wilpons: The “Bottled Beer” vendors at Shea are selling canned beer (as spotted by Mat Orefice). … A bunch of NYC police uniforms were seized in a raid. … This week’s New Yorker points out that if Texas makes good on Gov. Rick Perry’s “threat” to secede (highly unlikely yet oh so tantalizing), there’d be a nice side benefit: The Cowboys would no longer be able to call themselves America’s Team. … Rugby note from Caleb Borchers, who writes: “After much political wrangling, the South Africans finally have a new jersey. The traditionalists have ‘lost,’ in that the new jersey has moved the Springbok and the Protea flower is in its place. Given what the old design looked like, this really has been a lot of debate about nothing.” … Hey look, it’s a bunch of stupidly dressed golfers (as forwarded by Johnny Flanagan). … Go to this page and scroll down to “Rosenfels’ new number” to learn about, um, Rosenfels’s new number (with thanks to Jeff Barak). … Awesome home movie footage of a 1929 hockey game here (with thanks to Alan Kreit). … Taylor Looney says this guy was standing in front of him at a store in Midland, Texas. From the front, he says, it was a perfectly normal Tony Romo jersey. Was the back a manufacturer’s defect, or is this some sort of new “edgy” design trend we can all look forward to hating in the weeks and months to come? … Remember this? I don’t, thankfully, but it’s apparently what the Minnesota football team wore in 1994. “For me, it’s a case of ’so bad it’s good,’” says Tris Wykes. … With Triple Crown season upon us, Jeremy Brahm found some good blinker designs. Here’s a Hello Kitty-themed example, and I like this simple strawberry logo. … Happy May Day to the seven or eight of you who still have jobs. Enjoy the Derby, Hatton vs. Pacquiao, and whatever else you’ve got planned for the weekend.

189 comments May 1st, 2009

The Mask

By Phil Hecken (with a glove save and a beut by Teebz)

A couple of weeks ago, I was approached by a reader who asked me about goalie numbers. Being that I’m not really a hockey guy, I forwarded that request to Hockey Wing President Teebz, suggesting to the reader that Teebz could probably answer the questions off the top of his head. Sure enough, he did, and I suggested we should put together a piece on that for Uni Watch. Unfortunately for me, by that time, Teebz had already turned it into a fantastic story for his own blog. Undeterred, I approached Teebz to assist me with something even more interesting than the goalie number: the goalie mask. There’s quite a history behind this invention-out-of-necessity. Below, we’ll examine it’s origins and humble beginnings, taking it from its roots to the beginning of its modern form (which I expect we will explore further at another time). Before we begin, a quick word from Teebz.

When Phil and I originally discussed this idea, I had grandiose visions of a complete history of the goaltender’s mask from its humble starts to the various paint jobs seen today. However, when I really began investigating the mask, it became apparent that it has evolved more than any other piece of equipment in hockey. And, for those of you who think this is just a hockey article, there is information about how hockey intertwined with baseball and fencing. Who knew these sports were related?

When one considers dangerous professions, several come to mind: policeman, fireman, tight-rope walker, trapeze performer. But rarely do we consider hockey goaltenders as a dangerous profession. With the modifications in equipment and advancements in technology, today’s goaltenders are more like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man than “masked men”. But it’s that very piece of equipment that has changed the way the game has played, and how the goalie mask got started is an interesting look at the history of the sport.

The first recorded instance of a mask being worn in a hockey game by a goaltender came in the late-1920s. There is some debate as to who was first, but we’ll start with the first instance as recorded by the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Hall features an unidentified North American goaltender protecting the net in Switzerland wearing a baseball catcher’s mask. However, there is a photo from 1927 of Elizabeth Graham donning a fencer’s mask in a game for Queen’s University. As to which was first, there is no certainty, but the late-1920s was definitely the first era to have goalies were primitive masks.

The catcher’s mask used in Switzerland was similar to the first mask introduced in baseball by Fred Thayer. Thayer was the player-manager for Harvard’s Baseball Club in the 1870s, and couldn’t find anyone to play catcher for his team. Players weren’t too keen on catching foul balls in the face as they crouched behind home plate. Thayer went about designing a mask for catcher with strong metal bars spaced far apart for better vision than a fencing mask. The finished mask was debuted in spring of 1877, and the first mask was sold in 1878 for $3.

The first mask seen in the NHL was worn by Montreal Maroons goaltender Clint Benedict in 1930. Benedict dropped to make a save on Montreal Canadiens’ star Howie Morenz when he was struck in the face, knocking him unconscious. He awoke in the Montreal hospital with a badly broken nose and a shattered cheekbone. Six weeks later, on February 22, Benedict returned with a mask to protect his still-healing face. It was made of leather supported by wire, and protected the forehead, nose, and mouth, but not the eyes. The nosepiece obstructed Benedict’s view, and he ditched the mask several days later after the first game. Unfortunately, Benedict’s career ended on March 4, 1930 when he was hit in the throat by Howie Morenz. His injury forced him to hang up the skates for good.

The next major mask innovations came about because of another piece of face equipment – eyeglasses. Japanese goaltender Teiji Honma wore his historical cage at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany to protect his eyeglasses. The mask has been modified to protect the frames of his glasses. Ironically, Roy Musgrove wore a half-mask used for field lacrosse while playing for the Wembley Lions of the British National Hockey League in 1936 – coached by none other than Clint Benedict! Musgrove donned the half-mask to protect his glasses while he tended to the twine.

The NHL, though, didn’t see another mask worn until a gentleman named Delbert Louch from St. Mary’s. Ontario sent all six goaltenders a clear, plastic, full-face shield in 1954 that was a precursor to visors seen in the NHL. There were complaints of it fogging up, causing glare, and being too warm for goalies to wear, but it was endorsed by Detroit goalie Terry Sawchuk and Toronto goalie Johnny Bower. However, it was never worn in a game.

November 1, 1958 changed the way fans saw the game forever. Andy Bathgate, who just had his number retired by the New York Rangers, fired a high backhand on net that caught Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Jacques Plante in the face. The resulting cut on Plante’s face sent him to the trainer’s room, causing a 45 minutes delay in the game. When he returned from getting stitched up, his face was dramatically different – he was wearing a mask!

Bill Burchmore had witnessed Plante getting hit in the forehead with a puck, resulting in a 45 minute delay in the game while he was being stitched up. While at work the next day, Burchmore was looking at a fibreglass mannequin head when he realized the he could design a contoured, lightweight fibreglass mask that would fit the goalie’s face like a protective second skin. Burchmore gave Plante his idea, and Plante was persuaded by his trainers to give it a try. A mold was taken of Plante’s face by putting a woman’s stocking over his head, covering his face with Vaseline, and allowing him to breath through a straws stuck in both nostrils while his head was covered with plaster. Burchmore layered sheets of fibreglass cloth saturated with polyester resin on top of the mold. The result was the flesh-toned 0.125 in (52 mm) thick mask that weighed only 14 oz (397 g).

Despite Toe Blake’s resistance to allowing Plante on the ice with the mask after he recovered from his injury, Plante donned the mask for the rest of the season. Burchmore finally built up the courage to write to Plante with his molded fibreglass mask idea in the spring of 1959, and convinced Plante to have his face covered in fibreglass. Plante began wearing his new formed mask at the start of the 1959-60 season, and showed a renewed courage in standing up to blasts.

Burchmore’s mask wasn’t three months old when he came up with a new mask design. This new design was made of fibreglass yarn instead of sheets of fibreglass. This allowed for better ventilation as the yarn could be fashioned into “bars” much like the baseball catchers’ masks of yesteryear. The first design that Burchmore gave to Plante resembled that of a twisted pretzel, and the “pretzel mask” was born. Due to the design of the bars, however, this mask weighed a tiny 10.3 oz. The pretzel mask, with its improved ventilation and light weight, was worn by NHL stars such as Cesar Maniago and Charlie Hodge into the 1960s.

Detroit Red Wings trainer, Ross “Lefty” Wilson, came up with another design in the early-1960s after Terry Sawchuk went down with another facial injury, infuriating Red Wings’ GM Jack Adams. Wilson’s primitive mask design was accepted by the Leatherface-looking Sawchuk, and he donned it permanently by October, 1962. Wilson began making masks for a large number of goalies throughout the NHL who wore them in games and practices, charging a mere $35 for his creations.

Roy Weatherbee advanced the pretzel mask again by furthering the protectiveness of the mask by studying the tensile properties of fibreglass, and his improved design was worn by a large number of older goaltenders as we entered the 1967 Expansion age. However, a large number of the up-and-coming netminders were already wearing the next mask design at this time.

In 1962, a young netminder named Neil Higgins was complaining to his father, Ernie Higgins, about the store-bought mask he was wearing while at Boston College. It didn’t fit properly, but it was all the younger Higgins could wear. Ernie Higgins went about designing a new mask for his son, and, after five years, had perfected his design and mask-making technique.

After the design that Neil Higgins was wearing made it into the Boston Gardens’ home team dressing room, Ernie Higgins was invited to meet with Ernie Johnston and Gerry Cheevers about his design. Cheevers wasn’t fond of the flat Wilson mask as he found it to slide around on his face while he played. Higgins recognized the need for a more curved mask to hug the face, and went about getting a mask ready for Cheevers that wouldn’t move. In 1968, Cheevers debuted a model that had a few recognizable Higgins traits: the ventilation slits across the forehead formed a T-shape, and the cheek ventilation holes were triangular for maximum ventilation.

By 1969, Higgins was a full-time mask maker, retiring from his first profession of plumbing. He continued to tinker with his design, adding the back plate to secure the mask tightly to the head, and extending the sides to protect more of the goaltender’s head and face. In the mid-1970s, the helmets worn by Doug Favell and Gary Smith were essentially the precursor to the masks seen today. As an aside, Higgins work in masks led him to designing prosthetic devices and casts for injured athletes and accident victims, most notably for the leg of Boston Red Sox slugger Ken Harrelson.

Jacques Plante returned to the mask scene in 1970 when he founded a company called Fibrosport in Magog, Quebec. Fibrosport made masks of fibreglass and an epoxy resin that featured ridges to deflect pucks away from the face, preventing the full impact of the puck from being absorbed by the goalie’s face. The price for a Fibrosport mask ranged from $12 to $150, and was worn by a large majority of goaltenders until 1979 when masks changed significantly.

Mask designers got a huge shock from the Summit Series in 1972 when the Canadian NHL All-Stars squared off against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It was here that everyone first witnessed the peculiar “birdcage” mask worn by Vladislav Tretiak. Tretiak’s mask allowed for good ventilation and an excellent field of vision, resulting in better play compared to his Canadian counterparts. This new cage would be the next major piece in the evolution of the mask. The “birdcage”-style of facial protection wouldn’t make it to the NHL, though, until 1976.

Greg Harrison and Michel Lefebvre added to the Fibrosport design by extending the chin downward to cover the throat. Harrison added a hinge to his throat protection for better movement, but the large extension downward was cumbersome for goaltenders who needed to be able to look from shoulder-to-shoulder.

In 1976, New York Rangers’ goaltender Gilles Gratton donned a helmet with a cage, looking a lot like Tretiak’s mask seen four years earlier. It wasn’t long before Buffalo Sabres’ goaltender Don Edwards followed suit, and the “birdcage” began to catch on as the mask of choice. Fibreglass masks appeared to be heading the way of the dodo.

Additionally, 1977 saw Buffalo’s Gerry Desjardins suffered a horrific injury when a puck caught the eyehole in his fibreglass mask, putting his vision in serious jeopardy. It caused him to retire prematurely, and, in 1978, the Canadian Standards Association banned the use of fibreglass masks for minor hockey. Bernie Parent’s eye injury the following year forced a large number of goaltenders to abandon their fibreglass masks for the birdcage design.

In 1979, the fibreglass mask was nearly dead. However, change was already on the way. Veteran goaltender Dave Dryden and designer Greg Harrison met in 1977. Dryden was convinced that the cage was the safest facial protection for goalies, but wanted the tight fit to the head that the fibreglass mask provided. Harrison mocked up a design that incorporated both the cage and the tight fit. What was born was the “hybrid mask”. Phil Myre was the first to adopt the hybrid, wearing it for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1981.

The hybrid mask is what is worn by the majority of goaltenders today (Chris Osgood not included). It is secured by a back plate to allow for movement of the head, and features a large cage for good ventilation and vision. The chin protection helps to protect the throat, and it provides the most protection while being lightweight.

Clearly, the innovation and evolution of the goalie mask is a large story. 70 years of changes saw the mask evolve from baseball catchers’ masks and fencing masks to intricately-designed pieces of artwork.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Japanese baseball expert Jeremy Brahm sends along a picture of the pennant from the first Japan Series in 1950 … also from Jeremy: this Yokohama Bay Stars’ jersey, interesting because of their putting a notch on their sleeves (Jeremy also suggests calling this a “Hama-notch” and adding it to the ever-expanding “Glossary of Uni Watch terms” … Daren Stoltzfus writes that “As Sports Director for the student television network, I have been on the floor filming the games and observing Wayne Chism’s sock flair throughout the season. Last night against Mississippi State he took it to a new level. It appears he has taken two shooting sleeves with the padded elbows and used them as socks.” … Johnny Okray notes that the Brewers All-Star RF, Corey Hart is sporting a new tattoo on his right forearm … Reader Kenneth Guckenberger passes along this nugget about a Denver team who got new unis, and yes, it’s a “throwback look” … A bit of serendipity at Spring Training, as Andrew Tucker notes that Brew Crew skip Ken Macha was sporting stirrups … Todd Fisher points out that someone at Yoplait must read Uni Watch … Dan Cichalski from MLB.com reports that Luis Castillo is rocking the “Pedro Porthole” … Interesting little site found by Tom Adjemian which is a cool way to take a look at the myriad signs that litter our roadways. Also, Tom is “pretty sure that website is responsible for the seizure I just had…let it be said, though, that it was a fashionable seizure.” … Aaron Steele weighed in with this: “This didn’t actually happen, but LaRussa was close to using Orioles pitchers to pitch against their own team. Too bad it didn’t happen no? uni choice would have been nice to see.” … Aaron also notes that only in spring training do you get to see the Cardinals with their gray away uni’s and home red hats … Dan Merker notes that not one, but two Royals prospects are in camp with stirrups and double-earflapped helmets. He’s not sure who they are, but notes it’s a “good sign nonetheless.” Agreed … Good Lord: Matt Harris found out why Jeets is wearing the “real” cap and not the BP one: it’s got a giant patch on it! (you can read more here and here) … Chuck Allen read Paul’s Latest ESPN column and sent along this photo of Alex Rodruguez he took during Seattle Mariners’ July 18, 1998 Turn Ahead The Clock promotion. You can read all about it here … We wouldn’t want to reopen the Apostrophe Catastrophe debate again would we? Gabe Kleinfeld found this little article from The Washington Post in which the author feels the apostrophe gets no love …
Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: James Huening brought to our attention the sad passing of Norm Van Lier, the AP ran this story shortly after the news broke … Following up on yesterday’s “Lance a lot” piece, Mark Fightmaster has provided us with all of the new Livestrong helmets, and he likes the look actually … Jeff Landset thought we’d find this thread interesting, which contains outtakes from a commercial for FSN and the Angels … Richie Rich from Home Run Derby sends us this “throwback” news story of the time Michael Jordan tried to play baseball … also from the last night’s comments: Michael Jordan wearing #35 with the Scottsdale Scorpions … shockingly, Teebz has found 5 reasons why the NHL is better than the NBA … also from Teebz: here’s Ryan Whitney in his shiny new Ducks uni … Trevor Williams points out one of spring training’s unique uni-matchups — not only is it “color on color,” but it’s blue on blue … Pittsburgh UW correspondent Doug Keklak checks in with the following: “Saw this story linked to the PA Helmet project page. Don’t recall seeing it referenced in UW but they give UW and Paul a shout out.” … also from Doug: From the White Sox cards blog — Zisk was traded from the Pirates, (love the pillbox sans the “P” — airbrushed logos all around due to licensing issues no doubt) … and this: Awesome old-uni footage here in celebration of Edmonton being award the 2010 Grey Cup (thanks, Douggie) … Reprinted from last night’s comments: looks like the Angels may have added a patch but only Vlad is wearing it.

This and That: When you make $27 million per season and are no longer on the ‘juice,’ sometimes you need a little help applying your own eyeblack … well, that didn’t last long … congratulations philly fans, you earned it (but it will look better next year in Citi Taxpayer Field) … you just gotta see Ronnie Paulino’s levitating ball trick in person … not all teams wear those ridiculous BP jerseys and caps — now THIS is a classic look … that’s gonna leave a mark … still strange to see him bend it like that for A.C. Milan … when did they let the refs play soccer? … MLBers aren’t the only ones who had their portraits taken recently … spring is in the air — that means it is time to get used to softball guy again … How’s your wife and my kids? … I has a trophy — it matches my logo … Tropical Storms’ goalie Cam Ward celebrates an OT victory … Welcome back, Marty … Vector on the bucket, wordmark on the breezers and a fist to the face … “Enjoy your trip to Hartford…you suck!” … Baseball players are getting smaller — either that or their unis are getting bigger … More new women’s soccer league jerseys are released … and can a Brasilian star save the WPS?

127 comments February 27th, 2009

The Ricko Files, Vol. 2

I was out of town all weekend (hiking here and here, spending the night here, and eating this and this, among other consumables), so it may take me another day or two to catch up on all the Ticker submissions that piled up while I was away, but I think today’s main entry will make up for it, because some pure gold came my way on Friday, and I’m super-stoked to share it with you today.

First, last Wednesday I mentioned that Dave Parker had worn this mask and this mask. One of the comments that day was from Ricko, who said Parker had actually worn a third facemask, which he described as “a basic two-bar late ’60s style.” I was intrigued but got distracted by other things and had forgotten all about it by Friday, when Ricko sent me this. Is that totally the shit or what? Dude’s even got a four-point chinstrap rig!

And wait, it gets better. When I asked Ricko what publication the photo came from, and he said it was from something called Baseball Superstars 1979 and promptly sent me scans of the complete article — which included another photo I’d never seen before. Check this out.

Although the article doesn’t discuss it, here’s the story behind that photo: When Parker returned from his broken cheekbone, he wore the hockey mask for his first time at bat — a pinch-hitting appearance in which he was intentionally walked. I’ve known for years that he reached base but didn’t know there was a photo of it. Amazing stuff.

Also, if you look again at the photo, it appears that the forehead and possibly the right eye area of the mask may have been cut away, revealing what appears to be a Rip Hamilton-style mask underneath. That isn’t so apparent in the other hockey mask photo, however — maybe it’s just a trick of the light or something. In any case, all very interesting.

Meanwhile, the text of the article (which you can see here and here) includes a jewelry note regarding Parker that I’d forgotten about: He wore a necklace with a Star of David pendant, because “I’m David and I’m a star.”

As I was chuckling over that, Ricko sent me more Parker mask shots: this one (similar to the action shot I already had of that mask, but much better quality), this one (which I definitely remember seeing when I was a kid), this one (that’s Pete Rose Jr. in the Phils uni), and — the real prize — this one (from the intentional walk appearance).

Can you believe all this stuff? Let’s all just chip in now and buy Ricko a climate-controlled vault for his archives. As an added bonus, this Wednesday is the 30th anniversary of Parker wearing the hockey mask and the double-bar mask (in the first and second games of a doubleheader, respectively).

The Parker stuff would have been enough to make my (or, I’d think, anyone’s) day. But then I heard from a guy named Mike Steiner, who wanted to talk about the White Sox’s shorts. It’s a topic fairly near and dear to his heart, because — brace yourself — he owns a pair of them.

There’s soooooo much to love in that display — the drawstring, the triple snaps, the striped inner stitching, the chain-stitched “Gossage 38″ tag, that awesome dougout photo. And once I saw that Chicago Tribune article he’s got in there, I immediately tracked it down in the Trib’s archives. It has two photos I’d never seen before — look here and here. The article itself, which you can read here and here, includes some interesting details, including the fact that the Sox had wanted to wear the shorts earlier in the season but weren’t able to because, as Bill Veeck explained, “[W]e had to get the right pads under the socks to protect the knees.”

Steiner says the framed shorts display is the centerpiece of his extensive Chisox uniform collection, which is documented here. He’s got some great stuff, including beauties from 1946, 1967, 1970, and plenty more. Plus he’s also got an additional shorts photo I hadn’t previously seen (obviously part of this shoot, but you can’t have too many photos of this stuff).

All of which sent me into the weekend with a big smile on my face. Hope it puts a smile on yours, too.

Uni Watch News Ticker: I added this link to Friday’s entry in the middle of the day, so some of you may have missed it: If you want one of those Beanie Wells Heisman T-shirts, look here. … Here’s a sleeve patch I hadn’t seen before: New York City’s diamond jubilee, worn by the Mets on the dugout jackets in 1973 (big thanks to Paul Wiederecht). … Finally an action shot of shorts. That’s the Sacramento Solons, 1975 (big thanks to John Moist). … Also from John: interesting minor league shots of Pat Corrales, Shem Lollar, and a young Johnny Lemaster, plus a bunch of Pacific Coast League shots from 1975 (which is the year the PCL switched from flannels to double-knits). … Doug Mulliken reports that Kearney High near San Diego has worn this football uni at least since the 1960s. … The Chicago Athletic Association’s historian, Ron White, sent me a bunch of old materials showing the CAA’s logo (forerunner of the Cubs’ logo) in various settings. I’ve grouped it all into a slideshow here. … New addition to the list of smoking athletes: Jason Taylor (with thanks to Al Stone). … Interesting coincidence here (with thanks to Dave Bloomquist). … On Friday I asked why Carl Hubbell was referred to as “Ol’ Square Pants.” William Gornall responded with a few archival articles in which Hubbell is variously referred to as “the slim southpaw with the baggy pants, which tumbled halfway down his shinbone,” “colorless except for … his custom of wearing his uniform knickers long (claiming that he had no backside to hold them higher),” and “Old Long Pants.” But if you look at photos of Hubbell, his pants look pretty normal for his era. Odd. … Saw WALL-E the other day (really good, and not just because WALL-E collects bowling pins) and was intrigued by a trailer for a sappy-looking movie called The Perfect Game, which looks like it’s gonna feature some awesome Little League flannels. Check the trailer here. … Gary Majewski of the Reds wore stirrups on Friday. Screen shots (and Nicole Haase’s living room light fixture) here and here. … Lots to admire (or at least marvel at) in Vanderbilt’s 1956 football uniforms (thanks, Ricko). … Ronnie Belliard’s latest stunt: wearing mismatched batting gloves (good catch by David McGee). … Check out the Blues’ blue and gold skates (nice find by Jaymes Progar). … “My local team, the Corpus Christi Hooks (AA for the Astros), wore 1958 Corpus Christi Giants throwback unis on Friday to honor the ’58 Texas League championship team,” writes Nicholas Bean. “Awesome unis, and I’m proud to say that every single player on the roster is wearing high socks and stirrups.” There’s a gallery here. … Awesome old baseball sweaters here, here, and here, and check out this turtleneck (thanks, Milesofsparks). … This is hilarious (kudos to K.C. Kless). … The Yankees have added a memorial armband for Bobby Murcer. … Randyt Williams notes that Melvin Mora appears to have blacked out the Franklin logos on his batting gloves. … More great label shots from Tommy Turner: This one is from these basketball shorts; this one is from a 1970 Colts jersey; and this one’s from an Astros rainbow jersey. … The Raptors logo character usually has an R on his jersey, but Sean Doherty just noticed the logo on this page, which shows the character now wearing the team’s secondary logo. When did this switcheroo take place? … Tim Fiorvanti has put together a photo gallery of really great baseball paintings that are currently on display in NYC. … notes that Man U coach Sir Alex Ferguson is wearing his initials his top number. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: David DeJesus was wearing a black belt (instead of KC’s standard-issue blue) the other night. … Also from Saturday: Randy Johnson unveiled his own version of the Pedro Porthole over the weekend. … Still more from Saturday: You almost never see track and field athletes wearing glasses, but apparently Belgian heptathlete/high jumper Tia Hellebaut (additional pics here and here). … Double no-no for Paul LoDuca, who wore faux stirrups and white shoes on Sunday. … Wren Wanger sent along some pics of an Indians matchbox from 1992. … Gumball helmet collector/designer Bill Jones, who I profiled on ESPN several months back, has created stars/stripes versions of the A.L. and N.L. veterans caps. “The Angels and Brewers were TOUGH!” he says. … Larry Wiederecht has most of the All-Star Games from the 1980s on tape and has been doing some truly heroic video research for me. Many of his findings will be in my ESPN column tomorrow (a timeline of ASG uni aberrations), but a few are better suited for the Ticker: Check out this shot of John Stearns from the 1980 ASG. I hadn’t recalled that the Mets wore such huge uni numbers on their helmet brims at the time. This shot from the ’81 ASG shows the Braves’ Atlanta child murders ribbon decal on Bruce Benedict’s helmet. And here’s the real prize: In 1983, George Brett broke his left toe and wore a specially tailored Nike shoe on that foot to accommodate the bandage — even though he was wearing a non-Nike shoe on the other foot. Wow! … After all the speculation, UMich’s new football uniforms are shown here. Interesting to see that the road replica looks nothing like the authentic (which is a real stinker — woof!). … Stewart Small reports that Crystal Langhorne of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics had her NOB misspelled as “Langhorn” (missing the “e” on the end) during the first half of yesterday’s game against the Connecticut Sun. It was corrected in the second half.

176 comments July 14th, 2008

Hmmm, Did Joseph Cooper Wear a Mask?

New ESPN column today (link here), but it’s a short one, so we’ll carry on here as usual.

So: I’ve frequently written about baseball players who’ve had facemasks attached to their helmets after suffering facial injuries, a roster that includes Ellis Valentine, Gary Roenicke, Kevin Seitzer, Charlie Hayes, Terry Steinbach, Terrence Long (here’s a side view), David Justice, and of course Dave Parker (who wore a hockey mask for one plate appearance before switching to a football-style mask, which was later sold at auction), among others.

But who was the first ballplayer to wear a mask attached to his helmet? Depending on how you want to define “mask,” I suppose you could say Earl Battey’s do-it-yourself earflap from 1963 might qualify. But reader Jere Smith may have found a significantly earlier example.

Check out this New York Times item, which ran on September 6th, 1959. It says Billy Martin, then with the Indians, would be wearing “a special helmet fitted with football-type face-guarding bars” after having being beaned a month earlier. But here’s the thing: Despite returning to the active roster, Martin never played again that season. As you can see here, his last game that season was on August 5th (the day he was beaned). So unless he wore the mask-equipped helmet the following season — which is unlikely, since most players who’ve worn the masks have only required them for a month or two — Martin may have been the first player to be outfitted with a mask-inclusive helmet, even though he never got to wear it in a game. Man, I’d love to see the rig they devised for him. My new holy grail.

As it turned out, the most direct effect of Martin’s beaning wasn’t on helmet history — it was on Jim Brewer’s face. Almost exactly a year to the day after Martin took that pitch to the face, Brewer buzzed one over his head, prompting a sequence of events that culminated in a one of history’s most notorious sucker punches. After the game, Martin (who by this time was playing for the Reds) explained that he’d no longer tolerate any pitches near his head after having been beaned the previous season.

Note that Martin was wearing a helmet as he punched Brewer, but no facemask. Maybe Brewer should have worn one instead.

Get Shorty, Continued: Yesterday I linked to this article about the 1975 Sacramento Solons, who wore shorts. The article mentioned that another minor league team, the Houston Buffaloes, had worn shorts way back in 1949, which was news to me. But sure enough, Paul Deaver has come up with this.

Only thing is, the caption says the Buffs wore the shorts in 1950, not ’49. Then again, if you scroll down to the April 1st, 1950 entry on this page, it says the Buffs wore the shorts in 1949, and other sources tell conflicting tales (Rob Neyer and I spent a good portion of last night trading research on this one). It’s a significant point to nail down, because 1950 was the year that the Hollywood Stars unveiled their shorts, so it’s not clear which team was the first to go shorts-clad. I will continue to investigate.

Research Query: I’m currently in the market for any and all photos that show Mets players wearing white cleats in an All-Star Game, especially during the Davey Johnson era. If anyone has Mets yearbooks from that era (no, I don’t have any myself — all my yearbooks are from the ’70s), could you see if the All-Star coverage includes any photos showing white-shod Mets? Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: A source at MLB.com checked in yesterday with the following info about the star-spangled caps: “Just Sunday and Monday, they sold almost $250,000 worth of these hats JUST on the mlb.com online store. That doesn’t count sales at the game, sales at stores, or sales at other online sites. They have been the top-selling items all weekend. Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and Phillies were the top four, in that order. They are far and away the best-selling item we had last week and one of the hottest-selling items this year.” All very nice, what with “a portion of the proceeds” going to charity. Still waiting to hear what the portion is and what portion, if any, MLB is pocketing. … MLB’s pants problem is nicely summarized in the last sentence of this item (with thanks to Bo Baize). … No photo, but according to this Q&A page, “When the [1996] Packers were honored at the White House [after winning the Super Bowl], Jim McMahon wore a Bears jersey, enraging Green Bay fans. McMahon explained that he did it because the Bears never got a chance to visit the White House after winning Super Bowl XX. Their trip to Washington was canceled after the Challenger space shuttle blew up” (great find by Jesse Benack). … Got a note yesterday from one Jakob Kuriakose, who said he totally digs Uni Watch, except for one thing: “I have one huge objection to your site, and that is your love of stirrups.” Yes, and aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play? … Here’s a puzzler: Phil Garner, circa 1977, wearing a Yosemite Sam sleeve patch! Robert DeCorte noticed the photo in the lower-right corner of the Pirates’ 1978 yearbook cover. “I’m assuming it had something to do with Phil’s bushy mustache, since no other Pirate seems to have that patch.” This is a new one to me — anyone know more? … The Pedro porthole is spreading. That’s Aaron Heilman, from Monday night’s game. … Partial roundup of Olympic outfits here (courtesy of James Yeh). … Very cool 1950s Bear Bryant jacket up for auction (with thanks to Chris Smith). … Uni Watch teamwork in action: Jen Boone told me that Ryan Spilborghs of the Rockies had come to bat with his fly wide open, and Kate Lyden Chavez provided the screen shots, as seen here and here. … Nice to Nike is getting into the American Gladiators scene. All kidding aside, the notion that high socks and arm sleeves can actually make a runner faster is interesting. Designers always like to say, “Less is more,” but in this case maybe more is less. … Manny Ramirez wears Nike cleats these days, but he’s about to cash a $10,000 check from Reebok. Why? Look here (with thanks to Jim Pericotti). … Remember when the Brewers were advertising their web site on the Miller Park mound? Now they’re campaigning for Corey Hart to be elected to the final All-Star spot in the dirt behind home plate. Can’t they leave this shit off the field of play? As most of you know, I love Milwaukee, but these are total Mickey Mouse moves that belong in the minor leagues (screen grab courtesy of John Okray). … Michael Beasley has both of the Nats’ logos tattooed on his arm (with thanks to Eric Arnold). … Several people have forwarded me the URL for this “10 Worst Sports Logos Ever” list. It’s poorly conceived and poorly executed (please, let’s not bother discussing all its shortcomings), so I wasn’t planning on linking to it. But there was lots of chatter in the comments yesterday about one of the items on the list: this secondary Jets logo. Several people said they’d never seen it before, and one went so far as to say he didn’t believe it was the real deal. Ah, but it is, and I have the proof. One of the more interesting items in the Uni Watch library is this Jets style guide (yes, it has an Astroturf cover), which I acquired a few years ago. Entitled Being Green, it lays out strict style guidelines for the team’s logo, typography, graphics, and — wait for it — the “Gameface” (which also makes a cameo appearance here). So yes, the Gameface logo was indeed an official part of the team’s graphic identity as of a few years ago, although I agree that it never seems to have been used in a public setting (and also agree that that’s probably for the best). The style guide — and maybe the Gameface icon itself — was produced by the superstar designer Michael Beirut of Pentagram, who also happens to be one of people with whom I’ll be sharing a lectern at that “Sports and Design” reading on the 22nd, so I’ll ask him about the Gameface then. Or you can show up and ask him yourself.

276 comments July 9th, 2008

C’mon, Blue! Uh, Black… Uh, Whatever…

In recent years, home plate umpires’ masks have been soild black — the padding, the bars, the stripes, everything.

Lately, though, I’ve noticed a change: Some umps’ masks have silver bars, and other have tan padding — sometimes just on top (although I think the upper padding is actually being covered by a plastic visor insert there, so it’s hard to be sure), sometimes just the inner padding, sometimes all over). It’s a small thing, but it’s really jumped out at me during some centerfield camera shots — the ump’s head is suddenly much more visually prominent.

If you google “umpire’s mask,” most of these design options show up, as seen here, here, here, here, and here. But none of those have the colored bars. (Of course, several umps prefer the hockey-style mask, but that’s a whole different discussion.)

I know several of you out there are umpires. Care to enlighten us regarding this development? Have colored bars and padding been available on the sub-MLB level for a while now? Did color-accessorized masks actually surface in MLB prior to now and I just hadn’t noticed?

Request for Technical Assistance: I’ve been using iShowU to make video captures (works great!) but have been having trouble transferring the resulting video clips to YouTube. The initial upload goes fine, but then, after the video is processed, I usually get a “Failed” message (except for two instance when the processing was successful, but I’ve been unable to duplicate those results). Same thing happens with Google Video. I think it has to do with the compression, but I’ve tried several different formats (Apple Intermediate Codec, Sorensen Video 3, Jpeg 2000, etc.) — no dice. If anyone knows more about this and wants to give me some free advice, I’m all ears.

May Raffle: It isn’t football season, but that hasn’t stopped our friends at Helmet Hut from generously offering up an giveaway item from their vast inventory. The lucky raffle winner will get to choose any non-autographed helmet from Gridiron Memories (Helmet Hut’s retail arm) — NFL, NCAA, WFL, whatever.

To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle [at] earthlink [dot] net (please note that this is not the usual Uni Watch e-mail address) by next Tuesday, May 13th, at 10pm. Nobody will be reading the text of these e-mails, so bother to include anything other than your name. Only one entry per person, and please don’t try double-entering from multiple e-mail addresses or anything like that — there’s nothing lamer than cheating on a free raffle, and we’ll probably figure it out anyway. I’m no longer using raffles as a way to build memberships, so no more bonus entries for membership program enrollees.

I’ll announce the winner next Wednesday.

Speaking of the membership program, today’s spotlight member is Conor Clougherty, who hopes to become an NFL ref one day. Sharp-memoried readers may recall that I interviewed Conor last year about officiating attire. For those who missed it, that entry is available here.

You can see other new card designs, as always, in the membership card design gallery. Also, as I promised/threatened a week or two ago, I’ve updated the membership roster — no more “Membership Level” column, and charter members now have their names shown in bold (if I missed anyone, please let me know).

Uni Watch News Ticker: Intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek stopped by Uni Watch HQ last night — our first face-to-face meeting after a year and a half of me exploiting him working together. Scott M.X. Turner showed up too, although he pulled the cold shoulder routine when Vince failed to guess the exact fiber content of his jacket. … Great story here about a jersey worn by two future Hall of Famers (with thanks to Joey Morris). … “I saw this the other day on my way to work,” writes Eric Westover. “I didn’t know Nike made trucks.” … Here’s an updated listing of special MLB jersey dates (some of which, as you can see, have already happened), courtesy of our friends at Jersey-Joe.com (who are selling many of the special jerseys here)… You might know that author Tom Wolfe is partial to white suits, but I didn’t know that he also favors vertically striped socks until I got this shot from Craig Freeman. … Awesome gallery of old Federal League hockey logos here (with thanks to Andy Head). … The Blackhawks recently announced a new radio deal, which led — of course — to a jersey photo op. … Greg Riffenburgh notes that there’s an odd sleeve seam (or extension..?) on Willie McGinest’s jersey. … Here’s something I haven’t seen before: Kenji Johjima appears to be wearing a Mariners logo on the brim of his catcher’s helmet (with thanks to Andrew Thomason). … Chris Glover reports that Brian Barton of the Cardinals gave the first baseman a whuppin’ had to change belts while running the bases last night. … “The Nippon Ham Fighters are going to wear special uniforms in July for the ‘We Love Hokkaido Series,’” reports Jeremy Brahm. … According to the “Miscellaneous Items of Interest” listing at the bottom of this page, Randy Johnson wore No. 34 for part of the 1993 season. I’d never seen a photo of that until Doug Kyed sent me this.

127 comments May 8th, 2008

Leafs Devise New Strategy to Shut Down Pesky Habs

Reader Jared Wheeler works for Mitchell & Ness, where he conducts historical research to help ensure that the company’s reproductions are as accurate as possible. I’ll be conducting an interview with him soon, but for now here’s a bunch of killer hockey photos he recently sent my way:

• “Here are some photos of the first ‘all-star’ game in 1934, which was a benefit game for Ace Bailey of the Maple Leafs,” says Jared [this was 13 years before the first 'official' NHL All-Star Game -- PL]. “Check out how the Leafs wore ‘Ace’ on their jerseys. And here’s a shot of Bailey himself after two brain surgeries. After he was hit from behind on December 12, 1933, in a game against the Bruins, some of the B’s started wearing protective headgear.”

• “Here’s Bobby Orr wearing No. 5 in an All-Star Game with his No. 4 gloves, and wearing No. 27 — with No. 37 gloves! — in an exhibition game prior to his rookie season.”

• “Another All-Star Game shot, this one from the 1976 ASG in Philly. Both teams wore the bicentennial patch, which was also worn by the Steelers and Cowboys in Super Bowl X.”

• “This is a is a 1937-1938 photo of Milt Schmidt wearing a crude mask. Here’s a later photo of Schmidt — look how his captain’s C is between the two numerals. Both photos ran in Sport magazine in 1948.”

• “Here’s a shot of the Red Wings’ diamond-shaped captaincy patches. And dheck out the in a diamond-shaped sleeve designation here. The ‘R’ team, by the way, is the amateur New York Rovers. This shot was taken at training camp in Lake Placid in 1948.”

• “Two interesting World War II-era shots here: The Red Wings wore a ‘V’ patch, for victory (you can see it on both sleeves), and some Maple Leafs players prepared for war in their sweaters.”

• “Here are some great old sweaters: Seattle Metropolitans, circa 1919 (here’s a tight shot of the crest), New York Americans, mid-1930s (plus a rear view), and Philadelphia Quakers, circa 1930. We got these shots from the Hall of Fame.” [As an aside, what's the deal with that little collar ribbon on the Seattle sweater? -- PL]

• “Two Rangers wearing improvised facemasks: Ivan ‘Ching’ Johnson, circa 1930s, and Walt Tkaczuk, 1977-78.”

• “Look at the two jersey logos in this shot. It appears that the face on Hull’s logo is much darker.”

• “Some random old stuff: the Montreal Wanderers, circa 1914; the 1928 Detroit Cougars; and the first indoor arena game, which was in Quebec in 1893.”

• “Is that a back pocket on the player at far right?”

Awesome stuff. And in the non-uni category, Jared even found another shot of an athlete smoking (and baling hay): That’s Bobby Hull.

Signal Flare: Do you work for Under Armour? If so, I have a quick question for you. Please drop me a line here. Thanks.

And you should’ve seen the notes that came in from Tom Tancredo and Lou Dobbs: Of all the reactions to yesterday’s entry about Los Spurs and Los Suns (most of which were posted in the comments section, although a few readers e-mailed me their thoughts directly), the most interesting and thoughtful one was an e-mail from Pablo Souki. Check it out:

I grew up in Venezuela, speaking Spanish. Of the American major sports leagues, I followed MLB very closely, the rest not at all. Some of the team names were always translated back then, like Cerveceros and Gigantes, who seem to have gotten it right. Others were not. The Yankees were always the Yanquis (phonetic translation, I guess, but nothing else), the Phillies were always the Filis, the Dodgers were the Dodgers.

I get the feeling (no hard evidence of any kind here, just me remembering my childhood) that the ones who were translated were the ones who had a literal translation: The Reds were the Rojos, the A’s the Atléticos, the Blue Jays the Azulejos, and so on. This seems to have changed with the Marlins, though — there was an actual translation for Marlins, but I don’t remember ever using it.

If I had to guess, I would say that the other translations had happened at earlier times, when we had no access to U.S. broadcasts of games, only translated ones. Cultures were less intertwined, and names were translated. By the time the Marlins and Rockies appeared, we could watch games on satellite TV and were more used to English terminology. However, this theory is destroyed by the fact that the Devil Rays were always the Mantarrayas. So maybe “Peces Espada” was just too cumbersome a translation for “Marlins.”

Two other notes: First, Spanish is spoken so differently in terms of syntax and jargon from country to country (the word used in Venezuela for “receipt” is used in Argentina for “pastry”, for instance, and words that are perfectly common in one country are terrible swear words in others) that I would be hard-pressed to believe that my childhood experiences hold true elsewhere. ESPNdeportes.com itself has such a variety of nationalities that the inconsistencies from one column to the next are huge. As a matter of fact, some writers use the “Los” article before team names, others don’t. All of this just illustrates the point that “Latino” encompasses so many nationalities that it is very hard to get something like this right. But we have been all thrown in the same group, whether we like it or not.

Second, I have never seen a Latin team wear “Los” on its uniform., The Caracas Lions don’t wear “Los Leones,” just “Leones.” The La Guaira Sharks only wear “Tiburones,” no “Los.” So maybe that is the best reason to not add the “Los” to any team’s shirt.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The web site Improbable Soccer is running a series on team crests. The first installment is here. Expect new updates every day or two. … Did you know Navy once wore this helmet? Details here. … Unlikely stirrup alert: There’s a TV commercial currently running for the MLB 2K8 video game. Just past the 30-second mark, the voiceover (Denis Leary, I believe) says, “I wanna have the most fun you can have with those funny baseball socks on,” accompanied by a shot of the ’67 Cardinals in all their striped-stirruped glory (nice find by Chris Flinn). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Jerry Rice doesn’t mind if the Niners unretire his number so Isaac Bruce can wear it. … Gonzaga pitcher Cory Powell wore a helmet/mask combo the other day. “He recently took a comebacker in the orbital bone,” writes Matt Camino, who sent me the photo (which was taken by his fiancé, Meghan Moran). “He apparently wore a plastic mask like the ones NBA players wear after he first got hit, and now he wears the helmet and facemask to prevent it from happening again.” … Thing of beauty. … Excellent column here about a baseball card photographer who works for Topps (with thanks to Minna H.). … Just what the world needs: Billy Crystal in pinstripes. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The A’s wore a way snazzy jersey patch yesterday. … Interesting note from Brian Vigue, who writes: “I played high school football in the mid-’60’s — and I wore a leather helmet! It wasn’t left over from the ’40s but was supposedly the latest technology at the time. There were at least three different helmets used by team members: the leather helmet, a suspension bubble-type thing, and an oblong close-fitting plastic job that kind of looked like Otto Graham’s. Many schools we played at the time also used the leather helmet.” … If you click on this link, you’ll download a PDF of a daily tournament update from the International Baseball Federation. Most of it is very official-looking, except for this amusing handwritten addendum from the Canadian coach. Also of uni-note: Check out the second numbered item here (with thanks to Bob Timmerman). … “Montreal’s going to have a new junior hockey team next year and they introduced their new jerseys today,” writes Paul Richard Cook. Full details here, and there’s a video clip that includes some previous Montreal junior hockey logos here.

122 comments March 11th, 2008

Monday Morning Uni Watch

Big uni-related story in the NFL yesterday was the range of Sean Taylor memorials. Here’s a quick rundown:

• The Redskins wore a “21″ jersey patch. The Redskins’ coaching staff and owner wore it, too.

• In addition, Clinton Portis wore a Taylor tribute T-shirt under his jersey (here’s another view).

• John Eubanks wore a Taylor do-rag. At first I thought this was one of the towels that fans were given, but now I think it was actually the sleeve from a Taylor jersey.

• All teams wore a “21″ helmet decal. This led to some pretty crowded rear-helmet groupings, especially for the Broncos (who already had their dual memorial for Darrent Williams and Damien Nash) and Browns (who added that “BW” decal this week in memory of Hall of Famer Bill Willis — not to be confused with the “BW” decal for Bill Walsh that the 49ers have been wearing all year).

• I was hoping we’d see some facemask stripes, like Taylor sometimes wore. Didn’t happen, but Antonio Pierce of the Giants did something similar: He taped Taylor’s uniform number onto his mask. This was the only personalized tribute to Taylor that I spotted. (Special thanks to Ryan Perkins for the screen grab.)

Meanwhile, in non-Taylor developments:

• Tommie Harris had “Psalms 91″ (which also happens to be his uniform number) written on his Breathe Right strip.
• The Jets took the unusual step of wearing their Titans throwbacks on the road in Miami.

• Joseph Addai was showing some serious skin in the 2nd quarter.

• No photo yet, but I saw for myself that Dallas Clark’s American flag decal was still missing — a particularly egregious omission when you consider that the equipment staff had to add the Sean Taylor decal to his helmet, so you’d think they would’ve noticed the missing flag. Bryan, whose wife went to high school with Clark, is still working on getting the full story on this one.

• Also no photo, but several readers reported that Braylon Edwards was wearing white shoes and going bare-calved, NCAA-style, early in the Browns/Cards game. Then he added brown socks but still had white shoes. He eventually switched to black shoes like the rest of the Browns.

Uni Watch Calendar Update: Several meet/greet opportunities coming up over the next week. Here’s the deal:

• December 6th: Marc Spears of the Boston Globe and I will be fielding questions from students in a media seminar class this Thursday at Boston University. I’ll be convening a Uni Watch party at 8:30 that evening at Boston Beer Works, which is right across from Fenway Park. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to attend the seminar class, which begins at 6:30, the professor has graciously agreed to accommodate a few extra people. If you’re interested, get in touch and I’ll let you know where to go.

• December 10th: The completely wonderful City Reliquary, of which I am a proud card-carrying member, will be holding its annual benefit gala at the Automotive High School Auditorium, and I’m one of the two featured speakers this year. I’ll be doing a Power Point presentation about Brooklyn Dodgers uniform history, but the real attraction is the other speaker: Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder and Boggs. The evening will also feature a short documentary film, a live samba band, and — if you shell out a lot of extra $$$ — dinner at Bamonte’s, one of Brooklyn’s oldest and most storied red-sauce Italian restaurants. Full details here.

• Sometime in January: I’m going to be one of four presenters at the inaugural edition of a new speaking series called “Adult Education,” which is being curated by my longtime pal Carrie McLaren (editrix of the excellent consumer-culture magazine Stay Free), who describes the series as “sort of grownup show-and-tell,” complete with visual aids. The theme of this first installment will be “Micro-Genres”: Carrie, who’s mildly obsessed with chimps, will be talking about people who’ve tried to raise chimps as part of the family; longtime Uni Watch pal Liz Clayton will talk about painfully obvious fast-food restaurant conversions (she has an entire site devoted to this phenomenon); Jim Hanas will talk about “meta tourism” (i.e., photos of tourists taking photos); and I’ll be talking about the strange world of trade magazines (Elevator World, Hay and Forage Grower, American Funeral Director, Demolition, and so on, each of which is as obsessively subject-specific as Uni Watch is). The exact date is still TBA, but it’s definitely going to be on a Tuesday in January, and the venue will be Union Hall, which is conveniently located around the corner from Uni Watch HQ. Further details on this one as they become available.

Membership News: I’m happy to announce that we’ve now gone over 500 enrollees. But I can’t announce who the 500th member is because that was a gift membership and the gift-giver has asked that I keep the order secret until Christmas.

Speaking of which, remember, this Wednesday is the deadline for ordering a discounted gift membership for the holidays.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of pics here from the upcoming hoops movie Semi-Pro (with thanks to Mike Nachreiner). … Bizarre uniform sighting here (courtesy of Eric Trager). … Looking for new and creative ways to lace up your cleats or sneakers? Look here (with thanks to Mike Blinn). … Roman numeral alert: Charlie Coley III of Charlotte (with thanks to intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek). … “Once upon a time, Marquette had a football team,” writes proud Badger State booster Nicole Haase. “Here’s a pretty cool collection of 1940s program covers.” … “Check out the difference in the helmet stripe thickness for the two players in green, who play for Mentor Lake Catholic High in Ohio,” writes Tim Snyder. “I figure it’s some kind of merit award, but they also use more conventional merit decals.” Anyone know more about this? … Paul Bridge reports that Utah Valley University, which will have D-1A status by 2009, has some new logos. Details here. … Very odd NOB typography being for Jonathan Zebina of Juventus (and, presumably for the rest of their players): The “Z” and the “E” look like a “2″ and a backwards “3.” It’s apparently so fraught with confusion that the “E” ended up being applied backwards for Saturday’s game against AC Milan (all this courtesy of Jeremy Brahm). … Mizzou’s Stryker Sulak had some sleeve patch problems on Saturday (with thanks to James Wortham for the screen grab). … Nice little recap of Lakers uniform history here (as forwarded by Matthew Wolfram). … Ryan Perkins notes that R.W. McQuarters of the Giants had some helmet decal issues yesterday. … Several readers noted that Wabash wore some ill-advised pants in Saturday’s D-III quarterfinal game. … Georgia will wear black in the Sugar Bowl. … Speaking of black, Texas A&M’s hoops team wore their black alts yesterday. … “The Barbarians, an invitation-only rugby club that plays a handful of matches per year, took on the newly-crowned world champions South Africa,” writes Eric Bangeman. In addition to wearing classic black-and-white uniforms, the Barbarians ask each player to wear the socks from his home club, which makes for some interesting hosiery contrasts.”

225 comments December 3rd, 2007