Division Series Roundup

There was some weird stuff going on in the various Division Series, and I’m not just talking about the Yankees going down so meekly. The biggest problem involved sleeves. For starters, as several readers noted, the blue sleeve trim on the Dodgers’ road jersey was missing from J.D. Drew’s uni during Games 1 and 2 of L.A.’s series against the Mets. Actually, it was missing for longer than that, as evidenced by this shot from September 29th. Drew had the proper trim, however, on September 27th.

Then there was Eric Chavez. As Joel Dunn and Monte Bogatz point out, Oakland’s “Holy Toledo” memorial patch for broadcaster Bill King was missing from Chavez’s sleeve during Game 3 of the A’s/Twins series (and during the postgame celebration). Just as with Drew, this glitch appears to predate the postseason: Chavez’s sleeve was patch-free at least as far back as September 22nd (although he was properly accessorized on September 16th).

Maybe Chavez discussed this with Twins backstop Joe Mauer when he came up to bat. Because as Ray McCormick points out, the Twins’ “34″ memorial sleeve patch for Kirby Puckett was missing from Mauer’s right sleeve during Game 2 of the series (but it was present and accounted for in Games 1 and 3).

In other Division Series developments:

• The weather in Detroit for Game 4 of the Tigers/Yanks series was cold enough for the umps to allow Jeremy Bonderman to blow on his hand. So why was Bonderman wearing a Cool Base jersey?

• Footwear guru Mark Mihalik observes, “Pudge Rodriguez pulled a mid-game cleat change in Game 3. In the 2nd inning he wore these (which I should add are Verdero cleats, which nobody else wears, as far as I know), but later in the game he switched to the awful Nikes shown here.”

• Endy Chavez may have unwittingly pioneered a new ritual: the rally sock. Chavez was doing a bit of pant and/or sock adjustment during Paul LoDuca’s at-bat in the 8th inning of Game 3. When LoDuco singled in a run, Chavez perked up, jumped to his feet, and partied hard — all with his right calf exposed — before returning to the bench to complete his sartorial maneuvers.

• Great catch by Clark Farrand, who noticed that one end of the little tagging barb (yes, that’s the official term) was still stuck in Aaron Heilman’s cap when he pitched the 8th inning on Friday night.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Amusing article here about Washington State’s recent alternate unis (with thanks to Jerry Gardner). … Glenn Stern passed along this amazing shot from 1964, showing two UNC hoops players wearing uni-numbered stirrups! Dig the real belt on the shorts, too. … Speaking of stirrups, there’s plenty of them on display on the set of the film The Bronx Is Burning — click through this image gallery (with thanks to Matt Edwards). … Admirably detail-oriented article here about the U.S. Army’s new uniforms. … OK, so you already knew European hockey uniforms were pretty wack. But it turns out that the players are nothing compared to the officials! (Kudos to AJ Brandt.) … This does not bode well for America’s future (thanks, but no thanks, to Jeff Stephens). … Jeff Van Gundy is blaming Yao Ming’s foot problems on his shoes — and, specifically, on Reebok (with thanks to Kevin Gee for the tip). … Bryan Redemske notes that the world of competitive field hockey appears to have little if any uniformity when it comes to footwear. “Wear what ya brung,” says Redemske, who then adds: “I don’t know what kind of shoes are in this photo. Not steel-toed, though.” … Longtime Uni Watch pal John Darnielle (a.k.a. the Mountain Goats) notes that the symbol inscribed under Billy Wagner’s brim “bears a resemblance to the word ‘Om’ in Sanskrit.” Why do I think this is just a coincidence? … Michal Rozsival’s name was misspelled on Saturday night. … We all know Nikolai Valuev is a very large man. So the ads on his trunks looked even bigger than usual during his fight two nights ago against Monte Barrett (who, incidentally, wore pink gloves, which will be auctioned off to promote breast cancer research, although maybe research into dementia pugilistica might be more appropriate). … According to this item in yesterday’s New York Post, Isiah Thomas will be wearing an autism-awareness pin while coaching the Knicks this season. Please make your own really obvious joke here. … Genius catch by Big Ed in yesterday’s Comments section, noting that the top of Terrell Owens’s facemask yesterday had only one bar, instead of his usual two-bar design. … Give it up for the Coolidge Colts of Washington, D.C., who have the coolest high school football socks ever (big thanks to Michael Starghill Jr.).

130 comments October 9th, 2006