Posts filed under 'History'
The most obvious answer is sometimes the one we most easily miss
By Phil Hecken
Lots more uni tweaks/redesigns/overhauls from you guys today. Good stuff. Interesting Stuff. Fun Stuff. It turned out there were so many people who wanted to tweak the Blue Jays, they’re getting their own column. Lets get started.
In the first set of tweaks, I mentioned there were numerous submissions for the Toronto Blue Jays. While there seems to be much love for the powder blues (although they really need to realize that is 1-NOT a home uniform and 2-NOT a pair of pajamas), there seems to be some universal disdain for the lack of actual blue in the Blue Jays these days. And of course, there is always great admiration for the back-to-back World Series champion uni worn in the Blue Jays heydays. So, not surprisingly, many of the readers would like to ditch the black (I mean, c’mon — this is the best they could do) and would like to return to something along these lines (the one Joe Carter is wearing, not Gene Tenace). Some fans have really had enough, expressing their distaste for the black in interesting ways
So, with the Blue Jays in need of an obvious change, what do the readers offer? There are some really interesting ones to follow. So, let’s take a look-see:
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You may remember last time out we had a submission for the Twins from Matt Keller. He also provided me with one for the Jays:
I’m not legally eligible for a prize being 16, but I mess around in photoshop on occasion. (Here’s) a plain, but I think a clean looking Blue Jays uniform. It was made before the Twins uni, and if I could do it again, I’d like to change the numbers to something a little more retro.
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Our next submission comes from Ben Sibley, a man of few words, but great suggestions:
A modern twist to a classic uniform
Thanks
Blue Jays Logo
Blue Jays Home
Blue Jays Road
Blue Jays Alternate
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Next up is UW Stalwart and a gentleman who aided me with a column a ways back, our Calgary lawyer, Mike Styczen “Mike 2″ (who is also a Blue Jays tracker). I’m not sure if Mike wasn’t being tongue-in-cheek with his submission:
For your ongoing column on MLB uniform redesigns, I’ve got one (attached) for the Blue Jays.
Its not very imaginative. They already have their perfect uniform in their past, 1989-1996, and the logo dates back to their founding. The fans loved it, they won two World Series wearing it. I don’t see any need to change a thing.
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Um…thanks Mike. Moving along, reader Brian Cheung (who posts as “Random Reader”) is a man of many words. That’s fine, I enjoy when you guys explain your work. Here’s Brian:
Hey, LI Phil:
I just want to thank you for commenting on my mock-up Blue Jays road jersey. For a while now, I always wondered how they’d look with more blue in their jerseys and I finally decided to put my creative skills to use.
I’m actually a Yankees fan but I’ve just been bothered in recent years by all the black in the Blue Jays uniforms, that wacky font they use for numbers, and how the road jerseys and home jerseys don’t have matching fonts. To put it simply, I felt they could look a whole lot better.
I’ll start with their current road jersey first. I thought of it as being a step in the right direction for Toronto, since it employs a little more blue than the previous uniform in 2007, with that funky “Toronto” script in silver, graphite and white. After seeing this photo, I edited it by adding some red around the front logo and the numbers. I also made the cap blue, the sleeves blue, and tried to add blue accents in on the cap. I was quite surprised primary logo by changing the silver and graphite to shades of powder blue, in order to include a reference to the past in their current logo. I also darkened the blue jay itself, changing it from that light shade of blue to something more of a royal blue. I changed the blue border to red because red was always a color present in their logos and I thought their current logos looked very bland without red as an accent. I did the same with the road cap; I eliminated the silver and replaced it with powder blue and I also included some red to serve as a border.
Next was the jerseys. I actually used to like that wide font they use for names and that strange-looking font for numbers. But I got tired of seeing them and I suppose someone in the Blue Jays felt the same; the road uniforms changed in 2008 as the numbers were now in a different font, along with the logo on the front. But the road uniforms still had that italicized font. What I decided to do was employ the font used on the roads (I believe it is called Agency FB) and apply it to their home uniforms. I gave the nameplates the same font so that names don’t look like they take up half the uniform. I added powder blue to the numbers and gave them a red border. I kept the beveling effect as I see it as being a modernization of the classic Blue Jays number front, with that line running inside each number (I always thought it was cool and whenever I saw them, I always associated them with the Blue Jays). I altered the wordmark on the road uniform to make it powder blue—a nod to how the Jays once wore powder blue uniforms on the road. Originally, the wordmark was supposed to be royal blue but I realized the Jays would look too much like the Texas Rangers; I had to change it to powder blue to give the uniform its own look that won’t be mistaken for that of the Rangers.
For both the home and road, I got rid of the black socks, belts, and piping and made them blue. I also changed their all-black alternate uniform to make it an all-blue one. The team is named the Blue Jays after all, so it would only make sense to have some uniform have a lot of blue in it.
Hope you enjoy. I tagged most of the images just so others won’t try to pass my work as theirs.
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Still more Blue Jays tweaks came in, this one from Matt Murray (who you may recall had earlier offered submissions for the Milwaukee Brewers). I have to say, this is some impressive work for someone who’s still in high school! Here’s Matt:
Phil,
Attached are some Blue Jays uniform ideas. These concepts for the Blue Jays mix in a throwback look similar to the current Friday uniforms. I was also sure not to include the script “Jays” anywhere in these uniforms because THAT ISN’T THEIR TEAM NAME! I also kept the concept free of black. I reverted back to the old “bird on ball” logo for the caps. I opted to keep the maple leaf on the sleeves because that is pretty much the only thing I like with the current uniforms. It’s something that signifies the uniqueness of the franchise as the only team North of the Border. Both powder and gray away concepts are included. I haven’t gone to school for graphic design or anything like that, nor have I graduated high school! But I think it’s the thought that counts with the uni concepts. Hopefully I “get it!”
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Still on the Blue Jays train, next up is Brian Arnold, who I think sent me these a loooooong time ago when Paulie Soto and I did our Fauxback column. If he did, and I neglected to post them, I apologize. Anyway, getting the play they deserve, here’s Brian:
I sent this link as a email a while ago when you did an entry about “fauxbacks”. I just saw your recent call for submissions, so I’ll send it again, maybe it will get some attention this time. Blue Jays Home and Blue Jays Road.
Thanks,
Brian
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Phew…next to last in the Blue Jays tweaks, we have Sean Wilson. Here’s Sean:
Blue Jays. Changed base color to blue instead of black and killed the ridiculous beveling on the wordmark.
Liked what you did with some of the NFL unis, especially the Falcons. On the Bengals, though, you’ve got to have the tiger striped pants stripe
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Finally, we have UW Graphic Artist extraordinaire, Paul “Pretty Boy Paulie” Soto to round things out. Here’s Paul:
The Blue Jays have always had modern uniform designs. They never quite had an “old school” look. So what I wanted to give them here was a “classic” look. Complete with script wordmarks and serifed/bold numerals. Royal blue is their primary color, sky blue is their secondary and I kept the dreaded black as an accent color. An actual Blue Jay does have a black trim on their feathers. So, I can live with the black as long as it’s not the primary color. Plus I only regulated it to the road uniform. I feel it appears more appropriate there. We need more striped socks in the league so why not give ‘em some. Here we have blue socks with alternating stripes that has white/sky blue at home and white/black on the road. The last time I did a Blue Jay uni modification I used a primary logo that combined two of their best logos in their history. It would be a dream to see them use that logo on their home caps and as a primary logo. The road cap features a script “T” that is loosely inspired by their current alternate cap. Stay “classy” Toronto.
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“What about you, Phil? Don’t you have a Blue Jay mockup?” Well, sadly for you I do. I was never fond of the original wordmark/script, but I did love the bird. And I hate the current home and road scripts, with their beveling and black and gray. I was also not fond of the second generation font with the additional red. So I took their classic white and gray uniforms, and found the font to match those found in the Toronto Subway system. A very nice and basic font, but it’s classy and businesslike but not too formal. So — here’s the home and away look, with royal blue cap (also can use a sky blue cap at home and sky blue cap with sky blue trim and stirrups on the road). I just couldn’t bring myself to return the Jays to powder blue.
Well, there you have it. Obviously the Blue Jays should be the next MLB team to undergo a major overhaul. As we say, lots of “retro-inspired” designs, and a few who simply want to return the “blue” to the Blue Jays. My thanks to everyone who sent in a submission, and next time, we’ll get to the rest of the MLB overhauls.
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 OK, in case you missed it, last week, with the help of James Huening, I ran what we hope to be the first of several ‘unofficial’ polls to determine how we feel on uniforms. Don’t bother voting anymore, the poll is officially closed now. That poll, “Rate the NFL Home Uniforms” was an unmitigated success. We’ll have the results next week, but James wanted to give us a quick look at some of the preliminary results.
“Well, the votes are in. Some of the final results are still being tabulated, but the Uni Watch community has spoken and a team has been chosen as having the best home uniforms in the NFL. And it was truly a hard-fought battle for the top spot.
“If you recall, we asked you to rate each team’s home uniform from zero to five points. We also asked you to nominate a team as having the best uni and another as having the worst. Our top team averaged 4.24 points per response, barely edging out our second place finisher at 4.21. In addition, #1 was mentioned by 15% of you as having the best uni, compared to 12% for #2.
“The rest of our top five was equally competitive. The third, fourth and fifth place finishers’ average scores were 4.07 (9% of you thought they were the best), 4.05(6%) and 3.83(7%).
“So, to everyone who participated, thank you. It goes without saying that we couldn’t have done this without you and the response was overwhelming. We were hoping for 500, but we collected nearly 2,000 completed surveys! And people from literally all over the world checked in. We received responses from every continent. Yes, that includes Antarctica.”
Thanks, James. So now that the votes are in — which uniform do you think was rated THE BEST in the NFL? We’ll tell you next week, but why not give an early guess. Just post “Best: (insert team) ” down below.
In addition, a special thanks goes out to Adam Walter, who’s doing most of the heavy lifting on this endeavor, with his incredible data crunching and analysis.
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 Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: As the MLB season winds down this weekend, I’m running out of scoreboards…so, either you guys will have to keep sending me some, or we’ll be putting the game on a temporary hiatus. No worries today though, as SlimandSlam hooked me up with this one (although partial credit has to go to Squiddie)– and while in and of itself, it’s tricky, a little detective work on your part (read: the photo you’re about to see was run in one of my earlier columns) will help you solve it. Remember, PLEASE do not post the actual score and date, but rather, use Retrosheet or Baseball Almanac to link to your answer (if possible). Ready? Guess The Game. I think tomorrow we’ll try a football scoreboard, but I’m not sure how that will go over. Let me know what you think.
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A Little Bit of This and That: Somehow we all missed the fact that the official team outfits for Canada’s 2010 Winter Olympics team were unveiled in Vancouver, and some are calling them, “Hoser chic,” while others are suggesting it smacks of a Conservative conspiracy and others noting similarities to an iconic Canadian military symbol. … The Oregonian is getting a lot of mileage out of their Dress The Ducks thingy, even encouraging opposition fans to clothe the U of Zero Ducks in the worst possible combo … This item was posted earlier this week, but it proves once again that worst uniform polls should be decided by UW readers — in fact, in the coming weeks, we’ll be doing just that — stay tuned …Turns out they had to update the poll after readers had other thoughts about those worst unis … This article on the Islanders’ affiliate the Bridgeport Sound Tigers states they will wear uniforms this year that resemble those of the Islanders’ 1980 Stanley Cup dynasty. Unfortunately, no pics accompanied the article — little help? Teebz? … Apparently, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Which means every team, league and sport will be getting in on the pink uniform action … We all know that the Mets sucked this year, but according to NBCNewYork.com, the real villain in the 2009 Mets season was the shade of white used in the Mets’ home uniforms (sorta old news, but a nice shout out to Paul Lukas and the blog in the fourth graf) … If you thought the San Francisco 49ers were mixing too much purple into the red and too much yellow into the gold, well, you’re not alone … Pretty much no one knows that the NBA was segregated for it’s three first years of existence, which may not seem odd until you realize that Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in the same year the NBA was founded. Roger Murdock Kareem Abdul Jabbar is directing a tribute to the Harlem Rens, the “greatest team you never heard of.” (since you read UW, you have heard of the Preston Rivulettes). The Documentary will be called “On The Shoulders of Giants,” and there are sure to be some great unis in it … The soon to be defunct UFL unveiled its helmet art yesterday — and I hope the league is around long enough for someone to work on a full uni breakdown column with me … The FAU Owls, who have one of the best unis in college football, will be playing their 100th football game ever today … Pretty cool look at the Princeton University logos here … Did you ever want to know how Ice gets laid? If you said “a couple drinks, sweet talk and Flunitrazepam,” you’d be wrong. … When you play the “fourth” sport in a big city and you haven’t been relevant since the mid-80’s, what do you do? Why, rebrand yourself of course.
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That’s a wrap for today. Next weekend I hope to have the “Design A Cap” submissions all flickr’ed and ready, we’ll have the results of the voting on the “NFL Home Uniform” poll, and more. And that’s just next weekend. And there’s even more good stuff coming tomorrow. Nice college football today, and still some meaningful baseball in Detroit and Minnesota (where the Twins are hoping for one last miracle before they shut the dump down cede ownership to the Mall of America). That could get very interesting because if the Twins and Tigers end up tied, the Twinks are supposed to host a tiebreaker on Monday — but there’s a twist, because the Dome might be busy. So they’d have to play Tuesday. Hmmmm.
Anyway, let the folks who mocked up some new Jay’s unis know what you think, and don’t forget to take a guess at what we, the Uni Watch community, thought was the best home uniform in football. Oh, and think pink.
October 3rd, 2009
By Phil Hecken, with Rick Pearson
Back again with more NFL uni tweaks, but this first section, entirely envisioned and described by Ricko, is, in a word, “brilliant.” Whereas our previous “tweaks” were designed to solve our own misgivings about certain teams uni-choices, these are actual practical solutions to real problems. What is that real problem? Well, unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past decade, you’ve most likely noticed that the sleeve on the football uniform, with the exception of a few quarterbacks, a wide receiver or two, and kickers, is basically a vestigial element now. While this may not be such a big deal in the overall scheme of uniform design, it is a MAJOR headache for teams who still choose to put stripes on what were once full sleeves. You’ve seen the half-assed solutions being proffered by designers who are admittedly clueless apparently at a loss for ways around the new uniform cuts. Some have apparently no stripes at all. Or they end up stretched onto the chest. I mean, c’mon. This is getting ridiculous.
Enter Ricko. What he’s about to offer up is a simple, straightforward and logical answer to the “disappearing sleeve” on the NFL uniform. And with that, I give you Ricko:
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 Talk About Wearing Things On Your Sleeve
by Rick Pearson
First of all, this is NOT about re-designing anyone’s unis, so let’s not get our hackles up. This is about what to do with sleeve stripes when you have no sleeves to put them on.
A while ago on UW I asked, not altogether rhetorically, Why not put the stripes on the sleeves of the compression shirts? That makes this about an “Apparel Innovation.” Nothing more.
The central notion, then is: Let’s give up trying to make stripes work on today’s shortie jersey sleeves, shall we? The hell with it; put ‘em somewhere else. Say, where they belong? That way, TV numbers and logos could move back to (when appropriate or desired) the more traditional position on the sleeves. Also, TVs could return to the customary 4-inch size…in some cases in the past, even larger.
This idea WOULD require development of a half-sleeve compression shirt in addition to the full-length and “armpit”-length versions typically produced. Secondly, it would be nice if the NFL adopted a Uni Rule reading: “Shoulder pads and armpits must be completely covered by the player’s jersey and/or under sleeves”. But that’s not realistic, I suppose. I think today’s players really get off on showing their guns. “Chicks Dig It” is the rationale, I imagine.
So, without a lot of explanation of what you’re about to see, here’s what you’d get (presented in no particular order)…Redskins, Packers, Giants white, 49ers, Browns (yes, I added stripes to the brown pants; couldn’t help myself [white socks too -- that pic was taken from last year's preseason game when the Brown's first broke out the Brown pants with Brown leggings -- they have since switched to white socks [--PH]), Steelers, Vikings throwbacks and Bears.
I did mess around with Cardinals, taking elements of their St. Louis and early Arizona unis (especially the whites) to show how a team could to do some unique things with the compression sleeve stripes. The “5-stripes same width” look is derivative of their throwback socks from 1994. Taken to the dark uni, it’s interesting, but a bit much. This combination — more like the 1980’s — for home and road may look old-fashioned to some, but it’s clean…and interesting. A sort of “minimalist” spin on their St. Louis duds.
And, yes, I did the Bengals, not to criticize their current uni, but to show that a team could really go nuts, actually making the compression sleeves the uni’s “signature element“. I certainly could have done the same concept for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats or Princeton University, so please don’t take it as slam on the Bengals. No white version of these sleeves with this one. Imagine them, black sleeves and colored stripes, with a white jersey. Yowsa.
Conclusion (mine, anyway)? It could work.
BAD news for fans: Two separate garments needed to get “official” game day look.
But that’s the GOOD news for the NFL merchandising arm (no pun intended). Plus, they’d probably sell a boatload of just the striped compression shirts, too.
Okay, I’m done.
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Phil here. Great job with that Ricko. You may have seen some of these designs in the comments section before, but never in a full-blown post. This is an idea the NFL should seriously consider, especially for teams who still, ya know, wear striped jersey sleeves.
After Ricko came to me (and you via the comments) with the idea of the comp sleeves, one of UW’s readers, Patrick “pflava” Woody provided me with a graphic set of Ricko’s proposals, which I’ll present here, and which gives another idea of how both the long and short sleeved comp sleeves could look (in a couple of cases, Patrick’s template designs differ from Ricko’s, but the idea is the same): Redskins, (which is more of a throwback look than Rick’s compression sleeve idea for the current uniform) Vikings (throwback), Steelers, Browns, 49ers, Giants (road), and Bears.
Fantastic job with those Patrick. I also wanted to show you the same concept, brought to you by Fred Strom, who took Ricko’s Packers idea and made this mockup. But he didn’t stop there: Fred also mocked up the Steelers, da Bears, and (my favorite), the Browns. Great job Fred. (By the way, Fred is the guy who gave us one of the first neon snot green Seahawks — created shortly after Paul’s April Fool’s Day post — and who saw my piece on them last weekend, but whose work I wasn’t familiar with at the time). So, I’m including Fred’s Neon Green Seahawks concepts here.
I’m sure I’ll be featuring more great works from Patrick and Fred as the season wears on. But props to them for helping to bring Ricko’s Comp Sleeve proposals to us today as well.
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Getting Loopy On You
by Phil & Rick
Moving along to a joint effort between Ricko and myself, we’re sure you’ve noticed that not only have sleeves disappeared on NFL jerseys, so too have the once prevalent and beautiful shoulder loops (or “arches” as Ricko refers to them) that at one time once graced NFL uniforms in varying degrees. Whether their disappearance into truncated stubs like this, this and this is a function of the new jersey cuts, or simply manufacturer’s sloth isn’t really important. What is important is that even teams who sport truncated loops still have players who wear full loops with the current jersey.
Obviously, then, there is no real reason why the loop has basically disappeared. Sure, the newer cuts might make it a tad more difficult to design a uniform with actual loops but this truncated garbage is horrible. Ricko and I differ a bit on solutions to this, since technically, most teams “loops” weren’t actually full loops (as I like) but “arches” (as Ricko calls them), which are more approximations of loops, as seen in the UCLA style guide (although some teams did use full loops and some were full but tapered). I prefer the full loop, whereas Rick would prefer to end them under (or close to) the armpit, but either way, the appearance of a full loop is what is needed.
So, in my tweak, the Colts get full loops whereas in Ricko’s redesign, he gives them “arches” and ends them at the armpit. The New York Jets get the full treatment in redesign as do The Titans of New York, whereas Ricko would again end the loop (arch) under the arm. After looking at both of those options, perhaps neither one is perfect, but both are better than the truncated loop. As a compromise, we’d both move to taper the loops as they pass under the arm, yielding a look like this. Much better, no?
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OK. That’s it for today on this bit of uniform fixing. But you gotta give big ups to Rick Pearson for the Comp Sleeve idea. Seriously, Mr. Goodell … Are you listening?
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UW’s biggest Seahawks fan, Michael Princip has a fantastic ongoing project over at his Illustrated NFL site. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. Mike recently added a few more illustrations over in the Artists Section. Most notably, a new entry for Lon Keller and his amazing true vintage football illustrations. Michael totally digs this one of Tom Fears (80) & Elroy (Crazylegs) Hirsch (40).
Great stuff! Be sure to check that out if you haven’t already!
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UW Mystery Jersey “square” — My doubles partner and UW West Coast Correspondent Brinke Guthrie has found the latest UW mystery. Check out this Huskie…what in god’s name is that dark square on his belly? I first thought it was a sweat stain, due to the new jersey cuts (which are giving unis a weird two-tone look), but now I’m pretty sure there is more to it than that. Different material? Anyone wanna take any guesses? Neither Brinke nor I can ever remember seeing anything like that before.
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I don’t usually pay much mind to “top 10 best” or “worst” lists of uniforms. I mean, we here on UW should have the final word on that sort of thing anyway, right? But Ricko sent me this one. This one is a head shaker. Plus the guy who wrote it is either a homophobe or a bad comedian. Probably both. But check out the choices and the rationales. Here’s a typical quote: “The Dolphins uniforms should be San Fransisco’s uniforms. It’s hard to imagine a uniform that better represents fruit than these.” Right. Not quite sure how old it is, but it’s definitely not from this season. Still, this gets a huge “WTF?”
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 Our man in the street, Jim Vilk brings you his “Top 5″ Best and one WORST college football uni matchup from yesterday:
5. Wyoming/Colorado – Throwbacks save the day.
4. Florida State/BYU – Cougars matched up well with FSU…well, looks-wise, that is.
3. Florida Atlantic/South Carolina – If FAU played as good as they looked, they’d be champs.
2. Southern California/Washington – Upset game; uniforms not upsetting at all.
1. Giants vs. Colts Duke/Kansas – The greatest game ever played…in Lawrence, Kansas…this weekend.
And the baddie worst uni matchup of the weekend: Cincinnati/Oregon State – A veritable black hole.
Nice work Jim. How you couldn’t put the throwback Buff’s higher is beyond me, but hey…at least they made the list. Those helmets are the bomb.
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Got another scoreboard submission from SlimandSlam today. Not quite sure about the level of difficulty, but you guys should be able to get it without too much difficulty. Stadium should be obvious, as are the teams — it only comes down to the date and the final score. Might be tricky. Ready? Guess The Game. As always, please link to the answer thru Retrosheet or Baseball Almanac. Thanks for the submission, Slim!
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 Well, the football season is in full gear now…and the boys of Benchies are back on the gridiron. I asked Rick how come Mike wears adidas, Mick wears Nike, and the defender in this clip wears Puma. Rick’s answer? “It’s just until I get my shoe contract.” Of course. Anyway, enjoy your Sunday Benchies. Bonus points to anyone who can name the sweatband manufacturer.
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And that’s a wrap for this Sunday folks. If you missed yesterday, there was a “Design A Cap Contest” you all should check out. Keep those submissions coming!
Please make sure to compliment Patrick & Fred for their efforts as today as well. Good stuff there. And for the love of god…can somebody get the NFL front offices on the line and convince them that Ricko has the answer to the disappearing sleeve? Not only would the comp sleeves solve the disappearing/shrinking stripe problems, but they’ll be able to move one more piece of merch in the process. It’s a win-win! Cheers.
September 20th, 2009
Time to check in again with reader Steve K., who continues to document uni-notable moments from the 1970s (see previous entries devoted to his screen shots here, here, and here). Let’s get started:
• What’s even better than a wacky mascot? A wacky two-person mascot. Or maybe a mascot that doesn’t make much sense (that appears to be a gator working for the Dolphins).
• Can’t ever recall having seen an Oilers player wearing red undersleeves before.
• Also can’t recall an Oilers player with a ski mask. That’s from a 1977 game in Cleveland. But hey, note that the sleeves now match the mask!
• And as long as we’re on a roll with Oilers, look at this. “Not sure if this was a pose from a Punt, Pass and Kick competition, but that sure is one cheap Oilers knockoff that kid is wearing,” says Steve.
• Here’s one that really surprised me: Ahmad Rashad with a small-cap “A” in his NOB. “It’s from a 1977 game against the Bengals,” says Steve. “This is the only time I’ve seen his name spelled that way. I think it was a one-game thing.”
• Note the inconsistency between the helmet buffalo and the jacket buffalo. The weird thing is that that’s from a 1976 game in Baltimore, two years after the logo change. Must have been an old jacket.
• Tough to see, but it looks like Lions coach Tommy Hudspeth had an unusual Lions logo on his jacket in this 1976 shot.
• Speaking of coaches, Chuck Knox and his staff wore their regular Rams caps while working the 1977 Pro Bowl.
• And speaking of the Pro Bowl, here are some shots of the NFL squad from 1977 and 1978.
That’ll hold us until next time. Big thanks to Steve, as always, for sharing these shots with us.
You say you want another raffle? Sure, why not. Our benefactors this time around are the good people at SoccerPro.com, who are offering a free jacket from this product listing to one lucky winner.
To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the raffle address (not to the usual Uni Watch e-mail address, please) by 10pm next Monday, September 21st. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing can send four entries. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.
Hidden Resources: There are several ongoing Uni Watch research/reference projects that I’ve periodically mentioned and linked to, but I’ve never gotten around to creating permanent visible links for them. They include the Uni Watch Glossary, the Pro Football Uni History Project, and the breakdown of NFL teams that have worn white at home.
In a long-overdue move, these pages now have permanent links in the right-hand rail, under the heading “Research Projects.” Feel free to explore them.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Seahawks are the latest team to go with a practice jersey sponsor. … Chris Stoppel notes some developments regarding Kansas’s road pants: Since 2005 they’d been gray, but last season they wore white pants against Missouri and for the Insight Bowl. They wore the whites again for this season’s first road game. Have the gray pants been permanently retired? … What does a crop science researcher wear to work? If you’re Neil Bourlag, you wear a cool Minnesota jacket (nice find by Nate Day). … Wondering what the AFL throwback games would look like if they used vintage logos on the field? Dylan Buell has come up with some possibilities. … Southern (D-IAA) has gone old-school this season, changing from this to this (with thanks to Prentice James). … Al Davis, humble as ever. … “Wednesday was my three-year anniversary with my wife, Kate,” writes Mike Reed. “The day of our wedding, I brought several suit bags full of jerseys for us to wear for pictures. Kate risked her hairdo to pull that retro Leafs jersey over her head, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen were all VERY accommodating. As an aside, I’ve often looked at that picture and joked ‘The best day of my life…was the day I bought that jersey.’ I mean, look at it — an authentic 1987 Canada Cup Gretzky jersey, with Canada Cup patch. It’s downright glorious.” … Why did so many of these MISL teams have sleeve stripes or other sleeve design elements that stopped slightly above the elbow? According to this page from a Wichita Wings yearbook, “MISL rules said players would have to wear long sleeves, but the league went out and made a deal for short-sleeved jerseys. The solution? Take a needle and thread and sew the long sleeves on” (great info from Paul Deaver, who also sent along this shot of Pete Rose, who co-owned the Cincinnati Kids, kicking out the first ball in 1978). … Too bad this doesn’t fit me. … The Falcons, in addition to wearing throwbacks this weekend, have also put a retro spin on their web site (with thanks to Shaun Tunick). … The Iraqi baseball team finally got its uniforms (good work, Jerry Cohen). … Best sock stripes ever? Could be. And look, here’s a shot where you can actually see a puff of rosin dust as the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. I have no idea what teams are involved here, but there’s a lot more, much of it pure gold, here (domo arigato to Marcky Marc). … New goalie mask for Carey Price (with thanks to Ryan Connelly). … Magnificent display of old matchbook designs here.
September 17th, 2009
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.
September 16th, 2009
When Kirsten and I were working on our Candela Structures exhibit from last fall through this past spring, one of our most helpful sources was a woman named Mary Ellen Coghlan. We first encountered her when we posted some research queries on a World’s Fair message board, where she was an active participant and used Lady Met as her avatar. She responded to our queries and helped get the ball rolling on our research.
Over the next several months, Mary Ellen would periodically pop out of the ether and send me a helpful note. “You should get in touch with this guy, because I think he has lots of Candela photos,” she’d say, or “This guy’s father worked on the World’s Fair — I’m sure he could provide you with some good information,” and then I wouldn’t hear from her again for a while. Her leads always turned out to be useful, and each time I found myself wondering, “Hmmm, why didn’t she tell me about that guy, like, five months ago?”
Mary Ellen didn’t respond to my repeated requests for a quick phone chat, so we maintained this odd system in which she sort of parceled out little morsels of information to me. Maybe she was testing me, making sure I was worthy. In any case, by the time our show opened back in May, I’d come to think of her as our guardian research angel, so of course I invited her to the opening reception. She didn’t respond to that either, and she didn’t show up at the reception (or at least didn’t identify herself — I had no idea what she looked like or if she even lived in the New York area), but she later sent me a note indicating that she’d seen the exhibit and approved of how it had turned out. Nice.
And that might have been the end of that. But Mary Ellen popped out of the ether again about five weeks ago by sending me a note on Facebook, of all places (we had never communicated via that method before). “Hey Paul,” she wrote, “check out my piece of Shea Stadium.”
My heart jumped and sank at the same time. I was pretty sure I knew exactly what was in that photo. And if I was right, it meant Mary Ellen was in possession of the one baseball artifact I would give almost anything to own.
“OK, I’ll bite,” I wrote back. “What is it?”
“It is an exterior panel that hung on the cables outside of Shea in 1964,” she responded, confirming my initial reaction. “They were blue & orange.”
Mary Ellen was referring, of course, to the amazing corrugated metal panels that adorned Shea Stadium for the first 16 years of its existence. I’ve written about them several times over the years and had always been told that they’d been discarded shortly after they were removed in 1980. So how did Mary Ellen get one?
Through the simplest means imaginable, as it turns out: She bought it on eBay less than two months ago. And for a ridiculously reasonable price, too. Or to put it another way, one of my holy grails was up for auction right under my nose and I didn’t realize it. That bruise on my ass is where I’ve been kicking myself for the past few weeks.
I congratulated Mary Ellen on her purchase, to which she blithely replied, “Someday I will bring the Shea organ in from my garage into my house too. I miss Shea Stadium. Can you tell?”
Wait a minute — she also had the organ from Shea? Jane Jarvis’s organ?!
At this point I sort of half-begged, half-demanded that Mary Ellen let me interview her. To my pleasant surprise, she readily agreed. Here’s how it went down:
Uni Watch: Tell me a little about yourself. Did you grow up in New York City?
Mary Ellen Coghlan: No. I’m from New Jersey, Bergen County.
UW: And did you attend the World’s Fair yourself?
MEC: You know, the funny thing is that I attended the Fair before it opened. My father was known as “The Bamboo Man” in the 1960s. He sold bamboo from our house in Upper Saddle River, and he became this quirky ’60s icon to some people. He got to be a guest on Johnny Carson…
UW: Talking about bamboo?!
MEC: Yes. He was also a guest on To Tell the Truth. Bamboo became the rage when he was selling it.
UW: Was this for tiki bars and things like that?
MEC: No. For people to grow in their homes. It’s a very hearty plant. Everyone was into Japanese stuff back then, in the late ’50s, early ’60s. It’s a lovely plant. Anyway, he was contacted by the African pavilion at the Fair, because they wanted some bamboo. I didn’t even know they had bamboo in Africa. But anyway, when he delivered it, I went along for the ride. And it was this crazy thing, running around the World’s Fair a couple of weeks before it opened.
UW: So this would have been in early 1964.
MEC: Yes.
UW: How old were you then?
MEC: Ten years old.
UW: And what did you think of the Fair?
MEC: Oh, I was blown away by it. It was a kid’s delight. When we got back home, I wanted my mother to bring us back to the Fair when it was open, but I never got there. She figured we’d all get lost at the Fair, and that was not gonna happen.
UW: So you didn’t even get to go back and see your father’s bamboo? What a shame. Now, how does Shea Stadium play into all of this?
MEC: Well, I’ve always been a Mets fan, and the Fair was right next door.
UW: Did you attend lots of Mets games during that period? Did you go to Shea during that first season in 1964?
MEC: Probably. I don’t recall specifically, but my father took us to Yankee Stadium and to Shea, and I remember how Shea had those confetti panels on the outside. It was so amazing! I’m very sad that it’s gone. I’m not a big fan of Citi Field.
UW: I hear ya, Mary Ellen. Now, how did you acquire one of the confetti panels?
MEC: Well, I always search eBay for things relating to Shea Stadium and the World’s Fair, or any of my other quirky interests. I’m a big fan of the Brown Derby restaurant in L.A., for example. Anyway, someone on the Baseball Fever web site had posted that one of the panels was available on eBay. So I checked it out, and the guy selling it explained how he’d gotten it. He’d gone to a Mets/Dodgers game at Shea in 1980, which was the year they took the panels down, and he saw the panels laying in a pile. I think he said they were near the bullpen. He was there with a buddy of his — he grabbed a blue one and his buddy grabbed an orange one. They threw ’em in the trunk of their car and drove home with them. He’s a professor or teacher in California now, and the panel was in his parents’ garage in Queens, and they were finally giving him the ultimatum — “You’ve gotta get rid of this thing.”
UW: When did put the listing up on eBay?
MEC: Pretty recently — in early July.
UW [incredulous]: Of this year? Like, last month?
MEC: Right.
UW: You’re lucky I didn’t know about it — I would have bid a lot!
MEC: I was so surprised that it showed up there. And to be honest with you, I didn’t think I was going to win.
UW: How many other bids were there?
MEC: Eight, I think.
UW: What was the starting price?
MEC: A hundred dollars.
UW: And your winning bid?
MEC: A little over $500.
UW: How high would you have been willing to go?
MEC: I would have gone to $1000. I can’t believe I got it for barely half of that — I thought for sure I’d be outbid. I think maybe he didn’t title the auction properly. He just wrote “Shea Stadium — Original Blue Rectangle.”
UW: Yeah, that doesn’t really tell the full story. So once you won the auction, how did they ship it to you?
MEC: As soon as I paid for it, I jumped into my pickup truck and got it. I didn’t want someone else to make him an offer on the side and I’d be screwed! It was still at his parents’ house in Queens. When I arrived to pick it up, his mother said, “I can’t believe anyone would pay for this thing. It’s been kicking around in our garage for years.”
UW: Was it a hassle to transport? How big is it, how heavy is it?
MEC: It’s three feet by four feet. And it weighs nothing — I think it’s just corrugated aluminum. I thought it would be corrugated steel, and I was worried that it would be a real struggle. But it’s not heavy at all, you can lift it with one hand, no problem. [Here it is being held by Mary Ellen's niece and nephews. -- PL]
UW: Interesting.
MEC: I’m sure it’s original, but I’d like to get it authenticated somehow, just to be sure. It has drips of orange paint on the back — that seems pretty convincing.
UW: What about the orange one that the seller’s buddy took — does he still have it?
MEC: I asked his mother that, because I figured I’d buy the orange one too. But she said he’d thrown it in the trash years ago.
UW: Seriously?!
MEC: Yeah. It would’ve been great to have a blue one and an orange one together.
UW: So yours is maybe the only one left, like, anywhere.
MEC: To my knowledge it is, yeah. Nobody on Baseball Fever was aware of any others that have survived. I’m sure someone else has gotta have one or two in a garage, I would think. But who knows.
UW: Do you have any other memorabilia from Shea?
MEC: I bought a set of seats. And I bought something from the dedication at the stadium’s groundbreaking — it’s a Lucite block with a shovel embedded in it.
UW: So now that you have the confetti panel, what are you going to do with it?
MEC: I have an old bar in my house, and I have all sorts of World’s Fair signs and things like that in there. I’ll probably put it in there. When I pass away years from now, I’ll leave it to the Baseball Hall of Fame, if they want it.
UW: Now, what’s the story with this organ?
MEC: It’s in my garage. It weighs a ton!
UW: How’d you get that?
MEC: Again, on eBay, for about $500. The person selling it lived way upstate, between Syracuse and Buffalo. I called her up and she said, “The person we purchased the house from used to work at Shea Stadium, and they took the organ when the Mets were getting rid of it in 1979,” which I think was the last year Jane Jarvis played there. [That's correct, at least according to Wikipedia. -- PL]
UW: So was this the original organ at the stadium?
MEC: I don’t think so, because I’ve looked at some photos of Jane Jarvis from 1964 or ’65, when she started playing there. It’s a Thomas organ, and I have the serial numbers, so I have to contact Thomas to see if they can trace it.
UW: Can you play the organ?
MEC: No. It’s just another, like, dopey thing I’ve bought.
=======
Mary Ellen also gave me the contact info for the guy who sold her the panel. I’ll be getting in touch with him shortly and will post an update once I speak with him, but I wanted today’s entry to belong to Mary Ellen. I pleaded with her to provide a photo of herself holding the panel, but she says she doesn’t like to have her picture taken. I prefer to think maybe she just likes to maintain an air of mystery. Either way, she’s aces — thanks for all the help and support you’ve provided over the past year, Mary Ellen, and thanks also for sharing your story.As for me, I’m super-duper happy to know that one of the Shea panels escaped the scrap heap, and even happier to know it’s in the hands of someone who deserves it and will take good care of it, even if that someone isn’t me. But hey, Mary Ellen, if the Hall of Fame doesn’t want that panel, I know someone else who’ll gladly take custody of it.  Membership Update: A nice little surge-let of membership orders just before the August break (including Masao Okazaki’s Rollerball treatment, shown at right) has put us only three enrollees shy of cracking the 800-member mark. You can help push us over the top here.
Raffle Reminder: Speaking of which, all membership enrollees will get three bonus chances to win the college football helmet from Gridiron Memories that I’m currently raffling off. For details, look here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Hill on Hill! (Good spot by Dylan Buell.) … Here’s more on David Wright and the S100. Meanwhile, Shane Victorino tried the S100 on Thursday night, but Rawlings didn’t send him a double-flap model, so we got to see the rare sight of Victorino going single-flapped. After two ABs, he went back to his usual helmet. Further details in the last section of this page (with thanks to Bernie Langer). … Steve Luft notes that the Blackhawks have changed the design of their red line. … Here’s a fantastic look at the anti-drugs patch that the Rams wore in 1988 (big thanks to William Schaefer). … What’s going on here? Jonathan Sluss explains: “Throwback uniforms were presented to players from the Old Dominion teams of the 1930s (the last decade of football there before this year). The colors are green and yellow because the school was then known as William and Mary Norfolk Division. This page has a short video about this, and also includes a shot of a great old letterman sweater at the very end, plus the accompanying article has a neat story about how they accepted an invitation to play Miami even though the invitation was intended for the main William and Mary campus.” … The baseball season is almost over, and Clint Glaze just noticed a uni change that the rest of us all overlooked: The Padres removed the city name from their sleeve patch. Sure enough, this change is reflected in the graphics shown in the MLB Style Guide, but it wasn’t called out as one of the uni changes for this season. Kudos to Clint for picking up on something the rest of us missed. … Douchebag alert from Scott Holcomb, who spotted Bo Jackson addressing the Auburn football team with Band-Aids covering the Under Armour logo on his T-shirt. … Speaking of douchebaggery, the Swedish Hockey League has finally figured out exactly what the world needs: ads on goalie pads (with thanks to Tyler Hull). … The Mavericks are unveiling an alternate jersey on Sept. 21st. … I’ve seen all the new MLB designs for next season and can report that another team is going to have a powder blue alternate jersey, plus one team is adding a powder blue alt cap. And no, I can’t say anything more than that, so don’t ask. … Didn’t realize the Cardinals wore striped belts in the early 1980s. Those photos both come from a book that Jim Vilk was nice enough to give me when I met him in Cleveland earlier this summer. … If you click through the first four photos in this gallery, you’ll see that C.J. Wilson wears a red glove when the Rangers wear their red jerseys, and a blue glove the rest of the time (good spot by Rachel Johnson). … Benji Boyter reports that Tennessee’s offensive line includes two brothers named Cody and Cory Sullins. “They use first and third initials on their jerseys — CD Sullins and CR Sullins,” he says. No pic yet. … The Orioles did the Negro Leagues thing on Saturday, dressing up as the Baltimore Elite Giants. Nice job with the batting helmets. In fact, they even went the extra mile with the catcher’s helmet. Some nice video footage here, if you’re so inclined. … Three years ago, City Reliquary founder and all-around good guy Dave Herman gave me this very excellent Xmas present. Unfortunately, it has languished in my T-shirt drawer since then, because (a) it’s too big, and (b) I almost always wear blue Levi’s, so I prefer not to go blue-on-blue. I’ve been meaning to scan the logo, change the colors, and create a new Zazzle version for myself, and I finally got around to doing it a few days ago (with a big assist from Kirsten, who retraced the logo in Illustrator) — voila! I made a tote bag too, but I haven’t actually ordered that for myself yet. … Major thrift shop score by Jeff Santos, who found some authentic — and maybe game-used — Phoenix Suns throwback shorts at a Goodwill store in North Attleboro, Mass. Only $3.99! … Bobby Cox once again wore the wrong cap on Sunday (with thanks to Joseph Stuhrenberg). … Prince Fielder’s belly is now so big that it’s generated its own force field. … The Bears have demoted Will Ta’ufo’ou to the practice squad, thereby denying us the chance to see more of this great NOB. … Here’s one I’ve never seen before: Surrattsville High in Maryland uses the Superman logo on their helmets (with thanks to Marc Nelson Jr.). … Good article on UNC’s championship rings here (with thanks to Benn Wineka). … And speaking of UNC’s national titles, here’s a nice group shot of their championship jerseys (as forwarded by Joey Morris). … The Titans aren’t the only team wearing a Steve McNair memorial decal. They’re also wearing one at Mississippi Valley State (good spot by Chris Buttgen). … Ever seen this Bills logo before? How about this Oilers logo? Scott Little put these and a bunch of other obscure AFL logos on this page. I’d definitely seen the Bengals one before, but most of the others are new to me. … Remember the old “America Needs Farmers” decal that Iowa wore back in the Hayden Fry days? They were wearing it again on Saturday — albeit a much smaller version — apparently because Fry was in attendance at the game. “I had thought that the NCAA banned such stickers and that was why Iowa stopped wearing them in the first place,” says Scott Mason. Anyone know more about this? … Meanwhile, as you may have noticed in that last shot, Iowa has history’s hugest rear-helmet uni numbers.
September 8th, 2009
Notice anything unusual about this Gary Matthews gamer from 1983? That smudge on the right sleeve is a little sergeant’s pin — a reference to Matthews’s nickname, Sarge.
But was the pin actually worn on the field or just added to the jersey after the fact? “The jersey’s current owner said he received it from Matthews with confirmation that the pin was worn during the 1983 season,” says Jared Wheeler, who displayed the jersey in the Philly baseball history exhibit he recently curated. “He also had a photo that confirmed this, but I was unable to get a shot of that to send to you.” I did a bit of very quick photo research but wasn’t able to find a shot with a clear view of Matthews’s right sleeve. Maybe someone with a bit of time on their hands would like to do a more in-depth photo search? (Update: Mike Hersh just came up with this. Nice job!)
New ESPN column today — the annual college football mother lode. Look here.
September Raffle: Our friends at Helmet Hut are kicking off the football season by offering a free helmet from their huge product line of NCAA designs (click on any school for the full range of selections for that team). We’re going to call this the Jim Parker Memorial Raffle, in honor of the Helmet Hut co-founder and helmet historian who recently passed away — a great loss for the uni community.
To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the raffle address (not to the usual Uni Watch e-mail address, please) by 10pm next Tuesday, September 8th. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing can send four entries. The winner will be announced next Wednesday.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Graphic designer Sean Engelhardt has created a chart that tracks the Mets’ 2009 injuries. “I’m not trying to make any excuses or explain away anything,” he writes. “I just wanted to see the data in action since it seemed so absurd. I also think it’s a fascinating look at how a full season of baseball plays out. You can see how the starting rotation lined up then got mixed around, days when multiple relievers pitched, see who started (and against what team), consecutive-games streaks (and games-missed streaks), etc.” Really good stuff. … Jeremy Brahm was going through his closet recently and came across these Leaf mini-helmets. “I even had the whole set of 26 teams, which believe me was difficult when I was a kid,” he says. “I sent this over to [gumball helmet king] Bill Jones and he told me that he had a set too, but not the box. You can barely find any information for these online.” … And speaking of gumball helmets, look what Brinke Guthrie found on eBay. … Robbie Biederman has launched a new Detroit-centric T-shirt line. … New logos for Georgia State. Further details here (with thanks to Jameson Adams). … Germany’s home kit for the 2010 World Cup has been leaked. … Throwback-ish jersey and a 30th-anniversary patch for the Flames (with thanks to Stan Capp). … Very interesting article about Colt Brennan’s visor — recommended reading. … More headwear adjustments for David Wright, who went with a double-flap S100 last night.
September 3rd, 2009
When I attended the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland earlier this summer, I spent plenty of time lingering over the basketball jerseys shown at the Grey Flannel Auctions booth. Now a lot of those jerseys — along with a bunch of other good stuff — have shown up in Grey Flannel’s latest auction, which is tied to the upcoming inductions at the Basketball Hall of Fame. Here’s a rundown of some of the more notable items:
• Never knew the ABA’s iconic striped basketball was once depicted on a championship ring (here’s the full listing, which has additional photos and info).
• So much to like about this James “Fly” Williams jersey, including the nickNOB (full listing).
• I spent a few minutes fondling this old USC jersey at the National. The photos I took at the time do a better job of showing the lettering’s gorgeous texture (full listing).
• I suspect a closer view would also show some nice textural details in this old Philly Warriors jersey (full listing).
• If you’re a fan of the Nuggets’ old rainbow jerseys, you can get the original design and the late-’80s update in this auction (full listings here and here, respectively).
• A Globetrotters jersey is always fun, but this warm-up jacket is even better (full listings here and here, respectively).
• I looooove this 1970-71 Sixers design. Dig the Pearson tag, too (full listing).
• Speaking of tags, look at this! Not sure what “Minnesota inspired” means, but it’s an awesome tag design. It’s from this old St. Louis Bombers jacket from the late 1940s (full listing).
• Finally, I was intrigued by this listing of signed checks from Hall of Famer Cliff Hagan. Check out his handwriting — it’s impeccable! Looks more like checks from an elementary school teacher, not an athlete. Interesting.
Discount Reminder: Remember, Bill Henderson is offering his latest MLB jersey reference guide at a $5 discount to Uni Watch readers. Just go to the Bill’s store and use the discount code “paulhatespurple” when checking out.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Speaking of auctions, here’s a pretty rare item (with thanks to Bruce Menard). … Awesome yard sale find by Craig Bates, who came across this Japanese baseball jersey. Nice tag, too. Jeremy, can you shed any light on this one? … Notice anything different about these uniforms? That’s Crown College, a D3 school, and Eric Bangeman notes that their uni appears to be completely free of manufacturers’ logos. … What kind of socks was Pacman Jones wearing here? (As spotted by Kenneth Ritz.) … Kudos to the folks at The Oregonian, who’ve created a Ducks mix-and-match uni page. … Well, that didn’t take long. … Who’s that holding up the ball? It’s Ted Kennedy, believe it or not. But of greater interest for our purposes is the fact that the Yale players have Northwestern-striped sleeves while others have triple-stripes (good spot by Dan Cichalski). … As expected, David Wright wore the new S100 helmet after coming off the DL last night. Despite all the chatter about the helmet looking too big (including some excruciating exchanges between Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez on TV), I think it looks fine. … Luis Castillo tried the S100 during BP but went with his usual Cool-Flo lid during the game. … OK, maybe it looks a little big, but it kinda depends on the angle at which you’re viewing it. In case you missed my ESPN column about all of this, look here. … Jon Strauss was at Gillette Stadium for the New England Revolution’s annual “Meet the Revs” event the other day and got pics of some really great stuff on the wall…. Robert Marshall’s latest project: painting this 1960s Orioles helmet for reader David Reeder. “He was putting together an authentic ’60’s O’s flannel uniform to play ball in,” Robert explains. “The snag: Rawlings was going to make him buy 50 Orioles helmets to get one. He had done me a favour, so I offered to paint it for him. Spent 13 hours painting and sanding, painting and sanding. Then I topped it off with the same varnish they used on the cows that lined Chicago a few years ago.”
September 2nd, 2009
Time for another bunch of vintage NFL screen shots from reader Steve K., who continues to document unusual uni-related items from the 1970s (if you’ve missed the previous entries featuring his work, they’re here and here). Here we go:
• If you think John Hadl’s NOB looked off-center in this shot (which was featured in one of Steve’s earlier reports), check him out here — yikes.
• Oilers DB Willie Germany wore some white tape stripes on his thighs.
• Note the small type on Emery Moorehead’s NOB, circa 1977. “Only a few Giants had this font that season, including Moorehead and OL Jim Pietrzak,” says Steve. “From 1977-80, the Giants had numerous inconsistencies in their NOB fonts which, I’ll document another time.”
• Alfred Jenkins’s NOB type wasn’t small — it was missing altogether in this 1977 shot.
• Speaking of missing uni elements, here’s Rick Upchurch wearing a blank helmet in 1975 — shocking! But he had a logo-clad helmet in the second half of the same game.
• Meanwhile, here’s Upchurch’s teammate Billy Van Heusen with no space between the two part of his surname.
• On the other end of the spectrum, check out James McAlister’s NOB with a wide space. This appears to have been Philly’s standard style in 1975.
• Speaking of the Eagles, check out the livery on this helicopter — interesting mix of the helmet wing and an eagle’s head.
• Steve has documented several instances of the mid-’70s Chargers NOBs with the first initial coming after the surname, and here’s another one. “That’s little-known OL Booker Brown,” says Steve. “Oddly, there was no other Charger with the surname Brown on the team in 1975.”
• “We all know that the NFL changed the end zone markers from from flags to orange pylons beginning in 1974,” says Steve. “But the Broncos appear to have used striped pylons for this 1975 game against the Eagles.”
• We’ve had plenty of discussion about the inconsistencies in the Dolphins’ numerals over the years, but here’s a particularly glaring example: Check out the TV numbers in this shot.
• 1970s coaching attire was always good for a laugh (especially when the coach in question was Bum Phillips). And even if the coach was dressed conservatively, there was usually someone on the field to remind you which decade you were in.
That’s enough for now. More stuff coming from Steve soon.
Friendly Reminder: If you’ve been uni-tracking a team for Phil, he wants to hear from you asap. Full details here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: New sleeve patches for Navy. Further details here (with thanks to Mike Althouse and Kevin Whisman, respectively. … Mike Hersh picked up some cool stuff at the National in Cleveland last week, including this awesome 1939 Eagles photo and a great view of some killer Michigan logo socks. … John Moist was vacationing in Philly and spotted a waiter wearing faux stirrups at the Old City Tavern. “They are required to wear white socks,” he says. “I told him about Uni Watch and that this photo may appear. Sorry, didn’t get his name. Also, another waiter had swoosh socks. I did not take his photo.” … Big news from Jeff Ash, who writes: “I am working on a Packers photo history book that may be of interest to uni enthusiasts. Titletown’s Team won’t be out until November, but it will have more of the old Packers photos I’ve posted at the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s web site over the last couple of years. We also will be putting some of that material online.” … I don’t like Nike, but I might make an exception in this case (big thanks to Chad Todd). … Here’s a patch I’d never seen before, because it was never worn on the ice. The Flyers wore it for promo photos after their 1975 Stanley Cup championship. Here’s one more view (nice find by Paul Richard Cook). … Here’s an article about which UK soccer team has the most sponsor patches (with thanks to Craig Sallinger). … Michael Chamberlain is the track announcer at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. “In our first race this Saturday, the #2 horse is named Uni. 6-1 odds on the morning line, and I will certainly plan on picking him in my tip sheet and will probably put a couple of bucks on him also to honor the Uni Watch site.” Thanks, Michael! … Small item buried within this guide to NYC museums: “On the second floor of the American Wing [at the Met], there’s an open storage area where art is displayed in glass cases while galleries undergo renovations. There you can admire a fraction of the museum’s thousands of rare baseball cards, donated by electrician Jefferson R. Burdick. (The rest, including a 1909 Honus Wagner valued at more than $2 million, are stored in the archives.) Until 1993, the cards were available for viewing by appointment only: It’s rumored that practice stopped because fanatic card collectors would pocket the valuable ones” (big thanks to Laura Forde). … Coupla good finds on the Chris Creamer board, including a new 50th-anniversary logo for the Lakers, an upcoming white-out for FSU, and new cleats for Matt Hasselbeck. Didn’t he get in trouble a few years back for wearing white shoelaces with black shoes? … NOBs have been restored at Iowa State, which had been NNOB for the past two seasons (with thanks to Chris Andringa). … According to Dressed to the Nines, “In 1895, a number of ballplayers, including future Hall of Fame outfielder Jesse Burkett, experimented with baseball caps that had green-tinted, transparent bills. The idea was to allow the fielder a better range of view while protecting him from the glare of the sun, but apparently the see-through bills never caught on.” I knew about that. But I didn’t know that a variation on that concept was still being sold in the Sears catalog in 1923 (nice find by David Neuman). … Apparently nobody has told the folks at AFLAC (or at FSN Rocky Mountain) that the Orioles no longer have “Orioles” on their road jersey (with thanks to Matt Hiett). … Tim Burke notes that Rays catcher Michel Hernandez was missing his manta ray sleeve patch last night. … “Does he tear EVERYthing?” asks Brinke Guthrie. … Entertaining survey of high school team logos here (with thanks to Kurt Esposito). … The Titans will wear a Steve McNair memorial decal this season. … Vicente Padilla was sporting the Pedro Padilla Porthole last night (as spotted by Jay Shive). … Paul Getz II notes that the Phillies have stopped wearing their World Series championship sleeve patch. … Can someone please order one of these for Luis Castillo? … There’s a blog devoted to the Arizona Wildcats equipment staff (with thanks to Eric Sing). … Speaking of the Mets, had a great time at Shea yesterday with Phil. Two uni-notable items: (1) Cards catcher Jason LaRue wore navy shinguards with a red chest protector, and (2) Bobby Parnell had been with the Mets all season long without coming up to bat, until the bottom of the 8th yesterday. He promptly got a base hit, at which point they showed him on the jumbotron, which is when I saw that he had his own batting helmet. Just think how many times that helmet has been packed, unpacked, put in the helmet rack, put back in the helmet bag, taken on the road, etc., all season long, just waiting for its chance to finally be used in a game. I take a lot of shots at Charlie Samuels, but I give him credit for having a helmet for every player, even the ones who might never get a turn at bat.
August 6th, 2009
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, I started up Photoshop to work on re-doing the rest of their logos.</p>
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