One of the highlights of my recent trip to Pittsburgh was a visit to the Heinz History Center, which includes the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. I took a lot of photos here, so let’s get right to it (with apologies for the inevitable problems with glare and reflection when photographing things in glass cases):
• Here’s a great factory team uniform, circa 1955 (details here), along with a jacket from the same team, different year.
• This is an autographed 1960 Dick Groat jersey, notable primarily for its tagging.
• Would you believe that a big league GM gave a player a raise in 1948 without the player even asking for it? It’s true, at least according to this letter.
• May favorite thing in the entire museum was this display, devoted to a local marble-shooting champion. Yeah, I know, marbles, but c’mon — look at that jersey and patch!
• If you’ve spent any time looking at Negro Leagues photos, you know it’s practically an iron-clad rule that one player was always wearing last year’s uniform, or another team’s uniform, or something out of step with the rest of the team.
• Here’s a really great story: In 1949, a local schoolgirl embroidered this shirt with the likenesses of Ralph Kiner, Wally Westlake, and Babe Ruth, and then sent it to Kiner and Westlake for them to autograph (the Babe had already died, alas). Kiner not only autographed it but sent it back with this cover letter. Dig that stationery!
• Apparently the Pittsburgh boxing community is still pissed off about the Louis/Conn fight (Conn was a local hero). I didn’t get any pics of the Conn memorabilia at the museum, but I did get a shot of this great robe and accompanying set of trunks. Not sure why a Pittsburgh fighter had “NY” on his trunks, but whatever — gorgeous.
• This is Chuck Cooper’s All-American uniform. Note the photo at lower-right — I didn’t realize the Celtics had once worn uni numbers on their shorts. And why doesn’t the shorts number match the jersey number?
• Several excellent old basketball uniforms here.
• Finally, there’s this. I’ll let it speak for itself.
Phew! It’s worth noting, incidentally, that the Heinz facility also features a really great exhibit that documents the history of the Heinz company itself, including a photo of the Heinz baseball team, circa 1907 (note that they’re even using Heinz baseball bats), and a display showing the uniforms worn by female workers at the Heinz plant. Just goes to show that all roads lead back to uniforms.
And now a word from Vince Grzegorek: If I have one lasting legacy at Uni Watch, it probably won’t be writing about Brownie the Elf at every opportunity, or for being Paul’s first intern. No, it most likely will be for running the site’s annual NCAA tournament contest.
So let’s get this going. In the past I’ve come up with convoluted point systems and spent a lot of time scoring each entry by hand. But I’m much too busy for that this year, so screw that. Instead, we’re going to run a normal bracket challenge. To sign up, go to this site. Our group name is Uni Watch, our group ID is 68140, and our password is stirrups (all lowercase).
The top five winners will get to choose from the following prizes, all provided by Paul:
Top winner gets his or her choice of prizes, second-place winner gets to choose from the remaining four prizes, and so on.
Hey, how about that economy?: Paul here again. As some of you are aware, changes are afoot at Distant Replays. Here’s a quick imaginary press conference about what this means from a Uni Watch perspective:
New enrollees in the membership program used to get a $10 Distant Replays gift code. Are you still offering that benefit?
No, effective immediately.
I ordered my membership card a few weeks ago but haven’t received it yet. I thought I was getting the $10 gift code. What happens to me?
There are 16 of you out there who fit this description (some of you have been waiting way too long for your cards, and I’m sorry about that — life has been hectic lately). Those 16 cards will mail out this week, and unfortunately they will not be accompanied by Distant Replays gift codes. If you feel gypped or baited-and-switched, get in touch and we’ll work something out.
I received my Distant Replays gift code with my membership two months ago but haven’t redeemed the $10 code yet. Will I still be able to redeem it when the company goes back online?
Good question. I’ve asked Andy and Rav about this, and so far they haven’t responded. I know them well enough to know they aren’t just blowing me off — I think they just have much bigger things to worry about at the moment. If I had to guess, my hunch would be that old gift codes will not be honored when DR resurfaces. But we’ll have to wait and see.
Sorry for the hassle. Feel free to be in touch if you have further questions about any of this.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Thrashers appear to have a 10th-anniversary logo slated for next season, and holy shit is it a stinker. … Negro Leagues shorts alert! That’s Prince Joe Henry, the Detroit Clowns player who often had some, uh, unique uniform stylings (but not always). Those pics were contributed by Jared Wheeler, who also sent along shots of an old Houston warm-up jacket from the Slama era, a 1940s Harvard hoops jersey, a Senators jersey with a Jerry Cosby tag (”Never seen his tag on a baseball uniform,” says Jared), a Willie Stargell cap (that’s the closest look I’ve ever gotten of the stars — note that only the one on the right appears to be properly oriented), and — the real prize — a sleeve patch from the 1944 minor league Orioles. Thing of beauty, no? … This is really cool (nice find by Charles Neiswender). … But this is just ridiculous (blame Mark Doescher). … Jordan Wiley has created an interesting project: He’s created an a listing of the best logo treatment for each letter of the alphabet. In other words, this is A, this is B, etc. I don’t agree with most of his choices, but that’s kinda beside the point, cuz it’s an interesting little project. I wish he’d put all his letter choices side by side in one big composite alphabet (get working on that pronto, Jordan!), but for now you can check out his breakdown here. … On Friday I mentioned that I’d been surprised to learn that the Milwaukee Braves had offered stock to the public. That prompted the following from Terry Paffenroth: “The stock was a huge issue when the team’s new ownership started making the plans to move the team out of Milwaukee, because they had buy up that remaining stock from people, most of whom who were not about to sell and lose the team. The plan that eventually took shape was that minority stockholders who would not sell were given a letter saying that their shares were being voided in exchange for a voucher for season tickets — in Atlanta. And just for the first season. Next time I see my grandparents, I’ll try and find their old stock certificate, along with the letter and voucher. They small stockholders and were given two tickets. The largest number I have come across was for six tickets.” … Kentucky wore black uniforms on Friday. … The Fresno Grizzlies have some new alt/promo jerseys (with thanks to William Paul Barrett). … Check out this square-formatted NOB (nice find by Robert Saietta). … Tequila sundrise over Blacksburg. … Brett Crane notes that Kevin Youkilis is wearing his #20 elbow guard in the WBC, even though his WBC uni number is 21. … Maybe we’ve covered this before and I’m just suffering from brain-lock, but what’s up with the ‘Pops’ patch? … Here’s the logo for the 2011 Pan-Am games (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Bob Ruffolo was inside the new Yankee Stadium on Saturday and took a bunch of photos. … The Rangers’ two-tone helmet lives on, at least for now, in a team commercial (screen grab courtesy of Josh Jarmon). … Lots of college basketball uni musings here. … Greg Riffenburgh notes that Arsenal’s Russian signee, Andrei Arshavin, has been wearing at least two different kinds of cleats, as seen here and here (that’s him in the background). … Soccer note from Joe DeLong, who writes: “I was watching Serie A soccer highlights on Sunday and saw that Filippo Inzaghi of AC Milan scored his 300th career goal and was immediately presented with a No. 300 jersey.” Details here. … Doug Keklak sent along this shot from the 1956 Johnstown High School yearbook. Weird to see that the whole team had uni numbers in the 70s and 80s — I realize those numbers were legal in h.s. hoops back then, but it’s still odd that they’d only use numbers in that range. … Luke Mohamed reports that Sidney Crosby, who normally wears a visor, was visor-free during part the first period of yesterday’s Pens game. … The 1898 Spalding Ice Hockey and Ice Polo Guide, which is believed to be the earliest hockey guidebook, is now accessible online — complete with ads. … Interesting 2005 story here about bunting — this kind, not this kind (nice find by Mike Ortman). … St. Paddy’s Week has officially arrived, as the Raptors wore green last night. … As promised, supercross racer Kevin Windham wore Saints-themed gear on Saturday (with thanks to Sean Clancy). … Don D. snapped this shot of an adult league hockey team called the Charlie Browns. “The uniform also has a shoulder patch with Snoopy biting through a hockey stick, à la the Sharks,” he adds. … Only in America, or so I’d assume (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: Think this guy’s got enough swooshes?
Meanwhile … I recently got a note from reader Steve K., as follows:
A friend of mine was moving and his wife made him give up his boxes of old videos. Of course he kept all the Japanese porn for himself, but he knew I was a sports fan and offered me the rest. Most of them are ‘This Week in the NFL’ and ‘Game of the Week’ episodes and a bunch of other NFL Films stuff, spanning from 1971 to about 1979. Should make for a lot of interesting screen grabs!
To call the resulting screen shots “interesting” is to severely understate the point, because Steve (who, as you’ll see in a minute, has a very good eye) has come up with a body of material that’s every bit as compelling as Ricko’s contributions. In fact, if he keeps it up, I may have to inaugurate a new “Steve K. Files” series. For now, though, here’s what we’ve got:
• “This is from 1971, Week 1, Jets at Colts,” writes Steve. “Norm Bulaich had a big game, but the more interesting part of this is that he wore an NOB jersey during parts of the game but went NNOB during other parts. The NNOB jersey appears to be an old-school pre-1970 NFL jersey with the larger numbers, because it doesn’t even allow room for a nameplate.”
• “Check out how big the nameplate font was in these shots of the Bills and Jets (1972, Week 1) and the Jets again (1973, Week 2),” notes Steve. “I believe the Jets, Bills, and Patriots, all from the AFC East, used this ultra-large font at various times during the 1971 through 1974 seasons. The Jets seemed to use it inconsistently, as some players had more normal-sized fonts than others. By 1975, this font was gone for good, although I sort of like it.”
• “In Week 1 of the 1971 season, the 49ers wore white jerseys with plain white sleeves — no stripes, no TV numbers! This was NOT their customary road jersey. Except for the Bengals (who didn’t add TV numbers until their 1981 makeover), I can’t remember another instance in the 1970s when an NFL team did not have TV numbers.”
• “Check out the letter spacing on those Browns NOBs” [and the official's picture-perfect stirrups -- PL].
• “Look at the wild rain jackets the Giants are wearing on the sidelines! That’s from 1971, Week 1.”
• “It’s a little hard to see, but here’s an FNOB being worn by the Bucs’ Maulty Moore in 1976. They also had a Manfred Moore.”
• “Here’s another FNOB: Joe Owens, from the 1973 Saints. Oddly, there were no other players named Owens on the Saints that year.”
• “A lot of the 1973 Colts had NOBs that were literally abutting the numbers, plus Doughty’s NOB looks like it may be a bit off-center.”
• “Speaking of off-center NOBs, look at Craig Morton.”
• Check out Mike Williams from the 1975 Chargers — his first name initial comes after his surname. I think I’ve only seen that one other time in the NFL (Browns during the 1981 preseason).” [This is an absolute stunner for me. Never would've believed it if Steve hadn't provided visual evidence. -- PL]
• “When the Rams played their final game in the L.A. Coliseum in 1979, one end zone said ‘Good Bye,’ the other ‘Good Luck.’”
• “Here’s Lions head coach Don McCafferty in swanky 1973 duds, including a zip collar.”
• “Halftime show at New Orleans’ Tulane Stadium in 1973. Dog was NNOB, but at
least he had stripes on his sleeves. Is that T-shirt logo big enough?”
• “Here’s Saints coach John North from 1973, with the Sir Saint logo on his jacket.”
Amazing stuff, no? Big thanks to Steve for all this great material.
The Oracle Checks In: When I linked yesterday to this vintage basketball warm-up top and mentioned its snap-on nameplate, I was pretty sure I’d be getting a follow-up note from Rochester sporting goods maven Terry Proctor (that’s him at left). Sure enough, he sent me a note yesterday afternoon, as follows:
That photo of the Wilson warm-up jacket brings back many memories of that style. Wilson used the smaller “gripper” snaps, which made sewing the name onto the separate piece of tackle twill much easier. The only company we used that also used the gripper snaps was Russell. Powers, SandKnit and Spanjian all used the larger jacket-type “dome” snaps, which made sewing the letters on very difficult, because the foot of the sewing machine had trouble fitting around the dome. We eventually had the tags attached only at the top, for easier sewing. By the 1970s we changed from snaps to Velcro, which made the whole process a breeze.
Also: In the 1970s, the Coane Mfg. Co. of Philadelphia, which made a full line of quality uniforms (they did the Philadelphia Warriors and the early years of the 76ers) came up with a fleece tag that we sewed directly onto the jersey or jacket. Then you applied individual die-cut letters made out of the hook-sided velcro material. These letters would not fall off during play and were very easy to change if you had a new player. We used them mostly on basketball and baseball uniforms. They didn’t work out for football but they were a great idea in their day.
Terry has loads of stories like these. You might even get to read some of them if I ever get off my lazy ass and transcribe the phone interview I did with him last month. Soon, soon….
Uni Watch News Ticker: Indiana State wore powder blue throwbacks the other night. Note that the “I” is actually the shape of Indiana (with thanks to Dave Reding). … The trend of giving a personalized jersey to a newly hired coach, even though coaches don’t wear jerseys, has spread to soccer (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Amazing series of old NFL posters available here. … Trey Phillips notes that Saints receiver Lance Moore often wore one eye black sticker over the past season (but not always). … Matt Englander has brought another sports-themed illustrator to my attention: Paul Schoeneck. … Great time-lapse video showing the Winter Classic rink being set up at Wrigley Field here (with thanks to Greg Riffenburgh). … Faaaaaascinating rugby observation from Caleb Borchers who notes that the Harlequins, a club in London, wear their first and last initials on their shorts. But if there are two players with the same initials, they use the first initial and the first two letters of the players’ surnames, as in the case of Nick Evans and Nick Easter. … Vintage Riverfront Stadium groundskeeper’s uniform available here. … You know how boxers always do those cheesy stare-downs at press conferences and weigh-ins? Here’s the lamest one yet. That’s WBA flyweight champ Takefumi Sakata with the gauze mask. “On his blog, he says it is just to protect from catching a cold,” says Jeremy Brahm. “I know from personal experience that the Japanese will wear their masks while going to work, riding the bus or train, etc. I wore one over a weekend and couldn’t stand it.” … Matt Powers recently took his family down to Fordham, where his sister works in the Athletic Dept. After watching Colgate and Norfolk State play a color-on-color women’s hoops game at beautiful Rose Hill Gymnasium, they walked around the campus and saw some old framed football programs (here’s another) and this memorial to the Seven Blocks of Granite. … For a few months now there have been all these rumors about the Mets possibly going to a dark-gray alternate jersey next season. As I’ve explained to everyone who’s asked me about it, there’s no truth to this rumor — they may add some dark-gray fashion/replica merch to sell to suckers (just like every other team is doing), but the on-field attire has no significant changes for next season. Then, two days ago, I got a note from a reader who I won’t embarrass by printing his name here, breathlessly telling me that he’d just taken these photos of a dark-gray Mets jersey at a local Sports Authority outlet. I told him it was just a fashion jersey, to which he replied, “But it sells for the same $80 as the other jerseys!” After I explained to him that fashion jerseys sell for $80 and authentics sell for a shitload more, he went away, but he apparently gave the same spiel to several bloggers who pounced on the “story” (including this clown at The Daily News, who really should know better), which in turn led even more readers to write to me. So I’ll say it one more time: Contrary to what a few people apparently think, the Mets are NOT adding a dark-gray alternate jersey next season. And that’s the last time I’ll be addressing that rumor (unless it, y’know, turns out to be true or something).
Holiday Schedule: Phil will have an entry tomorrow, I’ll be back on Friday, and then Phil handle the weekend, as usual. My thanks to everyone who helped make 2008 a very good year for Uni Watch, and remember not to make any New Year’s resolutions you can’t keep.
Meanwhile: While the rest of the baseball world focused on the hot stove league, the real story was on the uniform scene, where MLB exec Bob Watson announced “the Francona Rule,” which according to Watson means, “You can only wear your uniform top or jacket.” In a truly inspired elaboration that will go down as the uni-related quote of the year, Watson added, “You can’t wear your nightshirt, or whatever it is. You can wear it before games, or after games, but not during games. You have to have your uniform top at all times.”
There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation about this story and the history surrounding it. I can’t clear up all of that confusion, but I can help with some of it, FAQ-style:
Didn’t MLB and Francona butt heads over this issue a few months ago?
Yes, back in August.
So if they were already enforcing the rule then, why did they have to enact a new rule now?
Good question.
Doesn’t the rulebook already require the manager to wear a uniform, at least if he leaves the dugout and goes onto the field of play?
No. Rule 3.15 states: “No person shall be allowed on the playing field during a game except players and coaches in uniform, managers, news photographers authorized by the home team, umpires, officers of the law in uniform and watchmen or other employees of the home club.” Note that the “in uniform” stipulation is applied to coaches but not to managers.
On the other hand, I recently came across this page, which tells the story of how two beat reporters — George Lederer and Phli Collier — managed a Dodgers intrasquad game during spring training in 1964. Lederer actually donned a Dodgers uniform, but Collier skippered in civvies (you can see them both here). As the account of the game then explains:
Collier, dressed in street clothes … broke the rules when he charged onto the field to argue an umpire’s decision at second base. At this stage of the game, with the score still 1-1, Lederer was sharp enough to remind the umpires that Collier had no right to be on the field.
So this suggests that non-uniformed managers were understood to be barred from the field of play at least as early as 1964, even if the rulebook doesn’t specify this. Why? In going back over my research files, I found a 2005 listserv post by Frank Vaccaro of the Society for American Baseball Research that may shed some light on the subject:
Nearly all non-playing managers before 1900 wore civilian clothes. … [T]here was a [National League] rule in place from 1879 to 1891 preventing non-playing managers from appearing on the field. This was referred to as the “Harry Wright rule.” After he won the championship in 1878 — his sixth in seven years — this rule passed, I suppose, to give other teams a chance. Wright used to stand on the sidelines shouting orders to his players: “WAIT” to take pitches and “FACING” to hit to the opposite field, as well as the names of players who should catch flies, etc. Other teams were in a panic.
So the “Terry Francona rule” is apparently the latest version of the 128-year-old “Harry Wright rule.” I have a feeling Bob Watson doesn’t know this.
Why do managers wear uniforms anyway?
In baseball’s early days, many managers were also active players, and player/managers persisted longer than most people realize. There were three three of them as recently as the 1970s (Frank Robinson, Don Kessenger, and Joe Torre), and one in the 1980s (Pete Rose).
But Connie Mack wore a suit while managing, didn’t he?
Yes. Mack’s a bit of a red herring, though — he owned the A’s, so he wore a suit in large part because he saw himself as a businessman/executive type and dressed accordingly. For a broader analysis, let’s turn once again to Frank Vacarro’s 2005 SABR listserv post:
[T]he interesting question is “How did baseball managers evolve to become the only team leaders in sports with the tradition of wearing the team uniform?” The answer is four-fold. Nearly all managers in the 1890s were playing managers, but a 1900-1920 manager could manage in civilian clothes if:
1) He embraced the style created by the [Harry Wright rule].
2) He wanted to exude the authority of a magnate.
3) He did not want to play or to appear as a base coach.
4) He had never played baseball professionally.
By 1940 these reasons became archaic. The 1880s NL style was forgotten; managers “like magnates” did poorly; teams carried enough coaches (and players — roster sizes grew) to do all delegatable tasks; and all managers had at least some professional playing experience. Offsetting these [factors] were the layout of the grass and the diamond and the fact that a manager could participate, on any corner of the field, in pre-game activities that were low on effort but high on skill, such as hitting grounders or fungos, bullpen catching, or even pitching BP. All these contrast sharply with activities high on athleticism that characterize pre-game practice in the other sports. It’s sometimes said, rightly or wrongly, that baseball is more a game than a sport.
For good measure, Vacarro provided a list of 20th-century managers who skippered in civvies (an asterisk indicates that the manager was known to don a uniform on occasion):
• Bob Allen, Reds, 1900
• Connie Mack, A’s, 1901-1950
• Horace Fogel, Giants, 1902
• Tom Loftus, Senators, 1902-1903
• Bill Armour, Indians, 1902-1904; Tigers, 1905-1906
• Frank Selee, Cubs, 1902-1905
• Ed Barrow, Tigers, 1903-1904; Red Sox, 1918-1920
It’s not clear how many of these skippers, if any, went onto the field of play during a game, but this photo shows Hank O’Day wearing spikes with his suit while managing the Cubs, suggesting that he went onto the field at some point.
But MLB doesn’t want Francona wearing a pullover even in the dugout. So when did not wearing a full uniform go from being rare to being banned?
I haven’t figured that part out yet.
Couldn’t MLB have avoided this whole mess with Francona if they hadn’t created so many different kinds of officially licensed outerwear for him and other managers to try on?
Gee, what do you think?
Membership Update: Remember, today is the last day for ordering a gift membership at discounted holiday rates.
Beantown Reminder: Uni Watch party tomorrow, 8:30 p.m., at Boston Beer Works. The gathering got a little preview write-up in today’s Boston Herald, plus Randy Moss is gonna stop by and explain why he keeps wearing those upside-down 8s, so come by and join us.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Wisconsin wore their long-awaited throwbacks on Monday night, and man did they look sweet, although it turns out that the beat writer for Madison’s Capital Times totally Doesn’t Get It™ (with thanks to Nicole Haase). … Expect to see lots of NBA throwbacks beginning this Friday. Details here. … Duke guard DeMarcus Nelson is wearing some interesting kicks. Details here (with thanks to intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek). … Awesome female Black Fives photo and info here. … Spectacular discovery by Jared Wheeler, who found a shot of Magic Johnson from the 1980 NBA All-Star Game with two initials on his NOB! … Jeff Meyers, who works for the independent Ft. Worth Cats, informs me that the team has a cat eyes alternate jersey. Look closely and you’ll see that the pupils actually spell out “F” and “W.”
Last month I wrote about all the great uni-related photos in Sports Illustrated’s The Football Book. Now I’ve gotten myself a copy of The Baseball Book, which has a slightly smaller but still significant trove of uni details. Let’s take a look:
• Here’s a 1950s shot of Nellie Fox. Note that the Sox insignia is a patch, not embroidered. Never noticed that before.
• Another Chisox shot, this one showing Luis Aparacio during the 1959 World Series, when the White Sox actually wore white socks.
• Next time we debate the pros and cons of base coaches wearing helmets, think about this photo. Can you believe how close to home plate those shutterbugs were allowed to get?
• This is an 1896 shot of the New York Giants, and I absolutely must have one of those sweaters.
• Couple of interesting things here, beginning with the Cards’ heavily ribbed stirrups. Also, look closely Bob Bowman’s (No. 26) right toe. Looks like he’s got a little metal plate and strip of leather there to keep the tip of his shoe from wearing through. And that leads us to…
• …this shot of Satchel Paige’s cleats, with a great view of precisely the same toe accessory.
• Decent view here of the yellow batting helmets that the A’s wore in 1967 (when they were still in Kansas City).
• Best uni-related prank ever. According to the caption, the player on the ground was actually an actor named Lou Archer, “who appeared in Babe Comes Home, Ruth’s second Hollywood feature.”
Loads of other great photography here — recommended.
Membership News: Got a brilliant card design request the other day from Robert Eden. He originally joined up back when the membership program was first announced, choosing the basic Uni Watch colors. But once he heard we were now accepting NCAA-themed design requests, he put in an order for an additional card (which anyone can get for $15, by the way) patterned after a Nebraska Cornhuskers tearaway jersey. As I think you’ll agree, Scott executed the concept quite nicely.
Meanwhile, Nina has finished adding all the Charter Membership code to the membership roster. If you’re a Charter Member, your number on the roster should be shown in bold. If we somehow missed anyone, let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday’s post about uni numbers on pants prompted a response from Aaron Stilley, who pointed out a baseball example I’d forgotten about: the Kansas City Monarchs (additional views here, here, here, and here). “I agree it’s usually a bad idea, but for some reason I actually think it looked nice on the Monarchs’ unis,” writes Aaron, and I’m inclined to agree. … By now I think most of you are aware of the Minnesota high school hockey jerseys that are on display at the Xcel Center. But what you might not know — and what I didn’t know myself until Jeff Barak forwarded me some pics — is that the display also includes an incredible 1940s Coast Guard team jersey with a gorgeous chenille crest. Further info here. … The woman who designed the Lambeau Field 50th-anniversary patch is profiled here. … Alejandro Marci reports that Argentina has new soccer uniforms. “The jersey has a hidden drawing on the front,” he writes, “inspired by a traditional Buenos Aires decorative painting art form called Fileteado, which is most commonly used to decorate buses. That technique is also in a small patch located on the back of the neck. There’s also an awful colored field in the back, as a background for the numbers. Apparently it’s some new FIFA regulation for NTs.” … “As you know, the Giants typically apply each player’s last name to his batting helmet in large white letters,” writes Jason Taylor. “Until August, it appeared that Barry Bonds was no different. But I just noticed that his last name appeared in two other styles on the back of his helmet within about a week’s time. I’m guessing that it had something to do with him donating his 755 and 756 helmets to the Hall of Fame.” … Genius find by Jere Smith, who’s turned up a video clip from the 1988 NBA Legends Game, in which every single player wore FNOB — and in a totally weird format to boot. Details and full video clip here. … Several readers have noticed a subtle change made by the Bruins, but Paul Pokaski sums it up best: “The Bruins started the season with double-outlined lettering on their nameplates. This style was worn as recently as October 22 on the road against the Canadiens. Recently, however, the Bruins have been using single-outlined names on their road whites. They wore this style November 3 at Ottawa, and in their most recent game, at Toronto.” Very odd to see a team make this sort of change in the middle of a season. … You’ve gotta be kidding me. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Lots of good uni-related soccer Q&A action here. … And The London Times’s picks for the top 50 soccer kits of all time here (with thanks to Iain Landon).
Holiday Schedule: We’ll have open chatter tomorrow. Maybe Friday too, or maybe I’ll put up some real content — not sure yet. And our usual open chatter for the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all, and remember, white meat’s for suckers — dark meat’s where it’s at.
For years, if I’ve needed an old Astros photo, the first place I’ve looked has been Astros Daily, an excellent blog with loads of great images. What I hadn’t realized, however, until reader James Poisso recently pointed it out to me, is that the site includes a page of video links, which provide a priceless historical survey of what is arguably MLB’s most visually interesting franchise. There’s too much material to describe fully, but here are a few highlights:
If, like myself, you’ve only seen Colt .45s uniforms in still photos, check out the very first video link on the page, which features lots of footage showing the Colts’ basic uni plus jackets, ushers’ uniforms, and related merch.
You probably know that the Astrodome’s roof had to be painted when outfielders couldn’t pick up the ball against the original ceiling design (which in turn led to the development of Astroturf, because the facility’s original grass wilted and died when sunlight could no longer shine through the painted roof). One of the videos actually shows the roof being painted!
There’s plenty of footage showing the team’s shooting star design, one of my longtime favorites.
Did you know that the Astrodome’s grounds crew wore space suits? Honest!
Looks like the ’Dome’s bases may originally have been trimmed in orange, too.
As you might imagine, there’s plenty of footage showing the tequila sunrise design, including some good shots of the original bullseye version.
According to Dressed to the Nines, the tequila sunrise jerseys were always paired with dark stirrups. But check out this shot of Larry Dierker — he’s definitely wearing orange hose, and they appear to be striped to boot.
It’s not clear to me why anyone would need to wear a dugout jacket in an indoor stadium, but maybe they really liked those rainbow stripes.
Membership Announcement: Lots of you have asked if an additional column can be added to the membership roster, indicating the team and era that each card design was patterned after. I didn’t originally think we’d need to include that kind of info, since I figured the card designs would all be based on familiar uniform designs and that their sources would therefore be self-explanatory. But of course it hasn’t worked out that way — we’ve got throwback designs (the one shown above is a 1970 Indians treatment), minor league designs, soccer and cycling designs, etc. So yes, I now see it would be a nice idea to include this information, so everyone can see what a given card design was based on.
But here’s the thing: The roster chart is already pretty big and unwieldy — I don’t want to add another column to it. But if you go to the card design gallery and click on a given card design, you’ll get the Flickr page for that design — and you can add comments to that page. So I hereby invite all members to click on their own card designs and add an explanation for your design inspiration (turns out member Anthony Giacconealready did this several weeks ago). If all goes well, we’ll have all the team-based card pages annotated in short order.
You may have to register with Flickr in order to leave a comment. But it’s easy and free, and Flickr is a cool site that you really ought to be part of anyway, so it’s a win-win.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Scroll down to the end of this Q&A session with a Cardinals beat writer to see what the Redbirds think of the new BP caps (good find by Jordan Hirschfield). … Excellent catch by Avi Berliner, who spotted the following tidbit buried within thisWall Street Journal article: “Alex Marvez, president of the Pro Football Writers Association … winces at the new [NFL] rule requiring photographers to wear red vests with small Canon and Reebok logos. Mr. Marvez calls the idea of using working press members as advertising vehicles ‘really alarming.’ Neither company is paying a specific fee for the vests, but Canon Inc. is an official sponsor of the league (it pays a rights fee to be associated with the NFL) and Reebok International Ltd., owned by Adidas AG, is a league licensee (it makes merchandise with NFL logos, including jerseys, pants and photo vests).” … Always good to hear from Mike from Queens, who notes that USA Softball has some very odd batting helmets (additional views here and here). … Tour de France note from member Mike Edgerly, who writes: “Members of Team CSC are sporting black Live Strong-style wristbands that say ‘Harden the fuck up.’” Details toward the bottom of this page (and I swear, if today’s comments section devolves into a series erection jokes, I’m gonna pull the plug on the site, so don’t even think about it). … It’s well documented that Bob Feller will do anything for a buck, but this seems like a bit much. … “Could there be an uglier uni matchup?” asks Vince, referring to yesterday’s Brazil/Nicaragua contest at the Pan Am Games. … A reader who didn’t give his full name notes that Matt Holliday appeared to have one sleeve shorter than the other last night. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: With the Sharks and Ducks having added orange to their color schemes, Kris McInnis figures it’s time for every NHL team to go orange.
Meanwhile: Last night I worked a volunteer shift at the very wonderful City Reliquary, where the gift shop featured a book I hadn’t noticed before: Mark Rucker’s Brooklyn Dodgers, a pictorial history of my home borough’s most storied franchise. After flipping through the pages for a few minutes, it became apparent that this was a mandatory purchase. Here are some of the reasons why:
•This shot, taken in 1868, shows something I haven’t seen before: Look closely and you’ll see that the players are wearing little cuff clips on their trousers, much like what urban cyclists sometimes wear.
• Check out the neckties on display in this 1884 team portrait. And this page shows contrasting neckwear styles.
• Somehow the lace-up jersey style always looks better on guys with bushy moustaches, no?
• Wanna learn something amazing? Read the caption to this illustration.
• Excellent view here of the old style of wearing your fielding glove on your belt while batting.
• I would give anything for this sleeve style to come back into vogue.
• Here’s the earliest photo I’ve ever seen of a player wearing a windbreaker under his jersey (or maybe just the earliest windbreaker photo I’ve ever seen, period).
• Spectacular view here of the white slacks that umps wore on Sundays and holidays in the early 1940s.
And as long as we’re talking about historical stuff: You know how old fruit crates used to have really amazing labels? Roger Faso has turned up an artist named Ben Sakoguchi, who creates baseball-themed paintings in the style of those old fruit designs. Check out Sakoguchi’s full web site here.
Membership Update: Big day yesterday, as we topped 100 memberships — check out the ever-expanding active roster here. My thanks again (and again and again) to all who’ve signed up. If you’ve been thinking about getting on board, full details are available here.
Regarding benefits: T-shirts for those who’ve signed up at Level Two or above have been ordered and should start arriving right about now. Membership cards, fridge magnets, and digital art CDs will begin shipping this weekend. By this time next week, I hope to be completely caught up on everything. Thanks again (and again and again) for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Wednesday’s note regarding the Diamonbacks’ uniform schedule led to this communiqué from a source with the Astros: “Now, the ’Stros are wearing the brick red jerseys almost exclusively on the road as opposed to the gray. The road brick red is the only Cool Base we have and the owner likes the red. There has been a trend as we get down the stretch in previous years that we would wear them for certain games that did not fit the usual alternate jersey schedule. Red was usually only worn on Sunday. However, last road trip the owner asked for red on the road. BUT, we played the DBs and they had wore their red jerseys on Sunday… making us switch to gray for one game. Luckily we don’t change helmets or caps or pants.” … Good catch by Willet Hossfeld, who notes that Tyler Clippard appears to have removed the button from the top of his cap. … My two cents regarding the disastrous London Olympics logo: It reminds me of this. … The minor league Elmira Jackals have unveiled new home and road unis (much to the disgust of Bryan Long, who quips, “How boring are these things?”). … Reprinted from Wednesday’s comments: Randy Moss was asked about his temporary practice jersey number (6) and had this to say: “Sometimes you can be able to go back and get your number and sometimes you can’t. They really told me 6 was the available number that they have back in the equipment room, so I said, ‘Just give me a number and I’ll make it.’ I guess there is a little buzz around right now with me and number 6. I don’t really care about a number, all I care about is suiting up and going out here and winning on Sundays.†His official roster/jersey number is still to be determined. … Meanwhile, Todd Krevanchi notes that Moss has been getting rather creative with his gloves. … Latest Japanese baseball weirdness contributed by Jeremy Brahm: Hichori Morimoto in stilts. … Good view here of Rafael Nadal’s personalized sneakers (as spotted by Brinke Guthrie). … Good little comedy video here, showing what the NHL’s “super-sleek” third jerseys might look like (nice find by Jeremy Brahm). … Follow-up to Vince’s tattoo entry yesterday: Ryan Howard has a huge brand on his arm. Full details here (with thanks to Michael Milici). … Very nice early uniform catalog (extremely similar to one that I already have, so I won’t be bidding on it) here, and some great vintage unis and accessories up for auction here, here, here, and here. … Meanwhile, here’s a vintage print ad and a uniform company uniform print ad that I bought. … All NASCAR cars will feature a memorial decal for Bill France this week (with thanks to Adam Denobriga). … Steve Robeson reports that the Caps are having a fire sale of old merch. … Photo of the day (courtesy of Jon Klevorn). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Orioles will wear Negro Leagues uniform on September 6th. Details here. … Yancy Yeater reports that the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League will be wearing 1979 Cubs-inspired throwbacks tomorrow night. … It’s really small and hard to see, but it looks like Santa Clara had some killer basketball unis back in 1911 (taken from this article, which was forwarded by Tim Sheehan). … Today’s installment of the always-entertaining No Mas blog featured this shot of the first Hagler/Antuofermo, and you know damn well what part of the photo I immediately fixated on.
With all these crazy cold-weather games that have been going on, I’ve found myself wondering, “Who the hell would go to a ballgame under these conditions?” I mean, I can sort of understand if it’s Opening Day, but who would bother to show up at the ballpark for a game when the temperature’s below freezing?
Matthew Lepke, that’s who. He attended Saturday’s Twins/Chisox game in Chicago, where the game-time temp was 31 degrees. Despite the frigid conditions, he managed to take some great photos — mainly of the players dealing with the frigid conditions. Here’s his report:
Nick Punto wore a stocking cap/toque under his game cap. I wonder how many cap sizes he had to go up to pull this off. At first Torii Hunter wore a balaclava, but later on he just slapped his stocking cap over his game cap (I never knew how cool I was as a kid sledding back home in Iowa with this look until I saw Torii do it). First base coach Jerry White went with the hoodie-under-jersey look the whole day. I can’t blame him — I had four layers on and was still cold.
I know I speak for everyone when I thank Matthew for being foolhardy intrepid enough to brave the elements on our behalf. Next time we’ll have the Uni Watch St. Bernard at the ready to bring him a nip of hooch during the 7th inning stretch.
There was also plenty of cold-weather headgear on display yesterday in Pittsburgh, as you can see in these pics of Yadier Molina, Adam LaRoche (here’s another shot), and Jack Wilson. And in case you were wondering, yes, all those knitted hats are fully MLB logo-fied.
But wait, this just in: It turns out that Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek himself was in attendance at Friday’s game in Cleveland. He’s now thawed out enough to deliver the following dispatch:
Dressing for the Indians’ 2007 opener was like dressing for a Browns game. My strategy at staying warm included three to four shirts, double-layer socks, hat, gloves, jacket, and sweatpants under the jeans. Even then, the snow delays eventually wore away my defenses and I yearned for some little heat packs to put in my gloves.
When Cleveland decided not to cancel the game before it even started, I was pumped. This is our weather. Snow, cold, and wind. Lake Erie was going to be our Monster this day. Seattle was playing in our elements, and no amount of face-warmers or long-sleeve shirts could prepare them for what they were about to endure. Then a snow delay. Then a snow delay. And by the time Paul Byrd was working on a no-hitter in the 4th inning and he was walking guys left and right and shaking off pitches, I knew that the lack of hits was as much a testament to the weather as to Byrd’s arsenal, if not more. Santana may have the change-up, Dice-K may have the gyro Ball, but Byrd had the unhittable Lake Effect Flurry Ball, if just for one day. Too bad he won’t be able to throw it in Milwaukee.
Incidentally, speaking of cold weather, there were lots of comments yesterday about a new line of MLB parkas with a very, uh, subtle logo. Love to have been present at the design meeting where that was approved.
Let the Chatter Begin: Because of relaxed pace of play, baseball offers more opportunities for uni-related banter among broadcasters than any other sport. Reader Blaine Williams alerted me to just such an exchange that took place between Reds announcers George Grande and Chris Welsh during Sunday’s Reds/Pirates game. We pick up the discussion just as Adam Dunn has taken a borderline called third strike that appeared to be low…
Welsh: The only way Adam Dunn’s going to get that low strike called consistently a ball is to hike those pants of his up around the knee, and I don’t think it’s worth the loss of style points for him.
Grande: Ain’t gonna happen. Fashion statement. In this day and age. Remember when you played? You had to wear the stirrup socks for the Reds. You got fined if you didn’t.
Welsh: That’s right. Your uniform came with an inseam about 25 inches long, and you had no other choice but to hike those babies up. You were showin’ legs whether you had calves or not.
A few thought spring to mind here: (1) Hiking up one’s pants constitutes a loss of style points? (2) Even if the preceding sentiment were true, Dunn would rather strike out than go high-cuffed? (3) “Whether you had calves or not”?
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Twins, as promised, have removed their memorial black armband for broadcaster Herb Carneal and replaced it with a sleeve patch, which features a microphone and the word “Herb”. … Iowa State’s football team is switching to gold pants for the 2007 season. In addition, the school expects to have a completely new uniform (including gold pants) for 2008, and is inviting fans to send in their design ideas. Full details, including a link to video of the press conference where this was all announced, here. … Back in February, I mentioned that Dominican University’s teams are called the Penguins, because Dominican is a Catholic school that used to be run by nuns. Now Brandon Davis, who’s the school’s sports info director, has sent along some photos of the school’s lacrosse team. “Coach Ned Webster and I came up with the ‘look of a Penguin’ for our team’s uniforms,” he writes. “The unis are black with white chests, like a penguin. The helmets are black and the chin is white to blend in with the chest. Unfortunately, the referee today said that regulations on lacrosse unis are probably changing next year — jerseys will have to be full blocks of color, which means that the penguin design would become illegal. We’ll see how that plays out.” … Davis also provided a photo of a softball team with a very unusual sock design. Logo creep issues notwithstanding, that’s one weird pattern — anyone ever seen this before? … Brian Roberts is about the last guy I’d expect to be wearing white shoes. … Reader Jeff Barak has found two hockey videos full of cool uni- and equipment-related stuff. The first one, an hour-long fan’s history of the Winnipeg Jets, is available here, and is essential viewing. It includes a short music video for a song called “Dale Hawerchuk,” by a French-Canadian band called the Dale Hawerchuks, which is available by itself below:
I’ll be off the grid today (yet another birthday — this time my Mom’s), so talk amongst yourselves. Back tomorrow.
Two weeks back I wrote about Lovie Smith’s inflatable pump jacket. Now, in the interests of equal time, here’s a note I received a few days ago from Colby Taylor, CEO of Innovative Sports, who has some choice words for Lovie’s outerwear:
Just so you know, that Reebok pump jacket is a rip-off of our zip-in heated jacket, which has been selling to NFL coaches and players since 2003. Reebok can’t match our actual heat technology, so they introduced this joke to battle us for players and fans. … We have a pressure-sensitive fabric switch on the chest to control temperature. Do a Google search for “heated jacket,” or a Google video search for “heated jacket” or “Innovative Sports” — you’ll see the heated jackets we did for SportsCenter, Monday Night Football, and Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti, including jackets I personally did for Carl Ravich, Peter Gammons, John Kruk, and Harold Reynolds for the outdoor postgame shows in Chicago during the 2005 World Series. Pump jacket — please.
Frankly, I think putting the pump jacket (which uses the wearer’s body heat to create a buffer of warm air) up against Innovative’s heated jacket (which is battery-powered) is a bit of an apples/oranges comparison. But I was intrigued by the idea of an electric jacket, so I gave Taylor a call. Here’s what we talked about:
Uni Watch: So how does this jacket liner work?
Colby Taylor: It just zips in seamlessly. So Reebok’s still able to maintain their outerwear brand presence…
UW: Or Nike, or whoever, right? Basically, their outerwear logo is still on display, but meanwhile your zip-in liner is doing its thing underneath, out of sight.
CT: Right. Also, one of the provisions of all of those exclusive contracts — whether it’s Nike’s contract with Oregon, or Reebok’s contract with the NFL — is that if they’re not able to supply what the team wants in apparel form, then the team has the right to go get it somewhere else. So in some cases we’ve been able to slide in there as equipment.
UW: You mean you qualify as “equipment,” instead of “apparel,” so the apparel rules don’t necessarily apply to you?
CT: Exactly. So now I’m thinking Reebok’s gonna be going to NFL equipment managers and saying, “We’ve got this pump jacket now, so you can’t wear Innovative’s products anymore.” That’s my main fear. For example, we’ve had teams like Green Bay, which in the past wanted three zip-in jackets for their coaches. But then suddenly this year, they and everyone else went totally quiet about it. And it’s not because it didn’t work. I think it’s Reebok working behind the scenes — that’s been suggested to me. And I don’t know how much warm air Lovie Smith can pump into that jacket, but ours gets 145 degrees. And we’ve got a battery in there the size of a pack of Tic Tacs.
UW: So is it like an electric blanket?
CT: No. It operates on electrical current, but we use stainless steel yarn that’s the conduit — it literally feels like yarn. There’s also a fabric switch mounted on either the forearm or the chest, which the user can use to control the temperature. And the whole thing’s washable.
UW: Wow! Like, machine washable?
CT: Yes. In addition, there are dual USB and FireWire outputs that you can use to charge your phone, iPod, BlackBerry, anything you carry with you.
UW: Double-wow! So I’m curious, what’s your background? How’d you get involved with all this?
CT: I was a scout for the Brewers and Braves for about 10 years. My father is Dean Taylor, former GM of the Brewers and assistant GM of the Braves. I developed that pitching sleeve concept with the Brewers’ and Braves’ trainers and tested it with the players. Once we got that system the way the players liked it, we took those modular components and can make anything with them.
————
Pretty interesting stuff. Later on, Taylor sent me even more info, as follows:
The first guy to wear a heated sideline jacket in all of major football was [Oregon head coach] Mike Bellotti. This jacket was used in the 2003 Civil War game, in November of 2003. This was not a zip-in — we actually took his Nike jacket apart and inserted the electronics, then reassembled it and added a dial controller in the pocket to control temperature. The zip-in solution came the following season, and is what you see on our web site.
That same year, 2003, we did jackets in the winter for Joey Harrington in Detroit and Jake Plummer in Denver. Alex Smith was using one at Utah, and we also did them for KC and Dick Vermeil and their kicker — I think it was Morton Andersen. The Rams got two jackets as well, although I don’t know who wore them.
In addition to the ESPN jackets in the 2005 World Series, we also did Monday Night Football jackets in 2005 for Al Michaels, John Madden, Sam Ryan, Michelle Taffoya, and producer Jeff Dufine. Unfortunately, some ridiculous apparel deal MNF had with some Italian suit company prevented them from wearing them on air, even though it did not carry our logo.
There’s more, but you get the idea. Taylor has generously offered to send me a jacket to test-drive (and he’s promised that it won’t be purple). Full report to follow.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Never mind what Mo Williams wass wearing on his left shoulder — what the hell did Gerald Wallace have under his jersey the other night? … Not uni-related, but there’s a really fascinating logo creep article here. … As long as we’ve been on an all-star kick, check out what the ABA all-stars were wearing. “I leave it up to you to decide which looks more painful,” writes Chuck Miller. “The satiny uniforms with red-blue spangles and piping, or the two players whose shoes seem to match up with their uniforms — or the large crowd disguised as empty seats in the background.” … The Canadiens retired Ken Dryden’s number last night (long overdue, no?) and wore jersey patches to mark the occasion. There were some cool uni-related moments, like Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak showing up in his old CCCP jersey, Dryden’s brother Dave wearing his old Sabres jersey, and Dryden’s grandchild wearing a tiny Habs outfit. My only gripe: Why did Dryden himself get stuck wearing a jersey with the NHL’s Vintage logo, instead of a clean throwback jersey?
