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Posts filed under 'Japanese Baseball'
Whatever you think of the advertising patches that were worn in the A’s/Bosox series in Japan, one question remains: Why is uniform advertising used exclusively in these season-opening series in Japan?
Our resident expert on all things Far Eastern, Jeremy Brahm, tried to address this question in Tuesday’s comments:
Since the beginning of the MLB tours of Japan, two Japanese newspapers — the Yomiuri Shimbun (owner of the Yomiuri Giants) and the Mainichi Shinbun (which owned the Mainichi Orions, which are now the Chiba Lotte Marines — the paper currently has no ownership stake) — would split who sponsored the tour every two or three years. This has continued until recently.
Now, with the season-opening games, Yomiuri gets sponsorship precedence, because they own a portion of the Tokyo Dome and because of their historical support for MLB Tours.
The tours in the past have always had some sort of sponsorship. Now there are presenting sponsors, such as Ricoh — similar to the situation with a college bowl game.
Even after some private follow-up e-mailing with Jeremy, I don’t fully understand this, but the basic gist seems to be, “Professional baseball in Japan, including all-star tours by MLB players, has always included sponsorship, so that’s just the way it’s gonna be when you’re playing in Japan.”
Anyway: You probably know that American ballplayers have been visiting Japan for decades. The Yankees toured the Asian country in 1934 (details here), and there have been many, many all-star exhibition tours over the years. Most of these tours have had their own logos, and Jeremy has compiled some of the more recent ones: 1986, 1990, 1996, another one from 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
Some additional notes:
• I never really paid any attention to MLB tours of Japan until the autumn of 2004, when a larger version of this photo caught my eye. Although you can’t tell in that thumbnail-size shot, Carl Crawford was wearing the road jersey that Tampa would eventually wear in 2005, with different lettering than the 2004 version — and, yes, he was also wearing an advertising sleeve patch. As it turns out, all the MLB players on that all-star tour were wearing Æon sleeve patches and helmet decals (additional views here and here), along with cap patches. Plus Roger Clemens was sporting some truly awful-looking hosiery logo creep. This all looks pretty clownish to me, but hey, these were just exhibition games — they’re allowed to look clownish. Maybe it’s even better if they look clownish, just to reinforce the point that the games don’t really matter and that it’s all in fun. But I still can’t get my head around the idea of wearing uniform advertising for games that count.
• The A’s and Mariners were supposed to open the 2003 season in Japan, but the series was cancelled due to security concerns arising from the Iraq War, which had just started. Programs, however, had already been printed.
• Jeremy has also found a page showing ticket stubs from assorted MLB tours of Japan. Several of them are flat-out gorgeous — check out the full page here.
• Also from Jeremy: This 1979 All-Star Game gym bag, apparently produced for Japanese fans.
• And just to bring us back to the present, Nicholas Schiavo notes that an Oakland player — not sure who — was wearing a sweatshirt in the dugout during Tuesday’s game. And what did that sweatshirt say? “2006 MLB Playoffs.” Wonder if he got fined for not wearing the official ad-sponsored Japan Series version.
Pinstriped Mystery Solved (More or Less): Big thanks to all who responded to Monday’s entry (which focused on an old photo showing Dodgers wearing pinstripes, as seen at left) by suggesting that I get in touch with Dodgers team historian Mark Langill, a man whose acquaintance I clearly should have made long ago. I called his office on Monday afternoon and left a voicemail. When he called me back a few hours later, he said he was standing in the third base coach’s box at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Dodgers will be playing a throwback exhibition game against the Red Sox this Saturday. (By coincidence, the Dodgers’ 1958-style uniforms for that game are being furnished by Ebbets Field Flannels, and I was actually in the Ebbets office in Seattle a few weeks ago when the Dodgers called to order the uniforms. The good news: They’re going with classic wool flannels. The bad news: They’re using NOBs, which is soooooo bogus for a 1958 throwback. Sigh.)
Anyway: I e-mailed the photo in question to Langill, who immediately identified it as a 1964 spring training shot of minor league coaches. Apparently the Dodgers had several low-level minor league teams in their system that wore pinstripes along with the classic Dodgers script (Mark isn’t sure which ones are represented in the photo, but he’s working on that), and they were wearing “L.A.” caps because that’s what everyone wore for spring training purposes.
Still not sure about the spring training pics showing jerseys with “S” and “X” instead of uni numbers, but I’m trying to get Mark to explain that too.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Cool old newspaper basketball uniform available here. … A little birdie tells me that the Braves’ long-rumored blue alternate jersey may make its debut in the team’s very first game of the season, this Sunday against the Nats. “GM Frank Wren wants it to be a big surprise,” reports my source. “The Braves have delayed putting out their merchandise catalog this year solely because the road alternate jersey is featured in it. The feeling is that by unveiling them in this fashion (nationally televised game on ESPN), sales will be through the roof as soon as the catalog is sent.” Nice to see uniforms reduced to nothing more than a sales gimmick. … Best view yet of the “Japan 2008″ logo. … Looks like Manny was back to his old, skanky “B” logo yesterday. … Speaking of Manny, according to a small item in the middle of this story, MLB wouldn’t let him use his “red-barreled, Diablo brand bat” in Japan, so “he just grabbed some ‘Japanese wood,’ in the form of a couple of SSX models” (with thanks to Tom Horgan). … The “Baseball as America” traveling exhibit is currently residing at the National Constitution Center in Philly. A bonus uniform-centric program will take place there at on Saturday, April 19th, from noon to 3pm, featuring Mitchell & Ness prexy Peter Capolino, M&N researcher (and frequent Uni Watch contributor) Jared Wheeler, and several Phillies old-timers. I’m gonna try to make it to Philly for this event. Assuming my schedule cooperates, we’ll have a Uni Watch party later that same day. Details to come soon-ishly. … Speaking of Peter and Jared, they just sent me this 1943 Sporting News item that explains the origin of the Cardinals’ birds-on-the-bat logo. … New Netherlands soccer kit here, here, and here. … Guess which sporting event I won’t be attending? (As horrifyingly reported by Mike Alper.) … According to this story, the Astros will wear green caps in honor of Earth Day on April 22nd (good find by Jason Chapman). … We all know the old pre-Photoshop phenomenon of Topps airbrushing photos of players who'’d been traded. This blog recently ran a contest to pick the most egregious example from this field of choices. Results here (great discovery by Jason McCarty). … As you may have heard over the past few days, the NFL is considering a ban on long hair (that sound you just heard was Minna H. screaming in horror). … You’ve heard of throwback uniforms? Check this out: throwback police squad cars (courtesy of Billy Duss). … Well, that was fun while it lasted. … Attention Tim Witesock: Here’s the eBay auction of your dreams (with thanks to Jason Libes). … Good number-retirement cartoon from last week’s New Yorker. … More new soccer kits: Switzerland, Austria, Croatia (courtesy of Chris Palatinus). … And more discussion of the new USA black jersey here (with thanks to Mark Coale). … New policy at Northern Illinois: Football players who “skip class, show up late for team meetings or otherwise fail to live up to [head coach Jerry] Kill’s standards” have to wear a yellow shirt with pink “I Let My Team Down” lettering. Idiotic details here (as forwarded by Dan Streed). … Minnesota’s two pro soccer teams have new logos (with thanks to Joel Dunn). … Todd Taylor says this is the story behind the Rays using the same boring insignia for their home and road jerseys: “They did that intentionally, to build name recognition for the new team name. They will go to ‘Tampa Bay’ on the roads next season.” … The whole sports/gang connection refuses to die (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … The long-rumored Miami Hurricanes black alternate jersey will apparently look like this. … Wanna design a new secondary logo for the Colts? Look here. … I was going through some old files and came across a bit of info sent my way five or six years ago by SABR researcher Maxwell Kates. At the time, there was no such thing as this blog or even the Uni Watch News Ticker, so I had no place to publish little tidbits. But now, dear reader, you get to read the following: “Is it true that Wayland Moore was high on acid when he designed those uniforms worn by the Braves between 1972 and 1979? I’ve heard that story once before, but I can’t vouch for its accuracy. When Moore first designed those uniforms, the Braves were actually supposed to have worn red on the road. Hank Aaron took one look at the uniform and said, ‘I’m not wearing that. Take whatever is red, and make it blue.’ Moore complied and later altered the Braves’ road uniforms according to Aaron’s wishes. Aaron and Eddie Mathews were the only ones shown the red uniforms. Also, just out of curiosity, why did the 1985 Texas Rangers wear their 1986 uniforms for the last month of the season? I know that had the 1979 Montreal Expos made the playoffs, they would have worn the ‘racing stripe’ uniforms that were introduced by the team in 1980. That’s in Brodie Snyder’s The Year the Expos Almost Won the Pennant.” All of this is news to me — anyone know more about any of these?
March 27th, 2008
Remember back in July when I wrote about the “futuristic” Royals/Mariners game from 1998, which led to all the similarly themed games in 1999? I’m happy to announce that one of the game-used Royals jerseys from that game is now in my possession. And within a week, one of you will have it in your possession.
I’ll get to the jersey in a minute. But first, that entry back in July led to a lot of interesting responses regarding that futuristic game, beginning with a missive from Mariners marketing VP Kevin Martinez, who’s a regular Uni Watch reader. He corrected one of my points (I had written that the umps wore their regular uniforms, but Martinez noted that they actually had metallic silver shirts) and then provided some backgound info:
It was Ken Griffey Jr.’s decision to wear the jerseys untucked and caps backward. Junior also spray-painted several teammates’ shoes and gloves silver. The uniforms, while certainly bold, got even more out of control when our players decided to cut the sleeves off the undershirts. The photo of Dan Wilson, who did not cut his sleeves, is a better representation of how the unis were supposed to look.
Our intent with the promotion was to simply to do something fun for one of our 81 home games and try something that had never been done. We drew over 42,000 for a game against the Royals — a fairly successful promotion. MLB took the idea and sold it to Century 21 the next season. We did not participate at home, only on the road. We did it once in ’98 and we were done with it.
Working in this game for 16 seasons now, it remains one the most memorable (and strangest) nights in my career. Watching the players in the clubhouse alter their jerseys and spray-paint shoes and gloves is something I will never forget … or repeat.
Reader Tim Conley offered some additional recollections:
I actually watched that game live. The M’s did wear their jerseys untucked for awhile, but [Royals manager] Tony Muser complained to the umpires and eventually got the umps to force Seattle to tuck in their jerseys. His reasoning was that an M batting with his jersey untucked was more easily hit by a pitch and could earn a cheap trip to first base.
But the most intriguing response came from my ESPN.com colleague (and massive Royals fan) Rob Neyer. Not only had he attended the game, but he’d bid on — and won — one of the Royals jerseys that were auctioned off after the game. “It’s just been hanging in my closet ever since,” he wrote, “and it’s so Godawful-ugly that I really don’t know why I still have it.” Then, in an incredibly magnanimous gesture, he offered to donate the jersey for me to raffle off, as long as I let him write a small accompanying essay. This is sort of like saying, “I’ll do this really nice thing for you, but only if you also let me do this other really nice thing.” So course I said yes. With no further ado, I hereby turn the floor over to Rob:
Ah, the summer of 1998. I was crazy in love, I wasn’t burdened with a job that occupied a great deal of my time, and, for perhaps the first time in my adult life, I was blessed with a small bit of discretionary income.
I was living in Seattle then. It was the 18th of July, and the Royals were in town. The Royals were my team. For that game, the Mariners came up with what they called “Turn Ahead to the Future” — 2027, supposedly — and the most visible feature would be “futuristic” uniforms. And I have to say, from my perch in the upper deck the Royals’ jerseys really didn’t look so bad. They were sleeveless, which I’ve always liked, and nicely complemented by coordinated undershirts. I don’t mind canary yellow when it’s accompanied by Royal blue. So you’ll understand why I bid $75 on Jose Rosado’s jersey.
Why Rosado? Because I didn’t figure I could afford Johnny Damon’s jersey, and because I didn’t know just how good Sal Fasano would someday become (yes, that’s a joke). Rosado, meanwhile, was only 23, and just one year earlier he’d been Kansas City’s lone All-Star. On a generally boring, veteran-laden team, Rosado was one of the few interesting players.
So I bid on Rosado’s jersey, as well as that of coach Frank White (a reminder of better seasons). Then I waited. A few weeks later, a notice arrived in the mail: I had won! A check was dispatched, and soon a package arrived.
OMFG. Trust me: As bad as those jerseys might look in the photos, when you’re holding one in your hands it looks much, much worse. Oh, there’s nothing terribly wrong with the basic design, especially if you’re not averse to bright yellow and Royal blue. But what I couldn’t see from my upper-deck perch was that all the emblems and numbers on the jerseys were ironed on, just like cheap T-shirts. I couldn’t see that the fabric was some beastly synthetic not designed for laying against one’s skin [that would be nylon Dazzle, more commonly found in the NBA — PL]. What I also didn’t know is that my $75 didn’t get me the Royal blue undershirt. And let me tell you, without the undershirt the jersey was not only unwearable, but practically unbearable, too.
Which I suppose is why it’s not been worn since the 18th of July, and instead rested on a hanger in various closets — Seattle, Boston, Seattle again, and finally Portland — for nearly a decade. If you enter the raffle, I wish you only the best of luck. But I have to say something I wish somebody’d said to me, way back in the summer of ’98: caveat victor.
Rob’s being a little too harsh there. For starters, while most of the graphics are indeed screen-printed (including, ugh, a replica-esque Majestic logo on the back), the numbers and “ROSADO” lettering are sewn, not screened. And hey, it doesn’t look so ba – okay, yes it does. But in a cool, “so bad it’s good” sort of way. It’s tagged as a size 44, but it fits bigger than that (it fit nicely on Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner, who’s a 48).
This fine garment — a one-of-a-kind artifact from one of baseball’s oddest chapters — is being raffled off as of right now. To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (please note that this is not the usual Uni Watch address) by next Tuesday night, October, 2nd, at 10 p.m. eastern. One e-mail per person, please, but everyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing will automatically get three bonus entries (and if ever there was a good reason to sign up, this raffle is it). I’ll announce the winner a week from today.
Big thanks to Rob for his generosity, and good luck to all raffle entrants. I hope you’re as jazzed about this as I am.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Japanese throwback jerseys are now available here (with thanks to Eric Stangel). … Lots of good non-wire-service pics of the Eagles’ throwbacks here. … Nice little gallery of Schutt Ion pics here. Not sure what school that is, but I’m sure lots of you folks do (with thanks to Matt Olson). … Iowa State will unveil its new uniforms today. A little birdie tells me that none of these helmets made the cut. … We’ve talked many times about how an American flag sleeve patch should always be positioned with the blue field facing forward. Some teams get this wrong, but you wouldn’t expect one of them to be the Air Force Academy women’s soccer team (with thanks to Frank Mercogliano). … The 49ers have signed Michael Lewis. Thing is, as David Robins notes, they already have another Michael Lewis (plus Keith Lewis), which should make for an interesting nameplate decision. Last time I can remember this happening was when the Mets had two Bobby Joneses a few years back. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Great Bruins goalie mask photo gallery here. Be sure to click through to the last image, which shows Gerry Cheevers wearing a Massachusetts Bicentennial patch. … Speaking of which, comments section stalwart Teebz has a great series of NHL patch roundups on his blog — look here, here, and here. … Decent NHL uni-history gallery here, including one of the best Cooperalls shots ever. … … Jere Smith reports that the Fenway 8 is back, and is now right-side up! … Did you know American Indians have a distinctive foot shape? Nike did (as jointly spotted by Vince and Minna H.).
September 26th, 2007
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: Last week, in the middle of our server changeover, I got an e-mail from Chris Hill, with a subject line that read, “Homemade uniform traditions from Rochester.” For some reason it came through in teeny-tiny type that was nearly illegible, and there were 20 attached photos, all of which was more than I wanted to deal with in the midst of the site’s technical woes. I nearly deleted the e-mail altogether.
I’m glad I didn’t. What Chris had sent me was a document of a pretty amusing little project. I’ll let him describe it:
In 2006 a group of my friends and myself started playing baseball in a kid’s back yard. Within a week or so we decided to mow the grass to create an infield, and used his fence as a home run marker.
We played pickup games throughout the summer, but for the 4th of July we decided to have an All-Star Game. In order to make it official and over the top, we made up two teams: the Maplewood Steamboats and the Jambo City Harbors of Wellington. We also built a scoreboard and brought out a P.A. system and announcers for the game. We had yet to discover how to fully use the screen-printing uniform shop in town, so most of our uniforms were homemade. The Harbors even had separate batting practice uniforms, but no picture exists of us in those.
Winter came along and we decided to do the same thing with a football game. It was slightly less intense, but we once again had the same teams wearing homemade uniforms.
This past summer we all had some money and ideas, so baseball was much more enjoyable. We started off the year making spring training jerseys to wear randomly throughout the season. At some point we realized we were doing the All-Star Game wrong — it should be a game between two leagues, not two teams. So the Steamboats and harbors turned into the League of Steamboats and the Harbor Leagues. From there we created about 16 different teams, all based on inside jokes and cities someone had been to: the Douglas Gorns [that’s Chris wearing No. 44; note the all-star game sleeve patch! — PL], Joe Montana 3-D Graphichs Manipulators, Toronto Tippy Ducks, Gnomes, Tuscon Tra La Las, Mt. Rushmore Compatriots, Boise Canistorshots, Brockport USB-ports and the Ocean City Monsoons. The guy in that last photo got so into it that he had home and away jerseys made, but the shop mistakenly put the team name on the road jersey, instead of the city name, so he bought the botched jerseys at a discount and went back to have it done right, giving him a total of FOUR jerseys, when he just needed one — dedication.
Indeed. And that dedication is what I love about this project. Okay, so the uniforms kinda suck, and many of you probably think the whole thing has “Get a life” written all over it, but so what? The day you’re too cool to embrace your own little field of dreams fantasy is the day you may as well pack it in. Instead of sitting on their sofas watching the ballgame or playing with the latest EA video game, these guys built something real. I say good for them.
Raffle Results: The three winners of last night’s raffle are, in order, J. Yung (who gets his choice of an L.A. Kings jersey, a Washington Capitals T-shirt or an assortment of MLB sleeve patches), Mike Carpenter (who gets to choose from the remaining two items), and Rick White (who’ll get whatever item is left). The three winners should get in touch with me asap.
Thanks to all who entered — more raffles coming soon.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday’s comments included excerpts from this article, which suggests that the new NHL jerseys are (a) possibly causing injuries during fights and (b) tearing at the seams. I don’t have much sympathy for fight-related concerns (simple solution: ban fighting), but there’s a lot of very interesting info here — start with the sixth paragraph. … Also from yesterday: The UK has produced a really nice series of stamps documenting the history of British military uniforms. You can click through the gallery here. … We’ve all seen photos of Rich Karlis kicking barefoot. But Brendon Yarian found a photo of him doing, well, a little more than kicking. … Dynamite Hanshin Tigers uniform history site here. Even if you don’t care about Japanese baseball, this is worth checking out, because the site is nicely interactive (start clicking and you’ll see what I mean) and many of the designs are wicked cool (nice find by Scott Curl). … Yet another case of a 2 rendered in two different ways on the same jersey: the Rangers. … Still more typography news: Kansas’s university-wide move to the Trajan typeface has resulted in a backlash movement (with thanks to longtime Uni Watch pal Rob Walker, who first brought the anti-Trajan site to my attention on his own excellent blog, Murketing). … Best argument yet for a barter economy: Purple is being added to the $5 bill. Alarming details here. … The Washington Huskies will wear 1960 throwbacks on Sept. 29th. According to this page, the team wore navy back then, but it was called “Northwestern Purple.” Odd (with thanks to Rob Weber). … Who needs a game-worn jersey when you can have Sandy Koufax’s synagogue-worn yarmulke? … Good info here about the Redskins’ throwbacks, which they’ll be wearing this weekend while pounding the living shit out of playing the Giants. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Texas A&M tight end Martellus Bennett changed his uni number from 13 to 85 to honor injured Bills player Kevin Everett, but his helmet still has his old uni number. … Arguably the weirdest reason ever for choosing a particular uni number: According to this article (forwarded by Jeff Barak), Wild rookie James Sheppard likes No. 15 because he “began wearing it as a 15-year-old midget player because he already had size 15 feet.” … If your coach can grab you like this, then your jersey’s definitely a few sizes too big. … My friend Liz Danzico, who’s more or less a genius, recently started a really good site called A Brief Message, which features a series of 200-word essays about design. I wrote a little something about uniforms for today’s installment, which longtime readers will recognize as a re-hash of the very first post that ran on this here blog. My own redundant content notwithstanding, A Brief Message is well worth checking out for anyone who cares even a little bit about design, sports-related or otherwise.
September 21st, 2007
Something weird is going on with the Tigers (besides the fact that they’re flushing their postseason hopes down the crapper). It involves that little orange dot on the crown of their road batting helmets. Or at least it’s supposed to be there — but lately it’s been a little more complicated than that.
The most obvious problem child is Gary Sheffield, whose dot has been way off-center in recent days. Then there’s Curtis Granderson, whose dot is several inches too far forward. But at least Sheffield and Granderson have their dots — Placido Polanco’s orange dot is missing altogether.
It’s been a while since I’ve written about the helmet dots, so here’s a quick recap: Most MLB teams use them, and they’re actually included in MLB helmet decal kits. They sort of mimic the button on the top of a cap, but that doesn’t explain why the dots are sometimes used by teams that don’t have contrast-colored cap buttons. A spokesman from Rawlings, which makes all the MLB helmets, once told me that the little dots were a visual trademark of ABC Helmet (the company that originally made the helmets) and were continued by Rawlings in the interest of continuity, even though they don’t always match the caps. To my way of thinking, the dots are a silly anachronism at best, and they make no sense at all on a CoolFlo helmet, since the newfangled lids don’t are only loosely based on caps anyway.
None of which explains the situation with the Tigers. Is it some sort of superstitious good luck charm? Is it a way of sending signals that even Bill Belichick can’t steal? Is it a way to get people to stop talking about those other helmet dots? (I still get two or three questions a day about that — incredible.) If anyone knows the deal, please fill us in.
(Special thanks to Benjamin Bonnett and intern Vince Grzegorek, who brought the Tigers situation to my attention.)
MLB 2008 Update: I have a feeling this link isn’t gonna stay up for long, but for now you can see most of the 2008 MLB uni revisions — including, yes, the new Tampa design — here. Discuss.
Typography Update: Yesterday brought still more chest/sleeve typographic inconsistencies (the first two of which were contributed by Brendon Yarian):
• Check out the lower serif on the 2 worn by the mid-’80s Browns (home, road).
• Ohio State’s 4 in the mid-1970s had a lower serif on the chest but not on the sleeve (home, road).
• Dennis Jones noted in yesterday’s comments that the Cowboys have had chest/shoulder inconsistencies with a variety of numerals, including 2, 2 again, 3, 7, and 7 again.
• Yesterday I mentioned that the Jets had inconsistent 2s in the late ’60s, but the pseudonymous Graf Zeppelin pointed out in yesterday’s comments that they apparently had a similar problem 20 years later, as seen on the cover of their 1989 yearbook. That prompted a spectacularly informative follow-up comment from sj32:
The reason there are two different typefaces is because the jerseys were made by two different manufacturers. The jersey Shuler is wearing was made by Sand Knit while the “22″ jersey was made by Champion. In the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, the number font on the jerseys was often determined by which company manufactured it. In that era, Sand Knit, Russell Athletic, and Champion were the primary suppliers (with King O’Shea, Southland Athletic, and Wilson supplying a couple of teams). A Champion jersey was usually identifiable by the slanted middle of the 2s and the curved 7s. Sand Knit and Russell used standard block fonts, but there were slight differences. Sand Knit produced the jerseys with the notched 5s used by Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, etc. The Russell jerseys were somewhat narrower than the Sand numbers, particularly on the sleeves.
Meanwhile, design director Scott M.X. Turner checked in with a few thoughts on the matter:
2s are the only digit where a bar — not a serif, but a bar — can shift dramatically, 45 and 90 degree angles. (7s can a bit — sometimes they’re rendered with a curve even when the number set is all straight lines.) I think that a 2’s middle bar is altered from jersey front/back to sleeve because a diagonal bar looks skinnier than a horizontal bar. Also, compressed number sets support a diagonal 2 better than a horizontal-bar 2, which tends to look squeezed when compressed. Me, I like compressed sets, but for the smaller TV numbers — either shoulder yoke or sleeve placement — it’s not as readable.
Why a team would have one variety on the home jersey and the other on its road jersey, that’s anybody’s guess. The easy default answer — that back in the day (meaning 1980 and prior, generally), the manufacturer just used whatever was lying around — works some of the time. But there have to be instances when a decision was made that one 2 looked better than another.
By the way, the very best example, of different number sets front and back is the late ’60s UCLA basketball jersey — the Lew Alcindor era. Front was a squat, boxy style, and the back was an elegant, narrow vertical style. Maybe they adopted this to make Alcindor look taller — I wouldn’t be surprised at all. Pretty sure that before Alcindor, the front style was also the back style.
Speaking of typography, a new documentary film about the typeface Helvetica (called, of course, Helvetica) is currently screening here in New York. I saw it two nights ago and loved it. No team I can think of has ever used Helvetica on its uniforms, which helps explain why the movie has no sports-related content, but there are several good interludes with graphic designer Michael Beirut, who I know has done some work for the Jets, plus plenty of detail-driven bits that should appeal to anyone who Gets It™. Recommended viewing.
Unusual Research Request: I’m looking for someone in the New York area who can read lips. Sports fan preferred; availability for watching lots of mid-October sports in the company of an ESPN reporter of my approximate height and build essential. If you know of anyone who fits the bill, please get in touch. Thanks.
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the raffle for the L.A. Kings jersey, the Washington Capitals T-shirt, and the bunch of MLB sleeve patches. To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net by this 10 p.m. eastern tonight. I’ll announce the winners tomorrow. One e-mail per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program by the time of the drawing will automatically get three bonus entries.
Oh, and by the way: Last month I was saying that there’d be a real doozy of a raffle in September. This isn’t it — the doozy is yet to come. Just waiting for one last piece to fall into place.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Forgot to mention that my Financial Times article about the Lelands sports memorabilia auction house (research for which was documented here) was published on Saturday. The article is here, and there’s a sidebar here. … Several unusual wristbands in this shot (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Pat Ratliff notes that Devin Hester is up to his old double sock tricks. I forgot to mention that Giants equipment director Joe Skiba showed me something last Friday that may explain this phenomenon: Several of the Giants’ players have socks sewn into the bottom of their pants and then wear an additional pair of socks over that. That’s probably what Hester is doing. … As a big fan of green and gold, I have a soft spot for Norfolk State’s design. Go Spartans! (With thanks to Bruce Soltys.) … We’ve previously mentioned how MTSU uses huge nameplate lettering for short surnames, but you can’t fully appreciate the absurdity of it until you see this (with thanks to Chad Cate). … Brad Bierman just alerted me to a uni-related attraction I hadn’t previously been aware of: the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society Museum, which looks pretty cool. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Phillies used to have a raised helmet appliqué, just as the Cubs still do. … We’ve all seen baseball players who wear state or national flags on their gloves. But here’s something I haven’t seen before: Clay Buchholz wears the Texas state flag inside his glove (genius catch by Randy Williams). … Here’s a rare sight: a pitcher who wears No. 0. He’s even got it on his undershirt collar (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm).
September 20th, 2007
Even as the NHL’s popularity and media profile have done their death spiral into the crapper, I’ve continued to treat hockey as the fourth major sport. But it’s getting harder and harder to do that as each miserable new uniform design gets unveiled. There two more yesterday. One at a time:
• Avalanche. Chalk up another one for the apron string template. It’s pretty much the same design as the Panthers, right down to the idiotic Ree-box on the back. And it’s not like I can’t deal with any kind of modern hockey treatment — I still say the Blue Jackets new uni is really sharp. Over on the Chris Creamer board, someone whipped up a Photoshop version of how the Columbus approach could have worked for the Avs — so much better than what we’re all now stuck looking at. (And in case you’re wondering: Back when the Panthers originally unveiled their design, I mentioned that there would be another team, which I couldn’t name, using precisely the same design. This is not that team, which means there’s yet another iteration of this crappy template still to come.)
• Maple Leafs. Simple to a fault. No extraneous piping, thank the lordy, but also no hemline striping, no shoulder patches, no contrasting shoulder yoke, no visual interest of any kind except for those sleeve stripes. I’m okay with the road version, since there’s inherent contrast in the white-blue-white sequence of the jersey, breezers, and socks. But the home design’s solid blue cries out for hemline sripes, or breezer stripes, or something to break up to solid wall of cyan. Otherwise, we’re essentially left with this. Meanwhile, that rounded shirttail looks really, um, suave.
In addition, there were sneak peeks of the new designs from the Ducks (whose official unveiling is slated for today) and the Sabres (Saturday), but I’ll hold off on those until I see the full treatment.
I can already hear some of you saying, “Lukas, you’re impossible to please. You say the Avs’ design is too busy, too cluttered, and then you slam the Leafs for being the exact opposite.” Okay, so maybe I am hard to please, but there’s something to be said a middle ground between super-busy and super-minimalist. A few teams, like the Blue Jackets, have gotten this right. Most of the others have blown it.
Old Glory Update: Yesterday I reported that LaDainian Tomlinson and Willie Parker had both played without the American flag decal on their helmets (Tomlinson just for one game, Parker for more than a full season). It didn’t occur to me that there might be more than a coincidental connection between those two players, but now I’ve gotta wonder after seeing this article (great find by Doug Leake).
Meanwhile, as I also mentioned yesterday, I contacted the NFL to inquire about the flag’s status as part of the league’s uniform specs. Here’s the response I got from a league spokesperson:
The American flag decal on the helmet is a part of the NFL uniform specs. If it was not on Willie Parker’s helmet, it will be moving forward. (I spoke with the Steelers. They said that if it was not on there, it will be.)
I have a feeling this means at least three people are now gonna be annoyed at me: Willie Parker, the Steelers’ equipment manager, and the NFL spokesguy. New slogan: Uni Watch, the Official Pain in the Ass™ of the National Football League.
Uni Watch News Ticker: You know those Optimus Prime helmets the Giants have been wearing? Bill Blewett thinks he’s found a prototype version. … Yesterday I referred to USF’s memorial decals but didn’t have a photo. Now, thanks to Randy Miller, I do. … Vince found this video of Canucks players weighing in on the team’s new uniforms. … Really interesting photo submitted by Jeremy Brahm, who sent along this shot of Japan Railways East’s uniform. Never seen text on the pants like that. And I love the “JR” chest logo. … Also from Jeremy: a very baggy pullover. … Amazing old youth football team photo from Doug Mooney. Check out the shoes on No. 14! … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Aaron Rowand wearing “Beer Pong Champ” armbands. And if there’s such a thing as a beer pong uniform, I’m not sure I wanna know. … You probably know that former 49ers lineman Steve Wallace wore the ProCap helmet attachment. What you might not have known — and what I didn’t know myself until William Weir brought me up to speed yesterday — is that the ProCap didn’t hold up too well under game action. … Did you know that the Library of Congress has a huge baseball card collection? I didn’t, until Bo Baize mentioned it to me yesterday. Loads of great stuff — look here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran an item on the ten best Georgia high school football helmets (including the Johnson-Savannah Atom Smashers, who wear “nuclear orange”). Details here. … The New Era folks have officially lost their fucking minds (as spotted over on the Chris Creamer boards). … Good catch by Greg Riffenburgh, who writes: ” I found this picture of Sweden’s Caroline Seger wearing two different colored shoes at the Women’s World Cup in China. The shoes are Nike’s Mercurial Vapor III.” … The Titans’ light-blue yoke tapers down the sleeve — except on offensive lineman Michael Roos’s jersey, where the light-blue panel seems to bulge and get wider on the sleeve. He’s at far left in this photo (good spot by Raleigh McCool). … The Dodgers have unveiled a 50th-anniversary logo (that’s 50 years in L.A., natch), which I assume will be used as a sleeve patch next year. … Logo creep alert from David Cline, who says, “Can’t we ogle the babes without having to be subjected to the swoosh?” … I’ll be spending tomorrow afternoon at Giants stadium, where I’ll be interviewing Jints equipment manager Joe Skiba. If you have any questions you’d like me to pass along, let me know.
September 13th, 2007
First and foremost: The site is finally back in business. Full archives, full comment functionality, full everything. For further details, look here. Many thanks for your patience during the hassles of the past week.
Meanwhile: The Mets wore their first responder caps last night, as has been their longstanding custom on September 11th. All other teams wore American flag cap patches (although, as usual, there were a few players whose caps were flag-free), and the Blue Jays went a step further by wearing the American flag on one side and the Canadian flag on the other.
And that leads us back, in a roundabout way, to something that first popped up on Monday, when I suggested it might have been inappropriate for LaDainian Tomlinson to run around waving the stars and stripes prior to Sunday’s Chargers/Bears game. I’ll have more to say about that later on in this post. But before I get to that, here’s an irony: You know how all NFL helmets have an American flag decal on the back? In the Chargers’ case it’s positioned near the back tip of the right bolt (which it sometimes overlaps). But it turns out that one Charger didn’t wear a flag decal on Sunday. Care to guess who it was? That’s right: LaDainian Tomlinson.
LT didn’t play during the preseason, but I did find this shot from a July 30th practice session — no flag, but also no NFL logo, so maybe they just hadn’t added all the little details so early in training camp. Tomlinson did wear the NFL logo on Sunday, however — but not the flag. He appears to have worn the flag throughout last season, as seen here, here, here, here, and here, so I assume this was just an oversight, not a conscious statement of any kind.
I’m not sure the same can be said, however, for Willie Parker of the Steelers, whose helmet has been flag-free since last season. Look at pics of Parker from last season or this season (that shot is from a preseason game) and you’ll see no flag. But if you look at pre-2006 photos, you’ll see that Parker used to be flag-clad (and that includes his appearance in Super Bowl XL).
This raises several questions, only some of which I can answer:
• Why did Parker stop wearing the flag? Not sure. I have a call in to the Steelers, but I have a feeling I won’t get a straight answer out of them because just about any answer is bound to stir up controversy.
• Even if he wants to stop wearing the flag, it’s part of the uniform, so shouldn’t he have to wear it? You’d think so, yeah. I’ve asked the NFL to clarify whether the flag decal is officially part of the uniform or if it’s a non-mandatory accessory. Will advise.
• Why do NFL helmets have flag decals to begin with? To my knowledge, the first appearance of flag decals in the NFL was in Super Bowl XXV, when the Giants and Bills wore them to show support for U.S. troops in the Gulf War. The flags were gone the following season but reappeared in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks. The other major sports made post-9/11 flag gestures as well, but only for one season (or, in MLB’s case, the balance of the season that was already in progress). Only the NFL retained the flag on a full-time basis the following year, and they’ve kept it there ever since.
• Well, we’re still at war, so why not still wear the flag? There is indeed a tradition of sports teams wearing flags or flag-inspired imagery during wartime. This dates back at least to World War I, when baseball teams wore flag patches, flag-inspired shields, red/white/blue armbands, and even red/white/blue stockings.
That said, the flags that began appearing on uniforms in 2001 weren’t about war per se — they were to commemorate those who died on 9/11. (Remember, the Iraq War didn’t start until 2003.) That’s why most sports only kept them for one year. Some might argue that we’re still engaged in the “war on terror,” but that’s really more of a political term than a military one. While the threat it refers to is real, it’s a threat (and, hence, a “war”) that is likely to extend throughout our lifetimes and beyond. It renders the concept of wartime — and signifiers thereof, including flag decals — meaningless.
• Isn’t it wrong to wear a flag on a sports uniform anyway? Arguably, yes. According to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, §176(j): “No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations.” The first sentence is vague, because it says the flag shouldn’t be used as a uniform, not on on a uniform. But the list of acceptable uni applications in the next sentence pointedly excludes sports. In any case, this isn’t binding law — it’s just official etiquette. And we’ve all seen how often that etiquette has been ignored.
Now then, about LT waving that flag during the pregame ceremonies: I want to make it clear that I love the American flag — always have, ever since I was a kid. Gorgeous piece of design, lovely symbolism. I had one displayed in my window for months after 9/11, I always have one displayed on Independence Day, and for years I had an old 48-star version that I used as a backdrop in a display case (I later sold it at a stoop sale because I thought someone else should get to enjoy it). My concern regarding Tomlinson’s antics was the context. Pregame introductions are pretty much designed to get the home crowd whipped up in an us-vs.-them frenzy. And if “us” is carrying an American flag, where does that leave “them”? By using the flag, I thought Tomlinson was essentially appropriating the concept of patriotism in a way that the visiting team — in this case, the Bears — couldn’t realistically hope to match or answer. The implicit message was, “Our team is representing America, which means the other team isn’t,” which crosses the line into poor sportsmanship and being a bad host. Or at least that’s how it felt to me. I would’ve preferred to see Tomlinson waving a Chargers flag, or a San Diego flag, or something that was more team-specific, instead of essentially taking home-field ownership of something that rightly belonged to both teams.
Finally, some of the comments about this issue back on Monday mentioned the playing of the national anthem before games. It may surprise you to learn that this ritual is a relatively recent phenomenon. I was surprised to learn this myself back in 2001, when I was researching an article about “God Bless America” being played at ballparks in the aftermath of 9/11. Here’s the pertinent section of the piece I wrote back then:
The tradition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” being played prior to every game may seem eternal, but keep in mind that the tune wasn’t even officially adopted as the national anthem until the 1930s. According to James Charlton’s The Baseball Chronology, the first instance of the song being played at a ballgame was on May 15th, 1862 — during the Civil War — at Union Grounds in Brooklyn. Over 50 years later, during World War I, a military band played the tune during the 7th-inning stretch of a 1918 World Series game. “From then on,” reports the Chronology, “the song [was] played at every World Series game, every season opener, and, whenever a band [was] present to play it.”
Playing the anthem didn’t become more the rule than the exception until World War II, when public-address systems — which were installed at stadiums in part for civil defense reasons during the war — became sufficiently widespread to enable recorded versions to be played. Even then, there were some holdouts — as recently as the mid-1960s, the Cubs only played the anthem on special holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, because team owner P.K. Wrigley felt that playing the song at each game effectively trivialized it. And Royals owner Ewing Kaufman cited a similar rationale in 1972, when he ordered that the anthem only be played “on Sundays and special occasions,” because it “was not receiving the respect it deserved.” Public reaction, however, was highly negative, and Kaufman quickly relented.
Six years after I wrote that, it’s hard not to see the growing parallel between the sports-related use of the anthem and the uni-related use of the flag, both of which have gone from the very occasional to the much more commonplace. Some may think this is a good thing; others may disagree. But the similarities are striking.
Flight of the Bumblebee Nine, Continued: Yesterday’s entry about the flying Alabama helmet numeral prompted some interesting follow-up contributions. For starters, Doug Simpson found another photo of the play in question. At first I didn’t see the airborne 9, but that’s because I wasn’t looking high enough — it’s right in front of the receiver’s left hand.
Then Wade Harder, who had brought the situation to my attention in the first place, checked in with some additional info: “I was able to watch a replay of the play. The decal flew off in a helicopter motion with a good amount of speed and landed about four yards away from Johnson. He was completely unaware of the mishap as he got off the ground and just trotted back to the huddle.”
Uni Watch News Ticker: This quiz was practically made for Uni Watch readers (with thanks to Allie Hinderstein). … I can’t find a good photo, but Vince has noted that USF is wearing a pair of memorial decals. Details here. … Another kicker who wears a wedding band: Rian Lindell. … Tim Sheehan got some nice pics of a vintage Portland Beavers jersey. … Attention Minna H. Your worst nightmare is here, here, and here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Nice survey of Maple Leafs uni history here. … Jeremy Brahm just informed me of something called the Golden Players Club, which is reserved for players who have 2,000 hits, 250 saves, or 200 wins in Japan. Members get a blazer (lots of additional pics on the four pages that begin here). … Intern Vince Grzegorek, increasingly flexing his journalistic muscles beyond the realm of the uni-centric, has a pair of Cleveland Scene sports blog entries here and here. … Douglas Brei and I would both like to know who the dark-uniformed team is in this photo. … Apparently PTI didn’t get the memo explaining that the new NFL logo isn’t supposed to be used until next year (with thanks to Jason Farmand). … Switzerland’s socks look like upside-down stirrups (thanks, Vince). … According to this video clip, wearing the visiting team’s cap to a ballgame can increase your chances of going home with a baseball (credit Vince yet again). … You’ve heard of throwback uniforms? Here in New York we had a throwback subway the other day. … Latest Bengals uni-related problem: Bryan Robinson’s sleeve stripes appeared to be peeling off on Monday night (good spot by Scott Yager). … Justin Tokarczyk notes that Andy Reid was wearing last year’s headset on Sunday. … Esteban Loaiza wore solid stockings for his Dodgers debut last week, but he must have asked the equipment manager for some stirrups, because that’s what he was wearing last night (good catch by Ros Yoshida). … Several readers have noted that the Cardinals’ coaching staff wears a logo that faces one way on the cap and the other way on the jacket.
September 12th, 2007
I can’t imagine why anyone would want to watch something as completely irrelevant as the Hall of Fame game, which is pointless even by NFL exhibition standards. But it’s a good thing someone watched, because now we have our first real uni-related development of the football season. As I first mentioned in yesterday’s Ticker, several people who watched the game reported seeing a little green dot on the back of some of the quarterbacks’ helmets (here’s a larger view). Most people seemed to think it had something to do with the radio sets that the QB helmets are equipped with, and it turns out they were right — sort of.
ProFootballTalk.com reported yesterday that the green dot “to help officials confirm that only one player on offense is wearing a helmet with a radio receiver from the coaching staff. So, if a team plans to put two quarterbacks on the field at the same time [for a trick play], one of them must change helmets before entering the game.” (You can see the full report by searching for “green dot” on this page.)
But how does the dot end up on the helmet? Is it embedded into the plastic by the manufacturer, or is it just a decal applied by the team? If the latter, what’s to stop a team from beating the system by “forgetting” to slap on the decal? I posed that question to NFL spokesman Dan Masonson, who responded thusly: “It’s a decal. The team’s equipment manager puts the decal on. Officials will make random spot checks throughout game to make sure they are on proper helmets.”
I meant to ask Dan why green was chosen as the operative color, but I forgot. I didn’t want to bug him again, so instead I e-mailed Giants equipment manager Joe Skiba (soon to be the subject of the next Uni Watch video report, incidentally), who responded, “Why green? I guess they said, ‘Let’s give the equipment guys some of the ugliest decals to throw on a helmet.’ Personally, I like the idea of having defenders spot the green dot from the backside and hitting the QB.”
I kinda like the idea of color-coded decals. Maybe they could impose the same “only one on the field at a time” rule for the following decals:
Red = Only player allowed to make stupid TD celebration
Blue = Only player allowed to make stupid sack celebration
Gray = Only player allowed to make first down signal
Orange = Only player allowed to whine when flagged for a penalty
Brown = Only receiver allowed to lobby for pass interference call
Plaid = Only player allowed to have one chinstrap buckle unsnapped
And so on. Admit it, it’s a brilliant system. Mr. Goodell, I await your call to discuss the financial particulars.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Did you realize that pine tar rags have team logos on them? I didn’t until last night, when Matthew Lepke sent me this note: “The camera crew from Fox North caught the Indians using a Tampa Bay(!?!) pine tar rag in the on-deck circle tonight. Very strange. As the Twins’ announcers said, ‘No wonder they aren’t scoring many runs.’” … Pulitzer-worthy move by the Houston Chronicle, which is providing a very amusing tutorial on how readers can convert their David Carr jerseys into Matt Schaub jerseys. Of course, the best move might be not to spend $250 on a jersey to begin with, but maybe they’ll run that bit of advice next week. … “Fanbanta.com has been having a ‘Design a Kit’ contest to publicize the launch of their website and to possibly outfit a Scottish 3rd Division team they are sponsoring,” writes David Walker. “Most of the designs are, as it turns out, horrible. But interesting.” … Good site dedicated to 1978 World Cup uniforms here (good find by Denis Hurley). … Intersting shot here of UConn players being fitted for their football helmets without facemasks (kudos to Matt O’Brien). … We’ve all heard about how the “armor” worn by Barry Bonds and others allows hitters to lean over the plate with impunity. But according to this analysis Bonds’s armor may also aid the mechanics of his swing (thanks, Vince). … Speaking of Bonds, several people have mentioned to me that he had his fly unzipped while on deck about a week ago. I couldn’t find a good shot, but it’s plainly visible in this video clip. … And speaking of XYZ issues, remember that item last week about Kerwin Danley umpiring with his fly unzipped? Here’s the visual evidence (with thanks to Vince for poring over the game video). … Great find by Scott Turner, who stopped designing membership cards just long enough to find this great photo of early-’70s White Sox stirrups. … A week or so ago I briefly linked to a photo of the Redskins’ 75th-anniversary throwback jerseys, but then I had to take down the link. It must be kosher now, though, because the jersey is being shown on the NFL’s own site. Let’s hope the sock stripes match the sleeves. … Wyoming is apparently moving to a Broncos-style template. Full unveiling on Friday (with thanks to John Eisel). … Good rundown here on the history of the Cork jerseys in the Irish sports of hurling and football (as forwarded by Denis Hurley). … “A buddy of mine named Michael Carasik lived in Chicago during the early 1980s,” writes Morris Levin (whose Victory Pennants site sells some great throwback pennants, incidentally). “He was part of a group of Cubs fans who were active in the Jewish community. Ivan DeJesus played shortstop so they had T-shirts made up that read, ‘Jews for DeJesus.’” … Rick Porter reports that the Penguins and Sabres will wear throwback uniforms for their New Year’s Day game, which may be held outdoors. … Yesterday I linked to this commercial (and noted that the Chargers’ lightning bolt designs were inconsistent). That prompted a note from Steve Due of AIS Uniforms, which manufactured the unis for the commercial: “The Bears jerseys were cut on an older pattern that is baggy. The Chargers were a new-style jersey that we had to make patterns for and had three days to do everything. As is commonly the case, since Reebok, Nike, Under Armour and the rest aren’t manufacturers, but promotion-driven, they plan to have things ready for commercials and often can’t, so they have to rely on AIS/Sportsrobe to make them. Usually with the knowledge that a cast and huge crew are going to be shooting in a very short turnaround. Often with nothing to go on but some pictures.” None of which really explains why the lightning bolts were inconsistent — stay tuned. … Latest minor league team to wear pink jerseys: the Portland Beavers. … An Australian Rules Football team was recently fined for wearing the wrong uniform (cheers to Steven Russell). … After a few weeks of back and forths, it looks like the logo creep on NFL photographers’ vests is here to stay. … Speaking of logo creep, people who wonder why I get so worked up over corporate marketing logos should take a look at this. … Jeremy Brahm reports that skullcaps are becoming increasingly common in Japanese baseball, but the players wearing them seem to lose their caps and helmets with distressing regularity. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Steve Prudente reports that the announcers in last night’s Giants/Nats game mentioned that Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum keeps track of his strikeouts by writing tally marks under his brim. Gotta find a visual of that. … Also from last night: Jarrod Saltalamacchia wore a logo-free helmet for part of last night’s game (he later wore a proper one), and he’s switched from No. 23 to 25, but I’m only showing that because it’s fun to see his name on the back of a jersey. … The 49ers will wear throwback uniforms for their season-opening game on September 10th, in honor of Bill Walsh. … Soccer news from Nick Noyes, who writes: “Freddy Adu’s new club in Portugal, Benfica, will be sporting new kits this season, with the road variation featuring pink.” Further details here.
August 7th, 2007
By Vince Grzegorek
Ceremonial first pitches are one of those baseball traditions that seem to be pretty standard across the board. A politician, an actor, a local hero, or someone important trots out to the mound before the game and hurls a “pitch” that more often resembles a dying bird. The guest of honor then walks up, shakes the catcher’s hand, retrieves the ball, and waves to the crowd. End of story.
You might think a longstanding tradition that includes the word “ceremonial” would have some sort of standard dress code, maybe even a formal one, but you’d be wrong, wrong, wrong (although, some of you might think those last two are very, very right). Given all the various accouterments, one might wonder if there was any etiquette at all.
What started as a very buttoned-upp and formal occasion when President Taft began the tradition of tossing out the first pitch on Opening Day in 1910 has evolved (or maybe devolved) into a sub-casual Friday affair that some participants “honor” by dressing like slobs.
Sure, times change, and no one shows up to the park in a top hat and a three-piece suit anymore, but shouldn’t the first pitch honoree be held to a higher standard? He’s representing the guy who usually occupies the space on the mound and/or the guy who started the tradition. Whether it’s dressing in “throwback” Sunday best or tucking the jersey in like you were suiting up for fantasy camp (keep the comments tame on that pic, folks), I think the ceremonial first pitcher should at least look like a real ballplayer, or else like President Taft (although not Taft as a baseball player, which of course would look ridiculous).
Perhaps we can blame it all on some of the more recent men to occupy Taft’s post. POTUS used to look all spiffy and official when tossing the ball (from the stands, no less) — suits, hats, vests, ties — but after President Reagan, the fashion standard dipped considerably. Clinton did the jacket thing, and Dubya slaps on some apparel from whatever city he’s in while he does the job. A sad departure from this. (The lone exception was the patriotically apropos FDNY jacket President Bush wore while tossing out the first pitch during the World Series after 9/11.)
So if the leader of the free world can’t even dress up for the occasion, why would anybody else? It seems that there’s no sartorial protocol when it comes to performing one of the most recognizable baseball events. If you’re an athlete, you can wear the home team’s jersey, or you can go ahead and wear the jersey or shirts from your own team and sport. If you’re a retired baseball player, you’re expected to wear the team logo or colors in some way. If you’re a celebrity and a huge fan, you can wear a jersey, a cap, or just your regular clothes. And if you’re a monkey, you can wear a diaper.
But should athletes be able to wear whatever they want when it comes to uniforms? Hell no! Would a baseball player dropping the ceremonial first puck at a hockey game wear his baseball jersey? No. That would look ridiculous. Would a basketball player flipping the coin at the start of a football game wear his basketball jersey? Again, no.
Call it nitpicky and say that baseball is a casual game and whomever throws out the first pitch should be able to dress like any other real fan at the game, but I won’t listen. From actors to politicians to other celebrities, the sleeves-rolled-up look has gone too far. Dress like it’s a ceremony or dress like it’s a game, but not in between.
If Harry Truman could throw a ball from the stands, over rows of photographers, past players scrambling for a view, and into the mitt of the waiting catcher (including a time in 1950 when he threw out two first pitches, one lefty and one righty!) is it too much to ask for first pitchers to honor the ceremony of the moment by looking at least at least a little bit dignified and professional for a couple of minutes on the mound? If they did, maybe we’d see more of this, and less of this.
(Note: I mentioned Harry Truman and not Franklin Roosevelt, because Roosevelt’s first pitch in 1940 hit a Washington Post camera, missing his target by juuuuuuust a little bit.)
Gateway My Ass: Paul here. I’m still in St. Louis, thanks to some nasty weather in NYC that led the airline to cancel my Wednesday-evening flight home. Should be Brooklyn-bound later this morning, though.
The video shoot at Liebe yesterday went really well (or at least that’s what I thought, and the camera and audio guys seemed to agree). Got tons of great footage, learned a lot, saw some really talented people practicing their craft, and came up with a few dozen different ways of saying, “That’s so damn cool!” A really great day. Aside from all the material we got on tape, there was lots of fun chatter, including two good stories that were related to me off-camera:
- The Cubs once sent Liebe some pants to be repaired during a swing through St. Louis (teams on road trips often ask the host team to do minor uni surgery — common practice). So one of Liebe’s sewers stitched up the rips and tears. And then, on the inside of the pant leg, where nobody could see, she stitched “Cubs Suck” in dark thread. (In a vaguely related item, I noticed that several file folders of Mets materials were marked “METS — Pond Scum.”)
- Strict instructions from the Dodgers: All of Tommy Lasorda’s pants were to be tagged as having a size 40 waist, even though they were significantly larger than that. (Which reminds me: A certain MLBer whose name I’m not at liberty to reveal insists that his batting gloves be tagged “XL,” even though they’re actually large. When his supplier once mistakenly left the “L” tags on, instead of swapping them out for “XL,” the player called the supplier and said, “You sent me the wrong size gloves.” The supplier explained, “No, they’re the same size you always wear — we just forgot to switch the tags.” To which the player slowly repeated, “They’re the wrong size” and hung up.)
I’ll have lots more to share about the St. Louis trip later on — maybe on Friday. Stay tuned.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The level of hosiery ignorance has now gotten so bad that Lee Jenkins’s column in yesterday’s New York Times included the following: “Leaning back in his chair, Bonds stretched a black sanitary sock over his face, like an eye pillow. … At one point, St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols walked over to Bonds. … Feeling Pujols’s presence, Bonds lifted the sanitary sock.” Memo to all concerned: Sanitary socks are not black. The sock in question was simply a sock, not a sanitary sock. Jeez. … Uni Watch auction consultant David Brown notes that this must surely be a record price for a garter-related item. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: All Virginia Tech teams will wear a memorial patch this fall. … I’ve lost track of which soccer jersey web sites have previously been mentioned in this space. So at the risk of repetition, here are two more (with thanks to Peter Ripberger and T. Faust). … Kenn Tomasch says he’d buy one of the new L.A. Galaxy jerseys, “but I’m afraid three wise men would start following me around.”
July 12th, 2007
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