Thanks to Phil’s recent “Worst Uni Ever” poll, you’ve seen plenty of Colorado Caribous photos lately. But most of you probably haven’t seen this one.

That shot, along with a bunch more (click on the thumbnails for larger versions), come from this site devoted to NASL jerseys, which reader Rob Bryant just brought to my attention.

In a nutshell: The site is so awesome that I might just have to become a soccer fan after all. A very small selection of the highlights (click on little pics to see big pics):

• Totally digging the chest logo used by the Montreal Olympique.

• Stripe-o-rama! That’s the Rochester Lancers, 1971. Interesting to see that they used a different font for the rear uni number.

• Love how the San Francisco Quakes used the cross stroke on the Q to form a fault line — or, better yet, to fracture a soccer ball. (As an aside, did you know there was an indoor soccer team called the San Francisco Fog? How awesome is that jersey?!)

• Sort of quaint how Minnesota teams are always named after the state, not after a particular city, as in the Minnesota Strikers. Not such a bad thing when it results in the state outline being depicted on the jersey, though.

• Check out the silver chain-stitching on this Las Vegas Quicksilvers jersey (which also has one of history’s clunkiest, most awkward NOBs).

• Uni typography doesn’t get much more quintessentially ’70s than this Edmonton Drillers design. Only problem is that the jersey is actually from 1982. Interestingly, the 1970s-esque design replaced something that was much more ’80s-ish.

• Very odd insignia for the 1980 Houston Hurricane. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a team intentionally obscure part of the type like that. But it’s probably better than this.

• The Adidas logo really ruined the elemental simplicity of this 1979 California Surf design. Looks better in this overexposed photo, since you almost can’t see the logo creep. (And speaking of the Surf, check out this shot from a game played at Vets Stadium, complete with all the MLB logos in the background. Ah, the indignities of being a minor sports league.)

• My vote for best NASL sleeves goes to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, for obvious reasons. Mmmm, tasty.

• Then again, the Toronto Blizzard had some pretty cool sleeves too.

• What happens you’re your team uses really huge-ass NOB lettering (and, as an aside a sews the apotrophe on backwards)? You run the risk of ending up with a DDNHOB (double-decker hyphenated NOB, duh)! Those jerseys are from the Hartford Bicentennials (now there’s a team name with a short shelf life), who had a very cool chest logo.

• Do you get the feeling that maybe the Detroit Cougars didn’t originally plan on using NOBs?

• On the other hand, the New York Cosmos left plenty of NOB room but didn’t know how to use it.

• So much to like in this photo of the Chicago Sting vs. the Dallas Tornado.

• Now that’s a weird number font. If you scroll through this page, you’ll see that the Clippers used all sorts of weird number treatments in their brief two-season existence.

• Starred socks! As worn by the Houston Stars, natch.

• Okay, I don’t mean to harp on the NOBs, but come on. Joe Hilseberg, where were you when this league needed you?

• I hate logo creep but love ticking stripes. So what do I make of this? Hmmm, that’s a tricky one. The team in question, by the way, is the 1980 Memphis Rogues, although they weren’t the only team using that design element.

• Interesting to see that the Philly Fury used a contrasting placket. Looked pretty good!

• Does this 1967 St. Looie Stars jersey totally look like a thrift store special or what? Yes, I’ll buy it for $6, sold!

And look, the site even has a page devoted to NASL cheerleaders. Would you believe the KC Spurs called their cheering corps the InSPURettes? And the Tampa Bay Rowdies called theirs — wait for it — the Wowdies.

And just to bring everything full circle, reader Raifie Bass has a real prize in his collection: a Colorado Caribous satin jacket!

That settles it, from now on Uni Watch will cover soccer exclusively, the end.

Research Query: Two years ago I wrote an ESPN column in which surveyed the Cowboys’ assorted uniform quirks, past and present. The following summer, I wrote similar columns about the Cubs and White Sox.

Those columns were really fun to write, and popular besides. I’d like to do more of them, but I’ve had a hard time identifying other teams that would benefit from the same treatment. Maybe the St. Looey Cardinals..?

Can you think of other teams that would fit the bill here? Remember, the operative concept here is NOT “Let’s look at this team’s entire uni history”; the idea is to find teams that have had interesting uni histories, replete with quirks and underappreciated nuances. If you go back and read those three previous columns, you’ll see that the Cowboys, Cubs, and Chisox fit this description exceedingly well. If you think any other teams qualify, don’t be shy about telling me. Oh, and please don’t bother suggesting Oregon’s football team, thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New Aussie football kit for Port Adelaide (designed by a seven-year-old girl — no, really, read the sixth graf) and West Coast (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: Check out this bizarre baseball jersey patch. That’s the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz, circa 1940s. … Phil found some interesting shots of Teddy Ballgame wearing cut-off windbreaker sleeves and an undershirt. Here’s another. … Apparently Kareem didn’t get the memo about which shoes and socks to wear to the photo shoot (with thanks to Jeremy Richardson). … Danny Millan has started a new Brooklyn-centric clothing line. I appreciate the sentiments, although I hope the Brooklyn Nets never actually come to pass. … Remember these football gloves? Here’s the next evolutionary step (with thanks to Jonathan Mayer). … Ever wonder why David Vyborny used to use solid-black sticks? Right, me neither, but Columbus Dispatch beat writer Aaron Portzline had this to say during a recent online chat: “David Vyborny was so peeved that he didn’t get a stick deal that he used to spray paint his sticks black to keep from advertising the manufacturer. Vyborny was an interesting dude” (with thanks to Kellen Dargle). … Scandalous news out of New Jersey, where a little birdie informs me that the Devils’ throwbacks, slated to be worn on March 17th, will be lame-o fauxbacks. According to my source, they’re just using the current jersey template with green replacing the black. Also, they’re using the modern red and a darker green. Pfeh. … What team is this? Details here. … Troy Polamalu’s little embroidered cross is suddenly everywhere. Word I hear from league sources is that they’re okay with it because it’s covered by his hair, sort of like if he had a message on a T-shirt under his jersey — out of sight, out of mind — but I suspect the real story is that they don’t want to wade into the thorny thicket of religious expression. … Lots of Mets fans sent me this item about the new cream-base pinstripes, which will be officially introduced in a few weeks. The item implies that the cream pins won’t have the black drop shadow — I hope that’s true, but it does not jibe with the information I have. … Yesterday’s Portland Beavers entry inspired Craig Rockhold to send over a bunch of pics from that PCL exhibit at the San Francisco airport. … In a move that’s waaaaay overboard for a high school, Under Armour is sponsoring River Hill High in Maryland and has provided them with a different uniform for every game this season (with thanks to Jonathan Blake). … Pete Woychick recently rediscovered these two high school hoops warm-up tops in his parents’ attic. Super-offensive logo icon on one of them, but nice pieces nonetheless. Odd to see St. Joe’s abbreviated as “St. Jo’s,” no? … Throwbacks will be in the mix this season for Loyola Marymount. No images yet, but the game dates are listed in the middle of this page. … 1957 A.L. Red Book, in what looks to be tip-top condition, available here (thanks, Teebz). … Back to Uni Watch’s new favorite sport: Coachie Ballgames has done an analysis of World Cup uniforms and concluded that it’s all about the collars.

Reader Michael Kotler has noticed something really interesting going on in Japanese baseball. I’ll let him explain:

As we all know, MLB players can’t wear the number 42 (besides Mariano). But I’ve noticed that in Japan, a lot of foreign players wear 42. I looked into and it seems there are six foreigners wearing it: Marcus Gwyn of the Rakuten Golden Eagles; Marc Kroon of the Tokyo Giants; Tom Mastny of the Yokohama Baystars; Tony Blanco of the Chunichi Dragons; Brian Sweeney of the Nippon Ham Fighters; and Jonah Bayliss of the Seibu Lions.

Six players may not sound like much, but there are only 12 teams in Japan, and each team is only allowed to have four foreigners on its roster. So having one of the four players foreign players on half of the teams wearing 42 seems a little odd.

Is it just that most of these players wore 42 when they were young and wanted to continue it? Is it that they just want to wear 42 because they know they couldn’t back in the States (all except Blanco are American)? Is it that they all want to honor Jackie Robinson (which I think would be pretty cool)? Or is it just a ridiculous coincidence?

Good questions. One question that immediately came to mind was whether any of the six other Japanese teams had a Japanese player wearing No. 42. So I asked Kotler that, and he said and he promptly reported that four of the six have 42s on the roster: the Hanshin Tigers, Toyo Carp, Yakult Swallows, and Chiba Lotte Marines.

So the situation is this: Ten players in Japan wear No. 42, and six of them are non-Japanese players. Hmmmm. Mark in Shiga, Jeremy Brahm, and our other Japanese baseball experts, can any of you shed any light on this?

Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to get in the raffle for the 10 free copies of Bill Henderson’s MLB jersey guide. To enter, send an e-mail to the raffle address by 7pm tonight. One entry per person, except for Uni Watch Membership Program enrollees, who can send four separate entries. I’ll announce the winners tomorrow.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of brown pants and striped socks in Browns camp, which strikes me as a fair trade-off (with thanks to David Cummings). … Attention Teebz and all the other Canadians out there, check this out: Commonwealth Games cufflinks! … Anyone else think it’s a little unseemly for a diamond-stud earring to be worn by a first base coach? That’s long-pants pioneer George Hendrick, putting another nail in propriety’s coffin. … This installment of “Tank McNamara” won’t be running in The Washington Post. The larger question, of course, is why any installment of “Tank McNamara” is running in any newspaper, ever. … Here’s a Sox in shorts photo I hadn’t seen before. It’s part of this uni-centric slideshow (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … I love hot dogs, tattoos, and topless women, but this is still pretty freaky-deaky (thanks, Kirsten). … New court design for the Sixers (with thanks to F.J. Wesner). … The Pirates all went high-cuffed on Sunday, as you can see in this highlight clip. Man, I freaking love high cuffs with vests — such a great look. “The only ones who didn’t participate were relievers Matt Capps and Jesse Chavez,” notes Stu Uhlman. “Coincidence that they blew the lead and let the game get out of hand?” … New football uniforms for Pitt. Additional pics here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Orioles outfielder Willie Tasby reportedly played without shoes because he was afraid of being struck by lighting. We must find photos of this! … Yesterday’s Ticker mentioned that UNLV’s helmet stripe appeared to be changing from black to red, but I’ve been informed by several readers that that’s just a rookie thing for players who haven’t yet “earned the black stripe.” … Yikes (blame Chris Perske). … Take a good look, because I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing these for very long. And this will become a collector’s item. … UCLA will wear throwbacks for homecoming. Details here. … Did you know the NCAA can bar a team from practicing if they use “improper attire”? I didn’t, until I came across this story last night. Key quote, from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: “I was like dad-gum, we can’t get anything done in shorts.” Words to live by. … Wait, cancel that last item — the canceled practices have been restored. … Oh man, check out this magnificent old Broncos/Titans photo from Mike Hersh’s father’s collection. Love the old-style blocking technique exhibited by No. 74. … You think we’re obsessive? Check out this guy. … That story, incidentally, was written by Michael Schmidt, the same reporter who’s been breaking the stories about the steroid list. Good article about him here.

Time for another bunch of vintage NFL screen shots from reader Steve K., who continues to document unusual uni-related items from the 1970s (if you’ve missed the previous entries featuring his work, they’re here and here). Here we go:

• If you think John Hadl’s NOB looked off-center in this shot (which was featured in one of Steve’s earlier reports), check him out here — yikes.

• Oilers DB Willie Germany wore some white tape stripes on his thighs.

• Note the small type on Emery Moorehead’s NOB, circa 1977. “Only a few Giants had this font that season, including Moorehead and OL Jim Pietrzak,” says Steve. “From 1977-80, the Giants had numerous inconsistencies in their NOB fonts which, I’ll document another time.”

• Alfred Jenkins’s NOB type wasn’t small — it was missing altogether in this 1977 shot.

• Speaking of missing uni elements, here’s Rick Upchurch wearing a blank helmet in 1975 — shocking! But he had a logo-clad helmet in the second half of the same game.

• Meanwhile, here’s Upchurch’s teammate Billy Van Heusen with no space between the two part of his surname.

• On the other end of the spectrum, check out James McAlister’s NOB with a wide space. This appears to have been Philly’s standard style in 1975.

• Speaking of the Eagles, check out the livery on this helicopter — interesting mix of the helmet wing and an eagle’s head.

• Steve has documented several instances of the mid-’70s Chargers NOBs with the first initial coming after the surname, and here’s another one. “That’s little-known OL Booker Brown,” says Steve. “Oddly, there was no other Charger with the surname Brown on the team in 1975.”

• “We all know that the NFL changed the end zone markers from from flags to orange pylons beginning in 1974,” says Steve. “But the Broncos appear to have used striped pylons for this 1975 game against the Eagles.”

• We’ve had plenty of discussion about the inconsistencies in the Dolphins’ numerals over the years, but here’s a particularly glaring example: Check out the TV numbers in this shot.

• 1970s coaching attire was always good for a laugh (especially when the coach in question was Bum Phillips). And even if the coach was dressed conservatively, there was usually someone on the field to remind you which decade you were in.

That’s enough for now. More stuff coming from Steve soon.

Friendly Reminder: If you’ve been uni-tracking a team for Phil, he wants to hear from you asap. Full details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New sleeve patches for Navy. Further details here (with thanks to Mike Althouse and Kevin Whisman, respectively. … Mike Hersh picked up some cool stuff at the National in Cleveland last week, including this awesome 1939 Eagles photo and a great view of some killer Michigan logo socks. … John Moist was vacationing in Philly and spotted a waiter wearing faux stirrups at the Old City Tavern. “They are required to wear white socks,” he says. “I told him about Uni Watch and that this photo may appear. Sorry, didn’t get his name. Also, another waiter had swoosh socks. I did not take his photo.” … Big news from Jeff Ash, who writes: “I am working on a Packers photo history book that may be of interest to uni enthusiasts. Titletown’s Team won’t be out until November, but it will have more of the old Packers photos I’ve posted at the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s web site over the last couple of years. We also will be putting some of that material online.” … I don’t like Nike, but I might make an exception in this case (big thanks to Chad Todd). … Here’s a patch I’d never seen before, because it was never worn on the ice. The Flyers wore it for promo photos after their 1975 Stanley Cup championship. Here’s one more view (nice find by Paul Richard Cook). … Here’s an article about which UK soccer team has the most sponsor patches (with thanks to Craig Sallinger). … Michael Chamberlain is the track announcer at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. “In our first race this Saturday, the #2 horse is named Uni. 6-1 odds on the morning line, and I will certainly plan on picking him in my tip sheet and will probably put a couple of bucks on him also to honor the Uni Watch site.” Thanks, Michael! … Small item buried within this guide to NYC museums: “On the second floor of the American Wing [at the Met], there’s an open storage area where art is displayed in glass cases while galleries undergo renovations. There you can admire a fraction of the museum’s thousands of rare baseball cards, donated by electrician Jefferson R. Burdick. (The rest, including a 1909 Honus Wagner valued at more than $2 million, are stored in the archives.) Until 1993, the cards were available for viewing by appointment only: It’s rumored that practice stopped because fanatic card collectors would pocket the valuable ones” (big thanks to Laura Forde). … Coupla good finds on the Chris Creamer board, including a new 50th-anniversary logo for the Lakers, an upcoming white-out for FSU, and new cleats for Matt Hasselbeck. Didn’t he get in trouble a few years back for wearing white shoelaces with black shoes? … NOBs have been restored at Iowa State, which had been NNOB for the past two seasons (with thanks to Chris Andringa). … According to Dressed to the Nines, “In 1895, a number of ballplayers, including future Hall of Fame outfielder Jesse Burkett, experimented with baseball caps that had green-tinted, transparent bills. The idea was to allow the fielder a better range of view while protecting him from the glare of the sun, but apparently the see-through bills never caught on.” I knew about that. But I didn’t know that a variation on that concept was still being sold in the Sears catalog in 1923 (nice find by David Neuman). … Apparently nobody has told the folks at AFLAC (or at FSN Rocky Mountain) that the Orioles no longer have “Orioles” on their road jersey (with thanks to Matt Hiett). … Tim Burke notes that Rays catcher Michel Hernandez was missing his manta ray sleeve patch last night. … “Does he tear EVERYthing?” asks Brinke Guthrie. … Entertaining survey of high school team logos here (with thanks to Kurt Esposito). … The Titans will wear a Steve McNair memorial decal this season. … Vicente Padilla was sporting the Pedro Padilla Porthole last night (as spotted by Jay Shive). … Paul Getz II notes that the Phillies have stopped wearing their World Series championship sleeve patch. … Can someone please order one of these for Luis Castillo? … There’s a blog devoted to the Arizona Wildcats equipment staff (with thanks to Eric Sing). … Speaking of the Mets, had a great time at Shea yesterday with Phil. Two uni-notable items: (1) Cards catcher Jason LaRue wore navy shinguards with a red chest protector, and (2) Bobby Parnell had been with the Mets all season long without coming up to bat, until the bottom of the 8th yesterday. He promptly got a base hit, at which point they showed him on the jumbotron, which is when I saw that he had his own batting helmet. Just think how many times that helmet has been packed, unpacked, put in the helmet rack, put back in the helmet bag, taken on the road, etc., all season long, just waiting for its chance to finally be used in a game. I take a lot of shots at Charlie Samuels, but I give him credit for having a helmet for every player, even the ones who might never get a turn at bat.

Pudge Rodriguez was at the center of a bizarre sequence of events during last night’s Cards/’Stros game. It began when he announced prior to the game that he was changing his uni number from 12 to — get this — 77. The backstory can be found in this article, which explains:

“That’s my number,” [Rodriguez] said. “I’ve used that number all my career. I respect I cannot wear No. 7 here because (Craig) Biggio retired the jersey. But it’s always a good thing to have two sevens instead of one. You can see seven from the left and seven from the right. You don’t have to turn too much. Just seven all over the place.”

Rodriguez wore No. 7 throughout his major league career until he settled for No. 12 after he was traded late last year to the New York Yankees, who retired No. 7 in honor of Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. In Houston, No. 7 is retired in honor of Biggio.

“I was just missing my number,” Rodriguez said. “And pretty much all my career it’s been No. 7, so I find it an interesting thing and create something big.”

Uh, whatever you say, Pudgester. I couldn’t find any wire service photos of Rodriguez, so I went to the game video so I could get some shots of his new number (here’s one showing how it looks with his catching gear).

While I was doing that, I noticed that his front uni number appeared to be black, instead of Houston’s usual red. That shot is from the 2nd inning, but maybe it was just poor video quality, because he definitely had a red number in this 7th inning photo, which I found this morning.

Meanwhile, as I was watching all this game footage of Rodriguez, he squibbed a foul ball toward the first base dugout camera. It his the camera right in the lens, leaving an impression of the laces that was visible in the subsequent camera shot. Never seen that before, and never would’ve seen it this time if I hadn’t been hunting for good images of Pudge.

Finally, as you may have noticed in several of those photos, the Astros wore their lunar landing caps last night.

Membership Update: As if it hadn’t been enough to have a sock and stirrup dealer advertising on the site for two months, we now have a Uni Watch Membership Program enrollee who’s requested a card design based on a sock pattern — a request that Scott and I were only too happy to grant. The enrollee is Craig Dodge, and I think you’re all familiar with the sock design in question (which Craig chose because it matches the name of his blog). Nicely done, bud. Kudos also to new member Shaun Ploenzke, who went for the late-’70s Cavs treatment. Like I’ve always said, the most garish uniforms make the most interesting membership cards.

As always, the full gallery of card designs is here, the membership roster is here, and you can have your name added to the roster by signing up here.

Stirrup Club Update: Robert Marshall is continuing his heroic efforts to single-handedly sustain the integrity of baseball hosiery by making stirrups available to the masses in less-than-massive quantities. This month’s designs: old-school A’s and Cardinals. You can order either one, both, or neither (but only a chump would get neither). Full details here.

And Baked Agbayani for Dessert: Remember, live Mets uniform quiz contest tonight, at Two Boots. Festivities begin at 7pm and I’m told that I’ll be going on third, after Greg Prince and Jon Springer, and before Matt Silverman.

And if that’s not enough to entice you, check out this note from the evening’s host, Two Boots manager Phil Hartman:

We’ll be marking the occasion by serving up “The Montañez” — a spicy chorizo and andouille pizza, with a jalapeño pesto swirl. Fitting, I think, for the spicy and over-styled Willie. And at the bar, we will be serving “The Hammer,” the ingredients of which are as inscrutable as John Milner’s career.

I selected these because they sum up my feelings about the Mets. Milner was my favorite Met in the late ’70s, and he was traded for Montañez, perhaps my least favorite player in all of baseball. I specifically remember cursing the baseball gods when I heard about it. Yet within a few weeks of the onset of the ’78 season, I had become a big Monteñez fan — after all, he was now part of the family.

Should be a swell night. Come dressed as your favorite injured Met and get a free cortisone shot! (Free cortisone shot not included.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: Nike conducted a seven-on-seven tourney for high school football players the other day, and Mark Boothby notes that the team names — Land Sharks, Vapor Trail, Zoom Blade, Zoom Fly, Field Sharks, etc. — were all taken from the names of Nike cleats. … Really interesting piece on the design of money and other finance-related products here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The new Royals Hall of Fame includes some prototype logos that were developed by the folks at Hallmark but never used. … You can’t access the Sports Business Daily site without a subscription, so here’s an excerpt from a story that appeared the other day: “Yankees attorneys are demanding that Long Island resident Steve Lore’s trademarked phrase ‘the house that juice built’ be banned. Lore coined the phrase to ‘express his disgust over steroid use in baseball. The team’s lawyers also want to ban Lore’s T-shirt design that shows the ‘Yankee top hat logo with the bat replaced by a syringe’” (big thanks to Todd Radom). … Stop whatever you’re doing and check out this amazing promotional trailer produced by Brunswick in 1960. It features all their bowling alley equipment for that year, and it’s totally the bomb. Part One is here, and Part Two continues here. Not to be missed, my friends (major find by Jon Hammer and Karen McBurnie, who went bowling with me on Saturday at Paul’s Bar & Bowling in Paterson, N.J., which, by coincidence, has many of the original fixtures shown in the film). … Here’s a sport I hadn’t been aware of: Segway polo (as forwarded by Luke Engen). … Tim Hudson wore stirrups for a minor league rehab start on Sunday (with thanks to Jonathon Binet). … A little birdie tells me that a fan wearing an “I’m Calling It Shea” T-shirt was recently featured on the Mets’ jumbotron during one of those between-innings quiz segments, much to the consternation of team brass. Bite me, Fred and Jeff! … Good thing we recently ran all that Tecmo Bowl material, because Nike has just released a new sneaker featuring the Teco Bowl version of Bo Jackson. There’s a baseball version, too. Between my hatred of Nike and my indifference to video games and sneakers, I’d say this is more or less the least likely item ever to have appeared in the Ticker (all credit to Dane Drutis). … Remember that Royals Hall of Fame sleeve patch? It apparently looked like this (courtesy of Mike Vamosi). … As I believe many of you are already aware, new football unis in the offing for Arizona State. … Cycling news from Mike Rich, who writes: “As you probably know, riders in the Tour de France (and the other Pro Tour races, for that matter) wear a special jersey if they are their National Champion in the particular event. Thus, the road racing champions wear their National Champion jersey in most every stage of the Tour de France. Current Italian National Road Racing Champion Filippo Pozzato has worn this jersey for most of the Tour. But the Italian Cycling Federation apparently didn’t approve of the design. On Sunday he was wearing a decidedly different, supposedly approved jersey. Photos are elusive at the moment, but it featured three thick vertical stripes rendered in the colors of the Italian flag.” … Ever wonder what the Apollo 11 landing site would look like superimposed on a baseball diamond? Me neither, but here it is anyway (with thanks to Ryan Connelly).

Two interesting moments during last night’s Yanks/Braves game in Atlanta.
One of them came during the top of the 9th, when Mariano Rivera got a rare turn at bat — only the second regular-season plate appearance of his career, and only the fifth overall. So this was a very unusual chance to see him in a batting helmet.

But hey, what’s with the “91″? It was on the back of the helmet, too — apparently Rivera had to use Alfredo Aceves’s helmet. Granted, closers don’t bat very often, but are you really telling me that the spare-no-expense Yankees couldn’t be bothered to have a helmet for a Hall of Famer? Next you’re gonna tell me that Derek Jeter’s range isn’t what it used to be. (For the record, Rivera flied out, stranding three runners. Clutch performer my ass.)

The more interesting tidbit occurred in the bottom of the 8th, when Brian Bruney came in to pitch. Turns out he didn’t have the Yankee Stadium patch on the back of his cap. No biggie there — as we’ve previously noted, Jeter and Robinson Cano have also gone patch-free lately. But they’ve at least had the MLB logo on his cap, while Bruney did not have it last night.

I did a little checking and discovered that Bruney’s cap was also plain-backed during his two previous appearances, on June 19th and June 16th. His last appearance before that was on May 19th (he spent several weeks on the DL), and in that game he had the stadium patch. So his no-frills cap appears to be something he’s worn only during his latest stretch of activity.

Here’s the thing: Where can you even find an authentic Yankees cap without either the stadium patch of the MLB logo? Bruney might just have a collector’s item.

(Thanks to everyone who sent submitted info and screen shots, including Doug Keklak, Terrence O’Donohue, Jesse Ghiorzi, Chris Merce, Brian Harvey, and of course Phil.)

Raffle/Redemske Reminder: I’m currently raffling off four pairs of Wilco tickets and taking up a collection to help out former Uni Watch bench coach Bryan Redemske, who broke his back in a cycling accident last week. Full details on both of these projects here.

Last Chance to See That Thing You Never Cared About Anyway: This is the last weekend that the Candela Structures exhibit will be up at the City Reliquary. Also, I’m giving a private showing of the exhibit to a couple of people at noon tomorrow. If anyone wants to get in on that, let me know.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Brooklyn Cyclones became the Baracklyn Cyclones two nights ago. Photo gallery here. … Brian Schulz reports that former Vikings player Randall McDaniel had some interesting things to say during a radio interview yesterday: “He said he was going to give Canton his shoulder pads, which he was issued on day one as a Viking and wore his entire career. They also asked for his practice jersey, because he had only used ONE practice jersey his entire career as well. He said it was so patched and stitched up that it barely resembled a jersey any longer, and that the only way you knew it was purple was because the end that tucked into his pants was still a brighter purple, while the other parts of the jersey was a mismatch of lavender and white stitching. He went on to say that it’s currently hanging in his home and that he told Canton no, they couldn’t have it.” … Pawtucket and Durham recently held a Negro Leagues night, and Peter Romano took a bunch of photos. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The 76ers didn’t quite revive their old logo exactly intact — they slightly altered the 6. … A few days ago I mentioned the Spaghetti Bowl. Turns out there’s a bunch of photos of it in the Life archives (with thanks to Lance Smith). … Interesting ESPN branding/style guide here (good find by Alan Borock). … Amazing old jersey available here (with thanks to Kevin Marks). … NOBs are being restored to Utah’s basketball uni. … According to this story, UNC “will wear throwback uniforms in a number of games that honor a championship team from the past” for the upcoming season (with thanks to Chris Warfford). … Mike Hersh reports that the College Vault folks have branched out into horse racing, as well as non-sports topics. … You know how Phil and several other readers are tracking various teams’ records by uniform? The Mets are doing that too (with thanks to Greg Michelena, who took that shot prior to last night’s game at Shea). … Georgia Tech’s hoops team will wear throwbacks through the 2009-10 season to honor the anniversaries of the 1960, 1985, and 1990 teams. According to this item, the team’s home whites will resemble the 1960 uni, and the road golds will be patterned after the 1985 and 1990 designs (with thanks to Glynn McGehee).

OK, things have now officially gotten so weird that the question needs to be asked: Is there someone at Majestic who’s pissed off because his wife had an affair with a Nationals player? Or with a Nationals executive? Or maybe just with a random person in DC?

That’s about the only plausible explanation after the latest (but almost certainly not final!) episode of “Spot the Nats Uni Faux Pas™!” While you were driving home from your annual Mothers Day fiasco and wondering if it might be possible to rent yourself a new family between now and Fathers Day (forget it, you had put down your deposit months ago), Nats reliever Ron Villone was taking the hill in the bottom of the 6th with both of his front uni numerals flapping in the breeze. The 4 achieved an impressive angle of declination, and the 1 created a nice profile effect. Look, you can even see the torn stitches!

The last time I recall something like this happening on an MLB diamond was on 4/10/05, when Miguel Tejada’s “1″ came loose (he ended up removing it completely and played the rest of the game as No. 0). But Tejada’s situation was understandable, because he had just come out of a head-first slide. Villone, on the other hand, had just come out of, uh, the visitors’ bullpen in Arizona.

In case you’ve lost track, Villone is at least the fifth Washington player this season to wear a jersey that was less than shipshape. The others — or at least the others we know of — are Mike Hinckley (upside-down 8), Wil Ledezma (upside-down N), Ryan Zimmerman (misspelled team name), and Adam Dunn (misspelled team name). And this has all happened in the course of just 29 games. At this pace, there’s enough time left in the season for every player on Washington’s 25-man roster to have his own uni glitch — plus a couple of September call-ups!

It can’t just be a coincidence that all these mishaps are befalling the same team, right? All you Majestic folks out there, I know you’re reading this. Anyone care to take the Deep Throat role on this one? C’mon, somebody spill already — I promise to safeguard your anonymity (unless your name is Dick Hertz or something like that, since everyone’ll think that’s a pseudonym anyway).

As for Villone, he needed only three pitches to put out the fire in the 6th inning, and another Washington pitcher took over in the 7th, so we’ll never know whether Villone would have gone back out there with his dangling numerals. And it turns out that the problem had begun to manifest itself the night before, when his 1 was beginning to come loose.

In any case, let’s give Villone credit for some preternatural self-control. How did he resist the urge to rip the numbers off his jersey right there on the mound? I don’t know about you, but my policy when confronted with anything that’s loose and already partially detached — a thread, a button, a clothing tag, a bit of peeling paint, a tuft of cat fur, a Band-Aid, a hangnail, a cuticle, a tooth, a scab, a limb — is that it must be torn free as swiftly and cleanly as possible, am I right? Yet Villone somehow resisted this compulsion. Either he didn’t realize the numbers were coming loose or else he’s a cyborg.

Meanwhile, here’s another question worth asking: Maybe the Nats’ equipment manager should wake up already? Just a thought.

(Special thanks to readers Jeff Christ and Ryan Tominac, who brought this one to my attention within seconds of each other.)

Extracurricular Update: Just about every free moment I have this week (and probably some not-so-free moments as well) will be devoted to finalizing and installing the Candela Structures exhibit, which opens this Saturday at the City Reliquary. Kirsten and I have been working on this for eight months, and now we’re in “all Candela, all the time” mode (read: a frantic blur). The good news is that I’m pretty happy with how the show has come together; the bad news is that things are going to be so crazy that I’ll probably have to call at least one snow day for the site this week. Apologies in advance for the withdrawal symptoms.

The exhibit has already gotten some coverage on Gothamist, and we expect more media attention this week, including an article in Friday’s New York Times.

For those who are planning to attend the opening reception/party on Saturday evening: Festivities commence at 7pm, but the Reliquary will be open all day. So, if you actually care about seeing the exhibit (as opposed to drinking, mingling, showing off your “I’m Calling It Shea” shirt, etc.), I suggest that you arrive by 6pm, because the exhibit room will be so crowded during the party that you probably won’t be able to take in all the material. There’s really good barbecue half a block away at Fette Sau, so come by in the late afternoon to check out the exhibit, then grab some ’cue, and then come back to the Reliquary for the party (and maybe bring me a present from Fette Sau, hint-hint).

For those who can’t make it on Saturday, the show will be on view at the Reliquary for weekends at least through the end of June. We’ll also be making most of the exhibit’s content available on our Candela web site, so you out-of-towners (and lazy NYCers) will have a chance to see what all the fuss is about.

Meanwhile…: As some of you may be aware, the site’s third birthday is this Sunday. In the past, I’ve always had some sort of announcement to commemorate this date — the advent of the membership program, the unveiling of a new T-shirt design, etc. — but I’ve been so busy with the Candela project and a family crisis that I haven’t been able to plan anything for the site’s anniversary this year. Sorry about that. But I’m definitely proud of what we’ve all accomplished over the past three years, and I hope to be able to mark the occasion when my life’s a bit less hectic.

Speaking of which, there’s another important milestone fast approaching: The 10th anniversary of the very first Uni Watch column is on May 26th. If things work out, Johnny Ek and I may have a special announcement regarding the site that day. Or it might not be ready by then. For now, let’s just say we’ve got something cooking.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Whoa, look at this: My “Outmania” line has been co-opted! The screen grab comes courtesy of John Grow, who spotted it during Friday’s A’s/Jays pregame show (Outman pitched that night’s game). “They didn’t talk about his stirrups, just his pitching,” says John. “No one on the pregame show even said ‘Outmania’ or anything like that. It was just on that ‘Coming up next’ teaser.” … Meanwhile, Outman’s hose have gotten some attention in the local paper. … I’m pretty sure I won something really special here. Details to follow once I receive the item. … Check out Brian McCann’s new look. Details here. … Big thanks to Greg Riffenburgh for pointing out that Cleveland pitcher Jeremy Sowers deserves a spot on Uni Watch’s all-hosiery team. How come nobody brought him to my attention until now? … Soccer note from Ryan McDevitt, who writes: “World-class head case Adriano, having retired for 12 days (just long enough to persuade his club, Inter Milan, to tear up his contract), was just (inevitably) unveiled as a Flamengo player, his hometown club in Rio. In addition to the iconic red and black stripes of the Flamengo jersey, check out the personalized logos on the wall behind him: ‘Imperador do Rio: Adriano’ = ‘Adriano, Emperor of Rio,’ and ‘Voltei para vencer’ = ‘returns to conquer.’ Has there ever been a more narcissistic personal logo for a player? Also, note the tattoo of his own given name on his forearm. Winner.” … Vince has an interesting question about the Jake: “The left foul pole is now sponsored by Walgreens, with the letters running vertically about half the way up. But the W and the A stick out a little bit into foul territory — no more than a couple of inches, but still. What happens if a homer hits that part of the letter? Fair or foul?” … All-time classic contribution from Roger Faso, who writes: “The other day I was at a restaurant that had an aquarium. The shrimp in the aquarium looked like little 49ers pants. They were even color-correct. I pointed it out to my wife and her response was along the lines of, ‘That’s just super, Roger. We’re being seated right now. Would you like to join the adults for lunch?’ Later on, as I was gazing into the distance, my wife said, ‘You’re still thinking about those shrimp, aren’t you?’ It was a quintessential uni-watching moment.” … This guy apparently designed the Broncos’ current logo, along with tons of other stuff (with thanks to Justin Brownlee). … Follow-up on the topic of the Orioles’ solid-orange uniforms from the early 1970s: We had previously established that they’d been worn on 9/16/71 and 4/17/72, and now Hall of Fame curator Tom Shieber reports that the 5/15/72 edition of The Chicago Tribune included the following passage, referring to the Chisox/O’s game of the previous day: “By the time [White Sox pitcher Tom] Bradley was thru taming them, the Orioles were wearing red faces to go with their fetching new burnt-orange uniforms. ‘With that getup, they should be managed by Bob Lemon,’ somebody noted while shielding his eyes from the glage of the visitors’ loud threads. ‘I wonder how they made out in the Grapefruit League?’” … Lance Smith notes that the Life archives now feature a bunch of shots from the 1953 Tour de France. … Speaking of the Life archives, Friday’s comments featured some AMAZING shots of the West Virginia football team wearing some pants that look rather clownish from the back and really unfortunate from the front. … Jim Moran has designed a cool Mark Price tee. … “This is Norfolk (Va.) Academy lacrosse defenseman Bradley Johnson honoring his late grandfather during Friday’s Tidewater Conference tournament final,” says Tris Wykes. … New wordmark for the Penguins. … You call that an arch?! … Hey, who needs Mannywood anyway? (With thanks to Kevin Mann.) … “Those aren’t Seals uniforms,” says Roger Faso. “And that ain’t 1956.” Hmmmmm. … Cool sox, cooler tat. … Hey look, Cornell football players wear their jerseys while conducting their annual fund-raising cop ambush car wash (with thanks to Tris Wykes). … “This is Kyle Peter, an outfielder for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, the Tigers’ single-A affiliate,” writes Wayne Koehler. “As you can clearly see, he’s wearing Rick Porcello’s jersey from last season. Porcello is now with the big club.” … Evan Stewart notes that the Brown lacrosse helmets have TV numbers on one side and the Brown logo on the other. “I can’t think of any other college team that has two different logos on their helmets,” he writes. “I also couldn’t think of any other college that uses their crest on their athletic uniforms.” That last bit sounds a bit counterintuitive — is that really true? … Joe Nathan apparently uses this glove to shag flies (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … Nick Cristiano notes that Jeff Feagles, who started with the Giants wearing No. 10 before switching to 17 and then 18, is back to 17. “Rookie Hakeem Nicks now has 18, and of course 17 became available again when Plaxico was cut,” he says. I’m checking to see if Feagles exacted a price from Nicks, as he did from Eli and Plaxico for their numbers. … Mark Jacobson reports that Brandon Prideaux of the Chicago Fire had his American flag sleeve patch upside-down on Saturday. … Charlie Shields was attending the Arkansas high school baseball tourney on Saturday and noticed that Valley View High has put an interesting spin on the Brewers’ old ball/glove logo. … Nick Whitford says the Broncos used two similar but distinct helmet logos prior to the Nike redesign — one from 1968-92, and one from 1993-96. Details in this discussion board thread. … Karl Vierthaler points out that one of the Brewers’ ballboys is wearing a jersey with the team’s 2002 All-Star Game patch. It’s not clear whether the ballboy has been there that long or if the team is really into recycling. … Some info on Mother’s Day footwear here. As for all the rest of the pink sweatbands, bats, ribbons, etc., there was too much of it to keep track of, so I won’t even try. … Roy McMillan was 35 when this photo was taken. Did he already look like an old man or what? … “I work at the Red Sox team store across from Fenway,” writes Michael Caldwell. “Yesterday I was going through old clearance items in a back room of the store’s warehouse and came across this little gem. It was the only one I could find, so who knows how many were made! I wonder if it was meant to be worn as a sleeve patch the following season?” … Bryan Justman’s latest DIY project: a Hartford Whalers jersey. … Have I mentioned that I love Milwaukee? … Interesting place for a condom ad (”Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” says Jason Bernard). … “My son had a tournament over the weekend,” writes Patrick Chippeax. “While we were ’scouting’ other teams we came across this. No other picture, and the only info I have is that they were called the Hustlers. Draw your own conclusions.” … I realize purple is a Washington Huskies team color, but is it really necessary for them to have a purple warning track? (As forwarded by Steve Mandich.) … Hey, this poster is pretty cool! Who knew they played football in Poland? “The league started in ’06 with four teams,” explains Stan Olechowski. “In ’09 they’ll have 22 teams in two divisions. The level of play is pretty bad, but it’s cool to see my fellow Polacks playing football.” … Good to see that Steve Dewing’s amazing baseball photo site, which had been largely dormant for about six weeks, is once again posting new photos daily.

Man, what does Majestic have against the Nationals? In the team’s latest uni snafu that can be traced back to the outfitter’s factory, Mike Hinckley’s 8 was upside-down last night (note how the beveling is on the wrong side). Kudos to reader Jason Shaffer for being today’s winning contestant on “Spot the Nats’ Uni Faux Pas™!”

And that’s all for today, cuz I have a bunch of other stuff I need to deal with. No content, no comments, no foolin’ — sorry. Back tomorrow with some really good stuff, promise. — Paul

As we all know, NFL uniform changes are usually in the pipeline for a year or so before they’re unveiled. And it’s been less than seven months since the Lions fired Matt Millen, so he probably had a hand in the uniform redesign that the team unveiled yesterday. And that’s about the only possible explanation for how they botched such a golden opportunity to get this team back on the right aesthetic track.

Okay, one at a time:

• The color scheme: There are about three people in the entire country who like all the black trim on the Lions’ uniforms. Whatever else they were going to do, they had to ditch the black — that was job one. But they didn’t do it. I mean, come on, this team is still gonna wear black undersleeves and a black facemask? What a joke. Is it good or is it stupid? So stupid that most of the other changes barely matter.

• The new logo: This is one time when I don’t mind an animal logo looking a little meaner. Hell, lions are supposed to be ferocious, right? Yeah, the whole flowing-mane thing is silly, and the black outline is a major disappointment, but this doesn’t look any worse on the helmet than the last logo did. Not as good as it could have been, but not nearly as stupid as it could have been either.

• The new wordmark: You’re joking, right? You’re gonna use that in the NFC North, the heart of Midwest? They’re gonna laugh that shit right off the field. And why would you outline your logo in black but leave your wordmark without a black outline? I mean, I’m glad you didn’t add the outlining to the letters, but it seems a tad inconsistent, no? Stupid.

• The new helmet: As noted above, Bubbles looks fine. And much as I hate to admit it, the old color-white-color stripe pattern that so many teams have used for so long is finally starting to look a bit clunky, so the new stripe pattern, with thinner stripes (similar to the striping change the 49ers made over a decade ago), makes sense. Too bad two of those stripes have to be black, but whaddaya gonna do. Good.

• The new jersey collar and chest wordmark: It’s difficult to express how much I hated this design from the sternum up. This, while far from perfect, is an improvement. The black-silver-black collar is much better than black-blue-black (although getting rid of the black would be even better), and the the silver wordmark is soooooo much better than the black one. I don’t even mind the wordmark’s silly swoops and curves so much in this context, because it’s so small and the embroidery process smooths out some of the design’s excesses. Good.

• The new uni numbers: A complete disaster. You’re going to wear cutie-pie swoops and open-faced 4s (or both at the same time) in the Black and Blue Division? Look, the Bears can wear their thin, elongated numerals ’cause they’ve had ’em for decades, but otherwise this is a block-typeface division. And even if the Lions were a west coast or Sun Belt team with a sleek, streamlined image, this typeface still reeks of digital gimmickry for gimmickry’s sake. Seriously stupid.

• The new sleeve stripes: The old striping pattern has been revised, but whatever. The real story is that sleeve stripes on football jerseys — especially super-wide ones like the Lions use — don’t really work anymore because sleeves barely exist anymore, so this would’ve been a good time to narrow the stripes or scrap them altogether. Another missed opportunity. Stupid.

• The new pants striping: Again, they’ve copied the Niners, going from the old-style color-white-color (with annoying black outlining) to what is essentially a vertical Northwestern stripe. Not bad, but if they wanted to take ideas from the Niners, shouldn’t they have done it back when Mariucci was coaching for them? Anyway, the black outlining on the old design was so distracting that the design counts as addition by subtraction. Let’s call it good.

The new socks: For once, I don’t mind the black here, because this is as close as we’re gonna get to striped NFL socks these days. Not bad, right? Good.

All in all, it could’ve been a little bit worse, but it also could’ve been so, so much better. Next time, gang, ditch the black.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Big shout-out to bench coach emeritus Bryan Redemske, who was involved in a 30-mph cycling crash on Sunday and ended up in the hospital with stitches in his eyebrow. Rest up and feel better soon, Bry (and remember, girls love cool scars). … Nice little DIY patch project by Kimberly Kane, who made a bunch of Harry Kalas memorial patches for herself and her friends to wear at last Saturday’s game. “I used black and white fabric from Wal-Mart, and Heat N’ Bond adhesive iron-on paper,” she says. “I printed the letters and stenciled them onto the white fabric, then used the adhesive paper to iron them onto the black fabric (a technique picked up in my sorority days). I sewed my patch and my boyfriend’s patch onto our jerseys, but I only put a few stitches in them so we could remove them for washing. Everyone else pinned theirs on.” … Was Orestes Destrade wearing two jerseys in this shot? (With thanks to Mike Engle, who also provided a good shot of Benito Santiago’s No. 09 jersey.) … Why would Zigmund Palffy be wearing blue gloves with a green (and very ad-saturated) uniform? “I thought maybe he was wearing his old gloves from an NHL stop,” says Bryan Heaton. “But he wore black gloves with the Penguins and the Kings, and these blue gloves don’t match the ones he wore with the Islanders.” … There’s soooooo much to say about this, I barely know where to begin (find of the year by Randy Williams). … Hey look, even the Pope gets free jerseys. But he’s Benedict XVI, so why does the jersey have No. 10? “For the 2010 World Volleyball Championships, to be hosted by Italy,” says Jeremy Brahm. Further details here. … Jeremy also sent along a bunch of interesting pics from the FIVB Women’s World Championships qualifying matches. Among the highlights: Bermuda wore CNOB (so did the men’s team), the British Virgin Islands wore abbreviated CNOB, and St. Lucia had subscript (and vertically arched) CNOB. … And still more from Jeremy: a Hankyu Braves coach whose NOB includes a macron. “They were the first Japanese team to use them,” says Jeremy. … Anyone know if there’s video of this inside-the-park grand slam? … Still more from Jeremy: Check out this amazing Hanshin Tigers photo, circa 1942. He’s wearing a military hat! … Ah, those Yankees, always helping out the community. … “I just sell it. What they do with it is up to them.” What is being referred to in that quote? Octopi, of course. Highly recommended reading (with thanks to Jason Hillyer). … Small item buried in the middle of this page: “[Cleveland] first-base coach Luis Rivera was running out of storage space in the second inning Saturday. While the Indians were sending 17 men to the plate [against the Yankees], Rivera was collecting elbow pads, shin guards and batting gloves from the players when they reached first. ‘I was wearing two elbow protectors and a shin guard,’ said Rivera. ‘I had so many batting gloves, I was sticking them in the back of my pants. I finally had to call the bat boy out to come and get everything’” (thanks, Vince). … More Tequila Blue Curacao Sunrise action. That’s the Preston High School Indians wearing the striped sensations on Saturday against the Pocatello High School Indians. “Both PHS Indians — a scorekeeper’s nightmare,” says Frank Mercogliano. … Alex Warner notes that the Nats have just called up Jordan Zimmermann, presumably making them the first team to have a Zimmerman and a Zimmermann on the roster simultaneously. … Frank Hanney’s blog has a recap of a nice little 1971 SI item about the Phillies’ usherettes. … Here’s something I didn’t know: Louisville Slugger bats made out of maple are marked with an “M” (and yes, this year’s bats also have LS’s 125th-anniversary logo, but we’ve already covered that; photo courtesy of Nicholas Schiavo). … Eeeeyikes! (Blame Tim Donovan.) … The old MECCA floor/court design now has a new home (with thanks to Jeff Ash, who used the MECCA design for his Uni Watch membership card) … Could the hockey uniform’s baggy jerseys and lack of exposed skin be hiding a doping problem in the NHL? This guy thinks so (with thanks to John Muir). … As we all know, back in 1981 the White Sox invited fans to submit a bunch of uni design concepts, some of which were made into prototypes and modeled at Comiskey. But what I didn’t know, until Chris Diserio told me, was that this got a bit of SI coverage back in the 6/8/81 issue. The text starts here and continues here and here. Illustrations here and — wait for it — here. … Next guy who designs a single-city logo mash-up has to get inked onto their body as a tattoo, or else you’re a total pussy. That photo comes from this page (with thanks to Mark Kaplowitz). … Great suggestion from Scott Taylor, who says the proper headline for the Nats jersey-typo story should have been “Oh No: No O!” … Could the Mets possibly get any more clueless? … Good spot by Tim Donovan, who writes: “I was watching a video of the final minutes of the Blackhawks/Red Wings playoff series in 1992 and they showed a shot of center Kevin Miller shaking the hands of the Blackhawks’ players and he was wearing an Osgood-style mask, complete with the neck guard.” … The NFL and Reebok conducted a big AFL throwback photo shoot last week. Here’s a small taste (not exactly a major revelation, since we’ve seen the Jets’ and Bills’ throwbacks on the field before), with dozens more photos to follow shortly. … Some pretty cool new stuff from Ebbets Field Flannels, including a Philadelaphia Hebrews jersey, and a New York Gothams jersey. … Yankee Stadium, a perfect place for a picnic (with thanks to Alan Tompas). … Majestic has officially apologized for (but not really explained) the Nats jersey snafu. … There’s a movement afoot to make UK cops wear uniform numbers (with thanks to Chris Falvey). … Larry Bodnovich made some When It Was a Game screen grabs of the 1942 Cubs. Man, is that a thing of beauty or what? … Texas Tech wore very cool throwbacks over the weekend (with thanks to Robert Snyder). … Check this out: Pirates third base coach Tony Beasley is wearing a Stargell Star! That screen grab came from Chad Morris, but Ryan Connelly sent a nearly identical shot and adds, “This is the first season since the Pirates changed their number font that the helmet number font matches the jersey numbers. The helmets used to have just basic block numbers, like this. … Today’s Wall Street Journal has a great article about stirrups in general and Twin City Knitting in particular. Check it out here. … Ethan Ganot notes that the Milwaukee Admirals wear some very odd two-tone socks. … Pretty cool how Simeon Varlamov’s mask features the Hershey Bears logo on one side and the Caps logo on the other (as pointed out by Al Stone). … Several people have sent me these Madden screen grabs, which suggest that the Dolphins are modifying and enlarging their helmet logo. To the best of my knowledge, however, that change is not happening on the field.

At the recent Uni Watch gathering in Pittsburgh, George Fetkovich was kind enough to give me this book, which has a bunch of great photos. Let’s take a look:

• Remember my column about the pinned-on uni number panels in the 1934 MLB All-Star Game? Looks like the Pitt football team was doing something similar in 1908.

• Y.A. Tittle could have used this chest mark as his personal logo. No idea what it stands for, but I like it.

• Speaking of cool chest logos, look at this! Unfortunately, there’s no explanation of what the caption refers to as “their unusual jerseys.”

• Anyone wanna colorize this? I’m thinking royal with navy trim for the jerseys, and something mustard-ish for the shorts.

• Hey, fellas, why are you wearing bras? Never seen that pattern on a hoops jersey before.

• Never seen this one either. I really like it, though.

• Here’s an interesting football team portrait. Not sure why some players have the “A” jerseys and some just have stripes. Maybe one or the other was a practice jersey design..?

• There’s surprisingly little Pirates content in the book, but I was particularly fond of two shots: This one shows the awesome “P P” collar monogramming that I love so much, and this one shows another one of those heavy-knit baseball sweaters that I wish would make a comeback.

• Very odd football padding on this guy. Almost looks like he’s got tumorous growths coming out of his elbows and shoulders, no?

• Rough image quality, but I’m intrigued by this 1906 youth baseball shot. Note the “NE” script, for “New Eagle.”

• There’s no shortage of teams that have worn their team name or city name on their placket over the years (in fact, Phil devoted an entire entry to this phenomenon back in December). But until now, I’d never seen a team wear the first initial of its city along with its team name. Note that the little period in between the first two letters on each jersey — amazing.

• Sashes are so damn cool (especially when paired with striped socks).

• Although the caption simply refers to this as a “bowling” photo, the telltale small balls mean that these lanes are configured for either duckpins (which is found primarily in Baltimore and a little bit in New England) or candlepins (upper New England). I wasn’t aware of either game ever having a foothold in western Penna. — can anyone tell me more?

If you like what you see here, you can click through the entire book here. Thanks again, George.

Special opportunity for UW readers: As I mentioned a week or so ago, there’s a sports blog panel/conference thingie coming up in June, and the organizers are now offering a 20% discount for Uni Watch readers. To take advantage of this deal, enter the code “uniwatch” when checking out on the ticket ordering page.

About that No Mas event with David Wright tonight: Basically, everyone who e-mailed yesterday is in. The event is at 8:30 tonight at 21 Mercer St. in Manhattan. Enjoy, and someone be sure to ask David Wright why he goes high-cuffed for day games.

Raffle Results: You were totally convinced that you were gonna win this time. And you were right — if your name is Curtis Pidhorney.

In case you were wondering: Yes, the Uni Watch Classifieds are still an ongoing concern. Later today we’ll add a permanent link to them They now have their own perma-link on the home page, and later today I’ll be adding a few more listings. I realize this project has been slow to develop, but we’re getting there — thank for your patience.

Uni Watch News Ticker: For those who missed it yesterday: The “I’m Calling It Shea” T-shirts are now available (here’s what the blue version looks like). And you can get a 10% discount if you use the checkout code “uniwatch” … Not sure, but I think this is Rob Ullman’s first NBA-themed treatment. … Jim Ransdell’s Sports Design Blog continues to impress. His latest winner: a post featuring lots of great circa-’74 basketball graphics. … Decent article on kinesio tape here. … Nice article here about how the Shea family is coping with the demise of Shea Stadium. … Current issue of ESPN Mag has this shot of Michael Crabtree, in which he’s wearing socks with the old NFL logo (current logo is on the cleats, though). There’s also this shot, which finds Crabtree wearing old-logo wristbands (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … Did you know frequent Ticker contributor Tris Wykes used to work for the Tampa Bay Bucs? I didn’t, until he sent me this note yesterday: “Back in 1993, while serving as an equipment assistant for the Buccaneers, we played a preseason game at Miami and I snapped this picture of my boss, Frank Pupello, and his Fins counterpart, who I believe was named Bobby Monica. We were told the aqua Dolphins helmet prototype you see on the shelf was going to be the team’s regular helmet for 1994. Apparently, that plan was scrapped.” … Don’t eat any yellow snow ice. Details here (with thanks to Brian Castile). … Angel Cabrera wears a special glove on his cigarette hand (with thanks to John Muir). … Ryan Howard, on the other hand, smokes bare-handed. … Tony Kellogg found some old football pics at an antique shop — he says they’re from the 1930s, but I think they’re earlier than that — that show the officials wearing white, which was common in the pre-zebra era. … Now the NHL postseason is starting, it’s time to grow a playoff beard (with thanks to James Huening). … Check out the “B” on Wes Unseld’s socks (with thanks to Dave Holland). … Steve Cook did some quick Photoshopping to show how the new Bosox alt cap logo would look with a white outline. Much better, sez I. … Who’da tunk Leo Sayer, of all people, had such good taste in hockey jerseys? (With thanks to Scott Stone.) … No photo, but I’m told that the Mariners have had an Ichiro jersey hanging in the dugout, which is odd for two reasons: (1) I thought Ichiro’s teammates hated him, and (2) since when is going on the DL cause for a hanging-jersey tribute? … Joan Jett, rocker ballplayer. Chris Falvey saw that photo on the wall of a New Orleans eatery. Not sure of the backstory. … Bryan Justman just finished his latest DIY project, a Guy LaFleur Nordiques jersey. … Lids for Yids (with thanks to Trevor Williams). … Teebz is running his annual NHL playoff pool over on his blog. Details here. … Who’s going to wear 42 tomorrow? Apparently everyone. … ANaGELS? … Oh dear (blame Dan O’Connor). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Michigan’s spring football game featured a QB wearing red uni numbers, presumably in place of a red no-contact jersey. … Pretty great uni-related Bruins commercial here (with thanks to Michael Blinn). … The Orioles debuted their new “Baltimore” road uniforms last night. Or is it “Balttimore”? And here’s a great spot by Tom Hedrick: Brian Roberts began the game with the wrong script on his right sleeve. Someone must have noticed, because it had been fixed by his second at-bat. … No photo, but here’s something I’d never seen before: At several points during last night’s Mets/Padres game, cameras caught San Diego outfielder Jody Gerut consulting a little crib sheet that he kept in his back pocket. Presumably had info on outfield positioning. … Also, in that same game, Mets batboy and Uni Watch membership enrollee Matt Harris christened the new Shea by wearing stirrups. Nicely done, Matt, but I also saw you untucking your jersey while you were still in the dugout after the last out was made. Save that until you’re back in the clubhouse! … Speaking of Shea’s inaugural game, a cat showed up on the field. John Okray got a video grab. … See that guy in the front row? That’s New York Governor David Paterson. He’s legally blind — and yet, as pointed out in last night’s comments, even he knew which Mets cap to wear last night, unlike the Mets themselves. … Last night I got an e-mail from one of my ESPN editors, Thomas Neumann, with the subject line “I’m assuming alcohol was involved.” The e-mail contained this link. … Pirates had their home opener yesterday and used the occasion to memorialize those three Pittsburgh police officers who were murdered by a gun-toting nut 10 days ago. The Bucs and ’Stros both wore Pittsburgh police caps during pregame ceremonies, and the Pirates kept wearing them during the game. They also added a “PBP” patch (for Pittsburgh Bureau of Police). … Speaking of the Pirates, I think someone mentioned this over the weekend, but it’s interesting that their collar piping extends all the way down the inner edge of the jersey. … Good spot by Brian Hunsicker, who notes that the “N” on the front of Wilfredo Ledezma’s jersey was upside-down yesterday. … Dave Gilmore hosts a weekly podcast on BaltimoreSportsReport.com, and this week his guest was Kevin Brotzman of Oriolesnumbers.com. “We talked about Uni Watch, Mets by the Numbers, a whole bunch of stuff,” says Dave. Check it out here.

I don’t suppose we could get the Cardinals to wear throwbacks in the Super Bowl, could we?

The Cowboys notwithstanding, I almost always root for the NFC team in the Super Bowl. But I may make an exception this year, cuz I don’t see how I can possibly root for those awful Arizona uniforms. Plus they’ll probably spend half the game showing shots of Kurt Warner’s scary-looking wife, which will just make the Cards more annoying.

Anyway, a few notes from yesterday:

• The Steelers didn’t just beat the Ravens three times this season — they beat them in three separate uniforms. Check it out: Week 4, Week 15, and yesterday. Has this ever happened before in a single NFL season? Doubt it.

• Great moment in Ravens/Steelers game when Baltimore was short on defensive linemen and had to use backup tight end Edgar Jones had to line up at right defensive end, creating the unusual sight of No. 84 in the defensive trenches. (Big thanks to James T. Huening for the screen grab.)

• Ever notice that the Steelers’ helmets have always had a very flat, non-glossy finish? Michael Pescatore says he’s been told that the team’s equipment staff used to achieve this effect by buffing the helmet shells with steel wool or Brillo. Not clear if they still do that, but their helmets definitely have more of a matte surface than other black-helmeted teams.

• Several readers have already noted that all the conference championship gear features the Reebok wordmark instead of the vector logo (plus most of it is ugly and overpriced, but that fits squarely in the dog-bites-man category). This is definitely a trend in Reebok’s branding, but Reebok representatives have assured me that there are no plans to put the wordmark on game uniforms.

• Speaking of gear, during the Steelers’ on-field celebration, Art Rooney III was wearing a cap with an upside-down Steelers logo. (Screen grab courtesy of Glenn Chavez.)

• Several hours before the Steelers/Ravens game, Marc Andre Fleury was named the first star of yesterday afternoon’s Penguins/Rangers game. Check out what he wore for the occasion. (My thanks to Timothy Welsh for the tip.)

So now we wait for two weeks. The NFC is the designated home team this year, so the game should look like this.

How many days until pitchers and catchers..?

Raffle Reminder: In case you missed it on Friday, I’m currently raffling off a free poster from Historic Football Posters. For details, look here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: According to this message board thread (whose accuracy I can’t vouch for), Iowa and Purdue will unveil new hoops uniforms next month (with thanks to Brad Eenhuis). … Lots of nice shots of ballparks during winter here. … Here’s an interesting shot of Reds prospect Juan Francisco with tape on his earflap. Other shots of him show his flaps tape-free. Anyone know more about this? (All pics courtesy of David Sonny.) … Nearly a quarter-century before the Obama campaign used “Yes We Can” as its slogan, Dave Cash got the 1974 Phillies to adopt the same catch phrase. It showed up on the groundskeepers’ uniforms (here’s a closer look), the Vets Stadium scoreboard, and Cash’s necklace (interesting historical chapter illuminated by Anthony Fiala). … Several readers have noted that Tyler Hansbrough’s American flag patch has been crooked in recent UNC games. … Gorgeous color-on-color shot: Alabama vs. Tennessee, from the Namath era (with thanks to Robert Leavell). … Matt Bennum notes that Max Talbot’s left sleeve number was coming loose two Saturdays ago. … Cool multi-exposure shot of Bill Mazeroski here (with thanks to Daniel Weimann). … You probably know that the 1948 NFL championship game was played in a snowstorm, but did you know that players from the Eagles and Cardinals had to help remove the tarp before the game? I learned that factoid from Kevin McGuire, who asks a good question: “The Eagles (the home team) wore white jerseys for that game. Was it normal for them to wear white at home back then? Did it have anything to do with the weather? It doesn’t seem to me though that wearing white in a snowstorm would generate much of an advantage for the home team.” Anyone know more about this? … Speaking of that game, Phil came up with this article, which gives a really good account of the playing conditions. … Good story from Jeffrey Hunter, who writes: “Back in the 1980s, I was one of the two guys who did the 8mm coaching films for Auburn football. North Texas came in for a non-conference game and forgot their uniforms, so the AU staff stayed up all night putting green numbers on spare AU away jerseys. North Texas ended up wearing AU away jerseys with blue and orange stripes and green numbers — it was a hoot.” … Lots of sports biz-related news available here (with thanks to Joe Hilseberg). … Frightening but hilarious (major find by Brinke Guthrie). … Apparently Jesus is a Jets fan (thanks, Kirsten). … In addition to having the worst sleeve patch in MLB history, the Mets now also have a minor league affiliate with one of history’s worst triple-A road uniforms. Additional photo here, and details here. … Here’s something new: a final-season logo for a gymnastics coach. Details here (with thanks to Philip Caldwell). … Oh, man — stick to the makeup, guys (blame Skott Daltonic). … Here’s something I haven’t seen before: Jazz assistant coach Scott Layden wearing Jazz-branded khakis. … The Harlem Globetrotters will all wear No. 44 tomorrow. … Here’s another example of a football team playing basketball. That’s QB Art Schlichter calling his bookie going in for the layup (with thanks to Richie Murray). … Sad news out of Pittsburgh, where Heinz is removing the little pickle from their logo (with thanks to Greg Netherwood). … These were once worn by Nile Kinnick, and now you can own them. Details here (with thanks to Bill Mitchell). … Most databases and other historical resources indicate that the decal on the Broncos’ helmets from 1962-66 was white. But now a Broncos scholar on the Chris Creamer board has come up with photographic evidence clearly indicating that the 1966 decal had a blue outline around the white horse. … Fascinating assortment of old Venezuelan baseball photos here (nice find by Pablo Souki). … Lots of scans from old goalie equipment catalogs here, and lots of super-detail-oriented goalie observations here (good find by Brendan Tarpey). … The Cavs and Hornets both wore throwbacks on Friday night. … Mat Orefice notes that the Clarkson hockey players wear decals of their national flags on their helmets. Is that common in college hockey? … Last Friday night’s Forewords show was a big success. It’s hard to take photos of something that takes place in a darkened room, but Collateral Gammage went ahead and did it anyway. … Randy Williams was watching highlights of the 1995 MLB season (now there’s a hot Saturday night..) and snagged this shot of Kenny Lofton’s shoe. “It looks like he has ‘90 FT’ stitched on the side,” he says, “which would make sense, since he had led the AL in steals for three straight seasons.” … Sam Posey says this photo is his grandfather’s 1941 high school football team from Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Love the striped shoulder yokes and striped helmets. … Wardrobe malfunction story from Brian Borkenhagen, who delivered the following report after Saturday’s Wisconsin-Milwaukee/Cleveland State basketball game: “On the third possession of the game, UWM’s Anthony Hill was having trouble keeping his shorts up. He was open, though, and caught a pass beyond the arc with his uniform shorts at about hip level. He fired a 3-pointer, which dropped his drawers to just above knee level (he was wearing another pair of black shorts underneath). The shot went in, and his ‘celebration’ was pulling up his uni shorts and trying to tie them tighter on the way back. He managed to keep the shorts up on the defensive end, but the next trip down the court the shorts were again sagging. The next stoppage of play led to him getting pulled to deal with the issue. He did not have any further issues after that. When they kidded him about it on the postgame show, he said (paraphrasing), ‘I came down the floor and the strings were out of my shorts, so every time I hit the strings, the shorts loosened up more.’” … The Chiba Lotte Marines have come out with a 40th-anniversary patch. “The four seagulls match different colors from the team’s past,” says Jeremy Brahm. … According to this story Sharks defenseman Rob Blake, who took a puck in the jaw the other day, will have to wear a caged helmet when he’s able to return to action (credit Brendan Tarpey again). … No photo, but apparently there was a player in yesterday’s East/West Shrine Game named Lawrence Sidbury, but his NOB was “SIDBUBY.” … The St. Cloud hockey team wore throwbacks the other day (with thanks to John Thompson). … The Dayton basketball team may wear black uniforms this Thursday to mark Obama’s inauguration. … Andy Erickson sent along this video clip from Bobby Orr’s 1979 retirement ceremony, which I assume took place at Boston Garden. But if that’s the case, why are the Bruins (looking on from their bench) wearing their road uniforms? And why is the opposing team dressed in “KC” jerseys, since there was no NHL franchise in Kansas City in 1979? As a bonus oddity, some of the KC players are wearing mismatched helmets. I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for this — could someone please tell me what it is? [Update: Mystery solved in today's comment Nos. 6, 7, and 8.] … Excellent article on the how Wisconsin’s motion-W logo was developed here (with thanks to Jeff Ash). … Kim Kolb has created a historical survey of the DC United’s uniforms. … Not uni-related but kinda brilliant. … Major find by Bryan Grupp: a 1950s Cleveland Barons ashtray! … Michigan wore 1989 throwbacks on Saturday. … Volunteers who’ll be working at the Super Bowl have had their uniforms issued to them (thanks, Phil). … Phil also reminded me that the MLB Network is debuting a Negro Leagues documentary tonight, which should make for some good uni-watching. … Atlanta’s Kari Lehtonen, who’s previously worn masks featuring Transformers, Final Fantasy X characters, and Kill Bill characters, is breaking in another pop culture-themed mask. This time he’s got Heath Ledger as the Joker, presumably because the Oscars are right around the corner (thanks, Teebz). … Special congrats to Society of Sports Uniforms Research prexy Donovan Moore, a long-suffering Arizona Cardinals fan who’s probably on Cloud 9 right about now.