A few weeks ago I ran an entry about players who’ve worn their full names on their jerseys (or FNOB, short for “full name on back”). That post prompted so many contributions that I’ve decided to do a follow-up entry today.
The most interesting case study comes our way courtesy of Les Holmlund, who wrote in to tell me that the WHA’s Alberta Oilers — forerunners of today’s Edmonton Oilers — had the entire team wearing FNOB during their inaugural 1972-73 season. Now, that Oilers team was already uni-notable for a few other reasons. According to WHAUniforms.com (usually a pretty dependable resource), they began the season wearing “ALBERTA” on their backs and then switched to round-cornered nameplates with an unusual font. But there was nothing on the site about them wearing FNOB. Fortunately, Les came up with several photos to back up his point, as seen here, here, and here. So there you have it: The Alberta Oilers, who began by wearing PNOB (province name on back) and then switched to FNOB, almost certainly making them the most eccentrically nameplated team in sports history.
As for additional FNOB examples (aside from those already listed in my previous FNOB post), I’m only listing them if we have photos confirming them. I realize the list is still very incomplete, but here are the latest additions:
Finally, a few related categories that aren’t quite FNOB but still belong in this discussion:
• Several readers suggested coming up with a separate list for players who wear more than their first initial but less than FNOB, like Michael and Martellus Bennett. If anyone wants to contribute additional examples, I’m game.
• And here’s a unique situation, as explained by reader Roy Ellingsen: “Norwegian former hockey star Carl Oscar Bøe Andersen’s name was so long that he prefered to wear just his initials on the nameplate.”
Big thanks to all who’ve contributed — we’re building a nice little nameplate database here. And if anyone wants to start building a physical collection instead of a virtual one, look what’s up for sale on eBay.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Many readers wrote in last night to report that Virginia Tech’s Victor “Macho” Harris’s left-sleeve uni number was orange last night, while his right-sleeve number (and all his teammates’ sleeve numbers) was white. No photo yet. Anyone TiVo the game? … I’ve written before about umpires being forced to wear civvies after their uniforms got lost in transit. Now Richard Koh has come up with a video clip of Eric Gregg struggling to find adequately sized gear during just such a situation. Bill Murray’s doing the color commentary, too. … Minnesota’s women’s hockey team will wear a memorial helmet decal for the rest of this season in honor of equipment manager Bonnie Olein, who recently passed away. Details here (with thanks to Mike Nachreiner). … Andy Head notes that the Saskatoon Blades wear uni numbers is a very unusual spot (plus they’ll be wearing one weird-ass jersey for Emergency Services Night next month). … Drew McKay reports that the Slipstream cycling team recently invited fans to submit designs for next year’s uniform. The team is apparently for its argyle motif, so most of the submissions were very argyle-centric (including this one, which is Drew’s favorite). You can see all 613 submissions here. … The Trenton Thunder have unveiled a 15th-season patch (as forwarded by Ted Kerwin). … Much better, even if the stirrups are backwards. … And you can see the stirrups’ laundry tag peaking out here. … When it comes to baggy pants, like father, like son. … Remember when Mike Timlin (who probably thinks the term “World Series” is a U.N. plot) wanted to wear the American flag patch on his cap full-time? He lost that battle, but he’s got a flag on his BP cap — closer view here (great catch by Bryan Redemske). … Steve Necaster reports that the Sabres will be wearing white at home for several games in November. … Further evidence here and here of the Rangers having apparently modified their hemlines to eliminate Reebok’s scooped shirttail. … The Mid-Atlantic Hockey League recently unveiled new uniforms for the Indiana Ice Miners (dark, white), Jamestown Vikings (dark, white), Mon Valley Thunder (dark, light), Valley Forge Freedom (dark, white), and Wooster Warriors (dark, white). “We all know the MAHL is minor league hockey, but I’ve seen roller hockey uniforms that look more professional,” says Zak McGinniss, who provided the links. … “At the Mellon Arena they have a High School Hall of Champions,” writes Doug Keklak. “It’s a hallway in the arena adorned with framed high school hockey jerseys, mostly from western PA schools but there are a few West Virginia schools included in the mix.” Doug’s taken photos of many of them, which you can see here. … The Devils’ new arena opened last night with a Bon Jovi concert, and Chris Flinn noticed something interesting in the men’s room: “Every single urinal had the Devils logo engraved into the metal.” I’m not sure which is more embarrassing — admitting that you attended a Bon Jovi concert or taking a photo in the bathroom, but either way let’s all salute Chris for his devotion to the Uni Watch cause.
Very uni-unusual day in college football on Saturday, with all sorts of anomalies running rampant on the gridiron. Let’s start with Notre Dame’s 1977 throwbacks. Personally, I prefer this green-and-gold combo better than the one they wore on Saturday. But oh, those sock stripes — you know I loved those, although it was distressing to see how many players left their socks at ankle-level.
A sampling of other uni observations from Saturday:
• Oregon went solid white, which looked kinda chalky. Better than their usual visual carnival, natch, but the green helmet was the one really good component of this uniform — here’s hoping they go back to it next week.
• Florida wore a memorial decal for walk-on defensive back Michael Guilford, who died in a motorcycle accident last week (and whose nickname was Sunshine).
• Florida State wore a red “BV” helmet decal in honor of team videographer and cancer victim Billy Vasini, who’s currently in hospice care.
• No photo, but Vince says Michigan State’s Peter Clifford “pulled an L.T. and wasn’t wearing an American flag decal on his helmet” (a handy coincidence, since the Chargers had a bye this week, so we all might’ve gone through missing-decal withdrawal if not for Clifford).
• Graham McCulloch says that Michigan’s Mario Manningham’s surname was direct-sewn onto his jersey, instead of being on separate nameplate. I couldn’t find a good rear-view shot of Manningham, although this photo suggests that the lettering may indeed have been direct-sewn. If so, it would mark a change from how Manningham’s name has been applied in the past.
Intern Update: In case you missed it last week, Vince will soon be moving on to greener pastures, so I’m in the market for a new intern. For further details, scroll down to the “Help Wanted” section of last Wednesday’s post.
For those of you who’ve already applied, hang tight. I can’t acknowledge everyone, but I’ll be getting in touch with a handful of finalists soon. And my sincere thanks to all applicants — it’s humbling to see how many people want to work on Uni Watch.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Iowa State’s official logo specs and identity standards are available for viewing in this PDF file (with thanks to Brian Castile). … Andrew Flynn was recently at the Packers Hall of Fame, where he snapped a shot of the team’s 1962 yearbook cover. Obviously, they tinted those facemasks in the photo (colored facemasks didn’t debut until over a decade later, with the 1974 Chargers), although it’s hard to fathom why they would’ve done that. … Always good to start ’em young (good find by Jay Kuperstein). … Mike Orr noticed a bunch of interesting South Carolina high school football quirks over the weekend: (1) Chester High uses some really big-ass rear helmet numbers. (2) One of the Chester players has a helmet number that doesn’t match his jersey. (3) Lugoff-Elgin uses the biggest TV numbers I’ve ever seen. (4) The Lugoff-Elgin QB is apparently a Sean Taylor fan. … Victory Pennants prexy Morris Levin just scored this excellent postcard showing the Phillies’ uniform history (here’s the other side). Interestingly, the player images on the front of card are also used on the Phils’ web site. … If Curt Schilling’s gonna insist on wearing a Cool Base jersey, could he at least stop saluting the crowd, so we wouldn’t have to look at that stupid underarm mesh insert? … Good article here on the NFL’s latest uniform cop. … Dave Madison says Kevin Youkilis had the Majestic wordmark — instead of just the Majestic logo — on the left sleeve of his road jersey during Games 4 and 5 of the ALCS, suggesting that he might have been wearing a replica jersey. I don’t see any wordmark here, here, here, or here, but it does look like he might have had a wordmark under the logo here. I’m trying to get that photo enlarged so we can get a better look. … I reported lat week that Wisconsin would be wearing this throwback outfit on December 3rd, but the auction for the unis is already underway (with thanks to Nicole Haase). … Mark Coale reports that the Hershey Bears wore 70th-anniversary sweaters on Saturday. A nice idea, except the crest looked like a glorified sleeve patch. … Reprinted from Sunday’s comments: Adalius Thomas has been wearing one red glove and one blue. Additional views here and here. … I don’t care how many field goals you kick — this is still a really bad look. … The Devil Rays’ uni-unveiling event is gonna be a real, um, barn-burner (as noted by Morris Levin). … Dave Eskenazi, who’s contributed many Pacific northwestern baseball pics in the past, has now provided some gorgeous old hockey photos from that same region, as seen in these shots of the Portland Rosebuds, Seattle Metropolitans, Victoria Aristocrats, and Vancouver Millionaires. That’s Lester Patrick — “Yes, that Lester Patrick,” as Eskinazi puts it — here. … The Saskatchewan Roughriders wore throwbacks yesterday (with thanks to Garry Sum). … Two weeks ago I reported that the Wisconsin women’s hockey team was using this design. What I hadn’t noticed in that photo — but what Andy Seeger has now pointed out — is that the “C” and “A” designations are stacked under the uni numbers, which looks awful-and-a-half. … Matthew Lepke notes that Bryce Salvador is wearing Blues-branded boot protectors. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The Broncos’ socks are supposed to have just a thin band of orange between the navy and white areas, but Brandon Marshall apparently wore navy leggings and white sanitaries with orange tape in between (additional pics here, here, and here, and the tape he uses is probably something like this). … And we conclude with a nice little video report on USC’s equipment staff (as provided by Ryan Whitacre):
I’m probably the first writer to cover the sports uniform beat on a regular basis — or even to conceive of uniforms as a legitimate sports beat to begin with — but that’s not to say uniform coverage didn’t exist prior to the advent of Uni Watch (indeed, I cited a key 1970s example just the other day). Reader Doug Mooney recently found a bunch of uni-related articles in the archives of the New York Times, and they clearly show that uniform coverage was alive and well in the 1950s. Here they are, listed chronologically:
• April 2nd, 1950: “Hollywood Sets New Baseball Fad; Players Wear Shorts, Rayon Shirts.” This article is about, of course, the Hollywood Stars, who wore shorts in 1950 (additional info here). Key quote, from one of the Stars’ players: “Let ’em razz us, they’ll all be wearing them in another year or so.” Uh, right. Full text available here and here.
• February 26th, 1956: “Cards Redesign Suits.” This short AP item is of particular interest, because it refers to the uniforms that the Cardinals unveiled in this photo. As you may recall, the road jersey shown in that shot — the one with the “St. L.” insignia — was never used, and the circumstances surrounding it have never been fully explained. I devoted a blog entry to that subject about a year ago.
• August 12th, 1956: “What’s a Man to Wear Afield?” The subheading of this article, which ran in the paper’s Sunday magazine section, reads, “If he is a member of the Cincinnati Redlegs, he wears a vest instead of a shirt and pants with built-in knee pads,” which gives you an idea of the subject at hand. To provide some context, this was the season when Cincy’s uniforms changed from this to this. Key quotes: “The Redlegs’ new uniforms are as spectacular, in terms of costume, as the rabbit ball was in terms of window-breakage when Babe Ruth single-handedly revised baseball” and “The pitchers, whose arms supposedly so exceptionally precious, of course, are expected to wear their [under]sleeves long, to avoid chills, vapors or other calamities.” Lots of other good details regarding fabrics, tailoring, performance features, and more. And here’s a tantalizing tidbit: At one point the article mentions that Branch Rickey “attempted to put the Pittsburgh team into shorts, like lady softball players.” I’d never heard about that one before. Anyone else? Essential reading, available here.
• February 24th, 1958: “Giants Favor New Slim Look for Men in Gray Flannel Suits.” This item — written by Gay Talese, no less! — is one of those filler stories that writers come up with on slow days during spring training. Of course, one man’s filler is another man’s front-page news, and this article does not disappoint. Key quote: “[Ray] Kolas, who works for Wilson Sporting Goods, twirls his tape measure around 600 players each season. He keeps a measurement chart report on each player that would do credit to Brooks Brothers. For instance, on his chart of the Detroit pitcher Jim Bunning, Kolas noted: ‘Taper shirt — has small hips (no seat).’ ” Several other gems too, all available here.
• February 1st, 1959: “Major League Fashion Note: New Flannel; Nylon-Wool Fabric Reduces Uniform Weight by Half.” We all know that the Pirates were the first team to switch to solid-polyester double-knits, in 1970. But when did synthetic fibers first start being incorporated into MLB uniforms? According to this article, it was in 1959, when most teams went from solid wool to a 60/40 wool/nylon blend. The article also includes loads of uni-related ephemera, including this classic: “Yogi Berra, Yankee catcher and a dude, tops the best-dressed players with eight pairs of pants. Relief pitchers and bullpen catchers are not hard on clothes, except pants seats.” Get the full scoop here and here.
I know that’s a lot of material to read. But trust me — these are all well worth your time.
Alpha-Numeric Update: On Monday I wrote about this unusual uniform number (details here). That led to this note from Bob Jaye, which ran in Tuesday’s Ticker:
In a college all-star game following the 1971 season (Senior Bowl, perhaps), the South team had two quarterbacks who’d both worn No. 7 during their stellar careers. So Florida’s John Reaves wore 7R and Auburn’s Pat Sullivan wore 7S, respectively. Unfortunately, I can’t find a photo.
Intriguing, right? I didn’t have time this week to go hunting for a photo. But Bob’s brother, Davis Jaye, did. He contacted the Senior Bowl, whose offices were only too happy to provide him with these pics of Sullivan and Reaves. Big thanks to both Jaye brothers for their stellar contributions to the historical record.
Roster Restoration Update: We’re still missing 17 names from the membership roster (in case you’ve missed it, about 90 names were wiped off the list by a software glitch, and I’ve been trying to get everything back to normal). So if you haven’t already done so, all enrolled members should PLEASE check the roster listing. If you don’t see your name there, e-mail me your name, membership uni number, membership level, and why you chose your number. If your name linked to a photo, please re-send it. And if you’d like to help speed up the process a bit more, pick out your card from the design gallery and send me its URL. Big thanks for everyone’s help.
Meanwhile, anyone recognize today’s showcase card? It’s from the Arena League’s Colorado Crush.
Uni Watch News Ticker: My article on bullpen buggy history, which was posted yesterday on ESPN, is here. … Big kerfuffle in Florida over the proposed new uniforms for workers at Miami-Dade International Airport. Full details, plus an amusingly worded reader poll, here (nice find by Jonah Bamel). … Bowling Green’s athletic director discusses why the school changed its helmet design this season here (with thanks to Tom Konecny). … If you’ve ever wanted to dress up Steve Spurrier, here’s your chance (with thanks to Ronnie Poore). … I did a blog entry on World Series press pins about a year ago, but now Zach Siron has found a bunch of them for sale on eBay. Some real beauties, too. Look here, here, here, here, here, and here. Plus Zach also found an All-Star Game press pin and Gabby Hartnett’s lifetime pass (”which were apparently given out to players who had retired with much acclaim, local sportswriters, or other similar stars,” says Zach). Great stuff. … Florida State will be wearing their black uniforms against Duke next weekend. … The Green Bay Press-Gazette just posted a small gallery of Packers photos from 1942. Of particular interest: The ref’s beret (note the separate stripe pattern on the sleeve cuff, too), the uniforms being worn by the Western Army All-Stars (they’re the ones with the stripes), and these totally cool dusters.
There are certain topics that seem to come up every few weeks in the comments section. One of them is the issue of players who’ve worn their full names — first and last — on their jerseys. Many examples have been put forth over the course of various discussions, but nobody’s tried to compile a comprehensive list. I’m going to try to begin one now, with the proviso that this is just a starting point — I’m hoping we can all make lots of additions as they occur to us.
Oh, and before we get to the list: For years I’ve used wording like “names on the backs of jerseys” and “player names on uniforms,” even though there’s a simple abbreviation available: NOB, which stands for “name on back.” Teams like the Yankees have NNOB, or “no name on back.” I’ve always resisted using these two terms in a Uni Watch context, because they seemed too jargon-y and are used primarily by collectors of game-used memorabilia, which has never been my scene. But now I’m giving in and accepting them, plus I’m inaugurating a new term to the lexicon: FNOB, for “full name on back.” Cool? Cool.
Now then, here’s the beginning of our FNOB list, broken down by sport:
Football: The classic example of the FNOB on the gridiron remains Jim and Jack Youngblood, conveniently captured together in this photo. While their first and last names were stacked, more recent NFL FNOBs have taken the one-line approach, as seen in these photos of Darrent Williams, Mike Anderson, Tank Johnson, and Dave Brown (as you can sorta see here and here).
Basketball:Isiah Thomas had a stacked FNOB at one point during his career. But that can’t compare with the typographic mishmash sported by Marques Johnson, whose FNOB wasn’t just stacked — it was straight on top and arched below. (Special thanks to Todd Krevanchi for bringing both of these to my attention.)
Hockey: As discussed in the comments section a few weeks ago, the Howe family had lots of FNOB action during their days with the Aeros and Whalers. Rangers teammates/siblings Dave and Don Maloney also went the FNOB route, although I could only find a good photo of one of them. And I’m fairly certain the Sutter brothers had FNOBs, although I haven’t been able to find any photos yet.
Baseball: The sport that’s usually the richest source of material for any uni-related discussion is oddly barren on the subject of FNOBs. I’m pretty sure Andy and Alan Benes wore their full names at some point when they were both on the Cardinals, but I haven’t found any photos, and I can’t think of any other FNOB examples from the diamond, although I’m fairly certain there must be others. Help me out here, people — what am I overlooking? (Bonus points to my ESPN.com colleague Bomani Jones, who says, “If Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a twin brother named James and the Rangers signed him, something tells me they’d have to find a new uniform guy.”)
However long our list ends up being, I think we can all agree that it’s already too long, because FNOBs almost always look like crap. I can make an exception for the Youngblood brothers, especially since their first names were smaller than their surnames (in terms of both length and type size), lending a certain elegance to their stacked FNOBs. But almost every other example I showed is an eyesore. I mean, c’mon, was anyone ever gonna mistake Gordie Howe for one of his kids? Jeez.
Major Hosiery Discovery!: Late last night, this photo was posted in the comments section. The intended point was that yet another team used Dymo Tape labels to keep track of their helmets, but I immediately noticed the seams in Frank Robinson’s stirrups. For years I’ve been writing that Robbie had extra material sewn into his stirrups so he could pull them up higher (this was first reported in Ball Four, and I’ve essentially been repeating that claim), but this is the first time I’ve ever seen photographic confirmation of it. Viva visual documentation!
Roster Restoration Update: I’ve now restored about 65 of the 90 names that were recently wiped off of the membership roster by a software glitch. That still leaves about 25 to go, and I’d like to get as many of them as possible. So if you haven’t already done so, all members should PLEASE check the roster listing. If you don’t see your name there, e-mail me your name, membership uni number, membership level, and why you chose your number. If your name linked to a photo, please re-send it. And if you’d like to help speed up the process a bit more, pick out your card from the design gallery and send me its URL. Big thanks for everyone’s help.
As for today’s showcase card, it’s based on, of course, your current Stanley Cup champions.
Uni Watch News Ticker: It took about 17 seconds for many, many readers to determine that the photo on this 1968 baseball card was taken at the 1964 All-Star Game. The clue? The seats in the background are from Shea Stadium, site of the ’64 ASG. Thanks to all who helped solve the mystery. … Longtime Uni Watch pal (and mascot stalker) Liz Clayton recently took this photo of a woman wearing Cubs earrings. … I think I’ve finally figured out the inspiration behind the new NFL ref jerseys. … Yesterday’s entry about alpha-numeric uni numbers led Ian McLarty to remind me about netball, a girls’ sport popular in many British commonwealth countries. Instead of uni numbers, the players wear letters designating their positions. Details on the sport’s uniform history are here. … And then there’s this, from Bob Jaye: “In a college all-star game following the 1971 season (Senior Bowl, perhaps), the South team had two quarterbacks who’d both worn No. 7 during their stellar careers. So Florida’s John Reaves wore 7R and Auburn’s Pat Sullivan wore 7S, respectively. Unfortunately, I can’t find a photo.” … I’m not sure how I’ve gotten this far without knowing about eFootage, but it’s a friggin’ gold mine of old stock footage. Simple case in point: this five-minute recap of the 1952 NFL Pro Bowl, which features red, white, and blue goalposts, red officials’ uni numbers, and Lenny Moore’s white spats, among other highlights. Loads of other stuff lurking in the eFootage archives, too – have fun poking around (with thanks to Ronnie Poore). … The Cleveland Plain Dealer invited readers to redesign the Indians’ uniform, and the results aren’t pretty (thanks, Vince). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Vincent Jackson wore sky blue cleats on Sunday, and there’s no way that simple spat job is gonna save him from a fine. … Matthew Self has put together an excellent slide show of old SMU football photos. Check out all 31 pics here. … Decent article here about the uniform numbers worn by assorted L.A.-based athletes (with thanks to Eric Borer). … Cool note from Wayne Yeung, who’s one lucky fella: “My girlfriend is part of the Columbia University Business School’s women’s touch rugby team, and she recently sent me a photo of their team’s awesome hosiery.” Man, two different ribbing patterns! … Speaking of hosiery, check out the socks worn by the Bondurant-Farrar Ladyjays high school volleyball team, from Bondurant, Iowa. … Do you know what widgets are? Yeah, neither do I, but those of you who do will presumably be interested in HockeyWidgets.com, which according to Adam Tilsner has “a calendar with a different jersey for each day. The site has around 9,000 jerseys to choose from. There’s also a widget to display any jersey in their database. They have widgets for Yahoo dashboard as well.” I have exactly zero idea what any of this is about, but I’m sure those of you who aren’t as elderly tech-clueless as I am bring us up to speed. … Here’s something you don’t see very often: two-color football socks with the white on top instead of below (with thanks to David Chisholm). … Good catch by Chris Skumin, who notes that Mike Timlin’s left-sleeve piping goes right through the Majestic logo. … Corey Davis notes that Sabres goalie Jocelyn Thibault is still wearing this mask from his Penguins day, complete with his old uni number. … Get ready for a new rallying cry of “Ditch the black!” this Thursday, because Anthony Tessein says Rutgers will be wearing black jerseys to go alone with the black pants they wore last Saturday. So much for the “Scarlet” Knights. … Cheri Chandler has posted an unusual bit of family history — a Canton Bulldogs patch supposedly salvaged from her husband’s great-grandfather’s letterman jacket — here. … Latest System of Dreck team: Washington. … If you were posing for a team portrait, why would you wear your jersey backwards? (As spotted by Andy Beaton.) … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The Seahawks’ green sleeve piping was missing from Matt Hasselbeck’s jersey on Sunday. … Guess which city I won’t be visiting today.
The e-mails started arriving at Uni Watch HQ right after the end of Saturday’s Kentucky/LSU game. While the rest of the country was buzzing about Kentucky’s upset victory, Uni Watch readers were puzzling over something that had briefly appeared on their TV screens. Of the dozen or so readers who got in touch, Rob Kustal summed it up best:
With :02 left in regulation, before the big field goal missed by LSU, CBS showed vintage footage of Kentucky, circa 1950 or so. I didn’t even catch the specific story, because I was so distracted by what I thought I saw: I swear it was a player wearing a jersey number reading ‘1A.’ My friend thought he saw the same thing. It could’ve been a funky-looking 14, or maybe 17, but it certainly looked like 1A.
And that’s exactly what it was. What was this all about? The answer is buried on this page, devoted to Kentucky football history. The pertinent passage reads as follows:
During the course of his legendary career, Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was known as an innovator of introducing changes in the game of football. One change Bryant introduced during his tenure at Kentucky was the use of a unique number system to identify twins Harry and Larry Jones, who both lettered three years (1950-52) with the Wildcats. Harry wore 1A and Larry wore 1B. Harry led the Wildcats in all-purpose yardage in 1951 with 964 while Larry led UK in kickoff returns (21.1 avg) in 952.
Maybe someone should have said, “Yo, Bear, here’s an innovation for ya: If you want to tell them apart, howzabout giving them No. 1 and No. 2?” or something like that. In any event, this wasn’t the only time a team used numbers and letters in tandem. In 1952, LSU used an alpha-numberic system based on the players’ positions. And then there’s this YMCA basketball team, circa 1900, which Vince wrote about back in January.
But the Kentucky situation is unique because, as far as I can tell, it’s the only time that an alpha-numeric format — or any non-standard numbering format — was used for just a couple of players, instead of team-wide. A silly idea at the time, but great Uni Watch fodder half a century later.
(Special thanks to Jeremy Brahm, who provided the “1A” screen shot.)
Flap Follow-Up: Last Thursday’s entry on Earl Battey and his improvised earflap led to a nice shout-out from Blake Meyer, who runs the superb TwinsCards.com site. He put out the call among his people, one of whom, Pat Bones, came up with those two elusive Battey photos from the 1963 Twins yearbook. The pics aren’t great, but the flap is there if you’re looking for it. Big thanks to Blake, Pat, and the TwinsCards.com network for coming up with these.
Now let’s see if we can return the favor: Blake and his people want to know what’s up with this 1968 baseball card. It appears to have been taken at an all-star game, but the ’67 game was in Anaheim, so the A.L. players would have been wearing home whites and the N.L. would have worn road grays, instead of the other way around. Maybe it’s from the ’66 game..? Insights welcome.
Research Project: I’m trying to compile a list of uniform quirks and eccentricities that aren’t part of a team’s official uni specs but have nonetheless become part of the team’s established protocol. Examples would include the Cowboys’ Dymo Tape helmet nameplates (as seen at right) and jersey tie-downs, the Giants’ rounded nameplates, the Bears’ horizontal shoulder darts, the Steelers’ heavily ribbed socks, the Red Wings’ preseason use of straight nameplates, and so on. Care to contribute some additional examples? You know what to do.
Uni Watch News Ticker: We’ve often talked about city flags appearing on sleeve patches or serving as the basis of team color schemes. Now Scott Greene has found a page featuring dozens of city flags, most of which I’d never seen before. Did you know Detroit’s flag looked like this? Or that Long Beach’s looked like this? Fascinating stuff — highly recommended. … Speaking of flags, last week I asked if anyone had a shot of the American flag flanked by an Adidas flag during the singing of “God Bless America” at Yankee Stadium. Now Tim Walsh has provided this, which must surely rank among the most offensive examples of logo creep ever. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: David Carr’s penchant for wearing gloves has led to a new blog. … Susan N. Freeman found an amazing 1929 photo featuring these totally rad Texas Tech uniforms. … Nate Allen lost his shoe the other day (good spot by Greg Riffenburgh). … Last week I linked to a great Sports Business Journal article about the NFL cracking down on uniform violations, but you had to register for a free trial subscription in order to access the story. Now I’ve got a scan of the print version of the article — print quality isn’t top-notch, but it’s legible. Highly recommended reading. … Great catch by Dennis Gray, who noticed that Manny Fernandez’s lace-up collar didn’t have any laces the other night. He doesn’t always go lace-free, so it’s not clear if this was a matter of personal preference or just an oversight. … Dave Eskinazi sent along this old Spalding Tour photo. At first glance the most salient details are the classy chest insignia, the white belt, and the colored pants. But take a closer look at the detailing on the sleeve cuffs. “Never seen anything like it,” says Eskinazi, and neither have I. … “There is so much wrong with this photo, I don’t know where to begin,” writes Jordan Cutler. For the record, that’s Geo Soto playing for the triple-A Iowa Cubs. … In the “Oh. My. God.” department, the Wisconsin hoops team will honor their 1941 NCAA championship squad by wearing throwbacks on December 3rd, and I may just have to fly out to Madison for that one, because we’re talking about some serious striped-sock action (with thanks to Damion Beth and Karl G. Anderson). … Thomas Langan reports that the Hofstra lacrosse team honored former teammate Nick Colleluori, who recently died of lymphoma, by wearing lime green uniforms (the color of the lymphoma ribbon), all with No. 27 (Colleluori’s number), back on October 7th. … Has Dartmouth always had these weird helmet stripes? (As spotted by Zevi Lowenberg.) … Old Dominion will return to football competition in 2009, and their just-unveiled uniforms appear to be a total rehash of the current Miami design. Of course, Miami will have moved on to a new uni by 2009, so ODU is basically getting sloppy seconds here (with thanks to Charles Pritt). … Here’s something I don’t recall having seen before: Evander Holyfield had his surname on his shoes during Saturday night’s bout against Sultan Ibragimov. … No comment. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Western New Mexico has taken the very odd step of putting their helmet decal on the back of the helmet. … Reprinted from Saturday night’s comments: Lots of inconsistencies in Auburn’s nameplate typography (as noted by Kris McInnis). … Since the NFL fines players for having their jerseys untucked, can’t the NHL do something about Jaromir Jagr, who keeps wearing his jersey tucked in? Looks like crap. … Rutgers wore black pants on Saturday. Doesn’t look bad, but also doesn’t look like Rutgers. … The Jets’ Titans throwbacks looked nice, but oddly collegiate, no? (First person to comment, “That’s appropriate, since the Jets play like a college team” gets tossed from the site, so please be more creative than that.) … Major wardrobe malfunction yesterday in Chicago, where Adrian Peterson of the Vikings had his pants come down in the fourth quarter (nice work by Aaron Etshokin). … According to Dressed to the Nines, in 1974 the Red Sox wore an alternate uniform, featuring a multicolored cap and non-striped stirrups. Not sure I’d ever seen a photo of this design until Andy Given came up with this shot of El Tiante (which he found in this excellent gallery of Red Sox pics). … Not sure why, but the Chargers’ new powder-blue alts didn’t quite wow me. I think it’s because the blue panel on the pants creates a blue overload. … Meanwhile, guess whose American flag helmet decal was missing yet again. … Attention all fans of design (which pretty much means everyone reading this): This is National Design Week, which among other things means free admission at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum here in NYC. … Several readers think Santana Moss was wearing a collared shirt under his jersey yesterday. Personally, I’m dubious, but you can kinda see it here. If this sounds familiar, it’s because we went through a similar discussion regarding the Saints’ Will Smith last year. … Interesting volleyball hosiery here (with thanks to Steven Trujillo). … Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero was wearing a ski cap under his mask last night. … Brandon Bowker works at a book store where a copy of this title recently came through. “Check out those socks!” he says. Indeed. … Remember our recent examination of Todd Helton and his Mizuno-ized Nike cleats? Here’s a great close-up from last night’s Rockies/D-backs game. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Nice little video clip here about Martin Gerber’s new mask.
In case you missed it in yesterday’s comments, the big hockey news is that Nike is getting out of the sport. This isn’t quite as good as, say, curing world hunger or solving the global warming problem, but it’s a good start.
Unfortunately, we’re still stuck with Reebok, which is apparently determined to blaze a new trail in hockey uniform design, so this seems like a good time to look back at the hockey attire of long ago. The photos that follow come courtesy of reader CJ Fleck, who found them in The Great Book of Hockey (out of print but easy to acquire if you’re so inclined). Lots of good stuff here:
• Two other old Habs sweaters — both light-years from their current design — here.
• Art Ross — you know him as the name of a trophy, but back in the day he coached the Bruins while looking pretty damn suave. And I probably don’t need to say this, but I really want that sweater.
• Time was when front uniform numbers were pretty common. My favorites are here and here, because I love the way the Bruins put the “B” on their sleeves, turning the current number/crest relationship on its head.
• Back when I was a kid, it wasn’t so uncommon for players to wear their uni numbers on their skates. But check out the guy on the left — is he wearing someone else’s skates, or was he traded and issued a new uni number?
Membership Update: The good news: About 30 new membership kits went out yesterday, covering everyone who signed up through last Wednesday.
The bad news: A week or so ago I mentioned that a server glitch had resulted in about about 90 names being wiped off of the membership roster page but that we were retrieving the data and would be restoring the missing entries soon. Unfortunately, the data retrieval has turned out to be trickier than we thought. I still have all the original membership orders, so I could cross-reference the roster table against those, but that would be reeeeeaaaallllly tedious, so instead I’m asking for your help: If you’re an active member but don’t see your name on the roster, please e-mail me with your name, membership uni number, membership level, and why you chose your number. If your name linked to a photo, please re-send me the photo or the URL. And although this last part isn’t necessary, you can speed up the process a bit more by picking out your card design from the design gallery and sending me the URL for that too. I’ll restore things as the info comes in.
Sorry for the hassle, and many thanks in advance for your help.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I just can’t watch when the Yankees trot out Ronan Tynan to sing “God Bless America” (plus he takes so long that I actually had time to run to corner store for more beer during the middle of the 7th inning on Sunday night), but several people tell me that TBS’s camera shot of the American flag during Monday night’s rendition showed an Adidas flag in the background — nice. Unfortunately, MLB.TV’s video archive doesn’t include this segment, so I can’t get a screen grab. If anyone TiVo’d the game, kindly shoot a photo my way. … The Chargers will wear their new powder blue alternate jersey this Sunday. … Speaking of the Chargers, on Monday I mentioned that LaDainian Tomlinson’s American flag decal was still missing in last Sunday’s game, but I didn’t have visual proof. Now, thanks to Doug Mooney, I do. … And speaking of helmet decals, yesterday I wrote that the Bills’ throwback helmets appeared to have the little warning decal. But as Rob Montoya and Joe Skiba quickly informed me, that’s actually the NOCSAE logo, which is a molded into the helmet, not a decal. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Good article here about the Seals wearing gold skates back in the early ’70s. … Essential reading: This article about the NFL Players Association feuding with the league over uniform fines (you’ll have to register for the site, but it’s easy and free). Among other things, it turns out the league is now threatening to fine equipment managers and trainers as well as players, which could be bad news for faithful Uni Watch reader Joe Skiba. No more low whites, Joe! … Something very odd is going on in this photo. Aside from the defender’s underwear being partially exposed, is that his jersey tag coming loose and falling against his left thigh? … Slowly but surely, we’re building a nice little gallery of nose bumper messages. As noted yesterday, Illinois wears “Team” and Eastern Michigan wears “Pride.” Today’s addition: Toledo wears “Attack” (with thanks to Noel Blaha). … Has anyone else seen this Monday Night Football ad? Lots of things here just don’t add up: Black shoes (Nike Speed TDs, at that, which didn’t exist back in Rice’s SanFran days), no whites, no sock stripes. Clearly a Photoshop job, but why? (Good spot by Ryan Armbrust.) … A friend just sent me a copy of a South African real estate magazine (don’t even ask), which featured this splendid hosiery display in the back-cover ad. … Someone on the Chris Creamer board found this Red Sox typographic guide. … Speaking of Red Sox typography, check out the title on the new John Fogerty CD (good catch by Brad Dugan). … Also from the Creamer site: Uniform designer Joe Bosack will be speaking in Boise this Friday. … Here are UCLA’s new basketball uniforms, with the gold “C” signifying the school’s 100 championships in various sports (with thanks to Erkki Corpuz). … As Scott Turner notes, “This photo is great for so many reasons.” … Strictly speaking, the following video isn’t truly uni-related. But it’s worth watching nonetheless:
As I’ve repeatedly noted in the past, reader Mark Mihalik is Uni Watch’s undisputed king of footwear studies. He’s particularly adept at spotting customized or modified cleats, as he showed a few years ago when he noticed that Nomar Garciaparra was wearing Adidas spikes with a Reebok tongue. And back when I was on vacation a few months ago, he pinch-hit one day with a great breakdown of ballplayers who wear modified sneakers or cross-trainers.
A few year ago Mark noticed that Doug Mientkiewicz, who had a shoe contract with Adidas at the time, was wearing Nike cleats with clumsily drawn stripes that were unlikely to fool anyone. Now he’s discovered something similar, except the disguise job has been executed much more expertly (making Mark’s detective work all the more impressive). I hereby turn the mic over to him:
Todd Helton has been a longtime exclusive Mizuno guy. Everything’s Mizuno, including bats, batting gloves, cleats, and his first baseman’s mitt. So I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on this until now, especially since it’s been going on since April 17th, but he’s been wearing Nike Air Zoom Clippers almost all season. They’ve just been Mizuno-ized all over. [Meanwhile, check out the bag of seeds in Matt Holliday’s pocket, plus the repair job on what appears to have been a tear on the left leg of his pants. — PL]
Unlike Mientkiewicz’s botch job, this was a much more professional cover-up. It looks he had the the big Nike swooshes on the sides blacked out and had Mizuno logos sewn or glued on over the top (you can tell because the Mizuno logo looks a little more downward-tilted than normal, to run at the same angle as the swoosh it’s covering up, and you can barely see the swoosh outline in some pictures), plus he had the white swooshes on the outsoles blacked out, and even had Mizuno logos added on the heel and tongue. He also had the same treatment applied to a pair of Clipper MCS molded cleats. To go through all that effort, Mizuno’s real cleats must seriously be killing his feet.
Big thanks to Mark for once again sharing the fruits of his impressively obsessive footwear studies.
Uni Watch News Ticker: According to a small item at the very bottom of this page, the Penguins’ had to lower their sleeve numbers slightly in order to make room for their 250th-anniversary patch (with thanks to Casey Blick). … Support our sponsors: Note that Jersey-Joe is offering free shipping on MLB jerseys this week, and the No Mas ad in the right-hand column now links directly to their cool line of T-shirts (including my all-time favorite). … Clinton Portis wore gold shoelaces on Sunday. Further details here (with thanks to Mike Peasley). … How many lower-leg irregularities can you spot in this photo? Or this one? (With thanks to Braden Russell.) … Yesterday I noted that many Illinois players wear “Team” on their nose bumpers. That led Joe J. to note that Eastern Michigan wears “Pride.” Any other interesting nose bumper messages floating around out there? … Man, did those Bills throwbacks look magnificent or what? And sure enough, just as I had suggested might be the case, their helmets had no American flag and no NFL logo (although they did appear to have the warning decal. … Jeremy Brahm notes that the Chinese Basketball Association uses a European-style 7 and the discarded NBA ball from last year (although the design on their all-star uniforms shows a standard ball). … Scott Player and his single-bar facemask are looking for a job.
The big uni-related news in the NFL yesterday had nothing to do with the players. It was the pink ribbons being worn by most coaches, owners, and other sideline personnel (although a few coaches went ribbon-free, including one guy who obviously didn’t want a ribbon messing up his carefully manicured look). The officials got involved too, wearing pink wristbands (here’s a closer look) and ribbons, although the zebras’ ribbons didn’t have the litle NFL logo pin.
Speaking of which: Isn’t a little offensive to turn cancer into a branding opportunity? Like, why use that NFL logo pin in the first place? MLB does this with their Mothers Day and Fathers Day ribbons, too. Similarly, despite what this decal says, hockey doesn’t fight cancer — chemo and radiation do. Why not have a decal that says, “Find a Cure” or “Support Cancer Research,” instead of a message that’s essentially self-aggrandizing?
Meanwhile, in non-cancer developments:
• Can’t say I was in love with the Titans’ blue-on-blue look, but I didn’t hate it either. The more of it I saw, the more it started to grow on me. Hmmmmmmm.
• As discussed in yesterday’s comments: Although it’s not a new thing for him, John Kasay was wearing a watch and his wedding band while kicking yesterday.
• The Falcons logo on Alge Crumpler’s left sleeve was facing the wrong way (it should look like this.
• No photo yet, but LaDainian Tomlinson’s American flag decal was still missing. (In a related item: The Bills will be wearing their throwbacks tonight, and I’m wondering if their helmets will be completely blank in the back, as they were last year).
Research Reminder: I’m still very much in the market for examples of typos and misspellings on uniforms. In particular, I’m having trouble finding a photo of Wayne Gretzky from his first game with the Rangers, when he wore “Gretkzy” on his back, but non-superstar typos are fine too. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Several readers have noted that Jimmy Rollins wears a Cool-Flo hemet when batting right-handed but a conventional lid when swinging from the left side. … Ryan Purdie notes that the TV numbers on Utah’s uniforms have been doing a slow fade. In 2005 they were on both the home and road unis; in 2006, still on the road set but not on the home design; and this year, they’re missing from both the homeandroad unis. … Mike Alper notes that the Blackhawks’ sleeve numbers seem to have been cut rather sloppily, without enough white space. Additional examples here, here, here, and here. … Marquette will have some rad throwback alternate jerseys this season (with thanks to Jon Aubry). … Reprinted from last Thursday’s comments but still worth a look: A surprisingly in-depth article devoted to Cole Hamels switching undershirts during Game 1 of the Phils/Rockies series. … Remember last week’s discussion of negative space? Markus Kamp found another good example in this Seahawks 12th man pin. … The National Federation of State High School Associations has enacted a bunch of new lacrosse uniform regulations (with thanks to Ryan Burns). … The Islanders’ Stanley Cup stripes were missing from Bill Guerin’s shoulder the other day (good spot by Tim Hudson). … Not truly uni-related, but there’s a spectacular slideshow devoted to photos of old Comiskey Park here — highly recommended (great find by Michael Gargano). … Check out the unsightly gap between Daniel Sedin’s right sock and pant cuff (as spotted by Daniel Sherman). … Marhsall’s basketball team has entered NikeWorld (that depressing news courtesy of Jake Keys). … “During Friday night’s Pens/Ducks game, the announcers were talking about these special pads that hang over the laces of the skates,” writes Nate Budziszewski. “They said most players don’t like to wear them because they’re embarrassed, so they wear a more cosmetic version that’s hidden under the laces.” … The NFL has enlisted Chelsea FC to help promote the upcoming Giants/Dolphins game in London. First visible evidence of this: Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora wearing Chelsea jerseys. … Jeff Tripodi found a 1987 SportsCenter highlight clip in which George Hendrick is referred to as “He With the Long Pants.” … Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera both wore red trunks for their super featherweight title bout Saturday night. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Illinois players are wearing “Team” on their nose bumpers — a staple of Ron Zook-coached teams. … Bugs and baseball? Nothing new about that. … Hey, speaking of Friday’s bug-a-thon, here’s some recommended movie viewing for Yankees fans and Joba Chamberlain: Them (1954), which features huge nuclear-irradiated ants, and Starship Troopers (1997), in which the military forces of Earth wage intergalactic war against giant alien bugs. Both offer comforting reassurance that humans really can overcome insects. … Auburn’s 1957 throwbacks didn’t do much for me, given that they left so much contemporary clutter on the jersey’s upper chest. … Kent State University wideout Derek McBryde’s right TV number has been backwards for the team’s past two home games (good catch by Brad Foster). … The Japan Basketball League has introduced a new mascot. And his name — I kid not — is Hoopy. This is so fucking great, I don’t even mind that he’s not wearing striped tube socks (big thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Our own Vince Grzegorek was quoted extensively in this article about the Indians’ uniform history, which ran in yesterday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer. The printed article included additional quotes from Vince, plus photos, so Ohio readers should fish their copies of the Sunday paper out of the recycling pile. … The striped belt phenomenon has trickled down all the way to high school (good spot by Jack Krabbe). … Susan Freeman attended the Stars’ home opener in Dallas on Friday and reports that “the new slimmer jerseys [kept getting] caught in the shorts, leaving half the numbers obscured” (but she didn’t mind so much cuz she got a pair of jersey beer cozies). The next day she checked out the traveling “Baseball as America” exhibit and took dozens of photos, which are available in a slideshow here. … Wisconsin’s women’s hockey team has won two national championships wearing this design, so Nicole Haase was surprised to attend a game on Saturday and see the team skating out looking like this, which is essentially the same design that the men’s team wears. “I asked a girl who was working the bench about the jerseys,” says Nicole, “and she said they were new and she thought they were permanent.” … During the preseason, the Lightning’s road jerseys had uni numbers on the front but the home jerseys didn’t. Now that the season has started, the numbers are appearing on the home set as well. According to a small item buried on this page (sent my way by Doug Mooney), “The team decided to make the change near the end of the preseason and sewed the numbers on after getting permission from the league.”
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Roster Restoration Update: We’re still missing 17 names from the membership roster (in case you’ve missed it, about 90 names were wiped off the list by a software glitch, and I’ve been trying to get everything back to normal). So if you haven’t already done so, all enrolled members should PLEASE check the 
Roster Restoration Update: I’ve now restored about 65 of the 90 names that were recently wiped off of the membership roster by a software glitch. That still leaves about 25 to go, and I’d like to get as many of them as possible. So if you haven’t already done so, all members should PLEASE check the 
