With the Mets finally back home, it’s time to revisit our Pedro Martinez Relief Fund project. As you’ll recall, Pedro was recently fined $5000 for stretching his pant cuffs down under his heels, and then he whined about the size of the fine, so I decided to take up a collection to help ease his financial distress. My original goal was to raise $37.74 (proportional to $5000 for someone making $100,000 a year, as opposed to Pedro’s annual salary of $13.25 million), but we ended up raising more than twice that much — $78.66, to be exact. Since Pedro’s obviously a hardship case, I decided to send him the full amount.
I happen to have a Paymaster machine for “special occasion” payments, and this occasion is about as special as they come. As you can see, the Paymaster makes the check look very official-like. I signed the check, enclosed it with this cover letter, and mailed it off to Shea Stadium.
Now we sit back and wait to see if he cashes it. Stay tuned.
(Big thanks to everyone who contributed to the fund [in amounts ranging from $12 to 45 ¢]: Joshua Jacoby, Chris Pendleton, Blair Hough, Matthew Butch, Matthew Edwards, Baldemar Mejia, Jesse Spector, David Smith, Larry Kurtze, Wayne Yeung, Randy Silver, Darin Ficorelli, Edward Cooney, Anthony Zydzik, Jennifer Muller, David Weinberger, James Muscato, Breck Witte, Ryan Hickox, Robert Goldberg, Matt Konrad, Mike Orr, Steven Wyder, Mark Baldwin, Liam Roche, Colin Flowerdew, Edward Hahn, Andrew Frey, Aaron McCabe, Wanda DeJesus, Brian Rowland, Robert Eden, Jarrod Boyd, Minna Hong, Steven Ducker, Christopher Hilf, and Dave Sterling.)
Underbrim Update: On Thursday, a Tigers spokesman told me that he’d checked with Marcus Thames and that Thames preferred not to talk about what was scribbled under his brim. But on that very same day, Thames talked about it in this Detroit News article, which includes the following quote: “Under my ball cap I’ve written, ‘Do something every day to help the club win.’ It doesn’t have to be a hit.”
If you look again at Thames’s cap, it’s hard to see anything that could match that slogan. Think he made it up, just to provide a good quote? Hmmm, curiouser and curiouser. (Thanks to Jonathan Bulluck and Mike Honer for the article link.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: It took a long time, but the umpires are finally wearing an “EG” sleeve patch in memory of Eric Gregg (but maybe they should’ve put a white outline on the version appearing on their black jerseys). … Good articles here and here about all the young Red Sox pitchers with high uni numbers (with thanks to Robb Fluet). … Speaking of the Red Sox, they designated Willie Harris for assignment last week, a major blow to the small contingent of non-switch-hitters who wear double-earflap helmets. … Ty Keller sent along this article about Bobby Crosby, which includes a mention of his recent switch from stirrups to long pants: “[It’s] the result of a bone bruise on Crosby’s left ankle. He’s had to wear some of Eric Chavez’s high-tops, and the high socks and high-tops clash. He’s looking forward to getting back to his old dressing style. ‘This feels weird,’ Crosby said of the long pants legs. ‘I really don’t like it.'” … Friday’s Ticker item about the belts on the 1957 Kansas basketball unis led Uni Watch logo designer and all-around swell guy Scott M.X. Turner to submit a few basketball belt pics of his own: “I’m sure you have catalogs with lots of belted shorts, but these are just so groovy. This one, this one, and this one are from a 1961 MacGregor catalog. This one is from a 1925-26 Horace Partridge catalog, and features an actual leather belt with beltloops, not the satin sewn-ons used in the ’50s and ’60s.” … Reader Scott McDonald checks in with disturbing news from the 45th annual “Roll Call” Congressional Baseball Game. “Basically, different members from the House and Senate get together every summer (the two parties play each other) and play a baseball game to raise money for charities,” he writes. “I was at this year’s game, which at Washington’s RFK Stadium on June 29th, and I noticed that the manager for the Democrats, Rep. Mike Doyle — #14 in this pic — was wearing the hideous Nike spotted undershirt.” Scandalous! Someone haul this guy in front of the House Ethics Committee, pronto. … Ever wonder what kind of unis they wear in the Alaskan League? Bryan Redemske found some old photos of MLBers who paid their minor league dues up in the Last Frontier, including Barry Bonds (pre-‘roids, obviously), Jason Giambi (ditto), Dave Winfield (note the zipper-front jersey), and Tom Seaver. … Check out this awesome sock-o-rama. … Latest player to do the pants-tucked-into-the-shoes thing: Vlad Guerrero. … Orlando Hernandez switched from long sleeves to short sleeves in between the 1st and 2nd inning’s Saturday’s Mets/Astros game, but this switcheroo had nothing to do with Nike’s accursed speckle pattern — El Duque just found the long sleeves to be too warm. … Good catch by Jesse Spector, who writes: “In the fourth inning of Friday’s Devil Rays/Orioles game, they showed someone in the Tampa dugout with what looked like a giant letter ‘W’ on his windbreaker in white tape. I think it was Jae Seo.” … Sam Werner and Marc Beck note that the Astros logo was missing from Chris Burke’s helmet when he batted in the 6th and 9th innings on Friday night (but not during his earlier at-bats in the 1st and 4th). … Bizarre scene on Saturday in Cincinnati, where Ryan Freel got hit by a pitch — sort of. As he tried to avoid the ball, it went inside his vest armhole and lodged in his jersey (here’s another view). With the ball still rattling around his midsection, Freel trotted down to first base, where he nonchalantly unbuttoned his jersey, produced the ball, and flipped it to the ump. (Thanks to Dan Bingham-Pankratz for the tip.) … Looks like Dontrelle Willis had a new underbrim inscription yesterday. Details to follow — stay tuned. … Good to see the White Sox wearing their 1906 Sunday throwbacks — I believe for only the second time this season — yesterday. … Bob Wickman sure fills out his new Braves jersey. … The Giants had their annual AIDS awareness game yesterday, with red ribbons being worn by most Giants and Padres players (but not all of them). … Great video clip here, showing Chiefs first-round pick Tamba Hali being fitted for his first set of KC gear (with thanks to Tim Burgess). … You want throwbacks? Now this is a throwback!
Paul, now you’ve done it… you’ve revealed your address. Now a bunch of obsessed uni groupies are going to be stalking your house 24 hours a day… I can just see it now; middle-aged men in wool jerseys and stirrups, crouching behind some garbage cans across the street, looking into your place with a pig pair of binoculars. “Look, Lukas is wearing his Homestead Greys top today! Wow, he looks great!”
[quote comment=”3190″]middle-aged men in wool jerseys and stirrups[/quote]
That is a great visual. I’m still laughing.
Paul, the cover letter is hilarious!! Good stuff there. The Freel thing reminds me of the outfielder earlier in the year who had a ball roll up into the back of his uni that you covered as well.
Looks like Prior is taking Soriano down for the count, Wickman is fat as f**k, and my gosh, those pics of Bonds and Giambi prove steroid use right there. Bond’s arm is smaller than a 4th grade girl’s in that picture!!!
bob wickman…wow.
Now what would have happened if Freel had attempted to steal second following his HBP? Could the second baseman grab the ball through his jersey to “tag” him? Would that count as having control of the ball?
Personally, I liked how link for the Indians yesterday wore what appeared to be a regular t-shirt under his vest uniform, instead of a fancy-pants stretchy number.
#6: He couldn’t try to steal – the ball is dead on an HPB, so nothing can happen (aside from the batter taking first and any forced runners moving up) until the umpire resumes play.
Did anyone else see the atrocity called the Rockies uniforms yesterday? Black vests on Black tshirts. And to top it off the were playing the Dbacks wearing pinstriped vests on purple tshirts. Vests need to be killed off, especially when the undershirt is the same color.
Mike Pelfrey wore a mouth piece while pitching for the Mets against the Astros yesterday. (he gets bonus points for it being blue matching the team’s cap) It is the first time i had seen someone wear a mouth piece. 2 questions: 1. Has anyone seen a pitcher wear a mouth piece before? 2. Will he wear a black piece when the mets wear the black caps?
DG, thanks for that! Should have caught it sooner, since in Japan (where I live), a hit batsman is called a “deadball”!
Don’t be too hard on Rep. Doyle… if memory serves, the Congresscritters often request a uniform from a team in their district. (I learned about this many years ago, when a St. Louis Congressman asked the Cards to send him a uni for the Dems/Reps game… and was astounded to find they’d sent him Stan Musial’s #6! Doyle is obviously wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates uni, and the Buccos probably sent him those gawdawful sleeves.
The video of Tamba Hali is terrific. How can we get cameras in to see all uni-related goings-on?
[quote comment=”3194″]bob wickman…wow.[/quote]
err…darnit. I can’t edit that. Here’s what I said.
“He’s like a mirror image of David Wells”
Good to see that Page 2 was on top of logo creep in the Tiger promo here
Also, the Nationals wore their red alternate “DC”-logo jerseys for all three games this weekend against the Cubs, furthering the softball trend, though my guess is that the new ownership wanted them to do it for the RFK “grand reopening”
Here’s that link again
link
Seeing Mike Cameron going ribbonless reminds me of a Seinfeld episode…”WHO doesn’t to wear the ribbon?”
[quote comment=”3198″]Did anyone else see the atrocity called the Rockies uniforms yesterday? Black vests on Black tshirts. And to top it off the were playing the Dbacks wearing pinstriped vests on purple tshirts. Vests need to be killed off, especially when the undershirt is the same color.[/quote]
Vests are sweet, I like me a good vest. Yeah, the Rockies’ black on black are pretty bad, and so are there black on purple…I think colored vests need to be done away with, not the vest itself. It’s way too 70s. I’ll have to admit though guys, I’m a fan of the Diamondbacks’ colors and jersey combos, purple undersleeves and all. I think they’re one of the few teams that make purple look good.
Oh, also, why is that old-time b-baller (the one with the “Hoosier” shirt) wearing those huge knepads? He looks like a volleyball player!
My concern with the rockies is the fact that its the same color. Vests should contrast from the tshit. (Black vests i don’t think would look good with any color sleeve)
[quote comment=”3200″] 2 questions: 1. Has anyone seen a pitcher wear a mouth piece before? 2. Will he wear a black piece when the mets wear the black caps?[/quote]
Roger Clemens wears a mouthpiece when he pitches to stop himself from grinding his teeth as he releases the ball. I doubt that they were ever color matched to his uniform though
Could Wickman’s new nickname be “Fat Tub of Goo, Part II”?
Terry Forster lives!
Frank
Wickman makes Wells look like Paris Hilton in this picture. Look for a McSherry moment anytime Wicky takes the mound at Turner Field.
Off topic, but who thinks this hat is a good idea?
link
anyone catch the logo “slide” in sunday’s Cubs game? Don’t recall who the batter was, but his logo on the batting helmet looked like it was oozing right off his lid! Funny visual. And symbolic of the annual swoon which is Cubs baseball.
[quote comment=”3219″]Off topic, but who thinks this hat is a good idea?
link[/quote]
Man, I don’t know what’s worse, that or the camoflauge coloured baseball caps…
In the picture you posted of Chris Burke in the 9th inning, you can see that the logo is indeed on there, but it’s just really faded. I made the same mistake while watching the game, but then I noticed you could barely see it.
What I saw in the picture when I pointed it out to Paul was it looked like the logo decal came off but the glue outline was still on the helmet.
Love the point about middle age men in stirrups in Park Slope, but I’m only 35 – not there yet!
As far as vests go, I’ve been a life-long Pirate fan, and their current white vest / black undershirt is the best combo they have ever had.
A few teams do the vest uniforms right: the Rangers, Mariners, Pirates, and the Reds. The Devil Rays are ok, but if they go rid of them I wouldn’t exactly lose sleep. I’ve probably forgotten a few teams that wear them, but those are my picks for best vests. Anytime a team does black on black or anything like that it loses the point behind the vest in the first place.
Much like black in uniforms and third alternate uniforms(and God help us fourth, fifth, and sixth alternate uniforms–I’m looking at you Arizona Diamondbacks), this is a trend that started in the early 90s and has spiraled out of control. The reason for this is that baseball teams and uniform manufacturers (in this case Majestic) apparently think in the same way that the music or movie industry does: take a classic, alter it slightly (usually for the worse), and then produce the hell out of it.
The Marlins Vest Combo’s in 1997 was pretty cool, the black sleeves on white pinstriped vest with the Teal marlins crest and sleeve logo looked pretty snazzy. I think that was the reason behind all this Vest Crazy Stuff we got. Everyone copied them. The marlins vested look was my favorite of all their unis. Black, teal, any sleeves did it for me. I think they are one of the best dressed teams in baseball, what do you guys think?
*Gobble Gobble, Yes, Mr. Huizinga, Loria, and Henry, yes I’ll *Gobble* Gobble* take it all.
Chris
*PillowPants*
Im Taking it back
Cant say the other word
[quote comment=”3225″]As far as vests go, I’ve been a life-long Pirate fan, and their current white vest / black undershirt is the best combo they have ever had.[/quote]
IF only they could get their act together on matching the black undershirt.
Watched them play my Nationals after the all-star break and I noticed seven (7!!) different styles of undershirt….
4 different lengths of sleeve (mid-bicep, elbow lenth, mid-forearm, wrist)
2 different fits (baggy vs. under-armour-tight)
3 pirate-guy logo differences (with/without/location on sleeve)
1 dot-matrix
If the undershirt is part of the uniform, they need to be just that – UNIFORM!!!!
Does the Simpsons epsiode where Bart writes a check to Krusty and it gets endorsed by an offshore holding account and because of this, he gets busted for tax evasion?
[quote comment=”3232″]Does the Simpsons epsiode where Bart writes a check to Krusty and it gets endorsed by an offshore holding account and because of this, he gets busted for tax evasion?[/quote]
that should say “Does the Simpsons epsiode where Bart writes a check to Krusty and it gets endorsed by an offshore holding account and because of this, he gets busted for tax evasion come to mind for anyone besides me?”
[quote comment=”3227″]A few teams do the vest uniforms right: the Rangers, Mariners, Pirates, and the Reds. The Devil Rays are ok, but if they go rid of them I wouldn’t exactly lose sleep. I’ve probably forgotten a few teams that wear them, but those are my picks for best vests. Anytime a team does black on black or anything like that it loses the point behind the vest in the first place.
[/quote]
The link have good ones.
You’re right JTH, I forgot about the White Sox. They have very good vest uniforms. Definitely some of the best. I probably mentally blocked them out though since I’m an Astros fan.
The Cubs had vests long ago (’30s?) and looked good in them.
Vests look nice as long as there are no player surnames on the jerseys. Without shoulders, the name has to wrap around below the shoulder and it looks weird, plus with long names, from afar it looks like an unbroken line of color connecting with the sleeves.
Teams with vests should have only numbers on the backs of their jerseys.
Cubs vests started in 1940: link
They had zippered fronts no less.
[quote comment=”3227″]A few teams do the vest uniforms right: the Rangers, Mariners, Pirates, and the Reds. The Devil Rays are ok, but if they go rid of them I wouldn’t exactly lose sleep. I’ve probably forgotten a few teams that wear them, but those are my picks for best vests. Anytime a team does black on black or anything like that it loses the point behind the vest in the first place. [/quote]
I could give or take the M’s sleeveless ones, they don’t look all that distinctive. I’m a big fan of link Tribe unis, and the Sox pull theirs off nicely. I could do without the Angels stupid sleeveless jerseys: too much freaking red and no variety. Thier home, road, and alternate sleeveles jerseys look exactly the damn same!
And off the sleeveless topic, after watching the Tigers-A’s games this weekend I still hold that when the A’s wear green tops and have their yellow socks and green stirrups showing, those are the best uniforms in baseball.
Oh, and it has to be the home pants and home caps. I dig the yellow brim, and white shoes don’t go so well with grey pants.
link‘s a picture of that sharp A’s uniform combination. Very Sharp. I may be biased though. I’m a life-long A’s fan. I couldn’t picture Zito in those black and blue Mets jerseys–that’s just not right.
link with Jack H’s favorite combination. The previous link was typed incorrectly
I would love to find a vintage base-ball league around here!!
As far as Wickman goes, I actually know the guy, but we’re not friends or anything like that. He knows he’s not a model of physical fitness, but he also isn’t on the juice. Pretty decent guy that likes to come home and do some hunting and fishing on his free time.
[quote comment=”3227″]A few teams do the vest uniforms right: the Rangers, Mariners, Pirates, and the Reds. [/quote]
correct me if i’m wrong, but the mariners haven’t worn a vest since around 1998 or 1999. you can count me in the “vests look really, really lame” camp.
and why doesn’t “Dressed to the Nines” contain alternate jerseys? the mariners, for instance, have worn home black alternates for two or three years, but that’s not included. neither are the previously mentioned vests.
link There are a couple of leagues around here, and at least four teams in my area, two of which play at Greenfield Village. I have a yearly membership to the place for that alone.
some interesting banter at the beginning of the rockie/card game from the rockies announcers… one of them was marvelling at reyes’ showing full stirrups…
not sure who the color analyst is.. but in true veteran form he relayed a story that back in the day red schoendienst used to tell rookies they “had to show stripes” to play for him… great, great comment..
to that, the play-by-play man… obviously a “young-en”.. replied “they look obscene”… the simple retort from the cagey vet…” I think they look great compared to the straight-leg baggy way most guys do now”….
bravo!!
[quote comment=”3247″][quote comment=”3227″]A few teams do the vest uniforms right: the Rangers, Mariners, Pirates, and the Reds. [/quote]
correct me if i’m wrong, but the mariners haven’t worn a vest since around 1998 or 1999. you can count me in the “vests look really, really lame” camp.[/quote]
You beat me to it!! And I agre, I don’t like Vests any longer, about 5-6 years ago i did but not now.
[quote comment=”3248″]and why doesn’t “Dressed to the Nines” contain alternate jerseys? the mariners, for instance, have worn home black alternates for two or three years, but that’s not included. neither are the previously mentioned vests.[/quote]
the Alt is NAVY not Black
Please tell me someone got a pic of Cards hurler Anthony Reyes’ stirrups? During spring training he was rocking link, but he seems to have switched to a pair without the blue stripes. Still, very nice!
[quote comment=”3254″][quote comment=”3248″]
the Alt is NAVY not Black[/quote]
my bad, this year it is navy. in previous years it has been black. the team store just had a sale on the 2005 alternates for this reason.
[quote comment=”3261″][quote comment=”3254″][quote comment=”3248″]
the Alt is NAVY not Black[/quote]
my bad, this year it is navy. in previous years it has been black. the team store just had a sale on the 2005 alternates for this reason.[/quote]
The alt in ’04 and ’05 ws actually REALLY, REALLY super dark navy …
link
This year it **appears** to be a little light navy ….
that should be lighter navy ….
[quote comment=”3220″]anyone catch the logo “slide” in sunday’s Cubs game? Don’t recall who the batter was, but his logo on the batting helmet looked like it was oozing right off his lid! Funny visual. And symbolic of the annual swoon which is Cubs baseball.[/quote]
Yes, it was Angel Pagan again. Paul mentioned it last week (a search for “Pagan” will bring it up). I noticed it on Friday and again on Sunday. Strange that no one has fixed it — it’s half on the crown and half on the bill.
Here’s the Angel Pagan pic with the sliding logo:
link
And the UniWatch post about it:
link
[quote comment=”3263″][quote comment=”3261″][quote comment=”3254″][quote comment=”3248″]
This year it **appears** to be a little light navy ….[/quote]
ok, well i’ve got one hanging in my closet, and there’s no way it’s “dark navy,” despite what majestic says. that thing is black. even compared to the caps, which are supposedly dark navy, the jersey looks black
DeGraw, damn that’s close.
Anyone catch the inning-long sock discussion during the Mets/Cubs game last night on SNY?
Keith Hernandez: Stirrup Enthusiast
[quote comment=”3303″][quote comment=”3263″][quote comment=”3261″][quote comment=”3254″][quote comment=”3248″]
This year it **appears** to be a little light navy ….[/quote]
ok, well i’ve got one hanging in my closet, and there’s no way it’s “dark navy,” despite what majestic says. that thing is black. even compared to the caps, which are supposedly dark navy, the jersey looks black[/quote]
Touche!
Are you in Seattle? I’m up in Marysville :)
I like that they have gone back to the true Navy like back in 2001 etc …… Black/Navy/midnight/indigo, WHATEVER It was too dark compared to the team’s gear.
[quote comment=”3200″]Mike Pelfrey wore a mouth piece while pitching for the Mets against the Astros yesterday. (he gets bonus points for it being blue matching the team’s cap) It is the first time i had seen someone wear a mouth piece. 2 questions: 1. Has anyone seen a pitcher wear a mouth piece before? 2. Will he wear a black piece when the mets wear the black caps?[/quote]
Clemens used to wear a mouth piece when he was with the Yanks. I don’t really get it. Really, if you catch a liner in the grill, you’re gonna need a metal box over your head not to lose a couple teeth.
Too much **clapclap** time on [your] hands.
You have better hand writing than I do for check writing.