I don’t usually post on the weekend, but I’m gonna make an exception today, because last night there were two separate instances of broadcasters discussing a topic that we just covered here on the blog a few days ago: colored baseball gloves.
The first example came during the Mets/Rockies game (which I attended with my pal Tim, as you can see in this shot, taken in the 6th inning by one of those roving “fan photo” people who now patrol most MLB stadia), where Mets announcers Ron Darling, Gary Cohen, and Keith Hernandez took a keen interest in Jose Mesa’s purple glove:
Darling: Jose Mesa comes on for the Colorado Rockies. An interesting glove color there he chose…
Cohen [sounding very much like someone who read Wednesday’s Uni Watch post]: He used to wear, when he was with the Phillies — as Tucker grounds one down to Helton for the first out — when he was with the Phillies, he wore a red one at home and a blue one on the road, so he’s just, y’know, matching the color scheme.
Darling: You gotta be, you better be really good to have a purple glove. Tell you that right now.
Hernandez [not wanting to be left out but having nothing useful to contribute]: Like a Monet or, uh… [uncomfortable pause] or a nice pastel color or something.
Cohen [displaying a surprising knowledge of art history]: You were looking for water lilies?
Hernandez [eager to show his own art knowledge]: Alright, Manet. [Discussion mercifully ends.]
Meanwhile, out in Minneapolis, Twins announcers Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven were taking notice of David Riske’s glove:
Bremer: Riske with that almost white glove. I’ve never seen a glove like that used, particularly on the mound.
Blyleven: And it must not affect the hitters, or I’m sure someone would have said something by now, that that is, you know, too much like a baseball, that type color.
Bremer: Kyle Lohse [who used to pitch for the Twins] had a light brown glove, but this thing is almost gray, a light gray.
Actually, as we discussed a few days ago, Rulebook section 1.15(a) specifically prohibits pitchers from wearing white or gray gloves, so it’s surprising that Riske’s being allowed to wear one, regardless of whether anyone’s complained. (Special thanks to Ken Tobler for the Riske tip.)
Meanwhile, two quick non-baseball notes: The Browns wore non-striped socks with their white jerseys yesterday — a bad sign. And Evander Holyfield, who’s worn purple gloves and/or trunks for most of the past decade, did it again in his comeback bout last night. Sad, very sad.
Okay, that’s it — see you on Monday.
It was pretty obvious that there was a rush job on Preston Wilson’s jersey, as he was acquired by the Cards Friday (left Houston at 6 a.m.) and started at Wrigley Friday afternoon. I feel bad for the equipment manager.
It looked like Wilson’s name was stitched on letter-by-letter instead of a normal panel or nameplate, and the “arc” wasn’t very smooth.
Sorry, no good screen grabs.
It looks like the Lions socks don’t have any white in them. Maybe its just the one particular player, but could it be that the Lions took away the white bottoms there, if so, I count that as an upgrade.
Im watching the JPN vs RUS game in the Little League Worl Series. Looks like Wilson came up with another new helmet design, for the LLWS, and this one is horrible.
[quote comment=”5965″]Im watching the JPN vs RUS game in the Little League Worl Series. Looks like Wilson came up with another new helmet design, for the LLWS, and this one is horrible.[/quote]
Oh i know, i saw them yesterday, it looks really blank on the front, like they should have a logo. But at least they’re not link
[quote comment=”5965″]Im watching the JPN vs RUS game in the Little League Worl Series. Looks like Wilson came up with another new helmet design, for the LLWS, and this one is horrible.[/quote]
I agree, I never thought I’d be pining for the Cool-Flo helmet (but then again, I never thought I’d be watching the Little League World Series, either). Particularly the ones the Japanese kids are wearing–Rick Moranis’s helmet in “Spaceballs” wasn’t that big.
im watching the LLWS and they keep showing the japanese parents and it looks like the ones that are wearing hats have stuff written on the underbrims
tryin to get pictures of it
Anybody watching the little league world series will have noticed some very promising/interesting things with the team from Japan.
*Player hats have orange underbrims
*Parents ballcaps have really large, and seemingly English underbrim inscriptions
*Lots of orange sock showing
*Not a single player listed Shinjo as their favorite!
Maybe there is hope for the future.
[quote comment=”5963″]It looks like the Lions socks don’t have any white in them. Maybe its just the one particular player, but could it be that the Lions took away the white bottoms there, if so, I count that as an upgrade.[/quote]
The white is there, it’s just that almost the whole team goes with the “low white” look. I can’t stand it.
I perfer when they wear the white’s up high like link used to do.
wait, you’re wearing a Twins cap and your buddy’s wearing a White Sox shirt … you sure you weren’t here in Minneapolis last night, Paul?
(and, for the record, Riske’s glove was driving me nuts in the second deck; in the Metrodome lights, especially, it is the exact same color as the ball.)
Is that a Twins cap? Or is it a Triple Cities Triplets hat from way back in the day?
I spotted a really odd bit of logo creep last night. During the Bears-Chargers game, Jim Nantz & Phil Simms were interviewing Brian Urlacher on the sideline and Urlacher was grabbing the front of his jersey’s collar with both hands and pulling it straight down.
It seemed like for some reason he wanted to deliberately show the NFL Equipment logo on the white undershirt he was wearing. Or maybe he forgot that his undershirt didn’t have a swoosh on it and he was trying to get in an extra plug for the shoe company he endorses.
Sorry, I was too lazy to get off the couch and grab the camera to get a shot of this.
[quote comment=”5965″]Im watching the JPN vs RUS game in the Little League Worl Series. Looks like Wilson came up with another new helmet design, for the LLWS, and this one is horrible.[/quote]
Ya I noticed that also. What really bugged me was that when they had a close up of any player that was not sporting an Ashton Kuthcher-like hair do, you could see the sun coming through the ventilation holes at the base of the visor and shining on the players forehead.
[quote comment=”5974″]I spotted a really odd bit of logo creep last night. During the Bears-Chargers game, Jim Nantz & Phil Simms were interviewing Brian Urlacher on the sideline and Urlacher was grabbing the front of his jersey’s collar with both hands and pulling it straight down.
It seemed like for some reason he wanted to deliberately show the NFL Equipment logo on the white undershirt he was wearing. Or maybe he forgot that his undershirt didn’t have a swoosh on it and he was trying to get in an extra plug for the shoe company he endorses.
Sorry, I was too lazy to get off the couch and grab the camera to get a shot of this.[/quote]
I saw that too, but I don’t think he was deliberately trying to show it off. A lot of football players grab their shoulder pads like that when standing. I did it too XXX years ago. :)
If he wasn’t pulling the pads down, the NFL Equipment logo would still be in the same location, this time on his jersey.
[quote comment=”5971″][quote comment=”5963″]It looks like the Lions socks don’t have any white in them. Maybe its just the one particular player, but could it be that the Lions took away the white bottoms there, if so, I count that as an upgrade.[/quote]
The white is there, it’s just that almost the whole team goes with the “low white” look. I can’t stand it.
I perfer when they wear the white’s up high like link used to do.[/quote]
I was just going to post and say the same thing. Terrence Newman does it as well, looks great.
link
I’m sure someone has already mentioned it, but Bobby Abreu has switched from his red Phillies glove to a grayish Yankess away uniform glove starting yesterday against the Red Sux!
[quote comment=”5973″]Is that a Twins cap? Or is it a Triple Cities Triplets hat from way back in the day?[/quote]
Give that man cigar (as long as it isn’t one of mine). My headwear in the Shea Stadium photo is indeed a Triple Cities Triplets cap. The Triplets were a Yankees farm team that played in the Binghamton area (the Triple Cities being Binghamton, Johnson City, and Endicott), so they were sort of the precursors of today’s Binghamton Mets (whose logo, if you look closely, is visible on the T-shirt I’m wearing in the Shea photo). My personal connection to all this is that I went to college in Binghamton.
Yes those Wilson helmets at the LLWS are dreadful. I’m not sure how I feel about the piping on the jersey’s, depending on the color scheme of the team some look good some look awful. I just feel bad for the kids from Columbia, MO… they got stuck with purple shirts with orange lettering and piping.
I went to a hardware store today and a local radio station had some girls there doing an appearant baseball themed promotion.
The girls had link on.
I had to bite my tongue I really wanted to lecture them about the virtues of link but decided silence was the better part of valor. Or something like that.
Here’s some shots of those helmets
link
link
link
thats odd- the midwest team is wearing purple/orange, as is the Asia team. I thought that international teams wore contrasting schemes to the American teams, ie if the midwest wore purple with orange piping/lettering than the asia team would wear orange with purple piping/lettering. i wonder what will happen if like-uni’d teams make it to the championship game. does each team have 2 jerseys or something?
[quote comment=”5977″]I saw that too, but I don’t think he was deliberately trying to show it off. A lot of football players grab their shoulder pads like that when standing. I did it too XXX years ago. :)
[/quote]
Maybe that was it, but was he even wearing shoulder pads at the time? I didn’t think he was wearing them, which is why I thought it was so odd that he was pulling on the collar. Or maybe I just assumed he wasn’t because the interview happened so late in the game. To be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention.
Ok, couple things, yeah when i saw the pics from the browns game, i started to tear up. as a lifelong fan, they could do so much better. we wnat stipes on all socks. but oh well. but my GOD, [quote comment=”5985″]Here’s some shots of those helmets
link
link
link[/quote]
i think i threw up in my own mouth with those things. you really need to warn people better. i was trying to eat a sandwhich u butthead. jk, but those are nasty. and they look like they are motorcycle helmets or something b/c they are so big with those colors.
on a diff note, anyone a real reds fan? LaRue not only has the big and little letter thing going, but he wears a backwards hat under his hockey mask. anyone else do that? stuck me as odd last itme i saw them play.
link
click on the Photo Gallery, pic number 3.
If anyone is watching the Sox-Yankees game did anyone notice Gabe Kapler during his at-bat in the 4th, He started the at-bat with batting gloves but after his first swing he took them off and stuck them in his back pocket. Apparently it didn’t help because he grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Wow. Henry Blanco’s (new?) chest protector is hideous. How long has he been wearing that eyesore? This is the first time I’ve seen it.
Here’s a link. The full frontal view looks much worse.
Ok, I know this is for women, but link
No, seriously, link
[quote comment=”5988″][quote comment=”5985″]Here’s some shots of those helmets
link
link
link[/quote]
i think i threw up in my own mouth with those things. you really need to warn people better. i was trying to eat a sandwhich u butthead.
jk, but those are nasty. and they look like they are motorcycle helmets or something b/c they are so big with those colors.
lol sorry, but heres some more, so avert your eyes
link
link
link
link
and holy crap, this linkis link?
JTH commented on the new Cubs catcher gear, I was watching the game today and noticed two things, one is that he is wearing red shoulder pads (for lack of a better description), I didn’t notice any red side paneling, the other thing is that the catcher was wearing a shoulder pad on each shoulder and I’m not so sure I’ve ever seen that before.
A Saturday post from Paul, cool! this site is taking off! I thought the Browns looked great last night in their white unis, solid brown socks. Classic, clean….. I just wish they would go back to the burnt orange helmets, instead of the neon orange…..
[quote comment=”5991″]Ok, I know this is for women, but link
No, seriously, link[/quote]
Pink and yellow. Crocus? GUAVA? You’re right.
WTF indeed
Re: glitter uniforms–makes me ashamed to be a woman. Seriously, if you ever see me in one of those things, it is your sworn duty as members of the uni nation to revoke my membership and shoot me on the spot.
[quote comment=”5989″]If anyone is watching the Sox-Yankees game did anyone notice Gabe Kapler during his at-bat in the 4th, He started the at-bat with batting gloves but after his first swing he took them off and stuck them in his back pocket. Apparently it didn’t help because he grounded into an inning-ending double play.[/quote]
yep, figured somebody on here did too.
I’m watching the Patriots/Cardinals game on NFL Network, and Tom Brady just completed a pass to a reciever (last name Kight) wearing #2…
Can anyone offer an explanation for this? I remember a post somewhere along the line about why Reggie Bush wasn’t allowed to wear #5, but it seems like this totally contradicts that instance.
[quote comment=”6003″]I’m watching the Patriots/Cardinals game on NFL Network, and Tom Brady just completed a pass to a reciever (last name Kight) wearing #2…
Can anyone offer an explanation for this? I remember a post somewhere along the line about why Reggie Bush wasn’t allowed to wear #5, but it seems like this totally contradicts that instance.[/quote]
The No Fun League doesn’t enforce the numbering system during the preseason because there are too many players on teams’ rosters.
Mets are wearing 1986 throwbacks tonight. The unis feature a continuous stripe on each side, from the top to the pants.
In the 3rd inning, Lastings Milledge comes to the plate with his pants hiked high, showing off his solid blue socks. The Mets’ announcers then proceed to have a discussion on why that’s not a good look with the throwback uni, and how he really needs stirrups.
Maybe Paul can confirm this, but it looks like the Mets’ retro unis use nameplates instead of directly-sewn-on letters. I swear that I thought the Mets letters were directly sewn on back then, but the pictures I’ve been seeing kind of make it look like they used nameplates then. Can anyone confirm it?
As I’ve said before, those 70s-80s era softball uniforms only look worse now in the Pajama era. Darling, Cohen, and Hernandez even talked about how the uniform was worn in 1986 as opposed to how it’s worn now. Well, Darling and Cohen were saying something. Hernandez doesn’t really seem to give a crap about uni stuff.
In a championship game, who would you root for when your favorite team isn’t playing: The underdog, or the team with the better jerseys?
[quote comment=”6008″]In a championship game, who would you root for when your favorite team isn’t playing: The underdog, or the team with the better jerseys?[/quote]
I’d probably be rooting for a goofy mishap to happen during the halftime show.
Another uni note maybe Paul can address: did anyone during the ’80s have more drab road unis than the Red Sox? Think about it… plain gray with dark blue letters and numbers… no white piping like on the Yankees’ road unis… and the numbers were plain block numbers, not those wider, more ornate numbers they used on the home uni (and, since 1990, on the road uni). Talk about a differential…
brad hennessey for the giants had a really light colored golve on tonight as well. no art but trust me.
By the way Paul, nice title. Very creative and ingenious
[quote comment=”6006″]Darling, Cohen, and Hernandez even talked about how the uniform was worn in 1986 as opposed to how it’s worn now. Well, Darling and Cohen were saying something. Hernandez doesn’t really seem to give a crap about uni stuff.[/quote]
I absolutely HATE to defend Keith Hernandez, but he’s way more into unis than the other guys. He always talks about how players need to wear stirrups, and about how he would cut through the bottom of his own stirrups and sew something in to make them longer. He also commented on how the side-paneling on the pants and jerseys needed to be lined up correctly. He spent a good 45 seconds to a minute on it.
I think all Mets fans agree that Gary Cohen is easily the best play-by-play man in any NY sport. It’s a shame he works with Hernandez because Keith is the second to worst color guy, outmatched only by the seemingly syphilis induced remarks of Walt Frazier. (Which makes their Just for Men commercials together a 10 out 10 on the unintentional comedy scale.) Sorry post is so long.
Although I much prefer the two different striped sock designs the Browns have, the solid brown looks OK with the brown jersey. I do not like it with the white jersey, however. Overall, though, they did a pretty good job with their uniform tweak.
[quote comment=”6006″]Maybe Paul can confirm this, but it looks like the Mets’ retro unis use nameplates instead of directly-sewn-on letters. I swear that I thought the Mets letters were directly sewn on back then, but the pictures I’ve been seeing kind of make it look like they used nameplates then. Can anyone confirm it?
[/quote]
Yes, the Mets’ letters were on a nameplate which was then sewn onto the jersey. Not sure when they switched over to the current design (letters directly on the jersey), might have been when they went with the curent pinstripe design between 1993-1995.
They’ve been showing a lot of 1986 Mets stuff on SNY and it’s easy to see the nameplates.
Also, I was actually at the game so I couldn’t see up close, but did the Mets use straight pinstripes (like the current unis) or zig-zag pinstripes like the original 1986 unis? Would have been interesting to see if you can pick up something like that in HD.
[quote comment=”6013″][quote comment=”6006″]Darling, Cohen, and Hernandez even talked about how the uniform was worn in 1986 as opposed to how it’s worn now. Well, Darling and Cohen were saying something. Hernandez doesn’t really seem to give a crap about uni stuff.[/quote]
I absolutely HATE to defend Keith Hernandez, but he’s way more into unis than the other guys. He always talks about how players need to wear stirrups, and about how he would cut through the bottom of his own stirrups and sew something in to make them longer. He also commented on how the side-paneling on the pants and jerseys needed to be lined up correctly. He spent a good 45 seconds to a minute on it.
I think all Mets fans agree that Gary Cohen is easily the best play-by-play man in any NY sport. It’s a shame he works with Hernandez because Keith is the second to worst color guy, outmatched only by the seemingly syphilis induced remarks of Walt Frazier. (Which makes their Just for Men commercials together a 10 out 10 on the unintentional comedy scale.) Sorry post is so long.[/quote]
I actually like Keith Hernandez. I think he has his moments, but I can totaly understand how some people are put off by him. Ron Darling, on the other hand, is really starting to come into his own.
Both of them really do benefit from having Gary Cohen run the booth, though.
[quote comment=”6005″]Mets are wearing 1986 throwbacks tonight. The unis feature a continuous stripe on each side, from the top to the pants.
In the 3rd inning, Lastings Milledge comes to the plate with his pants hiked high, showing off his solid blue socks. The Mets’ announcers then proceed to have a discussion on why that’s not a good look with the throwback uni, and how he really needs stirrups.[/quote]
Thanks a lot. I pointed this out to several of my friends who are decently informed (some avid) football fans and we were seriously confused. I actually think it looked kinda cool, reminded me of watching college football.
My sincere apologies, I quoted the wrong comment. I meant to use this one:
[quote comment=”6004″][quote comment=”6003″]I’m watching the Patriots/Cardinals game on NFL Network, and Tom Brady just completed a pass to a reciever (last name Kight) wearing #2…
Can anyone offer an explanation for this? I remember a post somewhere along the line about why Reggie Bush wasn’t allowed to wear #5, but it seems like this totally contradicts that instance.[/quote]
The No Fun League doesn’t enforce the numbering system during the preseason because there are too many players on teams’ rosters.[/quote]
Sorry, it’s been a long night.
All three are fantastic. Gary is by-the-book, witty, and insightful, without being trite. Ronny is the perfect blend of insight and charisma, and Keith is brash and egotistical, but aside from the occasional speedbump (“what’s that girl doing in the dugout?!”), he compliments the other 2 perfectly…and they seem to like working with each other. They mention the unis when necessary and they don’t have to resort to foolish nicknames and catch-phrases (“giambino”…”an A-bomb for A-Rod”…etc.). What more can you ask for?!
[quote comment=”6021″]All three are fantastic. Gary is by-the-book, witty, and insightful, without being trite. Ronny is the perfect blend of insight and charisma, and Keith is brash and egotistical, but aside from the occasional speedbump (“what’s that girl doing in the dugout?!”), he compliments the other 2 perfectly…and they seem to like working with each other. They mention the unis when necessary and they don’t have to resort to foolish nicknames and catch-phrases (“giambino”…”an A-bomb for A-Rod”…etc.). What more can you ask for?![/quote]
About a month ago or so, they got into a discussion about the unis that the Mets were wearing that day (pinstripes with blue caps), and Darling actually came out and blasted the 1986 unis, calling them ugly, totally complimenting the plain pinstripes that the Mets wear now, ansd saying that he would have liked to have worn the current pinstripes back in his playing days.
Also, don’t know if anyone caught this or not (well, Mets fans anyway), but they had Ralph Kiner in the booth on Friday, and I don’t know how they got to this discusson, but Ralph made an interesting comment. It was something along the lines of how he once worked with a guy who “wasn’t always right, but he was never wrong”. He said it kind of sarcastically, and there was a kind of chuckel/nervous laughter from Cohen and Darling. The first thing I thought was that he was talking about Tim McCarver. Did anyone else get that vibe?
[quote comment=”6022″]… they had Ralph Kiner in the booth on Friday, and I don’t know how they got to this discusson, but Ralph made an interesting comment. It was something along the lines of how he once worked with a guy who “wasn’t always right, but he was never wrong”. He said it kind of sarcastically, and there was a kind of chuckel/nervous laughter from Cohen and Darling. The first thing I thought was that he was talking about Tim McCarver. Did anyone else get that vibe?[/quote]
You understood what Ralph Kiner said?
[quote comment=”6015″]
They’ve been showing a lot of 1986 Mets stuff on SNY and it’s easy to see the nameplates.
[/quote]
Yeah, I noticed that when they showed some old video of Strawberry. But I wasn’t going to post three times in the span of ten minutes. Would have looked a *tad* obsessive.
Kiner varies. He appears on Fridays. Las week he was very sharp, this week he was telling the regular crew that they hadn’t mentioned things that they actually had mentioned. I like him though.
[quote comment=”6006″]Maybe Paul can confirm this, but it looks like the Mets’ retro unis use nameplates instead of directly-sewn-on letters. I swear that I thought the Mets letters were directly sewn on back then, but the pictures I’ve been seeing kind of make it look like they used nameplates then. Can anyone confirm it?
As I’ve said before, those 70s-80s era softball uniforms only look worse now in the Pajama era. Darling, Cohen, and Hernandez even talked about how the uniform was worn in 1986 as opposed to how it’s worn now. Well, Darling and Cohen were saying something. Hernandez doesn’t really seem to give a crap about uni stuff.[/quote]
Oh I disagree, KH went off on a long description on how he wore his stirrups along with that uniform later on during the game. Don’t badmouth my man Keith. :)
[quote comment=”6081″][quote comment=”6006″]Maybe Paul can confirm this, but it looks like the Mets’ retro unis use nameplates instead of directly-sewn-on letters. I swear that I thought the Mets letters were directly sewn on back then, but the pictures I’ve been seeing kind of make it look like they used nameplates then. Can anyone confirm it?
As I’ve said before, those 70s-80s era softball uniforms only look worse now in the Pajama era. Darling, Cohen, and Hernandez even talked about how the uniform was worn in 1986 as opposed to how it’s worn now. Well, Darling and Cohen were saying something. Hernandez doesn’t really seem to give a crap about uni stuff.[/quote]
Oh I disagree, KH went off on a long description on how he wore his stirrups along with that uniform later on during the game. Don’t badmouth my man Keith. :)[/quote]
I actually quite liked the throwback unis – but I kept substituting ’86 players for the current ones based on uni numbers. I like Chris Woodward and all, but you sir are no Lenny Dykstra.
By the way, did anyone notice that WAY TOO MANY ’86 Mets were wearing different uni numbers on their jerseys than the ones on the mortarboards in the field? Bud Harrelson wore #3 instead of #23, and to me #3 of ’86 will always be the afro sporting, gum chewing Rafael Santana, who was chomping the gum like a horse still!
Another note about Riske’s Nike glove. How many swoosh’s can fit on one glove? At one point, there were 4 noticeanle in one camera shot, with anotehr one one the palm of the glove I’m sure. I guess keeping it simple is out of the question.
In another Minnesota related topic, Saturday provided the first look at the Vikings road unis and the return of the purple pant. All I can say is horrible. My wife even asked why I was watching a Steelers/Chargers game. I don’t think the white jersey would look too hideous with the white pants, but the weird top of the pant strip color make it look strange not to mentioon the purple sock tops blend into the pants. The Vikings already had a way to raise merchandise sales by trading Moss and C-Pep making people with those replicas buy new ones for a current player (Greenway – oops, K. Robinson – oops, maybe a Longwell jersey?) At least the horn is still on the helmet.
Okay-
Found what I was looking for.
Couple of guys I grew up with had this glove in the early ’70’s and never understood whether Roberto Clemente had a red white and blue glove developed by rawlings because of the colors of the Puerto Rican flag…or some other reason.
link
It was the shit back when I was a kid… wow you have a red, white and blue glove… that’s really cool…
T.
I currently play varsity baseball in minnnesota, and was very interested in buying a glove similar to riske’s. god its sweet haha. i was wondering how often they would make me put it away and use a different glove and where maybe i could find a glove this light gray. plz post