New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a new hosiery hero in our midst. That would be Brian Tallet of the Blue Jays, who on Tuesday night earned himself a lifetime Uni Watch exemption by wearing some picture-perfect stirrups. Here’s a closer look — note the bloused cuffs (which didn’t drape exactly right, but I blame that on the polyester, not on Tallet). Very, very nice.
Bill Blevins, who provided the screen-grabs, reports that Yankees TV announcers Michael Kay, Al Leiter, and Ken Singleton “spent over a minute talking about the fact that Tallet wore actual stirrups in the proper manner. The talk was entirely pro-stirrup, and I did not detect irony in their tone.” Apparently they also showed a quick video clip of Leiter wearing stirrups back in his Blue Jays days (although that couldn’t have been too exciting, since Leiter’s stirrups in those days were exceedingly uninspired). Unfortunately, the MLB.TV game video is from the Toronto broadcast, where the announcers didn’t even mention Tallet’s fine example.
Tallet’s an interesting case. In his minor league days, he sometimes wore stirrups and faux stirrups (nice cuff level, despite the bogus hose). I’ve been unable to find pics from his 2002 and 2003 cups of coffee with the Indians, he was definitely long-pantsed during his two Cleveland appearances in 2005. Then he caused a stir at the beginning of this season — his first with Toronto — by showing some stirrup, which upon closer inspection turned out to be of the faux variety. But as the season progressed, he shifted to full-fledged pajama mode, and as recently as two weeks ago he appeared to be a lost cause. Who’da thunk he’d end up with the season’s best sock stylings so far?
About yesterday’s post: As you may have seen, I ended up taking down yesterday’s interview with Joe Hilseberg, at his request. Many of you have asked why, but the specifics are private. All that matters is that Joe is a stand-up guy who had good reason to make the request, so I honored it. I want to make it clear that there was no pressure put on me by any outside parties, nor was this a case of a source coming back to me and saying, “Oh shit, I didn’t think you’d print that!” This was simply a friend of the site ending up in a tough spot through no fault of his own, so I helped him get out of it. End of story.
No, I can’t tell you more, and no, I can’t e-mail you a transcript of the interview, so please don’t ask. Let’s move on, shall we?
Uni Watch News Ticker: With Georgia Tech wearing throwbacks tonight, I’ll be appearing at 6pm eastern on the school’s flagship station, WQXI 790. I’m told we’ll be discussing the topic of throwbacks in general. … Check out this totally rulin’ 1959 Wilson advertising poster that I scored yesterday on eBay. I’ll post better photos of it when I get the actual item from the seller. … Big, big kudos to Andrew Shieh, who came up with a photo of last weekend’s Navy placekicker jersey typo. … Good catch by Jonathon Binet, who notes that the sleeve patches worn by many of the Nationals are curling and puckering. Additional views here, here, here, here, and here. … In yet another great catch, Dustin Ray has noticed that MLB umpires’ “EG” memorial patch for Eric Gregg is disappearing from many umps’ sleeves, often leaving behind a sticky residue. … Speaking of memorials, this obituary for longtime MLB exec Syd Thrift mentions that he’s the one who got underbills changed from green to gray (or so Thrift always claimed — some other sources dispute this). … On Monday I mentioned that many NFL players’ waistband towels now feature the Wilson wordmark (instead of the Wilson “W,” as had been the case for the past several years). That prompted the following note from a source at Wilson: “Good catch on the towels. We did change to the script Wilson logo this year, to match our current branding (I know…logo creep). If someone’s still wearing the ‘W,’ I assume it’s because the team had old inventory and is just using them up. Each team receives 528 towels per year and a lot of the northern teams seem to go through their allotment slower than southern and/or dome teams.” … While he was at it, the Wilson sourced added this: “If you look closely this year, you’ll see that NFL game balls have the team names stamped on them, below the NFL shield panel. In the past, the home team supplied the balls for both teams; this year, each team will supply their own footballs when they are on offense (similar to college).” … The Raptors have finally confirmed what everyone already knew: no more purple. … Here’s something you don’t often see anymore: the old ABC helmet logo, as worn on Sept. 9th by Ken Huckaby. … The Cardinals retired Bruce Sutter’s No. 42 on Monday night — an odd move, since 42 was already retired for Jackie Robinson. … In case you missed it in yesterday’s Comments section: With the Falcons having signed Morten Andersen Tuesday, lots of readers are wondering if the ageless kicker — who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2004 — will wear his old-school Dungard facemask. … Nice piece here making fun of the Vikings’ unis (with thanks to Jennifer Hayden). … Lots of negative reader reaction yesterday to the new U.S. cycling uniform, and it’s easy to see why. … Cork Gaines notes that there was some serious logo creep discussion in yesterday’s Doonesbury (where the item being discussed for adornment is a prosthetic leg). … Browns WR Josh Cribbs is inviting a fine by wearing an unapproved memorial tribute to a recently deceased teacher (thanks to Dave Sterling for the tip). … Webmaster John Ekdahl has added several new features to the Comments section, including the use of gravatars. For details on that, go to yesterday’s Comments and scroll down to Nos. 139 and 144.
There is hope!!! Too bad it’s in CANADA
In that picture where they showed the leftover residue from the “EG” Patch, nice to see ump Angel Hernandez pissing off yet another team. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hernandez where he doesn’t have that “I’m an umpire, therefore by default I am better than you and I am always right” smirk on his face. He, and in particular fellow ump C.B. Bucknor, are two of the worst umps in the league at avoiding confrontations and having quick triggers when ejecting players.
Let me offer my heartfelt congratulations to the people of Toronto.
It’s nice to see someone’s adopted baseball as their national passtime again.
What a shame that yesterdays interview had to be taken down because it was gold. I’m sure we can all guess who Joe was getting pressure from. The truth hurts doesn’t it stinky Pete??
Sweet new addition to the text, Master John!!
Glad I read the interview yesterday! Unfortunately inflection doesn’t transfer to type. Joe seemed like a guy who truly loves his work.
The funny thing about the Navy kicker typo is that if you read the typo phonetically, it sounds the same. NAYV = NAVY
Just wanted to say, in regards to the comments about changing to a thread system from yesterday’s comments, that I really enjoy this style much more. I like scrolling through the comments as they are – unorganized by topic. You get a lot more out of the comments when you don’t have to pick and choose topics you want to read.
When I see Mets stuff, I can just skip it!
Just kidding. About the Mets stuff, anyway.
It’s a shame that interview was removed – it was a damn fine read. And as a Baltimore resident/O’s fan who is all too familiar with the workings of the Orioles, I can say that I would absolutely not be surprised if it had something to do with them. That’s exactly the kind of crap they pull all…the…time.
Thus, link.
Someone left a bold tag open.
And also italics.
John (a.k.a. Eck, “webmaster ed”), Thanks for all the new user-friendly ways to post. And Brian Tallet is now going to end up on my Strat-o-Matic baseball team!
How many NFL players use a link Is this primarily an offensive/defensive line thing?
I remember a story of a Houston Oiler (that I think made the trip to Nashville) who used snaps at the base of his jersey to connect to his pants. But I wasn’t aware of the crotch strap trend.
Found the jersey pic and link in a detailed article link
[quote]a lot of the northern teams seem to go through their allotment slower than southern and/or dome teams[/quote]
I’m confused as to why northern teams would go through towels slower than teams in the domes. Aren’t they used mostly be quarterbacks trying to keep their hands dry and not muddy? I would think that would be more applicable to the north than the south. But as I didn’t play quarterback, I wouldn’t really know.
As old-school as Brian Tallet’s stirrups are, he loses points for that egregious #56 that he wears!
And this real-time preview thing is amazing! I’ve seen preview buttons where you can see what your post will look like before you enter it, but this feature takes the cake! Good going, Ek!
True the towels would be beneficial to the Northern teams b/c of mud, rain, etc. Most teams are switching to the “grssay turf” so the mud isn’t as much a problem as it used to be. But the southern and dome teams, they sweat their @$$es off when at home, especially in the 1st couple of games. They might use multiple towels on really hot and humid days.
As far as the Cribbs inviting a fine goes, I think it would be ridiculous if they fined him. Granted if it were allowed all the time there would be an insane amount of tributes by a number of NFL players. However, it seems as if Cribbs would have it be subtle enough that it wouldn’t grant a fine. A major contributor to his life and all he is trying to do is let them family know he is thinking about her.
In reference to link
1. Is that Giambi hugging him after what came out this week?
&
2. He sorta kind looks like Girardi here as well, no?
Is it just me or does the 42 “Robinson/Sutter” look really bad? Wouldn’t it be better to have two different 42s listed separately with their names separate as well? What the Cards did just looks bad.
As much as i love the Cards, bad move on their part to include Sutter with Robinson…I agree with 2 separate 42’s
[quote comment=”9938″]How many NFL players use a link Is this primarily an offensive/defensive line thing?
I remember a story of a Houston Oiler (that I think made the trip to Nashville) who used snaps at the base of his jersey to connect to his pants. But I wasn’t aware of the crotch strap trend.
Found the jersey pic and link in a detailed article link[/quote]
It looks like a crawler for very big boys.
Morton Andersen’s facemask looks like a plastic replica I had in the mid 1980s.
Btw, what kind of single bar facemask is the Arizona Punter (I forget his name) is wearing? Is it even legal as I think it looks like it angles down below his chin. I will try to dig up a picture.
Don’t you think kickers and punters should be wearing a little more face protection considering what David Akers went through on the Giants sideline this past Sunday.
Scott Player is the punter for the Cards.
I guess I answered my own question.
Here is what Scott Player’s facemask looks like.
link
I believe when he was a holder in a Thanksgiving game against the Cowboys, he got his face smushed into the turf on a blocked kick, and suffered as gross a broken nose as i’ve ever seen….it was about ripped off his face. Yuck.
[quote comment=”9932″]It’s a shame that interview was removed – it was a damn fine read. And as a Baltimore resident/O’s fan who is all too familiar with the workings of the Orioles, I can say that I would absolutely not be surprised if it had something to do with them. That’s exactly the kind of crap they pull all…the…time.
Thus, link.[/quote]
I clicked the link at the end of this. I had heard in passing about a group of Oriole fans gathering to protest Peter Angelos today but had no idea how passionate and vehemently irritated Baltimore baseball fans are with their team and its leadership. I recommend everyone at least check the link above out. If you read the link for this group, you might actually shed a tear or two. I felt the passion for Baltimore baseball. Heck, I’m a Mets fan and now I wish I could be there today.
And…am I the only one that can’t get the Gravatars to work?
I say F- Angelos, although I’m not a O’s fan.
I say F- Loria, although I AM a Marlins fan.
Lorias a doosh, not only for the cheap black jerseys, but for possibly canning Girardi at the end of the year.
Relevance: The A-rod “Is that Girardi” Pic, and the Orioles Bashing.
Source: The Demonic Mind of Tubby
the gravatar website: functional :: the mets black uni: respectable.
for the sat crowd.
In reference to the link Kenny (#17) posted, I’m not so big on the MLB log on the brim.
[quote comment=”9944″]As much as i love the Cards, bad move on their part to include Sutter with Robinson…I agree with 2 separate 42’s[/quote]
I like what the Red Sox have done with this (although as a Yankee fan, I can’t believe I just wrote that!).
They put #42 on the facade in right field with the other retired numbers (Doerr, Cronin, Yaz, Williams, Fisk) but it is in link
Makes it very easy to distinguish, just in case the Sox ever decide to retire Mo Vaughn’s number!
[quote comment=”9932″]
And…am I the only one that can’t get the Gravatars to work?[/quote]
im getting the page cannot be displayed error as well…
[quote comment=”9951″]I say F- Angelos, although I’m not a O’s fan.
I say F- Loria, although I AM a Marlins fan.
Lorias a doosh, not only for the cheap black jerseys, but for possibly canning Girardi at the end of the year.
Relevance: The A-rod “Is that Girardi” Pic, and the Orioles Bashing.
Source: The Demonic Mind of Tubby[/quote]
How do you think Expo fans feel about Loria?
As for Tallet, he wore #60 in Cleveland. Take comfort in the fact that he’s moving down the number scale, not up. In fact, if his current pattern of numbers holds true, he’ll only need to be traded 10 times in order to wear #16. :o)
gravatar.com would be a great idea if they had anticipated more than 12 people trying to use it, which it seems they did not. 60% of the time, I can’t even get the root page to load, and the signup script has worked 0% of the time for me, and I’ve tried about 15 times now.
I will say that this preview thing is AMAZING. is that a wordpress plugin? if so, which one? I want to use that on my weblog.
[quote comment=”9958″]
im getting the page cannot be displayed error as well…[/quote]
Took me a couple of attempts but I got in, signed up and actually uploaded a gravatar. Of course it’s being “reviewed by a panel of gravatar experts” and I’ll see an e-mail when it is approved. That hasn’t happened yet. Not that I’m impatient or anything . . . .
Ek,
I think the way you should to the comments is have seperate comments sections for whatever Paul has in his column on that particular day, and then leave one general. That way if people want to have a discussion about, say Brian Tallet’s stirrups, they could do so withouth interjection from people talking about everything else. Also, if I wanted to say something about his stirrups, and I hadn’t been reading the comments all day, I would just have to sort through that small bit of conversation, instead of all of the comments, to see what others had already said.
And apparently, the preview pane does not automatically make me a better typer, or any better at catching my typos. I’m glad it’s working for other people.
[quote comment=”9961″][quote comment=”9958″]
im getting the page cannot be displayed error as well…[/quote]
Took me a couple of attempts but I got in, signed up and actually uploaded a gravatar. Of course it’s being “reviewed by a panel of gravatar experts” and I’ll see an e-mail when it is approved. That hasn’t happened yet. Not that I’m impatient or anything . . . .[/quote]
I’m at that point too…
I’ve been hearing that the US Ryder Cup “uniforms” are particularly bad, (one of my UK co-workers said they looked like Sherlock Holmes…?) but I haven’t been able to find any good pics yet. Anyone find any pics yet?
OK. Back in 2005, Paul told us in his ESPN article about rumblings he’d heard regarding a MLB team that was looking at possibly link for the 2007 season. I’ve heard nothing of this since.
Paul? Fellow Uni Watch faithful?
In the article (sorry, you may have to be an ESPN Insider to read it) I seem to recall Paul saying something similar to (and I’m paraphrasing) “If this team goes through with this change, it will be the most prominent thing they’ve done in a decade.” (End paraphrase.)
Anyone willing to guess who Paul was referring to? I have my guess.
[quote comment=”9962″]Ek,
I think the way you should to the comments is have seperate comments sections for whatever Paul has in his column on that particular day, and then leave one general. That way if people want to have a discussion about, say Brian Tallet’s stirrups, they could do so withouth interjection from people talking about everything else. Also, if I wanted to say something about his stirrups, and I hadn’t been reading the comments all day, I would just have to sort through that small bit of conversation, instead of all of the comments, to see what others had already said.[/quote]
But what makes the comment section great already is there is a number of conversation going on at once…kinda like a virtual bar…i like reading what people have to say about a number of different topics…i can talk about stirrups, Bruce Sutter’s number, crotch straps, and face masks…simply put, i get a little excited reading and talking about more than one thing at a time
geez, what’s taking so long for the new column to go up? c’mon ESPN!…
Here’s a link I found showing a close-up of the ABC helmet logo:
link
[quote comment=”9966″]I’ve been hearing that the US Ryder Cup “uniforms” are particularly bad, (one of my UK co-workers said they looked like Sherlock Holmes…?) but I haven’t been able to find any good pics yet. Anyone find any pics yet?[/quote]
Just wanna congrats MPM for being the first to have his gravatar publish here.
:D:D
[quote comment=”9967″]
In the article (sorry, you may have to be an ESPN Insider to read it) I seem to recall Paul saying something similar to (and I’m paraphrasing) “If this team goes through with this change, it will be the most prominent thing they’ve done in a decade.” (End paraphrase.)
Anyone willing to guess who Paul was referring to? I have my guess.[/quote]
Oh, I HOPE it’s link
[quote comment=”9967″]OK. Back in 2005, Paul told us in his ESPN article about rumblings he’d heard regarding a MLB team that was looking at possibly link for the 2007 season.[/quote]
That plan was shelved. I can categorically assure you that there will be no powder blue road uniforms next season.
Wait, before anyone reads too much into that: There will be no powder blue home or alternate uniforms either.
link
I know they’ve done something this decade, but I would like to have seen this before the old Busch closed
[quote comment=”9974″][quote comment=”9967″]OK. Back in 2005, Paul told us in his ESPN article about rumblings he’d heard regarding a MLB team that was looking at possibly link for the 2007 season.[/quote]
That plan was shelved. I can categorically assure you that there will be no powder blue road uniforms next season.
Wait, before anyone reads too much into that: There will be no powder blue home or alternate uniforms either.[/quote]
Thanks for the fast response. It can be fun to dream, though. *sigh*
And for MPM at No. 37, link might be a video showing some of the U.S. Ryder Cup team members in action. And link might be showing some of the apparel worn by the competitors this weekend.
Does anyone else find it dissappointing that all the division championship stuff is the same for both teams. I would have at least liked to have seen team colors in the hats. They have it for the roster shirt, but the Mets is black, of course.
Also, what do they do with the losing teams stuff? I know they can produce it relatively quickly, but its coming down to the wire, they have to have stuff for both the Dodgers and the Padres made, where does teh losers stuff go?
[quote comment=”9974″][quote comment=”9967″]OK. Back in 2005, Paul told us in his ESPN article about rumblings he’d heard regarding a MLB team that was looking at possibly link for the 2007 season.[/quote]
That plan was shelved. I can categorically assure you that there will be no powder blue road uniforms next season.
Wait, before anyone reads too much into that: There will be no powder blue home or alternate uniforms either.[/quote]
Paul, can we play 20 Questions or something like that to figure out which team was scheming the powder blues? :)
[quote comment=”9977″]Does anyone else find it dissappointing that all the division championship stuff is the same for both teams. I would have at least liked to have seen team colors in the hats. They have it for the roster shirt, but the Mets is black, of course.
Also, what do they do with the losing teams stuff? I know they can produce it relatively quickly, but its coming down to the wire, they have to have stuff for both the Dodgers and the Padres made, where does teh losers stuff go?[/quote]
The losing team’s stuff gets destroyed by the manufacturer. It’s like for the Super Bowl, where they make two sets of championship shirts and hats, and destroy the losing team’s gear.
[quote comment=”9977″]Does anyone else find it dissappointing that all the division championship stuff is the same for both teams. I would have at least liked to have seen team colors in the hats. They have it for the roster shirt, but the Mets is black, of course.
Also, what do they do with the losing teams stuff? I know they can produce it relatively quickly, but its coming down to the wire, they have to have stuff for both the Dodgers and the Padres made, where does teh losers stuff go?[/quote]
I heard awhile ago on the Dan Patrick radio show, they send the losers stuff to 3rd world countries…i can’t remember if they were joking or not, especially since they said they must think the Buffalo Bills were awesome!!
On the gravatar thing:
It takes a while. I don’t know why. I guess their server is getting overloaded. Be patient.
[quote comment=”9982″]On the gravatar thing:
It takes a while. I don’t know why. I guess their server is getting overloaded. Be patient.[/quote]
But I want it NOW!!!!
Sorry, I was just talking to my 3-year old and apparently she’s rubbing off on me
:-)
[quote comment=”9977″]Also, what do they do with the losing teams stuff? I know they can produce it relatively quickly, but its coming down to the wire, they have to have stuff for both the Dodgers and the Padres made, where does teh losers stuff go?[/quote]
From what I understand, it varies by league and team. Some burn them, and others donate them to a needy organization or 3rd world country.
So if you’re ever in Nicaragua, you might be lucky enough to spot an old 2000 Met World Series Champs shirt. Heck, it might even be blue.
[quote comment=”9942″]Is that Giambi hugging him after what came out this week? & He sorta kind looks like Girardi here as well, no?[/quote]
I think that is Andy Phillips and A-Rod does look a lot like Girardi in that picture.
[quote comment=”9942″]In reference to link
1. Is that Giambi hugging him after what came out this week?
&
2. He sorta kind looks like Girardi here as well, no?[/quote]
That is not Giambi in that picture, there is a video on the main page of espn.com and Giambi is sporting some major stubble. Plus his hair is much longer and greasier.
[quote comment=”9956″][quote comment=”9944″]As much as i love the Cards, bad move on their part to include Sutter with Robinson…I agree with 2 separate 42’s[/quote]
I like what the Red Sox have done with this (although as a Yankee fan, I can’t believe I just wrote that!).
They put #42 on the facade in right field with the other retired numbers (Doerr, Cronin, Yaz, Williams, Fisk) but it is in link
Makes it very easy to distinguish, just in case the Sox ever decide to retire Mo Vaughn’s number![/quote]
The Mets have the same thing at Shea – the 42 is in the old Brooklyn Dodger colors with no pinstripes, and I don’t think we’ll have an issue with 42 ever being retired – Butch Huskey just wasn’t that good!
Regarding the Ryder Cup get-up: I think having unis at all for this event is pretty silly. First, this isn’t a real team event, and certainly not one with a fast moving mixture of friends and foes that must be rapidly identified. Second, the unis are generally link link
On the plus side, anything that gets Tiger out of that stupid “TW” gear can’t be all bad.
they totally have to split up the two #42’s. Boston got it right, again.
i have no idea what the hell a gravitar is, or that i want it, even.
[quote comment=”9989″]First, this isn’t a real team event, and certainly not one with a fast moving mixture of friends and foes that must be rapidly identified. [/quote]
I really have to disagree with you that it isn’t a team event.
The uniforms have been bad at times, though.
OK that article about the Vikings unis was great – that whole Heckler website is great…..thx for the link – another site to surf to pass the time at work!
Frank Mercogliano said:
I believe when he was a holder in a Thanksgiving game against the Cowboys, he got his face smushed into the turf on a blocked kick, and suffered as gross a broken nose as i’ve ever seen….it was about ripped off his face. Yuck.
I think I might be violating multiple protocols here with the correction AND the gross link, but it was actually Bryan Barker from the skins who got his nose squished. In the interest of spreading knowledge, here’s a link…it is really gross though, so be forewarned
link
Since We’re showing off powder blues…link
[quote comment=”9994″]Since We’re showing off powder blues…link[/quote]
Chris, love the powder blue but is that jersey designed for someone who’s seven feet tall? The name and number seem to be about a foot below where they belong.
as far as the ryder cup goes, at the opening ceremonies today, even the girlfriends and wives have a dress protocol! all are in the same outfit! 4 words, elin nordegren amy mickelson.
my god!
i would recommend going to gettyimages.com, editorial and do a ryder cup search… stunning.
a good shot of what the guys wore at practice is link. Looks like a textured sweater and pant, however i cant imagine it being natural fabrics for performance sake. notice the ryder cup embroidery. also, an american flag is below the back neck as well. this may just be their practice uni…
[quote comment=”9999″]as far as the ryder cup goes, at the opening ceremonies today, even the girlfriends and wives have a dress protocol! all are in the same outfit! 4 words, elin nordegren amy mickelson.
my god!
i would recommend going to gettyimages.com, editorial and do a ryder cup search… stunning.
a good shot of what the guys wore at practice is link. Looks like a textured sweater and pant, however i cant imagine it being natural fabrics for performance sake. notice the ryder cup embroidery. also, an american flag is below the back neck as well. this may just be their practice uni…[/quote]
Let’s hope. Yeesh.
Today’s ESPN column is up — look link.
I personally would like to see link again. Kinda on the fence about the blue pants but it might be a nice change.
I have to admit.. I had completely forgotten that I already had a Gravatar…
Still pleased to be first though.
The Ryder cup is ABSOLUTELY a team event. and not much could be worse than the ’99 Brookline shirts… One can only hope that the rains will continue and we won’t have to see any of the shirts…
John said, “I really have to disagree with you that it isn’t a team event.”
At the event’s fundamental level it’s a collection of paired (fourball and foursome) and individual matches. While there certainly is teamwork involved in the former, the larger 12-v-12 competition lacks many of the key hallmarks of team play such as assigned roles/positions and subjugation of individual glory for collective benefit. Even the scoring system is such that strategy in match X is largely independent of the events of preceding match Y. A win is a win, regardless of final score.
Most of the teamwork stuff is off the course: picking the pairs and matchups, sharing tips about greens, shot selection, etc. They can do that in their PJ’s for all I care.
And there’s never any need to make a split-second decision based on what color shirt/hat a person is wearing (knowing when to yell, “You the man!” excepted). Which is pretty much the reason for unis in the first place.
BTW, I’m a huge golf fan and I really do like the event.
[quote comment=”9996″][quote comment=”9994″]Since We’re showing off powder blues…link[/quote]
Chris, love the powder blue but is that jersey designed for someone who’s seven feet tall? The name and number seem to be about a foot below where they belong.[/quote]
Not sure, wish the jersey were mine, but it’s just from an image search.
Sorry try link one.
Liked the ESPN column. I don’t want to seem out of line here, but have bat boys been getting, um, a lot bigger in recent years?
Great article Paul. I swear that on this very morning I was mulling over the question of what numbers the Mets’ batboys would wear in 2010. I hope I don’t have to wait until then to find out. The suspense may actually kill me.
[quote comment=”9988″][quote comment=”9956″][quote comment=”9944″]As much as i love the Cards, bad move on their part to include Sutter with Robinson…I agree with 2 separate 42’s[/quote]
I like what the Red Sox have done with this (although as a Yankee fan, I can’t believe I just wrote that!).
They put #42 on the facade in right field with the other retired numbers (Doerr, Cronin, Yaz, Williams, Fisk) but it is in link
Makes it very easy to distinguish, just in case the Sox ever decide to retire Mo Vaughn’s number![/quote]
The Mets have the same thing at Shea – the 42 is in the old Brooklyn Dodger colors with no pinstripes, and I don’t think we’ll have an issue with 42 ever being retired – Butch Huskey just wasn’t that good![/quote]
Hey… u forgot the great Moo Vaughn also wore 42…
George Orwell is turning over in his grave, muttering something about link eating through link. How fascist can you get?
link
All these women dressing the same and looking pretty for their men. Not to mention how ugly link are for the Euro squad. Gross.
BTW does anyone know what bat boys get paid (if anything)?
In regards to the MLB umpires, did anybody happen to notice when they switched from New Balance to Reebok shoes?
Way off topic here- but something that has been discussed before. Someone should tell the Boy Scouts that an American flag patch worn on a right shoulder should have the star-field in the upper-right-hand side. Unless scouts are supposed to walk backwards while wearing their uniform! :)
The Gravatar homepage definitely requires patience as I think we’ve ‘Uniwatched’ the site and their server can’t handle the traffic. I’ve gotten through the sign up and activation stage, but now I can’t log in.
Work is boring today though so I have nothing better to do than to keep trying.
[quote comment=”10018″]The Gravatar homepage definitely requires patience as I think we’ve ‘Uniwatched’ the site and their server can’t handle the traffic.[/quote]
Gravatars are a web-wide project, so I’m shocked that this site is giving it trouble. Oh well, keep trying.
[quote comment=”10015″]BTW does anyone know what bat boys get paid (if anything)?[/quote]
They get paid less than $10/hour, but they make a lot in tips. As I understand it, the basic unit of currency in the clubhouse is the $20 bill — every task or favor is rewarded in multiples of $20.
[quote comment=”10019″][quote comment=”10018″]The Gravatar homepage definitely requires patience as I think we’ve ‘Uniwatched’ the site and their server can’t handle the traffic.[/quote]
Gravatars are a web-wide project, so I’m shocked that this site is giving it trouble. Oh well, keep trying.[/quote]
That’s the plan. If I do nothing else at work today (entirely possible) then my goal is to have my Astros icon up by the end of the day.
[quote comment=”10014″]George Orwell is turning over in his grave, muttering something about link eating through link. How fascist can you get?
link
All these women dressing the same and looking pretty for their men. Not to mention how ugly link are for the Euro squad. Gross.[/quote]
Very Don Johnsonish for the Euro squad
I think the Yankees will have the #42 problem a few years after Rivera retires.
[quote comment=”10017″]Way off topic here- but something that has been discussed before. Someone should tell the Boy Scouts that an American flag patch worn on a right shoulder should have the star-field in the upper-right-hand side. Unless scouts are supposed to walk backwards while wearing their uniform! :)[/quote]
The star-field should always be in the upper left when the flag is depicted on a patch or sticker, no matter what, otherwise it is incorrect. It has always irked me when the the stars are shown on the right-hand side (the wrong side). The right hand side is only ok when the flag is shown hanging or you see it’s backside while flying on a poll.
…Sorry for the rant, I probably sound like an uptight George Bush
[quote comment=”10024″]I think the Yankees will have the #42 problem a few years after Rivera retires.[/quote]
Probably not, actually. The Yankees link to honor Jackie Robinson, so Mo will probably be the first and only “42” on the wall outside Monument Park
[quote comment=”10027″][quote comment=”10024″]I think the Yankees will have the #42 problem a few years after Rivera retires.[/quote]
Probably not, actually. The Yankees link to honor Jackie Robinson, so Mo will probably be the first and only “42” on the wall outside Monument Park[/quote]
I’m fairly sure that they’ve put something up, it just might not be in Monument Park.
I hope when Rivera retires they don’t do want the Cards did with Robinson and Sutter…that’s just dumb.
Regarding apparrel for losing teams – I have a “Washington Capitals 1998 Stanley Cup Champions” shirt I found on Ebay years back. Its about as close to the Cup as the Caps will come. Ill post a pic soon.
The puckered Nationals patches reminds me of a similar problem that the Reds faced a few years back. The Reds were wearing their vests, and their undershirts had patches on them. This worked fine for the 24 players who wore t-shirts, but it was a problem for Ken Griffey, Jr.
Back then, Griffey wore some kind of ugly skintight undershirt, with the patch sewn on to it. Since the skintight shirt was so flexible, when the patch shrunk a little, it pulled the shirt with it. Needless to say, it looked terrible. It looked like a red and black spider had died and shriveled on Junior’s arm.
[quote comment=”10026″][quote comment=”10017″]Way off topic here- but something that has been discussed before. Someone should tell the Boy Scouts that an American flag patch worn on a right shoulder should have the star-field in the upper-right-hand side. Unless scouts are supposed to walk backwards while wearing their uniform! :)[/quote]
The star-field should always be in the upper left when the flag is depicted on a patch or sticker, no matter what, otherwise it is incorrect. It has always irked me when the the stars are shown on the right-hand side (the wrong side). The right hand side is only ok when the flag is shown hanging or you see it’s backside while flying on a poll.
…Sorry for the rant, I probably sound like an uptight George Bush[/quote]
wrong on 2 counts. when the flag is hanging the union is always top left. the reason it goes top right on your right side is to simulate the flag flying
[quote comment=”10028″]
I hope when Rivera retires they don’t do want the Cards did with Robinson and Sutter…that’s just dumb.[/quote]
Agreed.
“>
forgot the link
ive heard stories about their pay as employees of the team vs. their remuneration from players. perks is what is big. game issued things, hundy here, hundy there. in fact if i remember correctly, a few years back, derek jeter paid for the limo service for the yankees bat boys to go to their proms…
long hours and a thankless job…
but they are in the show!
[quote comment=”10026″][quote comment=”10017″]Way off topic here- but something that has been discussed before. Someone should tell the Boy Scouts that an American flag patch worn on a right shoulder should have the star-field in the upper-right-hand side. Unless scouts are supposed to walk backwards while wearing their uniform! :)[/quote]
The star-field should always be in the upper left when the flag is depicted on a patch or sticker, no matter what, otherwise it is incorrect. It has always irked me when the the stars are shown on the right-hand side (the wrong side). The right hand side is only ok when the flag is shown hanging or you see it’s backside while flying on a poll.
…Sorry for the rant, I probably sound like an uptight George Bush[/quote]
no on uniforms it does depend on what shoulder it is on because as a firfighter/emt and boy scout this has been drilled into my head for many MANY years
[quote comment=”10026″][quote comment=”10017″]Way off topic here- but something that has been discussed before. Someone should tell the Boy Scouts that an American flag patch worn on a right shoulder should have the star-field in the upper-right-hand side. Unless scouts are supposed to walk backwards while wearing their uniform! :)[/quote]
The star-field should always be in the upper left when the flag is depicted on a patch or sticker, no matter what, otherwise it is incorrect. It has always irked me when the the stars are shown on the right-hand side (the wrong side). The right hand side is only ok when the flag is shown hanging or you see it’s backside while flying on a poll.
…Sorry for the rant, I probably sound like an uptight George Bush[/quote]
I’m sorry to dissapoint you, Chad, but according to the U.S. Government, you are incorrect. Check out these to links. The first is a picture of the U.S. Army uniform, the second is the quote from the army regulations. The star field goes on the right when on the right shoulder
link
link
ok, so i’m computer illiterate
link
In regards to a note toward the end of the ESPN.com column today, I think it is pretty common for volleyball teams in general to wear the school name in place of a nameplate on the back. I know that was common practice at my school, and I went to a little NAIA school that didn’t even have actual nameplates in any sport. Sorry, can’t find any pictures to prove it…
[quote comment=”10016″]In regards to the MLB umpires, did anybody happen to notice when they switched from New Balance to Reebok shoes?[/quote]
I think it’s been for a few seasons. The New Balance shoes are still available from Honig’s (the primary supplier of officials’ gear), but I think the MLB cut a deal with Reebok to supply the umpires in 2003 or 2004, the same time the deal was cut with the NFL and its officials.
[quote comment=”9938″]How many NFL players use a link Is this primarily an offensive/defensive line thing?
I remember a story of a Houston Oiler (that I think made the trip to Nashville) who used snaps at the base of his jersey to connect to his pants. But I wasn’t aware of the crotch strap trend.
Found the jersey pic and link in a detailed article link[/quote]
I was a deep snapper in a former life and guys from “back in the day” with the one sized fits all jerseys told me that they used to have fabric added to their jersey like that so it wouldnt dangle down as they looked back between their legs and obstruct their view back to the punter/holder. i would imagine that would be highly uncomfortable.
I can’t believe I once thought the Europeans tend to be snappier dressers in the Ryder Cup matches. Here’s what they wore to the opening ceremonies: link
The Americans, on the other hand, look pretty classy:link
I can’t wait to see what they have for Friday.
Regarding team names on the back of jerseys, link have done it for years. Its also very common in Volleyball, link has the added distinction of the school name continuing under the number.
So while we’re throwing out F-bombs to bad owners can a brother get one for link who wanted to steal our link and move them link after link
Oddly enough, there was a soldier in uniform at a party I attended on Saturday and in my drunkenness I asked him that very question about the orientation of the patch. From the way he answered, I get the feeling it’s a question that comes up fairly often.
The name of the school or the nickname is most common in NCAA volleyball i’ve noticed:
link
link
link
Short school name
From the ESPN article – Cheers to Arkansas for the change in their pant stripes. Jeers to WVU, even though the previous ones werent much better.
[quote comment=”10037″][quote comment=”10026″][quote comment=”10017″]Way off topic here- but something that has been discussed before. Someone should tell the Boy Scouts that an American flag patch worn on a right shoulder should have the star-field in the upper-right-hand side. Unless scouts are supposed to walk backwards while wearing their uniform! :)[/quote]
The star-field should always be in the upper left when the flag is depicted on a patch or sticker, no matter what, otherwise it is incorrect. It has always irked me when the the stars are shown on the right-hand side (the wrong side). The right hand side is only ok when the flag is shown hanging or you see it’s backside while flying on a poll.
…Sorry for the rant, I probably sound like an uptight George Bush[/quote]
I’m sorry to dissapoint you, Chad, but according to the U.S. Government, you are incorrect. Check out these to links. The first is a picture of the U.S. Army uniform, the second is the quote from the army regulations. The star field goes on the right when on the right shoulder
link
link
Ok, I’ll have to say I didn’t know about the military tradition, but you see the flag backwards in many other sitituations where there is no reason for it to be that way…and it just irks me, like if you were gonna pay attention to just one detail wouldn’t it be that?
Tallet had pristine stirrups on early in the season as well. When he came in relief, he’d always have the bloused cuffs and all.
Said Gregg Zaun: “I’ve seen some pictures of some of the old Blue Jays, when they were still playing in the old ballpark… I was thinking, ‘This is a total flashback.’ If he had the old [uniform] on, the chops, and the socks way up, it would’ve been so perfect.”
“I like to keep my look different,” Tallet said. “Keep people guessing.”
He did have the link too. It was a cool sight.
However, he had his troubles on the mound. He got sent down to AAA and when he came back up, the stirrups were gone, he was going with pants down to the shoes. They stayed like this for a while, and when things were looking their worst, he came back with the stirrups (and his game improved too). He’s been pitching well recently, and looking good doing it. Hopefully, this trend continues.
[quote comment=”10009″]Liked the ESPN column. I don’t want to seem out of line here, but have bat boys been getting, um, a lot bigger in recent years?[/quote]
Well, Americans have been getting bigger (myself included), so it’s only natural that bat boys would follow the trend.
Do the batboys get anything from MLB for being in uniform? I thought I read somewhere that managers and coaches get a nice royalty check from MLB Properties each year for being a uniformed employee.
[quote comment=”10046″]I can’t believe I once thought the Europeans tend to be snappier dressers in the Ryder Cup matches. Here’s what they wore to the opening ceremonies: link
The Americans, on the other hand, look pretty classy:link
I can’t wait to see what they have for Friday.[/quote]
MAtching ties?? What, are they the wait staff? Those are almost as tacky as the mint green sportcoats.
Terry Mark said:
I can’t believe I once thought the Europeans tend to be snappier dressers in the Ryder Cup matches. Here’s what they wore to the opening ceremonies: Ouch!
The Americans, on the other hand, look pretty classy: Boring, but nice.
I can’t wait to see what they have for Friday.
MAtching ties?? What, are they the wait staff? Those are almost as tacky as the mint green sportcoats.
Going back to Comment #108 what size suit is LHefty wearing these days? I’m no small man but that guy could probably push back from the buffet at the clubhouse a little more often.
LHefty that is.
Anybody else having trouble quoting comments today?
And apparently strikethroughs as well.
Excellent ESPN article today, Paul. One of my favorites.
Just want to note that almost all collegiate volleyball teams, both women and men, use the school name on the back of their jerseys. Not just Hawaii. A few use the mascot name.
Volleyball is never on TV or covered prominently so that would be hard to know unless you’ve actually been to games or do a search for volleyball pictures specificly.
I’d post pictures but I don’t feel like coding them right now into links.
Nothing can save the Blue Jays unis except a return to royal as the base color. Their current version is without a doubt one of the ugliest!
As for Tallet his pants/stirrups look atrocious! C’mon…have we been that long w/out the stirrup look to know that looks like crap? He needs to either have his uni guy tailor the length of his pants (Rod Carew always looked great, his pant-legs were always the right length), i.e. shorten those or tuck them in which a lot of guys probably no longer know how to do.
But I’m not a big lover of stirrups. I just like socks and to show a lot of it. With stirrups you have to wear (unless you want your hair legs to show through and not have enough cushioning for your toes) two pairs of sanitary socks then the stirrups. Does one’s calves needs that much material around them?
I say ditch the stirrups, most guys don’t get the right look anyway, and go w/ high socks only.
Two items.
1. Pedro Martinez is wearing his pant legs down tonight and pitching well…Paul, please dont criticize him for it.
2. On the Mike and the Mad Dog radio show today Mike Francesa noted how bad the University of Oregon football unis are to which the caller from Eugene Oregon replied, “they have 20 variations, and 19 suck”
[quote comment=”10070″]Excellent ESPN article today, Paul. One of my favorites.
Just want to note that almost all collegiate volleyball teams, both women and men, use the school name on the back of their jerseys. Not just Hawaii. A few use the mascot name.
Volleyball is never on TV or covered prominently so that would be hard to know unless you’ve actually been to games or do a search for volleyball pictures specificly.
I’d post pictures but I don’t feel like coding them right now into links.[/quote]
Nothing on the back here at link.
Shouldn’t there be a knife on the back of the Northern Colrado Unis? Or do they only do that to the back-up punter?
Almost all teams. A lot don’t have anything. A lot just have regular last names.
Sorry for the ugly links.
Examples with school names,
Volleyball unis:
A Penn State branch campus (“Behrend”) women
link
Penn State women
link
Ohio State women (in classic Ohio State font)
link
Purdue women (*** in script)
link
Wisconsin (*** with “Badgers”, only one I could find with nickname quickly) women
link
Cal-San Diego (“UCSD”) men
link
Sprinfield men
link
Ball State men (“BSU”)
link
George Mason men (just “Mason”)
link
Minnesota women
link
Duqueeneene women (I don’t really care about the spelling)
link
Penn men
link
Sacred Heart men (***note the split nameplate, above then below the number)
link
Georgia Tech’s throwbaks look great
Here’s the link.
(my one second of internet fame)
link
I knew most volleyball squads give the setter a different jersey color, but I’ve never seen a different take on the team name. Bonus points because it looks like the setter’s jersey is sans side panels.
Those Georgia Tech Throwbacks are really sharp. I wonder if they’d consider keeping it as an alternate or even ditching their current uniforms for this old school look. I’m really liking it.
That would be Brian Tallet of the Blue Jays, who on Tuesday night earned himself a lifetime Uni Watch exemption by wearing some picture-perfect (circa 1977, which to true traditionalists, AIN’T picture perfect) stirrups. Here’s a closer look — note the bloused cuffs (which didn’t drape exactly right, but I blame that on the polyester, not on Tallet). Very, very nice.
Not on my planet, kids. If you’re gonna wear 1970s throwback stirrups, then you’d better be prepared to vacuform your pants on as well, otherwise you look rather half-assed, as Mr Tallet does in these photos.
[quote comment=”10072″]But I’m not a big lover of stirrups. I just like socks and to show a lot of it. With stirrups you have to wear (unless you want your hair legs to show through and not have enough cushioning for your toes) two pairs of sanitary socks then the stirrups. Does one’s calves needs that much material around them?
I say ditch the stirrups, most guys don’t get the right look anyway, and go w/ high socks only.[/quote]
I think I like stirrups at least when they’re worn very link and not stretched out. It looks waaaaay too 80s when they have them up high like Timmer. I like showing the colors on the socks, especially when it has stripes. Even they the Tigers don’t have stiped socks (it’d really look badass if they did have orange stripes), I think that Curtis Granderson cuffs his pants at link. If he had stirrups worn low like Moyer’s and if the Tigs had awesome stripes (which I don’t know that they ever had, they might have always been solid navy), I think he would be my ultimate hero.
Appears the Detroit Red Wings have gone the way of the Braves in their uniform name style. In their game against the Avalanche thursday, it looked like the Red Wings had the standard block lettering for player names, not the vertical alligned style they usually have. I dont have a pic, I noticed it on SportsCenter.
[quote comment=”10087″]Appears the Detroit Red Wings have gone the way of the Braves in their uniform name style. In their game against the Avalanche thursday, it looked like the Red Wings had the standard block lettering for player names, not the vertical alligned style they usually have. I dont have a pic, I noticed it on SportsCenter.[/quote]
The Red Wings do not arch the names until the regular season. Pre-season games have jerseys with straight nameplates.
i may be wrong, but i believe the red wings dont vertically arch in preseason. or has the actual nhl season started?
as for the bat boys getting bigger, that is b/c MLB has ruled that all bat boys have to be i think it is 16years old, oldly enough, b/c of the pics that up in the comments with JT Snow saving bakers little boy in the WS. thats my best guess for as why they are so much bigger now.
[quote comment=”10083″]link
I knew most volleyball squads give the setter a different jersey color, but I’ve never seen a different take on the team name. Bonus points because it looks like the setter’s jersey is sans side panels.[/quote]
It’s not the setter that wears the different colored jersey in volleyball. It’s the “libero,” volleyball’s version of the DH, only the libero is a defensive specialist and must stay in the back and doesn’t rotate to the front. The jersey color is so the officials can keep track of the libero.
Also, I may be wrong about this, but I don’t think volleyball teams have “home” and “away” uniforms, per se. Because the teams stay on the their side of the net, I suppose both teams could wear white, for example.
[quote comment=”10088″][quote comment=”10087″]Appears the Detroit Red Wings have gone the way of the Braves in their uniform name style. In their game against the Avalanche thursday, it looked like the Red Wings had the standard block lettering for player names, not the vertical alligned style they usually have. I dont have a pic, I noticed it on SportsCenter.[/quote]
The Red Wings do not arch the names until the regular season. Pre-season games have jerseys with straight nameplates.[/quote]
Ah, didn’t realize that. We don’t get that much hockey coverage down here in Louisiana.
I think all this volleyball coverage deserves primary coverage in a blog entry. At least.
The Navy kicker that had the misspelled jersey is link, not
link. They both wear number 90 though.
From the picture, it doesn’t appear Barry Bonds thinks Dusty’s kid is cute. Great shot!
Nice article on bat boys. I was at the Orioles-Twins game yesterday (the one with the protestors), and the bat boys for BOTH teams did not wear batting helmets; no pics, but they both wore 5950s. I thought this was weird; maybe each home team has a policy regarding the helmet requirement. The protestors were pretty hardcore; they filled a couple of uppder deck sections, cheered loudly and proudly for the O’s, but at 5:08 (5 for Brooks Robinson and 8 for Cal Ripken) they cleared out, and proceeded to march around the walkway of the lower bowl chanting “free the birds.” I caught several players from both teams watching from their dugouts. Cops were present, but to their credit did not interfere.
Tallet got it right but the pants are way too blousy. The tailored pants look to mid calf with the stirrups that reach almost up to the bottom of the pants is the best look. I wish it was 1975 again.
The high socks look is one of worst trends in baseball uniform history, the second worst being the clown pants thing with the elastic fastening them to the shoes. Yecch, for each.
link
link
I knew most volleyball squads give the setter a different jersey color, but I’ve never seen a different take on the team name. Bonus points because it looks like the setter’s jersey is sans side panels.[/quote]
It’s not the setter that wears the different colored jersey in volleyball. It’s the “libero,” volleyball’s version of the DH, only the libero is a defensive specialist and must stay in the back and doesn’t rotate to the front. The jersey color is so the officials can keep track of the libero.
Also, I may be wrong about this, but I don’t think volleyball teams have “home” and “away” uniforms, per se. Because the teams stay on the their side of the net, I suppose both teams could wear white, for example.[/quote]
I stand corrected, thanks for the new info.
link
I knew most volleyball squads give the setter a different jersey color, but I’ve never seen a different take on the team name. Bonus points because it looks like the setter’s jersey is sans side panels.
It’s not the setter that wears the different colored jersey in volleyball. It’s the “libero,” volleyball’s version of the DH, only the libero is a defensive specialist and must stay in the back and doesn’t rotate to the front. The jersey color is so the officials can keep track of the libero.
Also, I may be wrong about this, but I don’t think volleyball teams have “home” and “away” uniforms, per se. Because the teams stay on the their side of the net, I suppose both teams could wear white, for example.
Volleyball teams definitely have home and away jerseys. The white is home, the color is away (typically, always are exceptions). The libero simply wears the opposite home/away jersey of what his or her teammates are wearing. So if Penn State is hosting a match, Penn State wears home whites and the libero wears away blue.
Here is a PSU home match
link
Here is a PSU away match against Texas (you can see one of our hitters setting up for a block)
link
and another one at LSU (there’s two blue ones in there)
link
More importantly about Morten Anderson..Will he be wearing Ken Stabler’s old shoulder pads? The Snake passed them on to Morten upon his retirement.
Since my Phillies have acquired Jamie Moyer, I’ve been impressed by his pants/stirrup wear. To me, he strikes just the right balance of showing respect for the game without trying to come off as showing inordinate reverance for it. Guys like the otherwise well-intentioned Jim Thome and Trot Nixon seem to be rubbing my face in their reverence for tradition.