In general, I have no problem with one-off turn-back-the-clock days. For the most part, things are researched and executed pretty well. At first glance, Saturday’s Pirates-Nationals game — which featured both teams wearing Homestead Grays uniforms — looked perfect. (As a bit of background info, the Grays were based in Homestead, Pa., near Pittsburgh, but also played a lot of “home” games in Washington, D.C., hence, both teams wearing Grays uniforms.)
But here’s my pet peeve with Saturday’s unis — and one-off throwbacks in general: They don’t spend the extra $500 and get matching helmets. Dark blue/black caps: cool. Red helmets with current-day Nationals logos on them: lame. I know how much helmets and stickers cost — not that much, especially if you’ve already dropped several thousand dollars on the uniforms. Finish the deal. For the love of obsessive studies of athletics aesthetics, finish the deal.
Totally random side note: Thanks for being generally pleasant and civil while Paul was away last week — it’s much appreciated. I know Vince and I can’t deliver uni news quite like Paul, but we were happy to do so. Thanks again. — Bryan
I think I found the ultimate in logo creep. I emailed this to Paul Friday night, but I have no clue whether it made it to him or not. Just to be sure, I figured I’d post it here…
link
Don’t the Nats have dark blue road helmets? All you’d have to pay for is the sticker. I’m happy they made the pants short enough that the players had to wear them bloused, although the guy crossing the plate in the “lame” picture looked like he was wearing capri pants.
And thank you Bryan and Vince for doing such a stellar job in Paul’s absence.
[quote comment=”262574″]I think I found the ultimate in logo creep. I emailed this to Paul Friday night, but I have no clue whether it made it to him or not. Just to be sure, I figured I’d post it here…
link
At least that lives up to the name “Under Armour”.
I say this with full acceptance of the fact that I will probably be accused of “not getting it…”
But, I’m not completely sure I agree with the idea of adding matching batting helmets.
Yes, it would be correct, and closer to real life (this is assuming they wore batting helmets in those days — I’m not certain of when that tradition began).
However, isn’t one of our main qualms with colored alts that it makes it more difficult to tell at a quick glance the different between, say, to use a well-documented example, the Diamondbacks and the Astros? I appreciated the fact while watching Baseball Tonight last night that I could tell which team was which, based on their helmets, despite the fact they wore the same team’s uniforms.
Just a thought to chew on.
today’s article reminds me of the first ‘nakeds gun’ movie, which i watched again last night; the Angels and the Mariners wire regulation uniforms and hats, but the Angels had plain red helmets (pretty sure they had blue helmets with red brims then) and the M’s wore plain blue helmets, no logo on theirs either…. any particular reason??
We can do one of my favorite lines about a subject covered Friday from the first Naked Gun movie, but I don’t want to be 86’d from here. Something about taxidermy, though if you know what I mean.
[quote comment=”262795″]We can do one of my favorite lines about a subject covered Friday from the first Naked Gun movie, but I don’t want to be 86’d from here. Something about taxidermy, though if you know what I mean.[/quote]
Niiiiice Beaver….
First, an attempt to close the italics tag…
The Negro Leagues didn’t have any helmets; it wasn’t until the 1950’s that batting helmets were introduced by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
And from the “reasonable people may disagree” department, I think link looks wonderful, even though the baserunner is wearing the “standard” Nats’ home helmet. The red helmet brings out the red numbers and trim, in my opinion.
Arrgh! Forgot to close the “bold” tag!
If cost is not the issue (which you state you know, and I agree) then there has to be a more legit reason they don’t wear “one day” helmets. This issue has be discussed here several times before and of the several professional players I’ve spoken to, each agree there are certain items they tend not liking to change up, if possible. Three are glove, shoes and helmet.
The personal fit of each, they feel, can affect performance. So just throwing out new ones every once in a while for aesthetics, we might like it, but may not be favorable and avoided if possible. Doesn’t mean it can’t or hasn’t been done.
BTW, shouldn’t then the use of a Wilson A2000 and Nikes bother you just as much?
[quote comment=”262938″]If cost is not the issue (which you state you know, and I agree) then there has to be a more legit reason they don’t wear “one day” helmets. This issue has be discussed here several times before and of the several professional players I’ve spoken to, each agree there are certain items they tend not liking to change up, if possible. Three are glove, shoes and helmet.
The personal fit of each, they feel, can affect performance. So just throwing out new ones every once in a while for aesthetics, we might like it, but may not be favorable and avoided if possible. Doesn’t mean it can’t or hasn’t been done.
BTW, shouldn’t then the use of a Wilson A2000 and Nikes bother you just as much?[/quote]
If you’re going to go with the “personal fit” argument, then they shouldn’t have been wearing the period-correct hats, either. Players wear their hats far more than a helmet.
By the way, the A2000 has been around since (I believe) the 1950s. So in that case, the model number of the glove would be close, at least.
[quote comment=”262952″][quote comment=”262938″]If cost is not the issue (which you state you know, and I agree) then there has to be a more legit reason they don’t wear “one day” helmets. This issue has be discussed here several times before and of the several professional players I’ve spoken to, each agree there are certain items they tend not liking to change up, if possible. Three are glove, shoes and helmet.
The personal fit of each, they feel, can affect performance. So just throwing out new ones every once in a while for aesthetics, we might like it, but may not be favorable and avoided if possible. Doesn’t mean it can’t or hasn’t been done.
BTW, shouldn’t then the use of a Wilson A2000 and Nikes bother you just as much?[/quote]
If you’re going to go with the “personal fit” argument, then they shouldn’t have been wearing the period-correct hats, either. Players wear their hats far more than a helmet.
By the way, the A2000 has been around since (I believe) the 1950s. So in that case, the model number of the glove would be close, at least.[/quote]
Good point there. The ONLY thing I could think of is the bulk of the helmets, and finding storage for them, but either way, I don’t think it was too big of a deal.
Can anyone think of an example when a team DID wear period-correct helmets on a turn back the clock day? The Braves did wear those white brimmed / royal-backed helmets a few years ago when they wore the feather unis, now that I think about it.
Many times the unis are auctioned off for charity afterwards, so any helmet expense could be recovered at that time.
But bitching about helmets when we had two nice sets of unis to watch is close to picking nits, in my book.
And Francoeur wore some nice stirrups last night…now to get the old striped ones back next year would be even better.
It wouldn’t be that difficult to make an over-the-helmet shell out of, say, Mylar, to make a contemporary helmet look different without changing the fit and feel of the helmet. The new dino-baby ridged/vented helmets are a bit of a different story, but even there it could be done.
But bitching about helmets when we had two nice sets of unis to watch is close to picking nits, in my book.
This is our horse. This is us beating our horse to death. I agree with DCM. We all love our uniforms here but the vast majority of the rest of the planet doesn’t care nearly as much about alternate jerseys, stirrups, batting helmets, and commerative patches as some of us do. Let’s just be happy the Nats and Pirates decidied to do something cool. To quote a famous U.S. American: “Can’t we all just get along?”
The Padres usually wear the brown-yellow helmets when they were those uniforms. I dont know about the orange-white ‘SD’ or the all browns.
They also wear the green helmets with the camo unis.
Though the brown-yellows and greens are not just one day things, they probably have them in storage or something.
I think he was referring to helmets for one-off throwbacks, otherwise the Jays powder blue flashback friday unis have proper two coloured mets too.
IIHF scores again with the retro uni, this time with Latvian navy V, but Canada with the ooogly new home whites is off to a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st.
Hi, Jerry from Ebbets Field here. We did the unis for the Nats-Pirates game in 2 weeks time. Thank you for all the nice comments. They basically left the design to us, so we could be as authentic as possible. We made no allowance for long pants, etc. I’ll stay out of the helmet controversy, except to say since they didn’t actually HAVE helmets in 1942, they would have had to invent ersatz vintage ones.
Yesterday, some people were talking about the Molinas wearing their caps under their catchers helmets. I was wondering if their were any major leaguers who wear their caps under their batting helmets? I always put my cap on under my helmet in high school, but that was more because I have a small head and the helmets would never fit right.
Phillies wearin’ those great retro’s today @ home vs. the Giants.
PS- problems with site today? Verrrrrrrrrrrrrry slow to access site, and even worse to access forum.
[quote comment=”263265″]Yesterday, some people were talking about the Molinas wearing their caps under their catchers helmets. I was wondering if their were any major leaguers who wear their caps under their batting helmets? I always put my cap on under my helmet in high school, but that was more because I have a small head and the helmets would never fit right.[/quote]
Juan Pierre. No photo yet…
Lots of high socks and old-style stirrups in the A’s/Rangers turn back the clock game today.
Check out Texas and Oakland today. They’re wearing throwback helmets with their throwback unis from 1968……
nice!
Love the TEX-OAK look.. as a one-off throwback thing. wouldn’t wanna look at that bright shiny green everyday :P
Santana is throwing so hard today, the blue piping on his right sleeve is falling apart!
[quote comment=”263277″][quote comment=”263265″]Yesterday, some people were talking about the Molinas wearing their caps under their catchers helmets. I was wondering if their were any major leaguers who wear their caps under their batting helmets? I always put my cap on under my helmet in high school, but that was more because I have a small head and the helmets would never fit right.[/quote]
Juan Pierre. No photo yet…[/quote]
Good call – thanks!
[quote comment=”263340″][quote comment=”263277″][quote comment=”263265″]Yesterday, some people were talking about the Molinas wearing their caps under their catchers helmets. I was wondering if their were any major leaguers who wear their caps under their batting helmets? I always put my cap on under my helmet in high school, but that was more because I have a small head and the helmets would never fit right.[/quote]
Juan Pierre. No photo yet…[/quote]
Good call – thanks![/quote]
My Bad!
link
GREAT throwbacks over at the Oakland Masoleum:
OAKLAND (with era-appropriate helmets)
link
link
—
TEXAS (er, Washington)
link
[quote comment=”263256″]Hi, Jerry from Ebbets Field here. We did the unis for the Nats-Pirates game in 2 weeks time. Thank you for all the nice comments. They basically left the design to us, so we could be as authentic as possible. We made no allowance for long pants, etc. I’ll stay out of the helmet controversy, except to say since they didn’t actually HAVE helmets in 1942, they would have had to invent ersatz vintage ones.[/quote]
Hey Jerry — thanks for stopping by today. My point with the helmets obviously takes into consideration the lack of helmets in the past. But that doesn’t mean a helmet couldn’t be made to look like the particular hat being worn. The Yankees didn’t have helmets in the 1940s, either, but it looks like they got something figured out.
More from Oak-TX: groovy retro number fonts.
link
link
link
[quote comment=”263286″]Check out Texas and Oakland today. They’re wearing throwback helmets with their throwback unis from 1968……[/quote]
One pet peeve I have about these throwback games are the fuddy duddy players who refuse to take part by not doing the socks right. Vasquez for Texas is one such killjoy today.
might not a possible solution for the bucs-nats game have been for the players not to wear helmets at all?
/just sayin
[quote comment=”263076″][quote comment=”262952″][quote comment=”262938″]If cost is not the issue (which you state you know, and I agree) then there has to be a more legit reason they don’t wear “one day” helmets. This issue has be discussed here several times before and of the several professional players I’ve spoken to, each agree there are certain items they tend not liking to change up, if possible. Three are glove, shoes and helmet.
The personal fit of each, they feel, can affect performance. So just throwing out new ones every once in a while for aesthetics, we might like it, but may not be favorable and avoided if possible. Doesn’t mean it can’t or hasn’t been done.
BTW, shouldn’t then the use of a Wilson A2000 and Nikes bother you just as much?[/quote]
If you’re going to go with the “personal fit” argument, then they shouldn’t have been wearing the period-correct hats, either. Players wear their hats far more than a helmet.
By the way, the A2000 has been around since (I believe) the 1950s. So in that case, the model number of the glove would be close, at least.[/quote]
Good point there. The ONLY thing I could think of is the bulk of the helmets, and finding storage for them, but either way, I don’t think it was too big of a deal.[/quote]
They wouldn’t have to store them…auction them off for charity or remove the stickers and donate them to a local high school or college for their use.
[quote comment=”263369″]More from Oak-TX: groovy retro number fonts.
link
link
link
I really like those Oakland throwbacks…did they actually wear “oakland” on their home vests? The city name usually goes on the road uni.
[quote comment=”263369″]More from Oak-TX: groovy retro number fonts.
link
link
link
linkwhen it actually happened and thank you for not calling them “Red Sox Numbers”. Many teams had these at that time and were indigenous to McAuliffe (sp?) uniforms who also happened to make the Sox unis.
This is my heaven. Nothing quite like seeing your personally most nostalgic memories recreated very well. If the A’s can do this somewhere else, like in Anaheim, they’d be wearing the gold version and the Angels would have halos on the cap, and I’d die a happy man. Sorry to all the “traditional” uni fans, but this is MY nirvana.
[quote comment=”263396″][quote comment=”263369″]More from Oak-TX: groovy retro number fonts.
link
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link
I really like those Oakland throwbacks…did they actually wear “oakland” on their home vests? The city name usually goes on the road uni.[/quote]
For 1968, the photo I posted looks to be from 1969, I just thought it really looked alot like what was happening there today.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Rangers-A’s throwbacks. They went all the way with the helmets, caps, even awesome stirrups! I really loved Santiago Castilla’s stirrpus on the yellow socks (as opposed to the white most the teams had) and the A’s yellow helmets.
Seeing the old Senators throwbacks, I almost with that the Nationals had gone with a different logo on their cap/helmet since they didn’t choose the Senators name. It’s as if they wanted to be classic but not go all out.
[quote comment=”263407″]I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Rangers-A’s throwbacks. They went all the way with the helmets, caps, even awesome stirrups! I really loved Santiago Castilla’s stirrpus on the yellow socks (as opposed to the white most the teams had) and the A’s yellow helmets.
Seeing the old Senators throwbacks, I almost with that the Nationals had gone with a different logo on their cap/helmet since they didn’t choose the Senators name. It’s as if they wanted to be classic but not go all out.[/quote]
Makes me long for the days when baseball was the “National Past-time”…ahhh, when it was a game…
Thanks for sharing the awesome images..!!!
also dig the A’s coaches white hats. did they have those back in ’68 too?
Does anyone know why Beckham wore a black armband last night? Was it for Lampard’s mother possibly?
[quote comment=”263384″]might not a possible solution for the bucs-nats game have been for the players not to wear helmets at all?
/just sayin[/quote]
right, and so what would the base coaches wear?
[quote]This is my heaven. Nothing quite like seeing your personally most nostalgic memories recreated very well. If the A’s can do this somewhere else, like in Anaheim, they’d be wearing the gold version and the Angels would have halos on the cap, and I’d die a happy man. Sorry to all the “traditional” uni fans, but this is MY nirvana.[/quote]
gotta say, “I HEAH YA LARRY”
not quite sure how old ya are, but i would hazard a guess you’re within 2-3 years of me…and while i wouldn’t call this my “nirvana” (although, great use for the term…;))
those
garishbeautiful late 60’s early 70’s unis are what i grew up with, and bring me back to the days of my own blissful youth…while im not longing for the astros rainbows anyday soon, i’d love for some old school 73 a’s or 69 pods or any of the psychadelic-ish (hey, it is baseball…they could have gone even crazier) double-knits with high stirrups everyone else prolly detests…now…i love tradition, but just for one day…gimme stuff like this
[quote comment=”263396″][quote comment=”263369″]More from Oak-TX: groovy retro number fonts.
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I really like those Oakland throwbacks…did they actually wear “oakland” on their home vests? The city name usually goes on the road uni.[/quote]
Dressed to the Nines says link — and having been an A’s fan nearly that long, I remember it that way too.
The coaches wore white caps at least by the early 70s; can’t say for ’68. Interesting that the A’s have their city name at home while the Sens/Rangers have their nicknames link.
Agree in spades with all the kudos — gorgeous look, and great nostalgia trip to boot. Having complained about the Nats helmets yesterday it’s great to see the A’s busting out the garish yellow lids — not to mention some serious stirrups.
BTW, Oakland had a giveaway for those vests today (my bro is at the game), so they’ll probably be a run of them on eBay tomorrow. Some ugly corporate BS plastered somewhere, no doubt, but might be worth a look.
[quote comment=”263439″][quote comment=”263384″]might not a possible solution for the bucs-nats game have been for the players not to wear helmets at all?
/just sayin[/quote]
right, and so what would the base coaches wear?[/quote]
touché
Under Armour in the news lately with the launchof their shoe line. Who @ Under Armour missed the marketing chance to get a tie in on Iron Man?
IE, what Iron Man wears Under his Armour?
PPS GREAT movie, too.
The Rangers did use their regular blue shoes today. The only thing that wasn’t era-appropiate.
thanks for all the screencaps…
here’s some from getty via yahoo…
link link link link link?
only thing bad: link and of course, link cleats
just noticed this…
link has failed…epically
I don’t believe it’s legal to not wear batting helmets.
And it always strikes me as odd when a team wears throwbacks and it’s from a team they used to be. I mean, nobody in DFW gives a rat’s ass about the Washington Senators, there’s a team in Washington again now, and probably not a whole lot of folks in the Oakland crowd thought the whole effect of having the Washington Senators back for a day was really necessary.
Interesting that it was 1968 for a day, but you’d have to be over 50 for that to have any real meaning.
[quote comment=”263438″]Does anyone know why Beckham wore a black armband last night? Was it for Lampard’s mother possibly?[/quote]
It’s to signify he’s the captain of the team.
[quote comment=”263507″]I don’t believe it’s legal to not wear batting helmets.[/quote]
damn…and here i thought i had the perfect solution
[quote]Interesting that it was 1968 for a day, but you’d have to be over 50 for that to have any real meaning.[/quote]
true…but isn’t this part of like 4 days (i think all sundays) where they’re celebrating 40 years out in the bay area? so…this was the 60’s…they’ll also be doing a 70s, 80s and 90s…also…someone said they were giving away a jersey…i think today was ‘campy’…not sure who else, but i wanna say vida blue for the 70s, and dave stewart and hendo for 80s & 90s…and they’ll wear the ‘proper’ uni for each day…
maybe you had to be 50 to ‘have any real meaning’ in terms of today’s unis, but it’s also an historical retrospective of the past 40 years…
[quote comment=”263553″][quote comment=”263438″]Does anyone know why Beckham wore a black armband last night? Was it for Lampard’s mother possibly?[/quote]
It’s to signify he’s the captain of the team.[/quote]
it’s to mark the death of his relevance in the sport
Raiders RB Darren McFadden will wear No. 20, according to the team Web site. He wore No. 5 at Arkansas, but in the NFL, running backs must be assigned a number between 20 and 49. — SF Chronicle
I was surfing the web today and came across an article that said there were t-shirts handed out at game 6 of the playoff series between the Wizards and Cavs. The shirts were sponsored by Papa Johns and said “Crybaby” with the number 23 underneath. Interesting that Papa Johns would sponsor something like that. I would think someething that said wizards would do the trick without alienating Cleveland fans. Pictures and article link
link This is Curt Schilling’s personal blog. On the April 9th entry, Schilling puts up a picture of all the champinship rings he has won laid out side by side.
just noticed the cubs first base coach is wearing one of those qb wristbands. if theres a decent shot of it i’ll get a screen grab
[quote comment=”263500″]just noticed this…
link has failed…epically[/quote]
OK, maybe I don’t fully GETITtm yet but, what is so bad about jack hannahan uniform in today’s game? He looks right perfect to me!
nevermind, looks like it was soriano’s shin guard
[quote comment=”263553″][quote comment=”263438″]Does anyone know why Beckham wore a black armband last night? Was it for Lampard’s mother possibly?[/quote]
It’s to signify he’s the captain of the team.[/quote]
The blue one is the captain’s armband
Ron Washington, Texas Rangers manager, “forgot” to take the stickers off of his Nat…err…Senators hat
link
[quote comment=”263622″][quote comment=”263500″]just noticed this…
link has failed…epically[/quote]
OK, maybe I don’t fully GETITtm yet but, what is so bad about jack hannahan uniform in today’s game? He looks right perfect to me![/quote]
stirrups
[quote comment=”263500″]just noticed this…
link has failed…epically[/quote]
I was just getting ready to point that out…we were taught at 5 yrs old how to wear stirrups. Ahhhh, the good old days.
If you ever want to see Josh Hamilton on the Nationals…
link
IHWC
Italy looking not that different in their throwbacks (similar expectations for Swedent)
link
Latvia looking gorgeous, but lost 7-0 to Canada
link
Slovenian goalie with old school brown pads, catcher, and blocker
link
[quote comment=”263396″][quote comment=”263369″]More from Oak-TX: groovy retro number fonts.
link
link
link
I really like those Oakland throwbacks…did they actually wear “oakland” on their home vests? The city name usually goes on the road uni.[/quote]
1968 also was the first year the A’s were in Oakland, after moving there from Kansas City after the previous season.
Not a huge fan of the “Oakland” across the front of the vest, but otherwise, that could be the best uniform I have ever seen. The giant “A” on the left side of the vest is better. Amazing how much that uniform jumps at you. I love the three colored hats/helmets. Amazing touches. I might need to order a reproduction of that era hat, and I don’t even like the Oakland team!
[quote comment=”263554″][quote comment=”263507″]I don’t believe it’s legal to not wear batting helmets.[/quote]
damn…and here i thought i had the perfect solution
[quote]Interesting that it was 1968 for a day, but you’d have to be over 50 for that to have any real meaning.[/quote]
true…but isn’t this part of like 4 days (i think all sundays) where they’re celebrating 40 years out in the bay area? so…this was the 60’s…they’ll also be doing a 70s, 80s and 90s…also…someone said they were giving away a jersey…i think today was ‘campy’…not sure who else, but i wanna say vida blue for the 70s, and dave stewart and hendo for 80s & 90s…and they’ll wear the ‘proper’ uni for each day…
maybe you had to be 50 to ‘have any real meaning’ in terms of today’s unis, but it’s also an historical retrospective of the past 40 years…[/quote]
For the record, I’m closer to 40 than 50 and those had massive “uni” meaning to me. My time machine would whisk me back to 1969 for an afternoon contest at the Coliseum for the A’s vs. Pilots (power blue roadies) then down to the “Big A” for my Royals vs. the Halos (literally).
When I was growing up one of very few baseball book with color photos was called “This Great Game”. linkwas among several others showing the A’s and Senators from the 1968-69 era. I posted that photo because unlike many throwback games that just look like current players wearing old style uniforms, link really looks like link, IMO.
[quote comment=”263479″]The Rangers did use their regular blue shoes today. The only thing that wasn’t era-appropiate.[/quote]
Not quite the only thing… Gerald Laird wore his usual blue Rangers flapless helmet under his catcher’s mask.
Uni-Related Jersey Number Food News: The folks at Papa John’s will sell one-topping pizzas in Cleveland for $.23 on Thursday as part of an apology for making promotional T-shirts given away at last Friday’s playoff game at the Wizards calling LeBron James a “crybaby” and will donate $100K to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ charity.
Correction and link: The donation is $10K to the Cavs’ Youth Fund, not $100K, plus the coasts of said pizzas will also be given to the fund as well.
link.
That Oakland number font is fantastic!
Are the layers green-yellow-green or is the outermost layer black?
Either way, it looks great. Make those the regular home jerseys!
Sorry if this has been asked already. In the Oakland- Texas throwback game– did the Oakland coaches have WHITE batting helmets on when they were coaching at 1st and 3rd? P from England
I was at the Pirates-Nationals game on Saturday, and have a few issues with the throwbacks. First, as a Pittsburgh native and DC resident, I take offense to the Nationals claiming the Grays as a DC team. But beyond that, why wouldn’t the Pirates wear Crawfords uniforms?