By Phil Hecken
Yesterday we took a look at the first eight teams in the World Baseball Classic. Today we finish the second eight. Let’s get started.
Korea: Let’s not pull any punches here: This is, quite simply, the worst uniform in the WBC. Not coincidentally, it is also the only one made by Nike. Where do we start? Well, for one thing, this is the only uniform in the WBC to feature this heinous pants striping (more like piping). Since the Koreans wear white jerseys at home and blue jerseys as the road team, both outfits look awful. Who thought this was a good look? The mismatched stripe width, the weird hornish shoulder stripe, the faux collar (which didn’t look good on the polyester double-knits of the Chicago White Sox who originated it), and the helmet adverts all combine for a massive “FAIL” for this uni set. Even when knee length pants are adorned, it’s still just a mess. Anything good about the uni at all? Well, the script “K” on the cap matches the jersey. That’s about it. Korea has advanced to the second round of the WBC. Grade: F
Mexico: Moving on, we find some nice features with the Mexican uniforms, whose home uniforms are pure white, while their road duds have a green jersey with pinstriped pants, the only team in the WBC to sport such a look. They have a unique font for their numerals and nameplates, as well as their team wordmark. Their green and red-brimmed cap is gorgeous, featuring the stylized “M” in green and white, outlined in raised red thread. The home jersey is particularly striking in its elegance, while the away kit, with the classic ‘Mexican green’ is very nice. They are also one of the few teams to wear a different color helmet than any color on their uniform (Australia appears to have a black helmet as well, but it may just be a very dark green). Mexico does get two strikes against its uniform, however, with the teardrop pit stains and giant advertising patch. Small points are also deducted for the helmet advert as well. And, at least we know they make ’em in Triple XL. Overall, though, a very nice outfit. Mexico has advanced to the second round of the WBC. Grade: B+
Netherlands: The second European team in the WBC definitely has the nicest uniforms of the two (the other being Italy), although they did choose to wear a black jersey with gray pants for their road uni (but look at how nice that combo looks with black socks). The Netherlands’ white home uniform is typically staid, with wordmark and numerals in orange outlined with black. The home jersey is gorgeous and has no advertising, while the road black away, especially when combined with actual socks, looks great too. Even the cap looks great, although the fact that their flag patch doesn’t “go” with the cap (or uniform) colors is a minor distraction. The only true flaw in this uniform set are the underarm patches. Best uni of the Classic, by default. With their two stunning defeats of the Dominicans, the Netherlands has advanced to the second round of the WBC. Grade: A-
Panama: Following the worst and best of the WBC uniforms, we arrive at Panama, whose uniforms nicely echo their flag. Sporting gray road uniforms, the Panamanian’s were twice defeated in them, eliminating them from tournament play. Their home white jersey features blue raglan sleeves and red lettering and numbering, with that pattern reversed for the NOB. Their blue cap with red brim had a nice script “P” in white, outlined in red. They have a red batting practice jersey as well. Like most of the other unis, this middle-of-the-road set has the signature Majestic pit stains, and the standard Majestic BP side stripes. Fair-to-middle and an early exit do nothing to distinguish the uni, despite it being ad-free. Panama has been eliminated from further WBC play. Grade: B-
Puerto Rico: Another fair-to-good uniform is being sported by the Island of Puerto Rico, which, like it’s flag, is red, white and blue. While they score points for wearing a gray away uniform set, they likewise lose some grading points for their donning of the large advertising patch on their left sleeve, as well as the big helmet sticker plugging a certain cell service. While their nameplates are a bit difficult to read, the numeral font and wordmark are pretty cool. The cap is a nice solid red, with “PR” in white outlined in blue, and their jersey consists of red raglan sleeves (like several other nations). Not the worst uni by any means, but nothing special either. Puerto Rico has advanced to the second round of the WBC. Grade: B
South Africa: Heavy underdogs from the dark continent, the team from South Africa played valiantly, but ultimately, did not advance. Their home uniform was a basic white, with “South Africa” spelled out across the front in vertically arched fashion, with black letters outlined in yellow and blue numerals likewise outlined in yellow. They wore green BP jerseys, and none of their uni sets had advertising. Cap was deep green with “SA” interlocking in white and yellow. Home jerseys had yellow pit stains (which, while still terrible, didn’t look as bad as some of the teams with darker patches), while the away pit stains were blue. Bonus points, however, go to South Africa for the coolest arm “stripes”, which are actually lots of South African flags. Kind of all over the place, but no ads and cool stripes work in their favor. South Africa has been eliminated from further WBC play. Grade: B+
United States: Although the United States have both an away and a home uniform set, with both a home and away cap, they may have set a WBC record for most accoutrements with a red BP jersey, red jacket/pullovers for the players, blue jackets/hoodies for coaches, and a third cap. Phew. Hopefully that merch will move. As far as the actual uniforms go, the away grays have “USA” across the front, in double shadowed blue “U” and “A” with an alternating red and white “S” (simulating the stripes on the US flag). Numbers are red outlined in blue with blue lettering on the nameplates. Caps are red and pit stains are blue. The homes aren’t quite a mirror image, as the caps are blue and the pit stains red. Not a bad uniform set (no adverts either), but nothing to write home about either. The United States has advanced to the second round of the WBC. Grade: B
Venezuela: Our final entry into the WBC pool, Venezuela has the coolest BP jersey. For actual game play, Venezuela wears a reddish-maroon away jersey, with white letters, numbers and wordmark all outlined in yellow, with gray pants. Yellow pit stains and helmet advert mar an otherwise very nice set. The home whites are nicer, with stripeless white pants, shoulder advert, and reddish-maroon letters, numbers and wordmark, outlined in yellow. Pit stains are maroon. Cap is also maroon, with script “V” in white outlined in yellow. Points scored for the sweet homes with no pants stripes, but typical Majestic pit marks, and helmet and sleeve advertising take away all gains. Venezuela has advanced to the second round of the WBC. Grade: B-
Well, there you have it. Grades for the second set of WBC unis. If you missed yesterday’s post with the first 8 rankings, here it is. Agree? Disagree? Remember, my grades are based solely on my opinions and therefore are always entirely correct are subject to debate. Let’s hear what you think.
This and That: In case you’re wondering, they’re already comparing the 2006 and 2009 WBC … Check out the first paragraph of this article, which mentions “candy-striped warm-up uniforms” — anyone have pics of these? … According to this article, the Amarillo Dusters have switched a crimson and black scheme for 2009, departing from the traditional orange-and-black scheme — (insert eyeroll icon here) … Baseball coaches and managers wear uniforms, football coaches wear ‘coaching attire,’ but basketball coaches wear suits — or do they? — Here’s an interesting take on hoop coaching attire … Did you know there is a newly formed Indoor Football League? Neither did I, but they’ve got teams and uniforms and everything … So, yesterday K-Rod got a four-out save for Venezuela, leaving Mets fans wondering if he will do the same for the Mets — apparently, the WBC games do matter … For all you footy fans, here’s an article on Aston Villa and their famous claret and blue unis … We all have an opinion on Oregon’s football uniforms, and most of us have some opinion on the man for whom a font is named — here’s an article on Coach Bellotti and where he ranks among Oregon’s football coaches … The other day, the Sixers played their final game at the Spectrum — that’s the recap … and here are some pics of the 1983 throwbacks and the “old” court … Here’s more on that Philly retro night … Lots of college hoop teams were celebrating yesterday, for both the ladies and the guys — more to come today … I know I don’t hate purple, and I particularly like this shade … FNOB on display here, and a really weird numeral font besides … Why hockey is still great: Marty tries to tie Patty Roy’s win record in Montreal with the Habs in classic whites (1945-46 era jersey) … They’re not called The Orange for nothing, folks … I’m sure you knew this already, but Tiger’s back — he’s just not Tiger…yet … and finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t post a a photo or two from the 2009 Brier curling championships, right? Oh…nice job against Puerto Rico last night, USA — mercy rule me.
Enjoy the hoops and WBC today, and Beware the Ides of March.
Haven’t seen the quilted padding on the back of one leg on baseball pants before like on T K Kim in this pic: link Is this something new?
Why are they cramming the pit stains on us? And who thinks they look good?
[quote comment=”318247″]Haven’t seen the quilted padding on the back of one leg on baseball pants before like on T K Kim in this pic: link Is this something new?[/quote]
Actually, it’s something old… baseball players used to wear “sliding pants” under their knickers to avoid scraping their skin when they slid into bases.
link, although these seem more like compression shorts than the quilted pads of the past.
The font on the Mexican WBC jerseys comes from Lance Wyman’s logo for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics
link
link
I agree on your ratings of the WBC uniforms. I didn’t realize Korea’s uniforms were so bad, but I thank you for pointing it out. I like seeing the various color combos for the various countries too.
[quote comment=”318249″]Why are they cramming the pit stains on us? And who thinks they look good?[/quote]
Actually, I do.
The Netherlands team is made up of players from all the Dutch netherlands territories in the Caribbean, ie Sidney Ponson from Aruba. The Netherlands team is almost all Latin American.
Interesting that Italy and the Netherlands go with the same color scheme in the WBC that they link rather than using their flags’ colors. Do they do that for all their national teams?
And couldn’t the Bulls have worn some link for that game in the Spectrum? Wearing the black alts was disgraceful.
Oh, and as far as those late ′70s Sox jerseys? Not really a faux collar. It was link from the rest of the jersey, not just a sewn-in panel of contrasting color — unless by “faux” you’re referring to the fact that it link.
The Aston Villa color scheme is my favorite in all of sports.
[quote comment=”318256″]Interesting that Italy and the Netherlands go with the same color scheme in the WBC that they link rather than using their flags’ colors. Do they do that for all their national teams?[/quote]
I guess I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that these are not the only two countries in the WBC who do this (S. Africa, Australia, Venezuela).
The Netherlands team is made up of players from all the Dutch netherlands territories in the Caribbean, ie Sidney Ponson from Aruba. The Netherlands team is almost all Latin American.
Most of the hitters are from Curacao and Aruba, but most of the pitchers are European.
link
Even some of the dark-skinned guys on the team were born in Europe and grew up there, but nonetheless became good US baseball prospects. (Vince Rooi, Greg Halman)
It just looks like the team is all Caribbean because there’s only one pitcher out there at a time.
sorry i may have missed something but why are the “pit stain” so bad? i’m not saying they look good just wondering
personally i don’t think “points” should be deducted from any teams with them considering 90% of the teams have ’em
Am I the only one that thinksthe red cap would of looked better on the whites and the blue cap with the aways? The red cap with the red stains would of looked better as the blue cap with the grey and blue stains…it just looked off seeing a red cap with an otherwise blue jersey
Here is a picture of the pants for Ponder High School in Texas.
link
I like how South Africa uses the exact same green that has become famous from their great rugby team. And the use of gray pants seems more appropriate than white ones, as well. (The rugby team wears white shorts)
Top notch post Phil!
I can’t agree with you more on the nightmare that is Korea’s unis. What in the hell was Nike thinking?! I have liked some of Nike’s outlandish/brave designs…. but these I cannot defend. The cap just looks so cheap too, flea market cheap.
I disagree with you on the Netherlands jersey. I feel they are just tad bland. I’m just not feelin’ the wordmark. Plus I would have liked to have seen an orange jersey, matched up with that pretty cool cap…NICE!
I just wished my fellow paisanos Mexicanos rocked a green helmet as opposed to a black one. I think if they used the exact same typeface (the inner lines in red) for the numbers as they did the wordmark it would have looked alot sharper.
Here is why the color orange is used in Holland from Wikipedia.
link
Orange is the national color of The Netherlands, because its royal family of Orange-Nassau used to own the principality of Orange (the title is still used for the Dutch heir apparent). There is no etymological (word history) connection between orange (the fruit and color) and Orange (the name of the principality), and the similarity is fortuitous. (See the page on Orange (word) for more information.) In modern Dutch society however, the Dutch word oranje, ‘orange’ is often associated with the reigning royal house of the Netherlands. Oranjezonnetje (‘Orange Sun’) designates good weather on the Queen’s birthday, April 30. Orange is the color of choice for many of the national sports teams and their supporters. The nickname of the Dutch national football team is Oranje, the Dutch word for orange. Oranjegekte (‘Orange Craze’) signifies the inclination of many Dutchmen to dress up in orange colors during soccer matches. In the modern flag of the Netherlands, red substitutes the original orange, but on birthdays, the flag has an additional orange banner. Most geographical usages of the word orange can be traced back to Dutch maritime power in the 17th century.
[quote comment=”318261″]Am I the only one that thinksthe red cap would of looked better on the whites and the blue cap with the aways? The red cap with the red stains would of looked better as the blue cap with the grey and blue stains…it just looked off seeing a red cap with an otherwise blue jersey[/quote]
not at all…not by any means…the US (thankfully) only has one batting helmet…and it’s blue…so, look how much better the blue lid looks with the away grays
the red cap looks out of place on the aways, since every other part of the uni (undersleeves, socks, pitstains) is blue…(note curtis granderson’s high blue socks)…imho, blue caps would have been better with the aways
Mexico uniforms are the best. Great use of colors and font.
[quote comment=”318265″]Here is why the color orange is used in Holland from Wikipedia.
link
Orange is the national color of The Netherlands, because its royal family of Orange-Nassau used to own the principality of Orange (the title is still used for the Dutch heir apparent). There is no etymological (word history) connection between orange (the fruit and color) and Orange (the name of the principality), and the similarity is fortuitous. (See the page on Orange (word) for more information.) In modern Dutch society however, the Dutch word oranje, ‘orange’ is often associated with the reigning royal house of the Netherlands. Oranjezonnetje (‘Orange Sun’) designates good weather on the Queen’s birthday, April 30. Orange is the color of choice for many of the national sports teams and their supporters. The nickname of the Dutch national football team is Oranje, the Dutch word for orange. Oranjegekte (‘Orange Craze’) signifies the inclination of many Dutchmen to dress up in orange colors during soccer matches. In the modern flag of the Netherlands, red substitutes the original orange, but on birthdays, the flag has an additional orange banner. Most geographical usages of the word orange can be traced back to Dutch maritime power in the 17th century.[/quote]
And to further that, I live in Orange County, N.Y., which was settled/established in the early 1600s by the Dutch – the local flacks try to call this ‘The REAL OC’,or some rot like that….and to make things MORE confusing, we have a fairly small village named ‘Florida’…..
So there is Florida in Orange County…and Orange County in Florida! So around here we tend to say, when going on vacation, we are ging to Orlando…or St Pete…or Miami….otherwise someoen might think you are going to go visit local legend, link
[quote comment=”318267″][quote comment=”318261″]Am I the only one that thinksthe red cap would of looked better on the whites and the blue cap with the aways? The red cap with the red stains would of looked better as the blue cap with the grey and blue stains…it just looked off seeing a red cap with an otherwise blue jersey[/quote]
not at all…not by any means…the US (thankfully) only has one batting helmet…and it’s blue…so, look how much better the link looks with the away grays
the red cap looks out of place on the aways, since every other part of the uni (undersleeves, socks, pitstains) is blue…link…imho, blue caps would have been better with the aways[/quote]
I don’t think USA teams ever look good in predominantly red. As Ricko surely remembers (just kidding!), we defeated “red coats” in battle for our independence; therefore, USA in red almost feels like wearing enemy colors. Somewhat ironic, don’t you think?
Plus, FWIW, when Old Glory gets folded into a triangle for display, it’s proper to see stars and not stripes.
[quote comment=”318258″][quote comment=”318256″]Interesting that Italy and the Netherlands go with the same color scheme in the WBC that they link rather than using their flags’ colors. Do they do that for all their national teams?[/quote]
I guess I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that these are not the only two countries in the WBC who do this (S. Africa, Australia, Venezuela).[/quote]
I actually wish that the Netherlands would have matched even more–an light orange uni, like their soccer kit, would look better than the black.
Can anybody explain how this whole World Baseball Classic thing works, anyway? Are the international teams just thrown together for the tournament, like olympic teams? Where do the players come from if they are not professionals? Who are the coaches?
Mexico’s unis look an awful like the University of Miami’s ball team’s unis, anyone else notice this? Maybe there is a tie between the two programs?
There’s a thread about Dutch baseball over at link.
Some photos, but you have to be signed in.
[quote comment=”318271″][quote comment=”318258″][quote comment=”318256″]Interesting that Italy and the Netherlands go with the same color scheme in the WBC that they link rather than using their flags’ colors. Do they do that for all their national teams?[/quote]
I guess I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that these are not the only two countries in the WBC who do this (S. Africa, Australia, Venezuela).[/quote]
I actually wish that the Netherlands would have matched even more–an light orange uni, like their soccer kit, would look better than the black.[/quote]
agreed…nederlands has worn orange before, and will undoubtedly do so again
link, imho, is a tricky color to make look link (tough call with link)…
in a link, for link, the link of link is very link…personally, i think the deeper, darker oranges (like link or the 70’s orioles) look better than say, the link…but that’s just me
im old school when it comes to baseball unis, tho, and anything besides white and gray just seems to BPish…but that’s just me…YMMV
“For all you footy fans, here’s an article on Aston Villa and their famous claret and blue unis ”
For future reference, “footy” is Australian Rules Football…don’t use it for soccer slang!
Sammy,
[quote comment=”318272″]Can anybody explain how this whole World Baseball Classic thing works, anyway? Are the international teams just thrown together for the tournament, like olympic teams? Where do the players come from if they are not professionals? Who are the coaches?[/quote]
No, there is a reasoning for the teams that are in the event. There is no qualifying unlike the FIFA World Cup.
The majority of the teams chosen are for the following reasons, professional leagues, other international tournaments (Olympics and IBAF) and draftees of major league teams.
Professional Leagues
USA, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Panama
International Tournaments
Cuba, Australia (Olympics), Italy, China (Olympics) and Netherlands
South Africa would be the Africa representative.
Would it be nice to have qualifying, yes, but according to the IBAF there are 44 teams that have a ranking in World Tournaments.
link
South Africa, 20th and the Dominican Republic, 17th are outside the top 16 team.
Spain, 15th and Nicaragua, 12th are the only teams in the top 16, not at this tournament.
So I think it is a pretty fair representation.
link was in action today against link. I was looking at some of the photos and man are link hard on the eyes.
Does anyone else have such thing stripes in such contrasting colors?
(And as much as I love St Kilda, footy can be used for both soccer and Australian Rules Football.)
What’s up with the New Era logo on the cap of one the Braves’ minor league teams? Not sure which one it is.
link
I’m watching the Twins Yankees spring training game. It’s at Steinbrenner field. The Yankees are wearing their home BP jerseys with the NY crest. For some reason Andy Pettite is wearing the away jersey with New York across the front, while on the mound.
I can’t believe you picked the team with the black jersey as your best uni. Why is it that the black alt is almost universally ridiculed, but the Dutch wear a black jersey for who knows what reason, maybe trying to look like the Orioles, and they are applauded?
Not only that, but their wordmark was just plain boring. Gotta disagree with your best uni pick. Maybe they’ve got the best story, but that doesn’t make their uni the best.
Re: South Africa WBC uniform… the lettering looks to me to be dark *green* with gold outline. This would also be more logical with respect to SA sporting colors.
Also, as several have pointed out, many countries have sporting colors that are consistent across codes that vary completely from flag colors. This is a good thing, since flags don’t come in many different color combos and there’d be too many nations all wearing red, white, and blue. Another example is New Zealand, who generally wear black in all sports despite having the standard issue Commonwealth style flag.
[quote comment=”318280″]I’m watching the Twins Yankees spring training game. It’s at Steinbrenner field. The Yankees are wearing their home BP jerseys with the NY crest. For some reason Andy Pettite is wearing the away jersey with New York across the front, while on the mound.[/quote]
can you get a screen grab and send it to link for the ticker?
[quote comment=”318279″]What’s up with the New Era logo on the cap of one the Braves’ minor league teams? Not sure which one it is.
link
Par for the minor league course. The visible New Era logo goes away at the Major League level, barring the occasional mistake batch of special edition hats. (I remember seeing New Era flags on green White Sox hats and camo-coordinated Padres hats on the field. They should not be there. Those are mistakes. But they happened.)
Two thoughts on the Netherlands
– If I’m not mistaken, the Syracuse Orangemen (now Orange) commemorate with their nickname the same movement that put William of Orange (the king of Holland) on the English throne. I know the history is WAY more complex than that but I did want to mention that Syracuse orange and dutch orange have the same roots.
– ING, the dutch bank, is the major sponsor of a number of road races in North America, including the Ottawa marathon, the Edmonton Marathon, and the New York City marathon. At those races (I raced at all 3 last year) the predominant colour of banners, signs, etc. tends to be orange for ING.
To add to the Netherlands/orange connection, when I lived in Germany I heard a story (perhaps apocryphal, perhaps not) that on the occasional of a particularly significant soccer match between the German & Dutch national teams, one German grocer painted all of the store’s oranges black in order to purge his establishment of the hated color.
I dunno about you guys but I really dig the colored raglan sleeves that we’re seeing in the WBC!
Just want to throw this in.
Brian Kilrea, the winningest coach in Canadian major junior hockey, is retiring. He coaches link.
If you can catch the game tonight, Ottawa plays Kingston. Kilrea will be looking for his 1193rd win in his 2156th contest.
Ottawa has some of the classiest jerseys in the CHL, and yet their NHL franchise’s uniforms is a joke. Any wonder why the Senators are going to miss the playoffs… aside from crappy goaltending and a distinct lack of scoring? LOL
[quote comment=”318288″]Just want to throw this in.
Brian Kilrea, the winningest coach in Canadian major junior hockey, is retiring. He coaches link.
If you can catch the game tonight, Ottawa plays Kingston. Kilrea will be looking for his 1193rd win in his 2156th contest.
Ottawa has some of the classiest jerseys in the CHL, and yet their NHL franchise’s uniforms is a joke. Any wonder why the Senators are going to miss the playoffs… aside from crappy goaltending and a distinct lack of scoring? LOL[/quote]
Kilrea is the classiest guy in hockey today.
Random Kilrea trivia – he only scored 3 NHL goals but one of them was the first ever goal scored by the L.A. Kings.
link
Phil, for the most part I agree with your assessment of the Mexican team’s uniforms. Aside from the pit stains, though, I am not crazy about the combination of colored jerseys and pinstriped pants. It just doesn’t work for me.
Another thing I’m not crazy about is the interlocking initials on the Netherland’s hats. The serifs are too cumbersome and get in the way of the actual initials.
[quote comment=”318285″]Two thoughts on the Netherlands
– If I’m not mistaken, the Syracuse Orangemen (now Orange) commemorate with their nickname the same movement that put William of Orange (the king of Holland) on the English throne. I know the history is WAY more complex than that but I did want to mention that Syracuse orange and dutch orange have the same roots.
– ING, the dutch bank, is the major sponsor of a number of road races in North America, including the Ottawa marathon, the Edmonton Marathon, and the New York City marathon. At those races (I raced at all 3 last year) the predominant colour of banners, signs, etc. tends to be orange for ING.[/quote]
Yet at one time, Syracuse University teams were known as the “Saltine Warriors,” perhaps because of the salt mines in the area. Where’s the “orange” in that?
[quote comment=”318288″]Just want to throw this in.
Brian Kilrea, the winningest coach in Canadian major junior hockey, is retiring. He coaches link.
If you can catch the game tonight, Ottawa plays Kingston. Kilrea will be looking for his 1193rd win in his 2156th contest.
Ottawa has some of the classiest jerseys in the CHL, and yet their NHL franchise’s uniforms is a joke. Any wonder why the Senators are going to miss the playoffs… aside from crappy goaltending and a distinct lack of scoring? LOL[/quote]
Agreed with the assessment of the 67’s jerseys Teebz, but don’t forget that they unfortunately have the dreaded alts…
link
link
[quote comment=”318292″]
Agreed with the assessment of the 67’s jerseys Teebz, but don’t forget that they unfortunately have the dreaded alts…
link
Good call, Jim. I rarely see those jerseys since I’m nowhere near the Ottawa region. Black jerseys are still ridiculous.
But at least black is part of their colour scheme.
Anyone know if the Pistons wore any sort of memorial in today’s game for Bill Davidson?
[quote comment=”318262″]Here is a picture of the pants for Ponder High School in Texas.
link
Interesting. The link look like link and the link look like link.
“What do these universities have in common?” you ask.
A) I have degrees from both of them.
B) The 2008-2009 basketball season was a little bit rough for them.
Personally, any uniform that had a solid top (with the exception of the pit stain) was BORING. The raglan sleeves are AWESOME and here’s why: with enough exposure of those teams wearing raglan sleeves, we move ever the closer to seeing them in MLB, which would surely mean a revival of the 70’s & 80’s wacky uniforms. Yes, we hated them back in the 90’s but look how many people sport them today at ballparks. I am tired of seeing plain color tops. WBC uniforms are a breath of fresh air. My favorite is the Puerto Rico uni which includes the raglan, pit stain AND the blue piping along the edge of the raglan. I can see MLB teams moving closer to that design in the next 5 years.
Also, did anyone notice the sharp-edged eye-black stickers one of the Japanese batters (right handed) was wearing today? I’ve never seen that before and would like to see more.
regarding the pistons and a bill davidson memorial, it appears that they have added a black stripe (link), as has been seen plenty of times before.
rip hamilton also added his own personal memorial (link), and there was another memorial courtside (link).
html FAIL…
keeping it simple:
memorial stripe: link
rip hamilton’s memorial: link
courtside memorial: link
Here’s a good shot of the ’85-’86 Villanova hockey team wearing some cool hockey pants
link
A couple of remarks about The Netherlands facts and fables n this thread from someone who is actually Dutch:
– The Dutch baseball team actually wears orange BP shirts in the WBC… They’ve worn a multitude of colors over the last couple of decases (solid gray, pinstriped gray, orange shirts on white pants, orange shirts on gray pants, white with blue lettering and red prinstripes, solid blue shirts etc.) Thing is that our national color is the kind of bright in-your-face orange that just doesn’t work on the diamond.
– William of Orange was never the King of the Netherlands. He was a German nobleman who led the Dutch revolution against Spanish rule; his decendents later became the Dutch royal family.
– The Dutch team has a lot of players that come from the Netherlands Antilles originally, true. But the vast majority of them play in the Dutch league (if they don’t play in the US). So they have a Dutch passport and live in Holland. That probably makes them more Dutch than Mike Piazza was Italian in 2006 for example.
– Don’t get me started on the Germany-Netherlands soccer rivalry…
Say what you want about korea’s unis…they could play in nike togas and still dominate most of the teams in the wbc…to put it simple…they are becoming a beast in baseball..and for a country with a young baseball history and the last ever (for now) gold metal in baseball, that says alot imo. and if you know anything about korean culture, you would see the lavish looking traditional color combos and designs that koreans are known to wear, like hanboks. these unis look tame to me. they have their traditional lite blue/red combo..which is used throughout korea…yellow/red/blue/lite blue are popular…anyway…i’ve seen worse…then again i don’t sit there and just analyze to the very detail athletic uniforms…but that’s your job so whatever…i still say the bengals have the worst uniform of any sport currently.