By Phil Hecken with Rick Pearson
Amadee Wohlschlaeger was an illustrator for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1932 until 1981. But he is perhaps more famous for his work in The Sporting News.
“Amadee Wohlschlaeger?” you may say. That’s what I said when Rick Pearson asked me if I knew of him. I didn’t have a clue. But then he showed me some of Mr. Wohlschlaeger’s work. That sure did the trick.
Over the years, Ricko saved many of Amadee’s drawings, and he’s here today to share them with us. You may have seen some of these before, but I’ll bet a number of them have never been viewed by the UW reader. Take a minute to read each one, as Amadee’s prose is as poignent as his artwork is fanciful. Enjoy. Here’s Rick:
Before there were computers to make up montages, graphics and the like, there were Sports Cartoonists.
One I particularly liked was “Amadee”.
Until last night, I didn’t know if if “Amadee” was his first name or his last name, but I knew his work. It was all over The Sporting News back in the days when photography in that pub was rare.
It seemed that usually cartoonists such as Willard Mullen got the front page, but Amadee’s presence was a constant. It was apparent he was St. Louis-based (convenient, so was TSN), and some of his best work was portraits of St. Louis sports figures.
Anyway, I cut out and saved a bunch of his efforts. Here are 26 of them from the early ’60s for a bit of…
Time Travel on a Sunday in July
* Most famous for being traded for Lou Brock
* The reliever was starting to become famous
* Nice portrait for Cardinal fans
* A classy Cub
* Hey, it’s Stormin’ Norman
* Pete on a cloud
* Handsome young man, bet he’d never thown inside
* Fine work, even included the Spring Training hat patch
* No, not Frack’s partner, the Commish
* Did something unique re: Grand Slams, if you wanna look it up
* Look, a pheeeee-nom
* Well, if YOUR first name was “Saturnino”, you’d want a nickname, too [Note the colorful speech attributed to the subject — what would be considered appropriate back then would get the artist fired today. — PH]
* Here’s some pretty fair ballplayers
* Some of these guys were not so famous
* If you were a good rook, you might get drawn by Amadee
* Hmm, a “penthouse” feel to this one…
* Some vintage White Sox unis
* Ah, those Reds’ pins hats
* “No one knows this, but one of us has been traded to Kansas City”
* One of these guys didn’t get to the Majors ’til he was 30
* More big names
* A pro football piece, about that “other league”
* A pair of Packers and more
* Hey, these guys are in that photo from LIFE
* Some say he had lot to do with NFL success; they’re right
* One look at the NBA
Thank you, Mr. Pearson. That’s quite the collection, and some wonderful artwork and prose as well. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Ricko wrote my intro today. “Ricko says this one doesn’t any introduction whatsoever, neither from him nor me…but he does say he sure hopes we have the ability to laugh at ourselves.”
’tis true…enjoy:
Here’s your full color Sunday Benchies.
Back again with more Uniform Tweaks, Concepts and Revisions today. Lots to get to, and if you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way. Still finding the tweaks have slowed to a trickle, so if you have something you’d like to show, give me a shout.
Just one huge set of tweaks today, and it comes from Daniel Rerko, who actually sent along eighty-seven NFL separate tweaks. Last weekend, we looked at the third batch. Today features Round IV. Says Daniel, “I am sending you a gallery of 87 uniform tweaks for NFL teams on Flickr. Some of them are terrible, but some of them turned out pretty well. I hope you enjoy!” We’re almost through those and now we’re moving into the homestretch. Daniel is starting to get pretty crazy with some of these, but they’re very interesting, I’ll say that. Here then, is the fourth set:
Jets–Gold 3rd Color–off old Titans uniform: A third color from the Titans uniform. It’s just an attempt to give a bland, but good, uniform a little more life.
Jets–Basic: An even more basic uniform.
Bills–Silver, one blue: Nasty. Ignore this one, please. I tried to use silver in the helmet, but this just turned out even worse than their already terrible uniforms.
Broncos–Old Colors, integration of old logo, old socks: Old colors on the new uniform, with the old logo on the sleeves. The orange alternate didn’t turn out how I would have liked it to.
Giants–Simplified, Two helmet logos: I like the NY and GIANTS on the helmet at the same time, without the terrible red numbers on a royal jersey.
Ravens–No one looks tough in purple: …No one looks tough in purple. I did this without getting rid of the Black and Purple. Also, I decided to give a gold alternate a try as a replacement to the purple.
Jets–Modernized stripes, old logo: Weird shoulder stripes with the 90’s logo and the modern colors.
Titans–Oilers with Titans Remake: Slaped some dark blue and a Titans logo onto an Oilers uni, just to see what would have happened without a complete uniform overhaul.
Titans–Silver replace red: Terrible. Tried to bring in silver instead of red, and it just didn’t turn out how I would have liked it to.
Titans–Sliver: Trying to add more silver to the uniform, and again, it didn’t turn out the way I would have liked it to.
Titans–Red replace navy: Way too bright of a uniform, and it actually hurts my eyes just looking at it on the computer. It should never be on the field.
Jaguars-Fixing something that’s broken?: Hard to fix a broken uniform… but i made an attempt. I just created a shoulder yoke instead of just the stripes. It turned out just as bad as bad, if not worse, than before.
Falcons–Red helmet, simplified: I really just like the red helmet a lot. Other than that, this turned out pretty bad.
Texans–Old Oilers colors: The colors that belong in Houston. And the Texans really do need a white helmet. The partially blue logo on a blue helmet bugs me.
Redskins–Socks and Sleeves: I liked the contrast with the sleeves. Also, no more maroon socks on maroon pants. Ever.
Buccaneers–Black helmet, shoulder color: BFBS! Adding in a black helmet, and a shoulder yoke. The black alternate just looks awful. There are no bright spots in this tweak.
Saints–Modernized, Old school socks: Just playing with jersey stripes, and adding some pretty cool socks. I like the black helmet with the gold jersey.
Panthers–Longer stripes: Longer helmet and pants stripes, and no stripes on the jersey. I like the plain element in the panther’s uniform.
That will do it for today. Almost through with Daniel’s tweaks, but the rest of you keep them coming.
Back at the beginning of the 2010 season, I announced the 2010 Uni Tracking that a number of us do. Last year, I devoted about four full weekend columns to it, and that was probably a bit much for most of us to take in one dose, so this year, I’ll occasionally post the updated tracking of certain teams as the trackers send them in. So, if you’ve been doing your due diligence with your team, send me your mid-season tracking reports, and I’ll post them as a “sub article” on the weekends. OK? OK!
Today’s first featured tracker is Ryan Bugaj, who has been tracking the Boston Red Sawks. Here’s Ryan:
Phil:
Greetings from baseball’s Demilitarized Zone (read: the great state of Connecticut)!
I’ve finally gotten a few minutes together to file my mid-season Uni Tracking report. As you know, I’m one of the Red Sox trackers. Figured I’d follow my favorite team, since I’d be watching all the games anyway it’d be an easy assignment. Boy was I wrong!
The big news out of Beantown is that the “hanging sox” alternate cap made two appearances early in the season (both losses), then was quietly mothballed. It’s not officially gone, but considering of the 14 alternate jersey appearances this season, 10 have featured the standard-issue cap, it’s a goner. (The other two were the Stars & Stripes cap, in case you were wondering.)
On the alt jersey front, it’s been pretty much status quo as to when the Sox break them out (Fridays only, usually). They still won’t break out the alts against a team that also wears alts on Fridays (so far, this has happened only twice, both times at Baltimore). Also, for some reason, they broke out the red alts for Memorial Day and July 4. (Keeps with the patriotic theme, I guess.)
The standings, as shown on the sheet, are as follows:
JERSEYS
HOME WHITE: 24-13
HOME ALT RED: 5-4
ROAD GREY: 20-17
ROAD BLUE ALT: 2-3CAPS
STANDARD: 50-34
“HANGING SOX”: 0-2
STARS AND STRIPES: 1-1Thanks for running this again this season, and I hope to have something for the Design-A-Jersey contest shortly!
-Ryan B
Also up today is Rick Krause, who has been tracking Canada’s finest, the Toronto Blue Jays:
Hey there Phil,
Another long time reader of Uni-Watch and thought I’d take a stab at uni-tracking this summer.
My Toronto Blue Jays have been pretty so-so all season long and my excel spreadsheet represents that mediocrity.
I’ve attached the actual XLS file (Google Docs does not like my formula structures) as well as a JPEG of the file (which might be easier to view).
Trends and Patterns:
– For home games, the White jerseys are worn for all night games while the Black or Blue alts are worn strictly for day games.
– The Jays are 2-0 at home when wearing the White Caps (2 games during Victoria Day weekend) and 0-2 on the road (Canada Day and Independence Day)
– Thanks to shoddy MLB Scheduling the Jays play on THE ROAD for Canada Day…therefore no celebratory jersey.
– G20 Summit also relocated Toronto’s “home” series against Philadelphia to Citizens Bank Park showing the only time all season the Blue Jays wore their home Whites on the road.
– For a team who’s played 43 road games, their “Road Greys” have only been worn 17 times.
– In terms of wearing same jerseys on consecutive nights, there have been two stretches of 5 games.
– April 12-16 they wore the Home Whites
– June 30 – July 4 they wore Black AltsI hope you enjoy the highly graphical representation of the data!
Thanks!
– Rick Krause
Great job Ryan and Rick. Thanks for the efforts. OK, all you uni trackers, now is a great time to get your mid-season tracking reports in to me. Keep up the great work everyone.
After a week in which he found little to annoy me, Ben Traxel is back. Says Trax, “the picture shows some perfectly bloused Levi’s. Also, shown is what you get when you win the 2010 Hockey Blog in Canada NHL Pool. I always wanted my own Buffaslug. Thanks Teebz! How did your bracket turn out?” Uh huh.
Anyway…it’s all about the Benjamin’s today, innit?
* Baseball card of the week: Reuschel Brothers 1977. Serious beach bodies. How can you not like those guys.
* For those stadium gazers like me, here’s a complex that looks to have some complexion.
* I can see him now. “BIGGER! I want my name BIGGER!” I really don’t know how NY can stand Lupica. He wouldn’t last two minutes around here.
* Uhhhh, no it’s not. But you did have some cool undersleeve stripes like a million years ago. Colorization anyone?
* Is there anything better than youth hockey in all their gear?
* I knew the Rays had done the monochrome thing before.
* Paul put together a fantastic article this week on pants. Bet not many of us can say we’ve ever done that. Let’s not forget the other appendages though. As NFL sleeves have disappeared, baseball sleeves have become ridiculous. The fifties/sixties look may have taken sleeve length to the other extreme, but it gets a pass because it was, well, fifty/sixty years ago. Until then, can we please donate a little material to the Football League? I guess there is a precedent set for old time long sleeves but that has had no bearing on today’s trend. Cut ”˜em off!
* Okay, Phil. Only one birdie. 76. Snuck in another round on a new course. 80. Myeh. Tied Rory McIlroy on Friday though. At least that’s what I’m saying. Why does he remind me of this guy?
* Can’t go wrong with great shot of Tiger/Briggs Stadium. And while we are at it, and Phil mentioned them yesterday, how about some of those old Tigers stirrups.
* Lots of stuff here we sure don’t see much of today: Umps in sport coats, striped stirrups, trees, houses, pullovers, sansabelts, blank outfield walls, what else?
* I learned today not to dive off the high dive when you are on the bad side of 40. I hope all of you feel much better than I do right now. Have a good week, all. You too Phil.
But how’d you do on the back nine, Ben? And at least when I go off the high dive, I make sure the pool has water. Thanks, I’ll be here all week. Ben…that remains to be seen.
And finally… last evening, reader Terry D. noted, “KC Royals wearing wearing KC A’s inspired caps. They are solid royal blue with the old interlocking “KC” from the Athletics’ days in Kansas City. Has this type of current/former hometown team type of uni-ode ever been done before?” Jim Vilk supplied the evidence. Some discussion ensued, but it’s a fair question. It was noted that the Brewers played a throwback game (or two) as the Milwaukee Braves; anyone else?
And after yesterday’s column on Monochrome in Baseball (Part III), reader Dan O’Brien wrote, “Hey There, I really enjoy reading your blog and everything you have on Page 2 on ESPN. I just read your Monochrome uniform ideas for the White Sox and being a hardcore Go Go White Sox fan, I figured I’d play around with another version of my own. It would be an inverted version of their pinstripe unis. The photoshoping isn’t the greatest and it took me forever to find a picture of a pinstripe clad sox player wearing the high sock look. What do you think? I think it would be pretty cool if they had something like this.”
Thanks, Dan.
And on that note, that’s all for this fine Sunday in July. Everyone have a great day.
Take pride in your work at all times. Remember, respect for an umpire is created off the field as well as on. — Ford Frick
Dan O’Brien’s White Sox in all black with pinstripes – works for me – done right it could look good – and it does pay homage to Chicago’s past.
Is there ever a player from the 1970’s – who looked most consistently stoned – than Ross Grimsley ? But, he’s L’Expos first 20 game winner – so for long time Expos fans – he will always be remembered.
Ross Grimsley was the pitching coach in Norwich, CT last year and is in Richmond, Va. this year. He still has the ‘stache, but no longer an Afro.
Makes sense, he had far from an over-powering arm – so as they say – he had to pitch – mixing his speed – moving the ball around.
Like the one I posted yesterday among the comments.
link
—Ricko
Love that zoot suit look. Seriously.
Bernie Carbo.
In the “If you were a good rook” cartoon above, were there really two different Ken Hunts or was that a typo?
There were two. This one was an Angel outfielder.
He also was the father of “Eddie Munster” (Butch Patrick).
—Ricko
Lots of stuff here we sure don’t see much of today: Umps in sport coats, striped stirrups, trees, houses, pullovers, sansabelts, blank outfield walls, what else?
Sadly, the Pirates and Orioles in the World Series – no Bucs since ’79, O’s since ’83.
A day game in the World Series?
Nationals have worn Senators throwbacks on a couple of occasions. Since they’re formerly the Expos, I think this counts when they wore either the older style against Cleveland (that technically belongs to Minnesota) or the more recent style against Baltimore (that technically belongs to the Rangers).
I’ll ask again.
In 2013, who would be more appropriate to wear ’43 Browns unis for the 70th anniversary of that team’s only appearance in the World Series, the Orioles or the Cardinals?
–Ricko
My answer would be the Orioles. Have the Cardinals ever done much to recognize the Browns’ history?
True. But wasn’t really asking about the relationship between the organizations, was talking about whether location now trumps the franchise.
The Royals lay some claim A’s history in KC? It’s NOT them. That team’s still around, in Oakland now.
Or is this another of those things we’ll just rewrite because, what the hell, it happened before we were born so we’ll just say it was how we want it to be?
Actually, of course, it’s so more teams can have more throwback hats to sell.
I guess I should accept that commercial overcomes historical accuracy every time.
Trinkets ‘n Trash rule, right?
(mutter-mutter, grumble-grumble) ;)
—Ricko
Was just reading some of the team’s history…didn’t realize before that 1995 was the second time the Browns moved to Baltimore!
link
Seems to me the protocol is that the teams which survived in formerly two- or three-team cities (the Cardinals, Phillies, Red Sox and Yankees) are unlikely to wear uniforms from their former city brethren, whereas it’s acceptable for new teams in cities with moved big league teams to wear these uniforms (Royals can wear KC A’s hats, Mariners can wear Pilots uniforms, Brewers can wear Braves stuff, etc.)
For same-town-different-team, how about when the link? Note that they wore the MLB 100 anniversary patch, though the Pilots didn’t wear that at home…
Has anyone ever tracked the Astros unis? I would love to know if they wear their red softball tops on the road more than they actually wear their gray tops.
The Rueschel brothers pic…..was that at Shea?
The Reuschel brothers picture was at Shea. Lots of photos for the cards were shot in N.Y. But the labeling is incorrect — they have Paul on the left and Rick on the right, but it’s the other way around.
The Astros only wear their gray tops when the home team wears a red top. They’ve worn it a handful of times this season — once at Arizona, once or twice at Cincinnati and once at Atlanta. Otherwise, it’s all red on the road all the time.
So when it comes road unis, the Astros are a bunch of bricks.
I didn’t realize that the brick Jersey was the regular road until they came to Yankee Stadium…they must be the only team doing that…I mean even a team like the Chisox that wears black all the time, it is still an alternate…
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to take Baseball Card pics in spring training. Most teams are within driving distance for photographers ( one bunch in FL and one in AZ ). You can have them pics in home unis and be more current with the rosters….. For some reason I just always thought that’s what they did….although back when I was into cards, I didnt really pay that close attention.
many of them were taken in spring training (which explains why they were wearing odd jackets under their team jerseys) but many were also taken the season before, and a lot of them happened to be taken when teams were visiting new york
in fact, there are a bunch of pics for 75-76 of american league teams taken at shea
if you’re scratching your head as to why, that’s when the yankees were rebuilding yankee stadium and played from 74-75 home games in shea
It is Willard Mullin, not Mullen. When I was a kid and fancied myself an artist, I shamelessly adapted the signature he used on his drawings, rendering my name in a series of slashes.
link
Sorry.
My bad. A typo, plain and simple.
Wish I’d saved more of his stuff. They were usually really complex.
Here’s a portion of one of his that was on the back of an Amadee clipping…
link
—Ricko
This, of course, was Mullin’s cover illustration for the novel on which DAMN YANKEES is based…
(wish I could find a larger scan)
link
—Ricko
Thank you Ricko! Fantastic collection of Amadee’s work. Looks like I have a new entry over in the Artists section of my site.
Also, love this vintage White Sox ‘Receiving Royalty’: link
The wOes have never recognized the StL Browns. I think they treat that part of their history like the Ravens, almost like the move to Baltimore made them an expansion team. It is odd that both of our Major League teams used to be nicknamed the Browns.
im pretty sure part of the agreement modell made with the NFL (or was it the city of cleveland) basically treated the ravens as an expansion team, forbidding them from using anything browns in balto…the colors, the records, etc…
ok, just went to the always trustworthy wiki, and here’s what it says:
“Eventually the NFL and the parties worked out a deal. The Browns’ franchise would be deactivated for three years. Modell had to leave behind the Browns’ name, colors and heritage (including team records) for a replacement franchise, in the form of either a new team or a relocated franchise. This is in direct contradiction of statements made by Modell since the move to Baltimore that implied he gave up the name, colors and history of the Browns as a sign of goodwill towards the fans of Cleveland. In return, Modell was allowed to take the franchise rights, players and organization to Baltimore as the new expansion Ravens.”
Soon after the move was announced, I remember the local radio stations imploring fans to flood the NFL’s fax machine (remember those?) with letters demanding the name, colors and records stay in Cleveland. Modell’s goodwill gesture was more like, “OK, if I agree to this, will you let me live?”
“OK, if I agree to this, will you let me live?”
That “live” or “leave”?
—Ricko
June 8, 2003 The Orioles played at the Cardinals wearing 1944 throwback Browns jerseys, while the Cards wore 1944 Cardinals jerseys.
Still the O’s haven’t played up their history (ref: the Browns) here at home. As a Ravens fan I am glad we didn’t keep Cleveland’s history, unlike a certain team now residing in Indy.
Ah, I remember Amadee’s drawings. Dad was a long-time subscriber to The Sporting News. He wants no part of the new TSN, though.
Don’t be so hard on yourself, Daniel. This is a great set of tweaks. The only ones I didn’t care for were the Broncos, Texans and Bucs. Even though the Texans didn’t get to me, those red Titans did! And I REALLY like your Falcons tweak.
No BFBS for Bub’s Pub? Someday I may have to DIY that yellow jersey.
Trax, the Rays weren’t the only ones going monochrome. The Marlins did it last night:
link
“No BFBS for Bub’s Pub?”
Ick, no. At least not jerseys. I’d have to letter white on black, sometimes very small. Pain in the butt.
—Ricko
Speaking of St. Louis…anyone like Stan Musial?
And don’t forget to eat your Wheaties. It’s the “Breakfast of Champions,” y’know.
link
—Ricko
speaking of stanislaw franciszek musial…anyone been to the missouri sports hall of fame? apparently there’s a musial statue there, based on this drawing — and who did the drawing?
his name was amadee
Of course I’ve been there. It’s on the grounds of Highland Springs Country Club. Got cut from the MO State (we still call it SMS) golf team there.
I remember those Sporting News pictures all too well and what great ones they are. Tremendous work by Amadee.
Just found this…
link
—Ricko
Ricko | July 18, 2010 at 11:43 am |
“OK, if I agree to this, will you let me live?”
That “live” or “leave”?
Yes. :)
The Milwaukee Brewers joined the National League in 1998 after being in the American League from 1970-1997. Their home ballpark, Milwaukee County Stadium, was the home of the Milwaukee Braves in the 1950’s & 1960’s. It was a big deal when the Braves came back to town. On a cold night early in the year, the Brewers wore the home uniforms of the Milwaukee Braves, and the Atlanta Braves wore the road uniforms of the Boston Braves. Sorry, I dont have any photos or a date, but it was a cool game to be at.
they may have done it more than once, but here’s a pic of the 2004 braves vs braves game
interestingly, the not only did the mariners throwback to the pilots, so too did the brewers in 1999
is that the first (only) time two teams (completely different franchises) have ‘thrownback’ to the same team, and the same year?
Braves – Brewers Aug 26, 2005. The Brewers wore 1957 Braves jerseys again.
June 2 1998 the Braves and Brewers played against each other, both wearing 1958 Milwaukee Braves uniforms. Road for the Braves, and home for the Brewers.
One other time I found in my spreadsheet was May 22, 2002 the Breweres hosted the Dodgers. Both teams were to throwback to 1955. The Dodgers ended up not wearing theirs, but the Brewers had 1955 Braves throwbacks.
August 2, 2007 the Nationals wore link
The Nationals have twice worn Senators jerseys this year. June 12th against the Indians they played
as the 1924 Senators, and June 26th agains the Orioles they playes as the 1968 Senators.
Last year the Mets played as the 1905 New York Giants for 3 games against the Giants Aug 14-16.
These and the Mariners playing as the Pilots on July 9, 2006 are the only ones I can find.
Okay, so when will the Mets being wearing Giants throwbacks? Or Dodgers?
Same thing, right?
—Ricko
Sorry, I just think it’s BS if the other franchise still exists.
And we wonder why no one seems to know MLB history. The sport itself screws around with it.
If you’re the Royals, throw back to the Blues or something, but not the A’s.
Phillies gonna wear A’s gear one of these days? Probably, the way thing are going. Another hat to sell in Philly.
—Ricko
so…only the twins (or rangers, for a 10 year window) should be allowed to wear senators/nationals throwbacks?
i agree that it’s more than a bit odd, and i think the only time it should be done is when the departed franchise comes to the city from which they left and wears the throwbacks of the city they left…make sense?
in other words, when the twins come to warshington, they should wear the nats/sens throwbacks in a game against the modern nats — but let the modern team have some fun by throwing back to another era (even if not of the same lineage)
or…have the departed franchise throw back to their original city, and let the home team throwback to a vintage year of their own —
and example of that would be if the o’s come to st. louis — have the o’s dress in browns vintage gear and let the cards throwback to the 40’s or 50s (or even 1944, if you get my drift)
or something like that
randomly throwing back to a team who once played in your city but who has no lineage to your team might be “fun” for the fans, but it makes little sense (i.e. mariners throwing back to the pilots) — sure, the pilots played in seattle, but the mariners have no connection (other than sharing the city) with the pilots
maybe if the brewers come to town, the brewers could play as the pilots in seattle vs. the mariners in some other vintage mariner throwback
or something
“so…only the twins (or rangers, for a 10 year window) should be allowed to wear senators/nationals throwbacks”
Well, yeah, the Nats are a different company/franchise from either of those teams, and those businesses are still functioning. Nats don’t even play in the same league. There’s no NL history in D.C. (not to speak of, anyway).
Now, if some reason the Denver Nuggets want to wear Denver Rockets’ gear, or the Utah Jazz Utah Stars’, fine. Those orangizations don’t exist anymore.
But the fact is, and it IS fact, the Griffith-owned Senators and the Robert Short-owned Senators both are still around, with their histories intact and rightfully theirs and theirs alone to own and remember, in other cities.
—Ricko
Two things:
1. The Twins and Rangers may have historical title to the Senators, but neither the Twins’ nor Rangers’ fans feel any connection to those teams. Senators fans are from Washington. The heart of Kansas City Athletics fandom is still in KC; they didn’t move to Oakland with the franchise, nor do they claim the Philadelphia A’s.
2. Having said that, when the Cardinals wanted to celebrate the 1944 Series, the Orioles were the obvious team to do it against, especially since the Cards can’t play themselves. I don’t imagine Baltimore fans felt any particular warmth for commemorating the height of Browns history, though.
It shouldn’t be a subjective thing. Just because time has passed doesn’t make it a gray area.
Should the Thrashers wear Flames throwbacks? Some will say yes, I’d say no. Should the Wild wear North Stars unis? Again, no. How ’bout the Avalanche as Rockies? Nope. Would it be okay if the Ravens, in thirty years maybe, decide to wear 1958 Colts unis? Once more, no.
It isn’t about who has affection for whom, or what city remembers what, it’s about which franchise is which. Time doesn’t erase the fact that the Wild have NO connection to the North Stars other than playing in the same market at different times. It’s as simple as this: That other organization still exists, and you aren’t it.
Now, Phil’s point about such teams doing something whem they face each other is valid. It indicates the teams understand the situation, and will jointly share the memories. But for the Nats to wear Senators gear just so they can have a thowback game like everyone else (when they really don’t deserve it, other than to wear Expos gear) is a little like a Participation Trophy.
“Aw, the poor Nats have nothing to throw back to. Let’s let them BORROW someone’s history.”
There isn’t a Negro League team or something they could honor?
—Ricko
Last year the Mets played as the 1905 New York Giants for 3 games against the Giants Aug 14-16.
not sure where you got that information, but there’s no way the mets were throwing back to the 1905 giants
was the mets uniform some kind of “vintage inspired” getup? probably — but it was closer to the highlanders than anything the giants ever wore
i think it was purely coincidental that they were playing the giants when they chose to break those out, but no way were they throwing back to the giants
It happened.
link
The team donned throwback uniforms inspired by the turn-of-the-century jerseys of their opponents’ Gotham-based ancestors.
Official Press Release
link
going from will honor their National League heritage by wearing throwback uniforms inspired by the turn of the century New York Giants uniforms to stating they wore the 1905 giants uniforms is quite a leap
and if you look back at the turn of the century NYG unis, what the mets wore wasn’t even CLOSE to any of them
the game took place when UW was on hiatus last summer, and if it weren’t, you can be sure many of us would have been screaming at the terrible job the mets did in even claiming “inspiration” for the unis — but you stated they wore the 1905 unis, which is plainly incorrect
seriously (im not pissed at you, so don’t take it that way), the mets did a laughable job with those, although the cream probably served as a basis for this year’s pins…but for them to say “inspired by” is even a stretch
maybe in ’04 or ’07, when at least it appears as though they wore blue caps and socks, but no way 1905
and the font they used for the block “NY” was never worn by a giants team
again…not upset at you, but the mets…but please don’t say they “played as the 1905 New York Giants” because that’s patently incorrect
I used to love those type of illustrations. Thanks Ricko for sharing today.
Shield your eyes! Celtic (green/white hoops) playing Seattle Sounders FC (snot green) even as I speak.
Phil, not saying they pulled it off. I got the 1905 from the ESPN article. I have a spreadsheet tracking “throwback/tribute” games and that was what I had listed in there. I try to nail it down to what was intended to be represented. The ESPN article was the only one I could find in my research that specified a date.
no worries — again, im not saying you were the one who targeted 1905…this is what pisses so many of us on UW off…the slipshod research used by professional sports leagues (and those who cover them)
if espn said it, they’re wrong…but the mets didn’t say it in their official release (and for them to even claim ‘vintage inspiration’ is a stretch, but not, technically incorrect)
thanks for digging up those articles, tho, as i didn’t see either one at the time (although i did watch each of the three games on tv — including cain plunking wright)…and i seem to recall the announcers claiming some kind of tie in to the giants — (with me stewing about it the whole time)…guess they were just reading the press release
Would the mixed up Reuschel brothers card be an “error” card? Has there ever been much publicity about that mixup?
Meanwhile, does anyone know if The Sporting News has created an online archive? Would love to browse that.
My hat’s off to you Ricko on todays story on Amadee Wohlschlaeger. Great stuff.
Quoting Phil:
“randomly throwing back to a team who once played in your city but who has no lineage to your team might be “fun” for the fans, but it makes little sense (i.e. mariners throwing back to the pilots) – sure, the pilots played in seattle, but the mariners have no connection (other than sharing the city) with the pilots”
Devils advocate – but isn’t that part of the point of the throwback games, fun for the fans? If its fun for Seattle to recreate (for one night) a little-known chapter of MLB history, or Milwaukee to throw back to a fantastic team that brought the city their first championship, isn’t that more important than lineage?
Let’s not be Trekkies about this
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Trekkies have reality problems.
I’m saying this is entirely about reality.
The Thrashers aren’t the Flames.
The Nationals aren’t the Senators, either of them.
And so on.
The Twins wore turn of the century (20th) “WASHINGTON” unis at the Metrodome, and they went over just fine.
Now, maybe people in Minnesota just know more about their franchise than fans in other markets. But, that’s okay, we wouldn’t want someone who claims to be a “fan” to actually KNOW something HIS/HER team, now would we.
—Ricko
That was a “return-of-serve Devil’s Adocate”, btw. ;)
—Ricko
Not arguing with the reality. Just suggesting “would it be fun for the fans” is a pretty good question.
If for no other reason than we’d never have gotten to see these beauties
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Except the Brewers didn’t bring a World Series to Milwaukee, the Braves did.
Which is why Phil’s point that it seems okay when the teams are playing against one another is valid.
In such a situation it’s shared history for everyone, not one team getting mileage from the successes of a predecessor.
Wouldn’t you think it inappropriate for one company to seem to take credit for something another company did? To make money on it and call it okay because, “Well, it was a tribute, and the people who paid their money sure did have fun.”
—Ricko
Hey, I said no prob with organizations that no longer exist.
Giants going for a four game sweep of the Mets. Looking for a place to hide from PL.
PS-
The line to wait for the Lincecum bobble last night was beyond belief.
I got in line at Pier 48. Look how far it is to AT&T.
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yeah…um
so sorry to disappoint ya there brinke
although k**d did his best to hand it to you and blew another beauty by johan in the process
Ump blew the call @ the plate. Horrendous.
Yeah, but as long as it didn’t cost some pitcher a perfect game, no big deal.
Right?
—Ricko
Justin Turner started at second base for the Mets today, and he’s wearing Frankie Rodriguez’ batting helmet. He leaned forward after hitting a double, and there was a K-ROD label on the edge of the brim.
I had the book <a href="link“>”Take Me Out to the Ballpark” as a kid. It included illustrations of all the MLB parks drawn by Sporting News cartoonists Gene Mack or Amadee. I lost the book over the years and recently bought a used copy for a couple bucks from Amazon.
<a href="link“>Look at what was on the inside cover! Signed by the man himself!
That rocks!
(I wish there was a preview feature!)
Trying the links again….
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So, when does RPM’s stirrup contest continue?
well…it was supposed to be last weekend
then this weekend
maybe next weekend
Didn’t the Heat wear the throwback of the Miami ABA team?
I seem to remember the Rangers wearing a Senators throwback once, but it was a pre-sixties uniform that’s from the franchise that is now the Twins, which doesn’t make much sense. Sorry I don’t have photographic evidence of either.
Speaking of photos, does anyone have a picture of the Orioles wearing the Browns throwback against the Cards in 2003?
Re: Heat as Floridians. Yes, absolutely.
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heat as floridians; another
good write up on the floridians from remember the aba
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rangers throwing back against the a’s (couple years ago) — but that was correct to the franchise — believe it was a 1968 because the a’s wore this
they may have thrown back to the pre-61 senators another time however (will have to check henderson)
Rangers threw back to the mid-60s Senators with the pins, the red piping on the navy hats and the many-striped stirrups against the Twins a while back.
But unis said “Rangers,” not “Senators” as I recall.
Twins wore their original roads.
Have the game on VHS somewhere, but have no way of making framegrabs.
But I believe this is from that game…
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—Ricko
I’m confused. Should the Pistons or the Heat throw back to this look?
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Well, probably neither.
But for sure only if they’re in better shape.
The Timbewolves definitely should throwback to the Minnesota Pipers. That team had Connie Hawkins, who (with the exception of Kevin Garnett) is better than any player they’ve ever had.
—Ricko
They should NOT, however, wear Laker gear.
Not even Mikan era stuff. Don’t care HOW much fun it would be for the fans.
The fabled team that won those titles is in L.A. now.
—Ricko
When A-Rod was on the Rangers, I’m pretty sure they wore the Senators 1955-58 road uniforms with the block ‘W” cap and “Washington” in block letters on the grey jersey. I remember it because I was thinking it didn’t make sense since it was a different franchise.
The Tri-City Valley Cats of the NY-Penn League wore LA (Brooklyn) Dodger Jerseys to honor Jackie Robinson in tonights game agains the Brooklyn Cyclones… Pics should be up on link or link later tonight or tomorrow morning.
Seeing the Reuschel brothers in those road powder blues reminded me of the first time I saw a game from the lower deck of Candlestick Park. The Giants were playing the Cubs on a summer weekday in 1976 and the Cubbies had on the powder blues with white pinstripes. I thought they looked pretty cool (I think I’m in the minority here). The Giants were still using shiny orange lettering and numerals on their jerseys, and I wouldn’t mind seeing that again. As a kid, seeing the Giants play on astro-turf at the Stick was pretty cool. But I’ll never forget that day in ’76 when I saw ballplayers up close for the first time. Until then, we had been banished to the upper deck at the Stick and at Oakland because the only way I got to games in my early days was on Cub Scout field trips. — Thousand
The Amadee stuff was priceless. I have the book by TSN. Not signed…damn! They also sold 16X20 (I think,could be smaller) drawings of baseball stadiums, patterned after Gene Mack works. I have several. wish they were available today.
It’s kind of cool seeing Rick and Paul Reuschel mentioned in the post today. They are both relatives of mine and I see both them at family reunions every couple of years.