By Phil Hecken
This is what you get when I don’t have a main article prepared — unfinished business. But I do have a lot of little things, and of course, Day 4 of the Design-A-Baseball-Jersey Contest, to get to. So, lets start off with that.
MLB Jersey Contest, Day 4
Moving along, today we look at the fourth batch of entries in the “Design-A-Baseball-Jersey Contest” (if you happened to miss Monday’s article, refer back there for the full writeup). Thanks again to Alain Nana-Sinkham and Classic Old School for providing the winner with a custom made jersey based on his design. Another great batch today, so let’s get right to it:
Adrian Newman: Toronto Blue Jays. As a long time Blue Jays fan, it pains me to see their current uniforms in such disarray. I figured I’d incorporate the classic design with some of the modern stuff. But the basic equation is More Blue + Less Black = Better Look!
TJ Nicolaides: Philadelphia Phillies. A crisp white and red take on the Detroit Tiger’s home jerseys for the hometown Fightin’s. I scaled back the primary red and blue colors to clay red and denim, as seen in the Whiz Kids era.
Nat O.: Boston Red Sox. Baseball is a sport of refinement and classy gents. The intent of the jersey is to be playful and steer clear of the staid historicism that has become the norm for baseball. I played with a few plaids, and i’m not positive I have it exactly right, but it’s close to the look I was going for.
Joseph Obermaier: New York Mets. For our beloved Mets, a new road jersey. It combines the vest style made famous by the Pirates and Reds of the 50’s & 60’s and the pinstriped road grays of the Twins of the 90’s & 00’s. It may be the only combination they haven’t tried yet.
Mark Peterson: San Diego Padres. The Padres back to their unique roots of brown & Athletic Gold. Home jersey, 1″ sleeve trim with 3 stripes, ¾” collar, re-colored & modified Swinging Friar alternate logo sleeve patch. Vertically arched NOB with standard block numbers. Modified primary logo.
Jim Polacek: Kansas City Royals. For my Royals redesign I went with a two button pullover with royal-blue pinstripes. The lettering is royal-gold outlined in royal-blue. I wish I could have changed to color of the crown to royal-gold as well.
Alex Puncochar: Minnesota Twins. My design is probably not the best you will see, but the idea of it may please some of you Twins fans. My design keeps the pinstripes, but takes away the sleeves and adds the TC logo to the chest. Honestly, I’d love to see this design as a replacement for the throwback next year, as the Twins won’t have any special events to throw-back to.
Mark Rabinowitz: Detroit Tigers. Tigers road jersey with “Detroit” in Old English. Numbers on right sleeve pay tribute to 1960s Tigers teams (who also had these on their road unis). Excessive white outlining is gone. Logo on left sleeve based on 2005 All Star Game logo.
“RC”: Detroit Tigers. “Vintage” Detroit Tigers road jersey (no messing with classic home uniform) with stylistic elements from Detroit Stars negro league uniform (pinstripe button down, script “Detroit” with star over letter “i,” “URW wood” type font for player name and number, blue collar) with added 1927 tiger chest patch (which I love).
Anthony Rodriguez: Tampa Bay Rays. minor tweaks for the home version of the already minimalist Rays duds, this time based on the fauxback trend of recent years. I included the entire suite of threads (home, away, and alternate)
Scott Rogers: Washington Nationals. This Washington Nationals design adapts the iconic 1930s Homestead Grays jersey. Light cream jersey with navy placket/shoulder/sleeve piping. “Nats” lettering based on the ’35 Grays with light outlines for readability. Numbers based on the 1976-81 White Sox, an anachronism the Nats used to good effect on a 2007 Grays fauxback.
Daniel Schneeman: Houston Astros. I redesigned the Astros jersey because I dig their 1960’s shooting star design. The orange color was a little aggressive so I worked their modern red into it and paired that with a deep blue. I added some simple sleeve patches and a block numeral on a blue pinstriped uni.
Skott Schoonover: Chicago Cubs. The Cubbies have great home unis, but the roadies are terrible. So I combined all the best aspects of past uniforms. The lettering from the 1940 vest jersey, the sleeve patch from the Ernie Banks days, and the beautiful pinstripes, all in a pull-over.
Michael Schwartz: Colorado Rockies. Attached is my jersey — and complete — uni design for the Colorado Rockies. Basically I was looking to create a more traditional look and to emphasize their colors other than black for fans and tv viewers. Love to hear what you think, good or bad.
George Scordo: Colorado Rockies. The Rockies need to settle on a uniform combo and stick with it for the foreseeable future. I took a font that has significance to Colorado and went with a fairly simple uni design. The font is the same type as the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW) used to use. I kept the current Rockies color scheme as well as the basis of the Rockies’ logo (the purple mountains) but edited the logo to look more classic.
Christopher Slocombe: Toronto Blue Jays. Back to the Jay’s “glory days.” New to the uni are the Canadian flag and the logo on the sleeves. Sleeve strips are now just one color, same with pants stripe. The alt hat is now the main hat. Finally on the front, the player’s number replaces the logo.
Thomas Stafford: Seattle Mariners. I went with a retro look complete with a cut-off jersey, stirrups and the inclusion of patches on the sleeves. Have a good one.
Nathan Stewart: Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore Orioles home jersey inspired by the off-white Giants’ homer. The orange is darker than today’s and closer to what was used. Sleeve patches are the “happy bird” of the 60’s and an original design commemorating the War of 1812 Battle of Baltimore (9/13/1814) shaped like Ft. McHenry.
Rich Stromwall: Minnesota Twins. I’m a Twinkies follower who’s always felt that their classic TC mark should be more prominently featured. Mix in some powder blue and…voila! A new road getup.
Sam Stuber: Pittsburgh Pirates. I decided to tweak the Bucco’s uni just because they’re my fav. I got rid of the sleeves and added stripes and their older logo to the undershirt. Also, I thickened the stripes and simplified the number font. Hope you like! :)
Great job, again, by all the submitters — make sure you give them props in the comments below. Tomorrow we’ll have the final set of entries; I hope next week to run Alain’s final nine, and upon which you guys will be voting. I know it’s going to be a very difficult task to narrow it down, so keep the comments coming.
From The Ricko Files…
A few days ago, Rick Pearson sent me a couple great nuggets from his files, and thought it might be fun to share. I concur.
First up — the Pitcher Montage. Rick thinks this comes from the 1971 season, and even he can’t identify all of the pitchers. Your mission, should you choose to accept — can we, as a group, ID them all? A few of them (Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, for example) should be easy to spot. Some of the others I (and Rick) have a pretty good idea. But neither of us can get them all. Can you help?
Next up is this 1985 Wilson Uniform Catalog. Says Rick, “Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of 1985, peruse this collection of color, especially lots of powder blue, on the front-back covers of a catalog I dug out of The Ricko Files. Contract wasn’t close to MLB-wide; notice in cutline that Wilson provided unis for 17 teams. Among others, the Indians, White Sox, A’s, Dodgers, Orioles and Mets are missing. And those are models, so don’t anyone get knotted up trying to ID the players.” Pretty amazing how completely different (although obviously some haven’t changed much) unis look and were worn only 25 years ago. There are also at least two mistakes — in other words, two teams are shown wearing uniforms or accessories that their respective big league counterparts did NOT wear in 1985. There may be more. Can you spot them?
And, from the same catalog, look what you could order from stock (Ricko says, “Look! You could even make up an all-navy Indian! If, y’know, you wanted to”).
Great stuff Rick. Thanks for sharing.
Colorization Tutorial Update
Based upon the number of positive comments by those who would like me to do a “colorization tutorial,” I will definitely prepare one (please refer back to yesterday’s post (scroll down) for more information on the concept.
As I previously stated, there are no special skills required — but you will need a LOT of time and patience — today’s “hed” photo appears in that CNN/SI “Best Player By Uniform Number” article (more on that in the ticker). And just trying to get the Giants players took me about an hour so far — and I still screwed up the pants stripes. What I thought I’d do is to start the tutorial with an “easy” picture and then show you the technique for a couple of more intricate ones.
I’ll try to get that prepared next week, but if not, I’ll have it when I return to weekends — if anyone has some B&W photos (baseball or football, please, although hockey is OK) — that the think would make for a good colorization subject, post the URL/linkies below.
The key to a good colorization is to have a large enough photograph (and obviously, quality is important too) to work with — anything that is 1000×1000 pixels or greater resolution is perfect.
For those who think they’d like to give it a shot, I’ll be doing the tutorial using a program called GIMP — (you can download it here for free). It’s similar to Photoshop, and in many ways, I feel superior. For anyone who has used Photoshop, the interface and tools are similar — even if you have no clue how to use it, I recommend downloading it and at least familiarizing yourselves with the icons. There are also a ton of Gimp tutorials (which is how I learned), so you may wish to check some of those out in advance.
Sounds like a plan, yes?
Uni Watch News Ticker: Starting the show today is Tim Moore who notes what’s in the Lakers section of the NBA Online Store. None of the other selections have changed, but the customizable jersey maker has purple numbers on the home gold, and also their away purple with gold numbers instead white. It could be a mistake, but it sure is pretty. It looks to be a modern twist on the 78/79-98/99 jersey set. … The Oregon shoulder pad wings jersey is making its way as a new template for Nike to mass produce. That’s Yancy Yeater‘s alma mater West Liberty University, NCAA Division II in West Virginia. … Christopher Holder has an interesting twist to the “mascot pairs” — The Chattanooga Lookouts have a different twist, with both full-size and “half-size” mascot… Looie and Blooie, respectively. Blooie is billed as “half-sized, but not half bad” and leads what the Lookouts claim as the “only” 3.5 inning stretch in baseball. And as to what Looie and Blooie are supposed to actually be… I have no clue. … Another male/female mascot pairing comes from Chris Ashworth, who reminds us the mascot of the Phillies’ minor league affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, Ferrous has a female counterpart, FeFe (named for the periodic symbol). Also, every Mother’s Day, the Philadelphia Phanatic bring out his mother for the annual “fall off the back of the quad” routine. … Matt Elston notes that CNNSi.com is listing what it considers to be the best NFL players by jersey number. … Brett Paci says “Carbon. Ducks. Finally.” Here’s the tweet — Check it out. … And a bit more on dual mascots, from Alex Carlson, who asks, “Were Phil and Phyllis (PHILadelphia) permanent mascots before the Phanatic, one time only deals, or were they the city’s mascots during the bicentennial that made an appearance at opening day, I don’t really know. Either way, the Phillies had male / female mascots in the 70’s. Also, the local minor league team near me from 1994-2005, the New Jersey Cardinals (NYPenn League) had only a female mascot: Claudia Cardinale.” … Several items of note from Dan Cichalski: “1.) Friday night I went to the Lakewood BlueClaws game at which they retired Ryan Howard’s number (Blog) or just pics; Of note: he follows team style and shows his socks, whereas with the Phils, he’s a PJ’er. Also, he was given a framed current jersey, though when he was there in ’02, he wore the original pinstripes. 2.) Back on 8/6, I was at the Batavia Muckdogs-Brooklyn Cyclones game. Batavia used to be a Philly affiliate, but a few years ago, after some franchise relocation in the NY-Penn League and affiliation shuffling, they became the Cardinals’ affiliate. But it looks like they’re still using the same uniforms, because those pants sure look like they have a Philly stripe on them. And, 3.) Related to a Monday ticker item on the D-backs in black and Ubaldo and the Rockies in gray, there was speculation in the ’07 NLCS that Arizona chose black to force the Rockies out of their favored black vests.” … While junk-shopping in Cleveland, Uni Watch Prexy Paul Lukas found a Ziggy glass that shows him wearing an old-style baserunner’s helmet. … Also from Paul, a pretty good exhibit on Steeler fans’ obsessions is showing at CMU’s Miller Gallery. … Mitch Teich, who actually interviewed Paul a few years back for the Milwaukee Public Radio show “Lake Effect,” wanted to pass along this video link, which seemed perfectly suited to Uni Watch – it’s a North Korean history of soccer/football cleats. … For all you hockey fans out there, Jonathan Guay was doing a lot of research Wednesday and “didn’t want to press back and lose the whole thing, so I attached a Word format document.” (which I’ve uploaded to Google Docs). Enjoy. … David Seiler asks, “is he wearing white chuck taylor’s?”. … One can never get enough of the Hanshin Tigers throwback striped socks — looks like the two “western” players are going pajama bottomed — WTF??? (with thanks to Bobby Dozier. … It’s gotta be the shoes, right? Brinke Guthrie brings us the footwear Dustin Pedroia would have worn in the ASG, had he not been wearing a walking boot. … Still more M/F mascots: Jamie Kilgore lives in Greeneville, Tennessee and they have the Rookie league affiliate of the Houston Astros. The home uniforms are pretty similar to their major league club. But they also have a male and female mascot; Tennessee Tex and Tennessee Tess. … And finally, Danny Kroll found a picture of that PNC vendor who some think looks like Paul (see yesterday’s ticker if you don’t understand the reference). Thanks, Danny.
OK, everyone, sorry for the lack of a main article today. Just been REALLY busy this week so I apologize for that. I’ll have a brand new post tomorrow (but please try to get ticker submissions to me early, as I’ll be away from the computer for a good portion of the afternoon and evening today). Thanks!
I don’t in general like the heavy stripe down the middle and around the collar, I personally think it looks like someone is spooning a mouthful of head soup. — Robert Marshall
David Seiler,
Yes, those are white Chuck Taylor’s worn by Texas running back Roosevelt Leaks circa mid 1970’s. A few players of the SWC (South West Conference) teams wore them including Leaks at Texas and and Gary johnson of Baylor.
Didn’t wear them all the time, though, just on certain brands of artificial turf. 3M’s Tartan Turf, for one, seemed like nothing more than carpet laid over a garage floor. Played in a media touch football game on the Gophers’ first turf back in the early 70’s and my shins hurt for a week afterward. Bad surface.
I digress. Players experimented with different shoes on this new artifical turf stuff back then. Many found basketball shoes worked best for them.
—Ricko
I played soccer as a kid in the 70s and football in the 80s on (what I believe was) Tartan Turf at Baldwin Wallace College and can definitely feel Ricko’s pain. “Carpet laid over a garage floor” is exactly what it felt like.
the post about West Liberty University wearing a template of Oregon’s shoulder pad wings jersey is not a fair assessment, Im pretty sure that those look like the new combat uniforms that nike is releasing for a select few division one colleges such as florida, ohio state, tcu, etc.
This is correct. The shoulder detailing is the Pro Combat Flywire thread; not the Oregon wing design. I don’t know that the Oregon designs usually make it to templateland like Miami’s and Missouri’s have in the past. Oregon’s designs seem to be treated more as experimental ones.
I think Dan is right: those Batavia uniform pants are hand-me-downs from the Phillies, even though the team is now affiliated with the Cardinals. When I saw the Muckdogs play earlier this year, I kept thinking they were still Philadelphia’s affiliate because of those pants.
More on the Diamondbacks’ efforts to jinx the Rockies in the ’07 NLCS:
link
I love the sad, frowning face on the front of the Cubs concept! It’s perfect!
From the Ricko Files…
“There are also at least two mistakes – in other words, two teams are shown wearing uniforms or accessories that their respective big league counterparts did NOT wear in 1985. There may be more. Can you spot them?”
I see three: The Mariners Road, the Pirates all Yellow, and the entire uni set of the Padres.
Indeed, those are mistakes of chronology, so to speak, and they are absolutely right.
But there’s one goof in the uni itself.
Even though I’d looked at that catalog numerous times, I didn’t notice the mistake until after I’d emailed the scan to Phil.
—Ricko
Dark buttons on the road unis?
Red Sox wearing navy socks.
There ya go.
I really like that Phillies concept.
I could see that working well.
I too could see that working well. For the Nationals.
That’s pretty much exactly what the Nats need to wear at home. One of the oldest traditions in big-league uniforms is Washington wearing a W on the left chest. I love the concepts I’ve seen, especially here yesterday, for giving the Nats a curly-W-matching “Nationals” script, but the Nats really need to switch to the W-on-chest look at home.
I didn’t mean any criticism of Nicolaides’ Phils concept. It’s Ginsu-sharp, and I love how it harkens back to the look-and-feel of the burgundy-era Phils. I just think this terrific concept would work even better for the rival Nats.
Agreed with everything you said.
Of the pitchers in the SI advertisement. Top row, second from left, Orlando Pena as a Pirate.
Yup. That was the first photo SI ever ran of the Pirates’ new-fangled beltless double knit unis.
—Ricko
I could be wrong, but it looks like “Sudden” Sam McDowell pitching for the Tribe.
Hi, I’m the guy who submitted the Detroit Tigers road jersey with “Detroit” in old English. I have taken the liberty of writing a more detailed account of why I designed the jersey the way I did here:
link
Props to Phil for putting that “secondary logo” (the one I made from that 2005 All-Star Game logo) next to “MLB Jersey Contest, Day 4”. Awesome! Thanks!
My favorite of the day. Good work!
Philadelphia Phil and Phyllis were the Phillies mascots from the opening of Veterans Stadium in 1971 to 1978 or so, when the Phanatic took over. I remember having a Phillies decal with them as the logo.
link
Phil and Phillis (corrected spelling) were the first Home Run Spectacular at the Vet, and lasted through the 1979 season. You could still see them at the park in those days. Today, the original pieces are in retirement at Storybook Land in Egg Harbor, New Jersey.
Additionally, for the 2003 season, the last one at The Vet, they brought them out of mothballs (and with newest, higher tech costumes) and were featured in a bobblehead that were given to fans at the next-to-last game played and for partial season ticketholders who paid in advance.
Here’s a link piece on them, along with the logo used from 1976 until 1980, designed by Dick Perez.
Here’s a great candidate for the colorization tute, Phil: Otto Graham in the rarely seen orange jerseys and socks.
link
The opponent looks like it might be the Lions, for what it’s worth, but that’s just a guess.
hey andy — interesting you picked that one, because a primitive early attempt was very similar in that it was otto carrying, versus i believe, da bears — forgetting the quality (it’s not very good), do i have those colors correct for otto?
That looks to be spot on to me. Of course, I can’t testify to the actual hues and values, but orange is where orange goes and brown is where brown goes for sure. That’s only the second or third photo I’ve ever seen of the Browns’ orange uniform. Would love to see it as a throwback.
Is it just me or does Otto Graham not get the love he deserves? From the PFHOF website: “While Graham was guiding the Browns, Cleveland played in 10 straight title games and had four AAFC and three NFL championships.” 9-time all-pro 1st team selection (his only off-year, he was 2nd team), 3-time NFL MVP, and a member of the NFL 75th Anniversary team. Geez, the man even played pro basketball for the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League in 1945-46 and they just happened to win the title that season. Crazy stuff. It’s just sad you don’t hear him mentioned nearly as often as lesser QBs like Namath.
True, Seems like the only Brown who gets his deserved praise is Jim Brown. The Browns’ other dozen-plus hall of famers are very under-appreciated.
Thats b/c Brown is the only one that is constantly talking to the media about how people don’t respect him.
Otto Graham is loved in Cleveland. Every where else, not as much.
Sadly, Otto Graham isn’t mentioned as much in Cleveland as he should be. It’s probably because Otto was never a “me first” kind of guy. It’s probably a generational thing. The old-timers would always sing Otto’s praises.
When I was in my 20s, Bernie Kosar was (and still is) the man here in Clevo and, though he was a pretty good QB who had the misfortune of having a mediocre O-line around him, he didn’t accomplish anywhere near what Graham did in his career. I’ve always been a big Kosar fan, but I’d have loved to have seen Otto Graham in his heyday.
I’m loving the fact that most of the Blue Jays’ submissions are taking us back in some way to the original style or at least to the style of the early 90s. In my opinion, along with the Astros, the Jays have had the worst uniform evolution in baseball.
Kind of makes me wonder who’s had the worst evolution in sports…
For inclusion on said list of those to be considered, I nominate…
Atlanta Falcons
Arizona Cardinals
Cincinnati Bengals
—Ricko
new york mets
BUFFALO BILLS!
All excellent submissions. I would add Eagle,s Seahawks and Patriots.
I’m kinda on the fence re: the Eagles. I like the white over white they’ve been sporting this pre-season so far, but you’re right in that they should’ve kept the old green (which always makes me think of this guy).
It’s a landslide on the worst uniform evolution in sports
Oregon
they are an embarrassment to college football
from this
link
to this
link
Really? And this is an institution of higher education?
more like a mental institution…
My apologies to the mentally ill for associating them with this.
Calgary Stampeders
Bullets/Wizards, Timberwolves, Royals/Kings.
Agreed on Oregon, though.
Maybe it should be uniform “devolution”.
All great suggestions above. I’ll add:
Jacksonville Jaguars
Minnesota Vikings
Philadelphia Eagles
Seconded on Jags and Eagles.
How ’bout the Rams? I miss both the navy and white and the navy and athletic gold.
Wow… Dan started on baseball, but football has really taken over. For baseball, I’d have to go with the Royals. i loved their uniforms in the 70s and 80s, but once they had their fling with BFBS and then the blue on powder, I’m not smellin’ what they’re cookin’.
Bouncing over to basketball, I’d have to nominate the Washington Wizards. First the crappy name change then this (the uni, not Arenas).
oops… meant Jags and VIKINGS.
I think as far as the modern era updates go, the Rams is fairly good, especially after they removed the gold side panels from the jerseys.
I much prefer royal blue to navy, because navy is so over done right now, but you can’t do royal with metallic gold and when they wear their gold pants, I think it’s one of the best looks in the NFL.
When they wear the white or blue… not so much.
Today’s winner:
For the sake of seeing Alain bring it to life:
– Nat O’s Red Sox Jersey.
Slocombe’s Jays is 2nd for the sake of getting them back close to where they should be.
And hey…Howsabout a HOORAY for Phil steering this ship so sound while the captain is out shopping, eh?
Bravo all – keep it up.
Frosty
Holy crap! Nat O. FTW!!!!! That Red Sox design is so artful in it’s gaudiness and well, “Plaid-ness” that it should be declared the winner by acclimation. No further submissions, no voting. Just MAKE the jersey and we can all apreciate it in it’s garishness. Congrats to Nat O. for having a real vision and taking a real risk by submitting that design (It IS a risk, I think because some of us here in the UNIverse are victims to that “staid historicism”. Bravo, Nat!
Loved it! Great work, Nat.
Outstanding! And oh so clever.
A lot of these so far I’ve liked the concept but thought the execution was lacking, or loved the execution but didn’t think the concept really fit with the purpose of this competition. The standouts for me have been the great ideas that are executed so well that they only have one or two details that I’d want to tweak.
But today we have a concept so good that it’s my daily winner even though I think just about every detail needs serious reworking. Nat O offers what is, so far, and by far, my favorite idea. Plaid? About darn time someone dug back to the Giants of yore and brought back plaid. I’ve wanted to see this for a long time, but I’ve never been sure which team should do it. Though Tampa Bay’s recent BRayzers made a solid case for Sunshine State tartanry. But the Red Sox in plaid, to counter the staid salaryman pinstripes of the Yankees? Perfect! And paired with a contrast-color placket? Perfect! The pattern and scale of the plaid? Also perfect; you’d need a really big pattern to make this work.
Everything else, I’d rethink and alter the heck out of, but those are all details, and when an idea is this good, and gets the fundamentals so right, I can’t hold the details against it. (I certainly can’t hold the pants against the jersey, since this isn’t a uni-concept contest but a jersey-concept contest, but the pants really need to be plaid too.) I’d have to see those details improved before I’d choose Nat O’s Plaid Sawx over Hass’s Brew Crew or Cummings’ Cards or Comrade’s Pale Hose, but for me those four are the class of the competition so far.
In my opinion, today’s standouts are
1. Peterson’s Padres. I never bought into the blue, anyway, but the current look in brown and gold is teriffic
2. Stuber’s Pirates. This is unbelievably clean. I love the 70’s bucco on the sleeve. The current one is so over-the-top cartoony.
3. RC’s Tigers- I don’t like the color change over the piping, but I absolutely LOVE the tiger head illustration on the chest!
I like Nicolade’s Phillies, but I think the logo is a bit too large.
Also, I find it hilarious that all week most of the Blue Jays submissions have the 70’s-80’s font and colors. They should take the hint!
Finally, to this point, I feel that the biggest challenge has been the Rockies. Lots have tackled it, but I feel only Callahan’s take on Monday even got close. They’re so new and modern, fauxbacks seem to not work, but the ultra modern stuff is almost offensive. Honestly, what they currently wear is miles better than the tweaks I’ve seen.
Conversely, EVERY Cubs, Orioles, Twins and Blue Jays seem to best the current jerseys!
– Dave
I agree about RC’s Tigers. Nice re-thinking of their road unis. The “o” could grow on me!
In case some are not aware, those Oregon “Carbon” helmets are not made of real Carbon fibre. Carbon fibre has poor impact resistance due to the individual fibers being quite brittle/super stiff, and non existent elasticity. Pretty much, one and done. That’s why they recommend replacing your carbon fibre made motorcycle helmet after even fairly minor accidents. Maybe, a Carbon/Kevlar type combo could work in some instances, yet I haven’t heard any big announcements from Riddell, or Schutt about them using this composite.
I’m pretty sure these Oregon “Carbon” helmets were the result of an auqafilm process, faux carbon. The below link has some great examples.
link
“Pretty much, one and done.”
Cool… I did not know that! Now what I want to know is when you’re spelling it “fibre,” is that because it’s a sort of trade name since you also use the spelling “fiber” when referencing the actual fibers, or is it a personal preference? (not trying to be snarky, just curious if “carbon fibre” is the actual name of the product)
Actually, good question. In the North American engineering world, you’ll have the Canadian engineers spell it like “fibre”, and the American engineers will spell it as “fiber”. So, I guess I just go back and forth, since they’re really both correct spellings.
Those nutty Canadians what with their “colours” and “fibres” and their “take off, eh?”
“I remember a country where you could spell a word like ‘color’ or ‘flavor’ without usin’ a ‘u’!
“Am I the only one who cares anymore?”
Oh so true. Having worked with carbon fiber for college projects and trying to get it out of molds, it snaps and cracks very easily.
The West Liberty University football jerseys are not of the Oregon Ducks winged design. They are modified Nike Pro Combat uniforms from last season. They are more like this (Pro Combat):
link
These are the ducks uniforms:
link
Top left Red Sox pitcher looks like the Dentist, Jim Lonborg
Okay, then, so the top row is…
Jim Lonborg
Orlando Pena
Juan Marichal
Joel Horlen
Phil Neikro
Second row’s got more stumpers, I think.
—Ricko
Second Row =
Mickey Lolich
Jim Bunning
Claude Osteen
Marty Pattin
Carl Morton
Oddly that looks like a southpaw Seaver in the third row…
Jerry Koosman, I think (didn’t come to me til after I’d emailed the scan).
—Ricko
ricko got it — tis kooz
First row Red Sox pitcher likely is Ray Culp.
Niekro.
(smacks forehead)
The Pirates jersey today is the only one that’s made me stop and admire it so far. Big thumbs up.
On more of a colorization note, I was watching NHL Network last night, and they were showing the ’99 Stanley Cup Finals (the Brett Hull “No Goal” game). It just reminded me of how much I liked the red and black Sabres jerseys. I understand, though, that blue & gold is the heritage there. Has anybody done that jersey in blue & gold instead of red & black? Or would be willing to do it? I’d be very interested to see it.
Here’s my very amateur attempt at changing the colors on the Sabers jersey. I’m sure somebody else can do a much better job.
link
1. Peterson’s Padres – Back to the original colors. Great looking, clean uni.
2. Stafford’s Mariners – Assuming by ‘cut-off jersey’ he means a vest/sleeveless top. If it’s just blue sleeves I’d say no.
Also, I like RC’s road Tigers, but don’t like the tiger head. I know it was a primary feature of RC’s design and intent, but I think it interupts an otherwise great design.
I’m with you, PM, on #1 and #2, but would also add Nicolaides’ Phillies.
I agree too. I think if it was moved to the sleeve it would be perfect.
To be clear, I was referring to the Tigers jersey.
btw, Love the lead photo. Johnny Olszewski (“Johnny O”) wearing high tops and #0 for the Redskins. Later wore 0 with the Lions and Broncos, too.
—Ricko
Love those Homestead Grays-like “NATS” jerseys, and the numbers are perfect!
A-Rod’s Rays are also excellent. The shadows look good on block-color jerseys without pinstripes getting in the way, and the number font looks better than the dull block that they use now. I’d love to see the team wear those.
Being old enough to remember her, I prefer this Claudia Cardinale…
link
—Ricko
Wow!
For those who want to comment on my Tigers road jersey design without leaving a name or e-mail… here’s a link to a survey I put together: link
The Reds have male and female mascots as well.
link
Good to see Rosie O’Donnell found work.
Now that’s just plain funny.
Seconded.
LOVE that Pirates uni. Great work!
QUESTION:
Anyone know where to buy on-field NFL socks from? I seem to remember Paul posting a link to a site a long time ago, but could be mistaken. If anyone knows where to buy these from, please advise. Thanks.
eastbay.com has carried the solid color versions.
Haven’t see any of the striped ones anywhere.
—Ricko
It seems like that’s one area where the NFL could and should merchandise. If they sold striped socks without the foot portion, Ã la Joshua Cribbs, that has the possibility of being a boon for NFL franchises. It could also have the side effect of inducing more teams to move to stripes, and in doing so everybody wins.
Seriously, as money-grubbing as the NFL is, it baffles me socks and pants are not readily available for all teams.
I know I would buy tons of socks.
This is one of those times when England link….
OK, I’ll bite. Starting with the top row, left to right:
Jim Lonborg or Sonny Siebert, Orlando Pena, Juan Marichal, Joe(l) Horlen, Phil Niekro.
Mickey Lolich, Jim Bunning, Claude Osteen, Marty Pattin (??), Carl Morton.
Andy Messersmith or Minnie Rojas, Jerry Koosman, Wayne Simpson, Bob Gibson, Sam McDowell.
Jim Palmer, Moe Drabowsky, Fergie Jenkins, ??, Dave Boswell.
I think the KC Royal in the last row may be Ted Abernathy, and the Minnesota Twin Jim Perry.
The KC Royal = Al Fitzmorris, actually.
The Red Sox pitcher is Ray Culp. The Brewer may very well be Lew Krausse.
The ?? Yankee?? Fritz Peterson
I don’t think dude looks like Paul, but I see that guy all the time on TV. I would love to get down near him at a game and do an informal interview because he’s always wearing a uniform of some type.
Paul/Phil…something you’d be interested in me pursuing?
Phil … no need to apologize for lack of a lead piece. There’s plenty of good content today. There should be more days like today. Less is more, my man.
Gotta agree today. Kinda busy, plus if you’re busy you could use a well-deserved break.
Less is more. And don’t expand the NFL sked to 18 games.
Lots of people have tackled the Rockies, and while I appreciate that a lot of work has gone into them, I have to say that none of them are even remotely as good as what they wear now. Not the black sleeveless, those are horrible, but their basic home and road set are really sharp, I think. Basic black with purple and silver as trim colors make for a beautiful, unique color scheme.
I defense of myself and my Rockies-tweaking brethren, I would say that any tweak shown this week would be better than what they currently wear. Purple may be an elegant color, but there is nothing elegant about those unis. And that font! And the pinstripes!
Doing a cursory search for Reebok football socks, I found a website that sells 7″ solid color stirrups. link
WTF is link?!?! LO-freakin’-L!
i think douggie has one of those
LMAO!
Speaking of more than once Mascot, the Lake County Captains, the Indians single A affiliate, have a youthful mascot named Skippy to go along with his “big brother” Skipper. The best part is that the person inside is actually a little kid. Once someone points this out, you can’t help but notice how he acts just like an eight year old inside a mascot suite. He is by the far the cutest darn mascot on the planet.
Here’s a link link
Love A-Rod’s Tampa Bay alternate with the logo only. Classy, simple, and very very nice. I could see that on the field tomorrow.
LDU Quito (Ecuador) wore “throwbacks”/”feauxbacks” (I’m not sure of their uni-history) last night in the Recopa Sudamericana. That’s the old crest in addition to the laced collar.
link
Here are the uni revisions I favored today:
Joseph Obermaier’s METS: Someone finally came up with a decent Mets revision! I’d really like to see this one, definitely preferably to any of the black-tinged eyesores they’re currently wearing.
Mark Pederson’s PADRES: Nice! I’m not crazy about their current script but a return to the traditional colors improves the look. They should have NEVER dropped the brown/gold; it’s what made them distinctive and instantly recognizable.
Alex Punochar’s TWINS: Decent! I’d wear it.
Mark Rabinowitz’s TIGERS: A good look, but I’m not sure I like the Old English on a slant because that font is never rendered like that in any other format. I’d prefer it straight across.
RC’s TIGERS: Nice, but I couldn’t see them wearing it as a regular uni, still looks like a throwback. I think I’d like the Tiger head patch on the sleeve and center the lettering better.
Scott Roger’s NATIONALS: Again, this looks more like a throwback than a uni they’d wear every day. However, after my post yesterday about abbreviated team names, I can’t accept “NATS” on the uni!
Sam Stuber’s PIRATES: A clean look, I like it.
-Jet
Jet,
Good point about Old English generally not being tilted, slanted, skewed, arched, etc. My design could be considered daring for that reason alone.
Now, arching only works when all the letters in the wordmark are capitalized, but Old English doesn’t work when all the letters are capitalized. So I ruled out arching. Going “straight across,” I just couldn’t do because the vast majority of wordmarks on baseball unis is either arched or slanted, not straight (the Phillies present one of the few exceptions). The slant, I wasn’t sure it would work, but I liked how it came out.
When I clicked on the first contestant, I figured today was going to be a good day. By the time I got to the last one, I knew I was right. Great stuff, guys!
This was the hardest day to pick a favorite. I like both Jays, both Twins, both Rockies (normally I don’t like fonts with growths on them, but that railroad-inspired font is kinda cool), TJ’s Phils, Jopseph’s Mets, Mark’s Tigers, Thomas’ Mariners and Sam’s Pirates.
Nat O., with some refining, your uni’s a possibility. I’ve always said it doesn’t matter what Boston and Chicago wear, as long as they wear red and white socks, respectively. You’ve sure put that to the test! Just make the lettering and numbers easier to read.
Guess when it comes down to it, I’m picking Mark’s Tigers. Hope that’s not the only one from today that makes the finals, though.
You may have seen the Batavia Muckdogs for the last time. The team is looking for around $200K in corporate sponsors in order to be able to operate next year. But given the poor economy here in Western New York (thanks Albany and Sheldon Silver)prospects aren’t good for the future of the ‘Dogs. They’re last in NYP attendance with an average of around 1,000 per game. Even the Rochester Red Wings, who are marketing geniuses and have been running the Batavia team for the last couple of years, couldn’t turn it around. Sad, because Batavia has a nice little ball park that was completely rebuilt during the minor league construction boom of the mid-1990s.
Unless there’s a new market and stadium waiting for the Muckdogs, like there was for the Oneonta Tigers when they moved to Norwich, Conn., I don’t see Batavia losing its team this offseason. But if they do it will be another sad day for minor league baseball, where the unfortunate migration to bigger cities and suburbs continues.
Incidentally, it’s easy to be a marketing genius in Rochester and other big cities where just opening up the gates fills the stadium. No matter how much marketing and promotions are done in a small city like Batavia, the attendance will always be small.
I do understand the Muckdogs continue to have one of the best selling hats in the minors…
My favorite today was the “Nats” jersey based on the Grays design. A nice, clean look with historical significance. I think it would stand out among jerseys today.
Frosty, I finally finished the road version of the Brewers jersey you were asking about. Check it out:
link
Oh, Mike! I’ve been piping about your uni all week, but this really disappointed me when I saw no robin egg blue!
Had to do it…
link
What do you think?
Wow, I actually like that. Wish I had thought of it!
That’s why design teams are so much more productive than solo designers. I could never have come up with your gorgeous jersey idea, but one little tweak and cha-ching!
Taken together, this is absolutely my favoritest uni redesign concept ever. Now what we need is to raise $350 million to buy the Brewers just to make them use Hass’ unis.
Cap logo?
Cap has to be the M-B glove. No question.
We’re on the same page there, Dave.
Damn that’s great…and on the powder blue – even better.
If (SOMEHOW) you dont win this thing…get with me and we’ll get one made for ya.
Cool?
Frosty
link
Well, I’m holding out hope for the contest, but if things don’t work out here I’d love to get your help.
I love the Mets vest design today. Would you go with blue or orange undersleeves? What about a grey hat with an orange brim?
I was thinking blue sleeves, but now I’m going to obsess about that hat idea. Thanks.
hahahahaha. I have always been a fan of the METS orange but have no artistic ability to create one of my own.. glad I could waste some of your day….
Here’s a shot at it:
link
I took an existing grey new era hat and turned the brim orange.
Phil, how about this for a colorization?
link
Or this?
link
dempsey pic is prolly too small — but i’m loving life
is that teh stillers or the brownies? (just looked quicklike)
ok…never mind…i just saw the “TITLE” — it’s the stillers
/this is what happens when im up till 3AM every night…the brain~pan is fried
I want the plaid one bad.
Colorizing idea:
I’ve always wanted to see this in color:
link
Thanks.
Wow that even happened back in those days huh? COLUMJBIA
Actually COLUJMBIA
I’ve been reluctant to comment much on the submissions, admittedly because I made one myself that garnered no response – not even a negative one.
That said, Peterson’s Padres submission is far and away my favorite of the lot. It’s the perfect mix of heritage and modern design elements. It would take very little for the team to adapt it for next season’s homes and to develop a road version.
Related Q: Circa 1970 I played on a Little League team called the Padres. We wore brown t-shirts with our sponsor’s name on the back over our numbers, but we all had replica brown Padres caps like the MLB team’s 69-70 version, solid brown with the “SD” in gold. That cap is long gone but I’d like to have an adult-sized version. What mlb.com offers as a 69-73 Padres replica link Does anyone offer an accurate 69-70 Padres replica cap?
At least no one accused you of rendering a penis on your submission. LOL!
here ya go: link
What no company seems to have is the 1976 mustard Pirates pillbox hat, I’m assuming only being in existence one year has something to do with it. One company I contacted wasn’t even aware that hat even existed, thinking the yellow and black pillbox hats were the only ones worn by the Pirates back then.
I’m on it. Thanks so much!
Mr. Scordo’s Rox treatment is the first Rox variant I’ve liked at all, but I’d offer one suggestion to make it better: drop “Colorado” and make all references simply “Rockies” (and the cap simply “R”). The tail on the C isn’t as elegant.
Heck, when the Nordiques moved, they nearly took the name Rocky Mountain Xtreme (glad they didn’t), so why not just “Rockies”. If Joes, Kooch, Last Chance and Punkin Center can claim the team, why not Kalispell and Tucumcari?
Scott Rogers… really nice idea. I think that would make for a perfect Sunday home uni!
Wow. I disagree with more than I agree with. His #1 would make my #1 on worst helmet design.
This was supposed to go with next post about NCAA helmets.
Here’s an interesting rundown of the top 25 helmets in college football. Not sure I agree with all of them.
link
I think Louisville’s helmet is just silly and the blank ones, (OSU, PSU and ND) while great uniforms, are not great helmets
I really hope that when I open this, Michigan will be #1.
I was just thinking the same thing. Go Blue!
Hey now, PSU isn’t plain…there’s a blue stripe…
That school in Columbus has stripes, too, plus those little pot leaf stickers.
NO WAY Oregon, Louisville (cardinals don’t have teeth!) and ASU should be ranked higher than Auburn and OU. And Michigan should be higher than ND. Miami? Meh.
On the “those that missed the cut” list, SMU, Wyoming and UNC should have made the cut.
Have never understood why Texas has a diagram of the female reproductive system on the sides of their helmets.
I can’t understand why link has the link on the side of theirs, either.
I know, I know… it’s a stretch.
“That school in Columbus?” Jim, I know you’re from N.E. Ohio, so ya couldn’t possibly be a fan of “that school up north”… or could you?
PSU first, but yeah, I like “that school up north.”
Sorry, but OSU and “the U” are at my bottom. Only reason I watched the end of the ’02 title game was to hear Keith Jackson, just in case it was his last game.
S’ok… a good friend of mine here at work is a U of M fan. We just agree to disagree come November… or whenever the hell they’ll be playing in the future (man, that’ll really suck if the Big Ten/Eleven/Twelve fools with that).
No props for the guys with the Radio Shack logos:
link
At least Rutgers, unlike link, doesn’t look like their logo was inspired by a link. :-)
I often wonder why my alma mater, why so many cool logo options:
link
link
link
link
Would go with a simple Block Letter “R”. Its not like the school’s football program has a rich winning tradition! Let’s make a change!!!!!!!!
I’d include La.Tech, Air Force and Nebraska, as well as SMU, Wyoming and UNC. I’d drop Arkansas, USF, Oregon, Louisville, ASU and Iowa.
My previous post attached this link by mistake, but work got in the way and I hit Submit by mistake, so I’ll start over…
In looking over the link to the Connie Mack pictures mentioned in yesterday’s post, I noticed many nuggets.
In particular, this image shows the Phillies, circa 1970, with mismatched helmut logo vs. their hats. In 1970, with the anticipation of opening Veterans Stadium, they changed their uniforms and logo. This image shows that they hadn’t yet changed the logo on their helmut. They were still wearing the 1969 logo.
link
I found the next image to be interesting. Leo Durocher overseeing the Cubs batting practice in street clothes.
link
Geez, the last time I saw Mr. Doo-row-sher, he was out huntin’ golf eggs with Jed and Jethro.
Or playing golf with Herman Munster and Eddie.
Not uniform related (technically, unless you consider a derby a part of a uniform), but this picture seems so quaint by today’s standards.
link
I liked Nat O’s design so much that I mocked it up, and put it on the field.
Check it out here
link
Great effort today, team! IMO, the best overall group so far, without any doubt. I don’t know that I can sufficiently rank my top five, so I’ll just put them out there in order of appearance:
TJ Nicolaides – Phillies; Classic, simple, professional
Joseph Obermaier – Mets; You’ve taken different parts of uniforms from different times in history – all of which that worked the first time around – and put them together in a form that works cohesively. It may not be my favorite overall uniform from the whole week, but it certainly makes sense.
Mark Peterson – Padres; I didn’t know that I missed the mustard and brown until I saw this uniform.
Alex Puncochar – Twins; It must be good, because I swear I’ve already seen it on the field. If the jersey is that recognizable on first viewing, you’ve done well.
Mark Rabinowitz – L-O-V-E the concept … unsure of the execution. This is one I’d like to see on in 3D. The slant doesn’t seem to work in 2D, but it may be better on a curved figure.
As for all the Rockies submissions … I think they have one of the best uniforms in baseball already, they just don’t wear it. Whether it’s pinstriped words or just CR, I like what they already have available.
As for the Blue Jays submissions … I find it interesting that so many reach back to the 1980s for inspiration, when that was a uniform I felt was outdated before it was ever even used. I’m obviously in the minority on this.
In any case – you all have great talent, and I’d love to see more programs like this on this site!!! (I also wish I’d had time to provide a little more effort on this concept I started long ago: link)
Re: best football players for each number.
No Dan Fouts. You’ve got Joiner and Wes Chandler in there, but no Dan Fouts?
I was pretty disgusted when Walter Jones wasn’t #71. I did get appeased by Cortez Kennedy at #96, though.
Lots to like in today’s uniform submissions!
Mark P.’s Padres looks real good. I’m not fond of that script, but that brown/yellow face lift gives that uniform a new life.
Scott R.’s Nationals just rules. Splendid.
TJ N.s Phillies is clean and simple and sharp personified.
Daniel S.’s execution is a little rough, but he’s moved the Astros in the right direction.
Joseph O.’s Mets vest, paired with blue sleeves and no black in sight. Wow.
My personal favorite today: Rich S.’s Twins powder blue road. Oh, man, that’s too good.
Couple of other things: if the Blue Jays organization cared about such things–and apparently they don’t–they would simply revert to the original uniform and no questions would be asked.
The Rockies: I think there’s a lot of ideas being tossed about, to people’s credit…but. The current look sucks, I know. The concepts are…interesting. But if ever there is a team in need of the most most basic, fundamentally simple uniform, it’s them. Just silver and black. New, simple logo. No mountain imagery. No pinstripes or vests. A simple, legible script that says Rockies at home, Colorado on the road grays.
Jerseys worn by former Brewers players and guests at Bud Selig statue dedication earlier this week will be auctioned at link starting at noon Friday CDT. Opening bids are $500 for stars (Aaron, Yount, Molitor, Fingers, Trevor Hoffman) and $200 for all others. All jerseys autographed. All jerseys from when each player was with Brewers. See here: link
I really liked the Padres concept today. I’d say my winner remains the Brewers uni by Mike Hass though.
link
Props from Art Garcia on nba.com ->
“For those looking for more discerning appraisals, check out the detailed uniform reviews at uniwatchblog.com. They’ve really got an eye for this stuff.”
okay, i was up until 6 recording softball stats for crazy league, and i need to fly to a gig here in a bit, so i won’t be around to respond until later, but i wanted to rip this off…
haas~i responded to you last night after my ump shift/before i plugged in stats and named all~stars. just wanted to let you know i LOVED your response.
rogers~ we have some uni quirks in common for sure, wish i had more time. and i owe you a pair of stirrups, liking in theory isn’t liking, i was wrong.
today’s 1.8 from someone whose opinion does not matter…
peterson, your padres, like malinowski’s nationals yesterday, is an A+ weekend tweak, a what they should wear, but not a unique design, love it, but can’t give you the nod. rc’s crosseyed tiger head soup i love, but because i like the tiger i think, although that is a great script too, needs more tweak(the spoon missed the tiger, and got head, oh no! run away, run away), but i like it, and it deserves mention. rogers nats is my favourite baseball jersey all time, the grays, and i think it is a great idea to pay homage to a negro league team, but “nats”? sorry, so close, yet miles away. the clear winner today in my minds eye is rabinowtz’s tigers, i love the sans white, i like the font, and he created a nice tiger for the sleeve patch. it was original and creative, props. speaking of original and creative, nat o’s red sox are both of those, and what an eye sore too, i would love to see the red sox in that. it takes some balls to submit something that(while i have not read the comments yet to know this for sure) i am sure will just be barbecued. that is unless the entire community fears that he might be “special”, and just let’s him run around the room with a bucket on his head, but i doubt that. besides, i think i have the only bucket of this room for my head. nat o, i love it, you are today’s .8 for me, you deserve a seat at the table, you’re the pecan in the praline on this one(read:you’re nuts). last but not least, even though it is uber basic, and rick hates the powder on the twin, stromwell’s twinks design speaks to me, he is in a wait and see .8 spot for me going into tomorrow. a’ight, great job today everybody, i have to fly, i look forward to getting home to read everything i missed around today’s jersey contest.
rpm,
I’m honored to have gotten the “1” in your “1.8” today. Thanks! :)
I just wanted to clarify that the logo I made for the left sleeve is actually derived from a logo the Tigers used to promote the 2005 All-Star Game (linked below):
link
love the honesty, still love the jersey. thought maybe you were one of out illustrator wizards.
I’m totally with you on that Red Sox design. Does plaid work for a venerable link?
That’s a resounding link.
Yes, I realize this contest is strictly about the jersey, but the concept drawing has one link which, sadly, requires me to drop the grade from A to F+.
Now get to work, you shiftless layabout.
I wish… I do not yet have Illustrator on my computer, but I want to (as soon as I find what font the Nationals use on their unis, I’d love to take a stab at doing their jerseys). I actually used a couple of different graphics programs–XnView to help me tilt the logo and the sleeve numbers just right, and (gulp) Windows Paint for just about everything else.
More to the point, the first time I saw that All-Star Game logo, I loved that way more than the logo the Tigers began using in ’94 (link)–fiercer looking, just pops out at the eyes more. I wanted to put that fiercer-looking logo to good use and it’s a shame it’s fading into obscurity.
i am a pretty lazy bum.
if i have to hear from this one particular stats league guy one more time today, i am going to flip. here is a hint, don’t throw third base at the guy who is picking the all~star team, he just might remember that the next year. if it is betwixt the base throwing guy and the non base throwing guy for the last roster spot, this guy will pick the guy who does not throw bases at umpires. see umpires don’t like that sh*t. actually, we hate it, and you won’t make your stupid little stats league all~star game you jerk~off. aaaaah, i feel better already. hey shaggy, care to guess who i am talking about? according to him, the “team” is mad he didn’t make it, outraged he says you all are. it isn’t that he feels bad, although i have gotten a dozen emails, it’s the team that feels slighted. i call BS!
Comrade, just promise me that you’ll make either Knights or D-Day socks available for sale someday so’s I can buy a pair, and call it even. Otherwise, I’ll have to argue the point that appreciating the genius of a thing satisfies your criteria. It’s like opera: I understand how great the music is, and why, but for pleasure you’ll find me listening to Jon Langford, not Giuseppe Verdi. And yes, I am saying that the old Bucs triple-pins are the Rigoletto of baseball unis.
Not that anyone should be taking music or sports-uni criticism from a ukulele player who actually likes the current Padres and Astros sets.
of course you play ukulele my fellow buckethead. i have been meaning to do the nights for quite some time, i will do it soon. so let it be written, so let it be done.
by the way, i don’t hate the astros either(altough i would much rather see orange), and i like the pads sand, but don’t like the blue.
Took me years to get over my hatred for the Padres wearing brown, brought on entirely by playing two years of youth ball on a team named the Padres. Let me tell you, wearing dark-brown polyester jerseys in the summer sun is not fun. Imagine playing baseball wearing a pizzeria oven. But over time, I’ve come to my senses, and much as I like everything about the current Padres set, I do wish brown would be their primary color. Brown, a hint of light blue, and tan. Would look awesome; imagine the home caps with that sharp white cap logo on brown. It’d be like, “Hey, St. Looey, this is what you missed out on when you let your junior-circuit club decamp for Bal’mer. Suckers!”
As for the Astros, here’s why I like their unis even better than the old navy and orange set, which I actually like just fine, especially when it involved a smoking revolver on their chest and a caliber on their cap: The current unis are more directly appropriate to the team name than anything the Astros have ever worn. Blue? You kidding me? If you look out your cockpit window and you see blue, you’re not in space. The same for orange, though I totally buy the argument that orange represents rocket flames, even though that was the color when the team was named after an 1873 revolver and so it’s an obvious retcon. But you know what is colored dark red? Mars. The planet that humans have been trying to get to since the first monkey looked up at night. Every president since Nixon has declared getting to Mars to be the purpose of the manned space program. And you know what is colored sort of yellowy tan, the third Astros color? The moon. And Venus. And Saturn. And the rings of every planet with rings. And comets, when we’ve sent spacecraft close enough to photograph the surfaces of those dirty snowballs. Black, rusty red, and yellowish tan: these are the ideal colors for a team named after the space program.
As for the jersey script, will, I love that too. A lot of people say they wish the Astros had more futuristic lettering, and I completely understand. But the truth is, there’s nothing futuristic about the space program anymore. The “space age” is the past. It ended sometime around the day Skylab turned into a steaming rock in some Australian back yard. The concept of “Astros” is no more futuristic anymore than giant fins on the back of a car. Since 1973, all we’ve done in space is drive a a cargo truck the equivalent of the distance from Houston to Dallas, straight up. “Astros” is now an inherently nostalgic identity. Plus, as baseball jersey scripts go, the Astros are actually very forward-looking. It’s more of a “here’s where scripty letters can go,” as opposed to looking like the Dodgers/Royals/Tigers/Rangers/etc.
All that said, Houston’s home pinstripes are an abomination.
Very very compelling. But I want my blue and orange.
Seriously, though, that was compelling. You almost swayed me. But when I hear Astros, I think orange:
link
There’s my next tweak idea. Orange monos, white hats with black visors…uh…bills.
brown and columnia? i would have to see that, but i am skeptical.
the only reason i would like to see the rasros revert back to the old colours is that orange is so rare in the game, and the orange cap was completely unique. and the rasros are so close to the desert team in the city that shouldn’t be. that being said, i like the three colours the ‘ros use in concert, they work. and again i agree that the pins have got to go, while i do like the word mark.
what is with my typos lately?! i should be used to the torn tendons in my finger by now, it has been over 8 weeks for corns sake…columbia.
Some more colorization candidates (and no, Phil, not all of them are kickers):
link
link
link
link
The male/female mascots is this week’s license plates for colleges not in that state. Every team that has a mascot, esp major and minor league baseball, has a male and a female. But I might as well add one more, University of Arkansas has Big Red (male) and Sue E. (as in Woo Pig Sooie; Female)
link
Along with; Boss Hog (blown up with a guy inside)
link and……
Pork Chop (kid friendly) shown here, number 1/2, with Sue. E.
link
Probably already been covered, but the male/female mascot thing is seen a bit in Japan.
Seibu Lions
link
Yomiuri Giants
link
link
Orix Buffaloes
link
Phil, I just realized that the lead photo features my favorite football helmet of all time. Except these helmets are not colorized.
This makes me very, very sad.
I love the Padres concept, and the use of the old railroad wordmark on the Rockies uniform is genius.
Years ago, the Houston Astros used to let fans onto the outfield before certain Saturday day games, for something they called “Fan clinics”. Players (usually bench guys or rookies) would set up in different spots, and teach mini-classes on some aspect of the game. In 1989 or 90, I saw a young Ken Caminiti teach a workshop on hitting. Nice guy, intense guy. And he looked like he’d been carved out of marble. In 1989, I didn’t know that ballplayers took steroids.
Anyway, the Astrodome outfield surface was rock hard and awful. It’s amazing that people didn’t get killed playing on it.
Today’s Padres entry gets my vote, hands down.
Yep, that was quite good as well.
Here’s how the plaid concept by Nat O. would look on Jacoby Ellsbury!
link
He looks like he got attacked by a picnic blanket.
From the Hip Hop Section of the L.L. Bean catalog?
—Ricko
i’m tickled pink
“looks like the two “western” players are going pajama bottomed – WTF???”
Honkeys gotta ruin everything!
Ok, today I’m groovin’ to Mark Rabinowitz’s Tigers uni concept and sweet logo ta boot, Scott Rogers’ Nats concept, and finally the super Seattle Mariners uni concept by Thomas Stafford.
Oh and Phil, I hope you’re planning on finishing that super Redskins Giants header pic? Would really love to see a nice colorized version of that image.
was workin’ on it LATE last night, mike
still a ways to go
and im not all that happy with it either
I can’t believe a league that is so uptight about how it’s teams look allows this: link
Very well put. That is disgusting. Gonzalez’s stripes are so short on the front side that on first glance I though they weren’t even there. Now I think that jersey would look SO much better just to get rid of them altogether.
Best of today’s designs
Adrian Newman (Blue Jays) link
Daniel Schneeman (Astros) link
Mr Schneeman’s would be even better without the pinstripes, I think.
first comment, longtime reader. Thought i would post a picture for the colorazation tutorial.
link
thats from the “greatest game ever played”. honestly dont know if it will be good but i thought i might as well help. really exited to learn something!
Colorized or not that is a beautiful shot Drew.
A follow-up on the “Stadium Parking” sign near the site of Municipal Stadium in KC from Wednesday:
After some furious Googling, I’ve found that the sign actually said “Sam’s Baseball Parking” and was on one of the bridges over the railroad tracks near the stadium, between 19th and 20th Streets. It was most likely on Brooklyn, but you might check where Woodland and Prospect cross those tracks. Of course, it’s entirely possible they’ve redone the bridges in the years since I’ve been down there.
If all else fails, contact the KC Star, as I know they’ve run a picture of the sign in the last 20 years.
Potential ENORMOUS uni-related story: link
Still needs to be appropriately vetted, but Uni Watch could provide the definitive assessment….
My Uni Watch tweaks are coming true!!!
BTW @Tim Moore: did you go to high school in California? I’m wondering if we went ran track together. Then again “Tim Moore” is a probably a pretty common name (as is “Paul Lee”).
Anyway, I don’t think the changes on the Lakers jerseys are mistakes. I previously found the gold-numbered purple jerseys on adult replicas (link) and the purple-numbered gold jerseys but only for the youth-size replicas (link).
Apparently they’re now official on the Swingman jerseys, as well, as you’ve pointed out. We’ll either find out on September 21 if they go ahead with the new color scheme or not, and whether or not they’re gonna put the Lakers logo (or the crappy “L” logo) on the back of the jersey.
I don’t like to take credit for it (link), and it’s probably just a coincidence, but I love that they finally got rid of the white numbers, just like I tweaked it! link
(Two out of three ain’t bad! Now, about that floor…)
The Appalachian League is the league that Jamie is referring to with the Greenville Astros. If you look at their site, link, all of the affiliates have similar to same logos/unis as their Major League Clubs. I lived in Elizabethton, TN and the Twins we’re almost identical