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Uni Watch

Signs of Spring

By
SOS

By Phil Hecken

When else can a 10-inning, 5-5 tie feel so satisfying? When it’s the first game of spring training, that’s when. No, it doesn’t count, and it’s nowhere near as awesome as Opening Day (which, when I become President, will be declared a national holiday), but it’s still as welcome as the first crocus of late-winter. It means that spring is almost here, and the Boys of Summer have begun their preparation for another season.

If you haven’t already seen, this year both the senior circuit and the American League have all new batting practice jerseys this year. Why the Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox, Tigers and Blue Jays have two BP tops is beyond me. At least the O’s have an orange and black version (and the Sawks have red and blue), but the Tigers merely swap a white “D” home with an orange “D” road, and the Yankees have their interlocking-NY on their home and “NEW YORK” on their roadie. The Jays? They already have one of the worst uniforms in the game, and their BP jersey isn’t any better. Their home has white side panels and their road has gray. Ugh.

Speaking of BP jerseys, the Pirates have a rally awesome gold one. Also, notice that every BP jersey is now button down. I have an awful feeling that some teams will want to use their BP jerseys in real game play. In Pittsburgh’s case, that might not be the worst thing, especially if they ditched their black alternate. Still can’t wait to see these in action.

I love seeing the early spring training drills. Tell me, why is Nyjer Morgan carrying a football and wearing a glove? Good to see those socks, but where are the rups? The opposite end of the uni spectrum is of course new National Jayson Werth. And that’s our first real look at the Nationals new home uniform. I’m not sure it will grow on me. I love the script “W,” but the front number ruins the symmetry, and the piping looks more purple than a distinct red and blue.

I always get a kick out of the individual portraits. Some guys ham it up pretty good, others seem to think the backwards cap or the oversized, offcenter skew is a good look. They’re not. And I’ll never understand how some guys can show up with shit all over their caps. Aren’t these things supposed to be new? This is your official portrait, man. Treat your cap with some respect. Some teams go with a white background, which looks pretty cool when seen as a set.

BP jerseys seem to fall into three or four categories. The first is the solid color stripe down the side, extending from the armpit to the waist. The second is similar, but extends the solid stripe all the way out to the end of the sleeve. The third type, the best, has no solid color stripe on the jersey For some reason, only the Angels have this. Somehow, the Red Sox avoided a full stripe, instead opting for the pit stain look.

The worst is a new design. It’s being sported by, among a few, the Indians and the Orioles. The Tigers and the Rockies also have this “look.” I’m not sure who thought a mini “batman-esque” (reminds me of the Steelers) cape affection was a good idea. It’s really not.

One BP jersey I do like: the Reds (the BP is the script “Reds” on the left). That’s what a BP jersey should look like. Kinda whimsical. And never to be worn during a real game. Ever.

Two last bits of interest — the Tigers and Cardinals, who as part of their spring training rituals never wore their “orange D” and navy blue caps, respectively, in spring training games. At least until this year. We’ll have to see if this changes as the games go on, but yesterday the Tigers (who thankfully eschew the BP jerseys) wore their HOME BP caps with their road unis. I don’t recall them wearing their BP caps during spring games before (but of course, I could be wrong). But at least they didn’t wear their road BP cap either. Yes — they have a home and a road BP cap. And that’s necessary because they have a home and a road BP top. I’ll cut the Yankees and Tigers some slack with having two BP tops, because they ONLY have a home and a road uniform, with no alternate. The Orioles, Blue Jays & Red Sox? They all have alts (and the Sawks have both a red and a blue alternate), so do they really need an extra BP jersey?

But enough of my critiquing the uniforms of the greatest sport on the planet. Baseball is back. And you know what, they could all dress in clown suits really wear pretty much anything this time of year and I’ll watch. Why, because it reminds of us of all that once was good and could be again.

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colorize this

Colorize This!

Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.

It’s been a couple weeks since we had a “Colorize This!” so it’s kind of a potpourri today.

~~~

We begin with Joe DeAngelis, with a Ranger from the past:

Hello Phil,

This week I submit a colorization of New York Rangers hall of fame defenseman Ivan “Ching” Johnson. I just love this pose, and the look on the subjects face, a true warrior of old-time hockey.

Cheers,
Joe DeAngelis

~~~

Next up is Nick Maples who has a colorization suggestion & request:

I was wondering if you could help me with colorizing this photo from my grandfather’s semipro baseball team. Nobody from the family seems to know the team colors. I was very interested in finding out so I could have Ebbetts Field Flannels replicate the jersey for me. Thanks so much.

Sincerely,

Nick Maples

Nick didn’t provide me with any more information on the team, but the jersey appears to read “WATSONS.” If anyone knows more or has a color scheme (or a guess at what the colorscheme might be), please speak up.

~~~

You guys will recall when we last had a “Colorize This!” Ryan VanBuskirk submitted a photo of the Hebron Academy, where his grandfather played hockey. After ascertaining the colors, which were green and white, I asked you colorizers to take a stab at it. Ian Carr did just that:

Nuts, almost forgot to get this to you!

Been gone for a while, but looking forward to doing more. ENJOY!

Ian S Carr

~~~

Next up is the one and only George Chilvers, who provided me with the first of several colorizations, beginning with this one:

Hi Phil,

Here’s my version of the Wales rugby pic. In case anyone missed my comment this is actually the Pontypool front-row from December 1976.

I then went on to say “A word of advice too for you on the opposite side of the pond. Rugby players are VERY BIG and tend to have broken noses (like the guy to the right). Don’t mention to them that shoving their heads between other players legs seems a bit odd, don’t comment on where they grab them to hold on tight, and don’t even say that you know that the guy in the middle (who is Bobby Windsor) is called a “hooker”. Just accept it ”“ it’s safer that way.”

I’ll see if I have time to have a go at any others (there’s lots to choose from isn’t there?), but if not it’ll keep me off the streets for the next few weeks.

Best wishes

George

Of course, George wasn’t done. Next he took on another reader submission, Byron “Whizzer” White:

Byron “Whizzer” White – resized and colourised.

Best wishes

George

George still wasn’t done. And perhaps you can guess his final submission. But first…

~~~

Next up is Gary Chanko, who took on the Charlotte Hall Military Academy baseball team (from Shorpy):

Some educated guessing on school colors after online research became futile … seems like black and orange. a first effort anyway.

Gary P. Chanko

Not quite satisfied with that effort, Gary sent in another version:

Attached is a corrected version of the image sent to you yesterday.

~~~

And finally, in what Paul called “The single most amazingly awesome photo in the history of ever, submitted to UW by Comrade Robert “Moose” Marshall, we have George again.

George sent along two versions of the Atlanta Lorelei…and they’re both amazing:

Blue and Gold

and

Burgundy and Gold

Simply incredible.

~~~

As we head into baseball season, I’d love to see you colorizers try your hands at some old tyme baseball pictures. If you don’t have any handy, I have a whole lot of black and white photos, so if you’re interested, feel free to locate one of your own choosing, or post something in the comments below and I’ll send you (or post) a shot for you to try. I’ll give you one great one to start: Casey Stengel, ca. 1915, with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

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Benchies Header

Benchies

by Rick Pearson

~~~

Always to be innovative. Or Something.

s-zamboni

And…here’s the full size.

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all sport uni tweaks

Uni Tweaks

Lots and lots of tweaks keep pouring in, so obviously this is a popular feature. A bunch new to get to today. If you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.

Remember, if possible, try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per tweak. You guys have been great a keeping to that, and it’s much appreciated!

Got a nice of tweaks today…so lets get right into it:

~~~

Starting off the show is Nic Schultz, who decided to go the Pro Combat look with Michigan football:

For the away look, I would add the wings and stripes from the helmet to the sleeves, moving the TV numbers to compression undershirts. Also I would paint the tops of the facemasks maize to match the rest of the helmet. The block M and brand logo on the pants would move up onto the belt loop area. I would never suggest changing the home look in real life, but for U.W.’s sake, I tried the helmet treatment on the navy jerseys. Looks alright I suppose. The alternate jersey, I turned into a giant block M. The treatment would be symmetrical on the back side. Blue pants and socks provide enough color to be worn at home, but light colored top could still be worn as away uniform, possibly against whatever monstrosity Nike cooks up for the Buckeyes next November…

All tweaks done by Nic Schultz

~~~

Next up is Ronnie Poore, who has a couple better ideas for the new Bills white helmet:

Lots of interest and speculation about the Bills new unis for next season. My personal preference is for them to simple go with the throwbacks full time, but it seems they have other ideas. The details that have come forth mention they are keeping the charging Buffalo (American Bison) logo. I’m sorta ok with that, except that I hate that red slash. I worked up a couple of samples without the slash, one with a blue buffalo. And just for fun, one with a red one.

~~~

In the three-spot today is Jon Ritchie, who has some Bengals Pro Combat concepts:

First time submitter here, but I love the site and read often. I thought I was alone in my Uni-junkydom. As a life long Bengals fan I’ve always been a little embarrarsed by the stripe motif they’ve had, and they made them even worse with new ones in ’04. What happened to clean lines? I sent you some mock ups with Pro Combat template. (Home, Road [white pants], Road [black pants] & Road [orange pants].) Nothing new here, maybe a little more than a nod to the past, but hose were great uniforms. I know not everyone likes the plain script helmet, but I love it. It’s the part I didn’t get right though but hey, this was my first shot at this. Also, I’m not a fan of endless uniform combination but for the hell did more than two. Hope you enjoy.

~~~

And last but not least, we have Jim Vilk, who has taken a decidedly un-Mothersunbowlker approach to this set of tweaks, eschewing the crayolas for the Russell uniform builder:

After playing around on the Russell Athletics uniform builder site, I decided to try my hand at some baseball tweaks.

First, my Pirates. With button-down jerseys, I prefer the logo off to the side instead of the name across the chest. Went with *gold* piping and numbers. To be worn with a gold hat with black brim:

Next, the Rangers. Red? Blue? Can’t decide? Why not make them tan and green like park rangers? I know, they’re not named for those, but the real Texas Rangers never had an official uni. You could also go with tan pants.

Home unis would be white, with tan piping on the jersey and green piping on the pants. Logo in tan outlined with green, numbers in green outlined in tan. To be worn with a tan hat with a green logo.

~~~

That’s it for today’s tweak show. Check back next weekend for more.

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Untitled-9

Color of the Beast

Got an E-mail yesterday from “Pretty Boy” Paulie Soto, who visited his local sporting goods store, and noticed the swoosh is now featuring their neon-snot green color on a LOT of their merch. I’ll let Paulie explain:

I stopped into a Sports Authority the other day here in Chicago and happened to notice a lot of Nike product featuring the infamous “dayglow” color. It’s called “Volt”, according to Nike, as well as various shades of the color. There were softball pants with volt colored drawstrings, interchangeable swooshes, watches, fixture graphics, lots of shoes accented in that color and even a pair of striped Adidas soccer socks in that color.

Um, thanks, Paulie. Well, I guess we know what the new “hot” color for spring will be. The Seahawks may have scrapped their neon snot alternate after one wearing, but we can only now wonder if Nike will want to parlay Oregon’s newfound football success onto the pro grid iron. We can also begin to wonder if this won’t make an appearance as the dominant color when swooshie (inevitably) introduces the next generation of Ducks unis.

Bellotti Bold be damned, Jim Vilk would wear that.

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frosty's old fashioned DIYs 2

Fresh Frosty Treats

As many of you know, David “Frosty” Frost is one of Uni Watch’s greatest DIYers, and he’s made a number of custom jerseys for many of us. I’d never actually been able to vouch for his quality and craftsmanship, as I’d never actually had Frosty create anything for me. That is, until now.

About a week ago, I got the following E-mail: “Just wanted to give you a ”˜heads’ up’ that a box is coming your way if not there already, with a ”˜THANK YOU’ for all that you do for us jersey knuckleheads out here. Wear it to a Mets game and let me know if / what feedback you get! I made Paul one somewhat similar, so you kids can compare notes.” OK. Sure enough, that package came this week, and what was inside? Behold! Here is the back. No, those aren’t reversed or flipped or anything. Frosty actually sewed on the script and the numbers on backwards. It’s just his way of saying how bass-ackwards things are in Met land.

Here’s the one he sent Paul (with Caitlin) — interestingly, mine is mesh, and button down (with the buttons on the proper “male” side) while Paul’s is a zipper front, and the zipper is reversed as well…so everything is backwards on his. Frosty also included “a patch I experimented with”¦iron transfer paper on polyester.” He put the patch on my jersey, but not Paul’s.

All of this is in anticipation of gearing up his new website. Although I’m a little “skeptical” about the backwards Mets, I have to say the quality is top-notch. Me and the boss have already indicated we’ll wear the jerseys to one game together this year to see what kind of comments they generate.

So, THANK YOU Frosty! Everyone who is thinking of having a custom made jersey, give Frosty’s new site a look-see.

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Phew. That’s gonna do it for this fine last Sunday in February. Spring is in the air. The Oscars are tonight (no predictions this year — the post is long enough). And baseball is back again. And all is right in the world.

~~~

“Real” ballplayers are not thugs. — Marty Hick

 
  
 
Comments (105)

    I don’t care what Bo knows, but football and baseball don’t mix. I was doing no-glove warmup drills before a baseball game once, when one of the guys playing catch with a football in the outfield threw a spiral at me. I couldn’t make the mental jump between sports and balls fast enough, and I jammed the dickens out of my thumb trying to bring the pigskin into the cradle. Didn’t get full range of motion back for like three months.

    On the new Nats unis, while it’s true that their new piping has a purplish effect, it’s decidedly less purplish than their old three-stripe piping. Which can still be seen on the road unis.

    The Nationals’ large W is crooked. It is off by 1/16th of a turn (clockwise). Compare to W on ballcap which is correcy.

    which is exactly why it’s great as a BP jersey — they’d NEVER be tempted to wear them in an actual game (that and the fact that they already have a solid red alt)

    with the full front buttons on these, don’t be surprised if some teams wear them for actual game play

    /just sayin’

    I, for one, hope that most of the teams do wear them on the field for the real games. At least that way they’re more than *just* a transparent marketing gimmick.

    so THE…i guess no teams have warm ups then? do the NBA ballers wear their three striped half shirts (short and long sleeve versions) for game play? do hockey players wear their red/yellow/blue practice shirts in game play? do football players wear their ad-ed-upped, non striped practice jerseys in game play?

    of course not…yet these items are available for retail sale.

    are they marketing gimmicks? maybe. but do they also serve a legitimate purpose? absolutely.

    but you won’t be seeing any of them being worn during actual game play, now, will you

    same goes with the BP shirt…it’s purpose is spring training and BP…and that’s IT

    OK, point taken.

    But maybe the MLB shouldn’t make their BP jerseys more visually appealing than the normal uniforms. NFL practice jerseys look like department store knockoffs. They lack most of the distinctive elements that the teams’ real jerseys have. Titans with no shoulder yoke? Bengals with no tiger stripes? Pfft. These BP jerseys are more vibrant than the normal jerseys. They’re almost begging to be worn for real, at least occasionally. Hell, if they can bring out those stupid ass stars-n-stripes hats for multiple games, what harm is there in wearing a “practice” jersey for a few games?

    The Reds might not sport THAT particular jersey as an alternate, but would it be so awful if that font (maybe slightly smaller) were to show up on an alternate jersey? Or, even better, on a gray road set? Methinks they are setting us up for such a move.

    (Am I pulling a Pettitte and “mis-remembering,” or didn’t they use this font at some point on a game-worn set way back when??)

    I don’t understand why people are thinking since Oregon wore ‘Volt’ NOW Nike is putting it on other stuff. They probably just didn’t notice it until ‘Volt’ was being seen by everyone watching the national championship, but it has been around for awhile now.

    Don’t think anyone’s saying the color hasn’t been around. The point is that, as expected afher the Oregon “reveal” in the BCS Title Game, it’s the lynchpin color for Nike’s latest marketing push.

    —Ricko

    My 2c:

    Volt has been around since at least the summer of 2008 when Nike came out with their Lunar Trainer / Lunar Racer line of shoes, based around the lunarlite soles.

    link

    It was big in the running world at that time. I bought my first pair that summer and I’m on my seventh or eighth pair now.

    The promotion of the colour might be new but the colour definitely isn’t.

    That Michigan alternate “M” jersey is shockingly fantastic. I wanted to cringe, but I think it could actually work outside of world of photoshop.

    I love the idea, but I’m not sure how well it’d work on the players with less than perfect physiques. How well is the bottom part of the M on the pants going to line up on an O-Lineman?

    Truly intriguing idea. This is the kind of innovation that goes beyond mere novelty. I agree that the phsique issue could be significant, especially if the design crosses over to the pants. But something like this that was restricted to the jersey alone might work. I absolutely love the V effect created by the middle of the M. Reminds me of the old Steelers throwback from 1994. Old-school football allusion in a radically modern design.

    Has the look of a photo that, in 20 years, Harper and others will see and say, “Oh, god, remember when we thought wearing our hats like that was cool.”

    Let’s think about last year’s college football fad of teams interlocking elbows and walking onto the field very, very slowwwwly before the game. Only been a year and that already looks stupid.

    —Ricko

    When will the world realize that holding four fingers aloft as the game enters the fourth quarter is similarly stupid and “played-out”?

    As much as I hate/detest/loathe “the team up north” I have to admit, THOSE UNI’S ARE SHARP!!! Great job!

    As to the colors for Nick Maples’ grandfather’s semi-pro baseball team- I would go with Royal Blue on the Grey uniform. Royal Blue usually shows up “lighter” in B&W photos than does Red, which appears darker. Hence the two colors are often reversed in colorization. The NHL All-Star sweater picture from the 1940s is a prime example. So I say go with the Royal Blue for the pinstripes, lettering, cap brim and socks

    May I expand?

    [For the first time in a week, I’m back on my familiar steam-powered desk model mechanical device. No thumbs are engaged, except perhaps for… oh, never mind.]

    This week’s color batch sets a new standard of coolness. Lord Chilvers is unspeakably good. I was ready for the chilverized Loreleis vs Tomcats softball shot — worth the wait — but was totally blown away by Whizzer White. Unbelievable. Spectacular. And I sure wasn’t expecting anything like De Angelis’ Ching Johnson. Look how his socks are fastened to his shorts! The hairline! The Bob Hope expression! And don’t get me started on the elegant patterns of green in Chanko’s Charlotte Hall job, and the wonderful bends and folds in the uniforms of both ballplayers and cadets. I am rather shocked by how much I love this stuff. This is not an invitation to re-open the recent, lamentable exchanges on sexual orientation as fact and metaphor.

    I like that the numbers on the Nats’ home jerseys are not at the same level as the team logo. I don’t understand the need for “symmetry.” To me, if you’re going to have a number on the front of the jersey, it should also be lower down than the team logo.

    Sorry, but I’m begging the people who are selling these designs: consider some new typography, bold accents, SOMETHING….the old “headspoon + cap logo on the left breast” is so lazy. It looks great…on the TIGERS.

    A thin band of trim at the collar and sleeve ends is a way-underrated alternative to the headspoon. I wish more teams would consider it. The Tampa Rays should.

    Sorry, it’s the best shorthand I’ve heard for describing the two lines of trim that come up the buttons and surround the neck. And I’m not quite done ranting:

    Why is the first question asked by a team wanting new uniforms: “What are other teams doing that looks good?”

    Why isn’t it “What can WE do that will be unique, and that we can OWN?”….THAT’S how you do branding.

    The Nationals gave up. “We have a cap logo we like, and are otherwise bereft of a single idea”. Real bold move making the number three inches lower. They’re taking the baseball world by storm with that.

    And even the cap logo couldn’t be considered “unique” or “bold,” being that it’s a hand-me-down!

    And even the cap logo couldn’t be considered “unique” or “bold,” being that it’s a hand-me-down!

    Irrelevant. No other team in baseball uses it, so from a marketing perspective, it’s an outstanding basis for building a strong brand. (Though as a matter of typography, the curly W is precisely what the letter W would look like in the typeface from which the Phillies draw their cap-logo P, so there’s that. But most people aren’t sufficient type-geeks to notice.) Precisely because it’s a hand-me-down, it has very strong identification in the critical local market. “Unique” doesn’t mean “novel.”

    But true that about the Nats giving up. Even a headspoon – great name for placket piping! – plus cap logo could have been much better and more uniquely executed. The Nats, in typical fashion, came close, got the finest details just wrong enough to fail, and said, “link“

    I’m not saying every team should do it, but a lot more than one or two should go with the headspoon look. How many other teams fall back on the old script across the chest look? What’s lazy is not fixing the inevitable gaps or extra letters when you go that route.
    link

    Anyone ever try this non-centered approach?
    link

    The Nationals’ large W is crooked. It is off by 1/16th of a turn (clockwise). Compare to W on ballcap which is correct.

    Watching the NFL Combine on yahoo.com this morning. Saw that some players were wearing special shirts with a glowing Under Armour logo in the center. Here’s the answer to “what was that?”: “smart” clothing.

    link|Home-1|Swf-Top-3-Middle-4-Bottom|top_01||M|E39|LP|LearnMore|

    *chilvers*
    obviously i am sending a UW stirrup to george, but i know other people have worked on this photo, i have seen the efforts, you have a week to get one as well, other wise that chanko cat gets secon pait by default fort that awe-tastic submission.
    ~
    frosty~ that is hiiiii-sterical. maybe you should just strip everything off what i am sending, and send it back and call it art…”yeah maaan, it’s a minimalist statement, dig?” i would pick up what you were puttin’ down on that tip, and not bat an eye mr. jersey guy. i think i would hold up liquor stores to by this abstract jersey art. screw that, they have enough trouble. i would hold up a joanne fabrics, or tile outlet or those jersey’s. can’t stop the chuckle.

    ~

    i don’t want to call anything out, but…link (edited)

    Andre Ethier with 1) his cap backwards and 2) the Nike swoosh still on his undershirt:

    link

    And prepare to flip out because almost every photo on this page has players wearing their caps backwards:

    link

    I don’t know why some players are wearing worn/used hats for Media Day photos…

    The Madison Mallards (collegiate summer baseball team based in Madison, Wisconsin that play in the Northwoods League) unveiled a new logo, new uniforms, and new mascot yesterday.

    link

    Their explanation on the new logo? “It was designed to appeal to an 8-year-old kid and also appeal to the 30-year-olds. This logo accomplishes that a little better than our old logo.”

    Old logo for comparison: link

    is there anything worse than an angry mallard? seriously…can they even GET mad?

    nice unis tho

    Angry Mallard > Stoned Mallard it replaces. Seriously, that looked that the mascot for someone’s fantasy team: Drunk as Duck, or something.

    Not great, not good, but better

    i spoke to a mallard whilst he was being eated by a hawk on my front porch yesterday.

    i said to the mallard, “mallard, how dost thou feelest aboot thor?”

    and the mallard, see the mallard sez to me, “i am pretty flippin messed up aboot thor if by thor, you dumb arse, you mean this.”

    so i nod in good point as the mallard is consumed by the hawk, at which point he sez, see he sez, “how boot snaggin’ a switch and killin’ this hawk a’fore i get a scroll on my face?!”

    evidently by face he meant scowl, cause by the time i figured out his speech, which was totally nuts, he was dead. that was one mad mallard.

    it was a pretty crazy nature experience to be sure. moral, mallards get pissed.

    You would be surprised. It’s almost a cult following in Southern Wisconsin. The games are almost always sold out. It’s entertaining, and a pretty inexpensive thing to do during the summer months.

    I live in madison. they draw like 5000 a game. it used to be like 7000 until the fire chief limited them because of exits.

    Both Orioles BP jerseys look like clown suits. I get the concept of having a separate jersey for BP or spring training, but can somebody design something less childish and bumper-stickerish?All of the yolks, inserts and panels are very poorly executed.

    Am I the only one that wishes the Bucks would go back to this uni full time? (Sorry, I was unable to find a print with the buck’s head on the shorts.)
    link

    I like that uniform, but as I mentioned yesterday, I’m partial to the mid-’80s era uni’s with multiple shades of green, no red, and the Marquette-style striping down the sides. Bring those back! (Also, kindly bring back the spritely Buck with the twirling baskeball logo!)

    The spritely Buck with twirling basketball has to be, along with Pat Patriot, the coolest logo ever to be inexplicably ash-canned by its team.

    Eastern Washington Unv. Div 1 Football National Champ showed the evolution of their football helmets on stage during their celebration (proud alum) middle pic on pg 21. link

    The first thing that came to mind when I saw the Rockies’ “mini ‘batman-esque’ cape affection” was that it was a wardrobe malfunction involving a sports bra. Also kudos to the Angels for not acquiescing to the contrasting side panels. Hasn’t that gimmicky look been played out already?

    That DIY Mets jersey with the sleeve patch & thick royal sleeve piping is pretty sweet. The absence of placket piping makes the “steM” standout & pop more. If I was making a new Mets set, I’d definitely make the forward wordmark version the new homes or at last home alternates.

    Ricko. I loved the Benchies today. I am working over in the Pa school district now. Wilmington area. I see the Amish every weekday.

    And also not far from Amish here in Ohio. Middlefield.

    If Jim Vilk sees this he should know the areas I mention.

    sugarcreek! got dang, i forgot about the amish mulberry wine i used to get fot the holidays on the way home from school when i visited the freelance biologist in sugarcreek. thanks laribee, i would have forgotten about that. maybe ohio is good for something after all, that was a floodgates moment.

    picture mothervilker in an amish dress selling blackberry wine and horseradish mustard to 10 year old tourists in 1685, and that’s sugarcreek. the best purple i ever met.

    Oh yeah, we’re surrounded by Amish, dontcha know. Sugarcreek and Zoar ‘n all that to the south, Holmes County to the southwest, Middlefield and Geauga County to the east and northeast, plus the ones across the line not too far from Slippery Rock. Those folks can cook.

    And they don’t totally eschew (to borrow Phil’s word o’ the day…thought he was sneezing online at first) modern technology. A friend of mine who lives in Holmes Co. said she heard Zeppelin blaring out of one Amish buggy. Turned out the kid hooked up a car stereo inside.

    The Tigers would look ridiculous if they only had the white BP jersey. It would bug me as much as seeing the white D cap with the road uniforms in Spring Training.

    Are the Yankees still only wearing their regular jerseys for the first spring training game and their BP ones for all other games like they did last year? And are there teams in addition to the Tigers, Dodgers, Rangers, and White Sox who don’t wear BP jerseys at all during the spring? Last season I noticed that the Rangers blue alternate jersey was worn more during Spring training than in the regular season.

    Kinda eerie that you mentioned “Boys of Summer” today, and Duke Snider passes away today. Not trying to sound snarky towards you AT ALL, Phil. R.I.P. Duke…

    Spring training shouldn’t start in February just like the World Series should never be played in November. I couldn’t be less interested in hearing about baseball right now. I feel like the season just ended. Every one of the major sports’ season is too long, but baseball is ridiculous.

    I guess I’ll be in the minority again. I detest that Pirates BP jersey. I’d much rather black over the gold. And since I’m one of only 3 Pirates fans left I’m very upset that we haven’t been contacted by the team so that the 3 of us left can consult with them to make decisions on what we want to see. It’s the least they can do to make up for the last 18 seasons, soon to be 19.

    But I still say we were robbed in 92. The last good team in Buccos history & there was no way Bream was safe. To me Francisco Cabrera is spoken the same way others speak of Bucky Dent.

    The reason I prefer the yellow BP jersey is because the Pirates already have a black alternate. Having the cap logo on the jersey is historically accurate, and it beats the horrible idea of the tomato jerseys years ago.

    Sid Bream was safe on the final play of that game. Supposedly, Van Slyke had motioned to Bonds to move over prior to Cabrera’s hit, and Bonds ignored him. We have to remember Jose Lind made a costly error before Cabrera even batted. Braves made the plays in ’91 and ’92, and deserved to win. In those three playoff losses(including 1990), Bonds, Bonilla, and Van Slyke played poorly.

    I still think that tag got down in time to get Bream. But that’s a lifetime ago for a lot of people that read these blogs.

    I’m not a fan of yellows/golds as a primary jersey color in baseball so I don’t care for this one. I’d rather see the current black alternate’s style get used for the BP & bring back the 1st black alternate they brought out in the 90’s during the last few years at Three Rivers. I know they’re distancing themselves from the red but I still have & love that jersey & I still wear that one & the red billed hat more than I wear the regular everyday hat.

    I did like the 1997 red billed hat and black alternate jersey you mentioned. That was the 9 million dollar payroll team which actually contended for the NL Central title very late in the season.

    The best Pirates alternate hat for me was the gold billed version last decade. I would like to see two uniform changes for the Bucs. First, bring back black pants for a monochrome look(best during early and late in the season). Second, the black pinstripes on the sleeveless Sunday uniforms would be replaced by gold pinstripes.

    The Buccos in red never worked for me. RFRS. And I like the color, but I like it here instead:
    link
    That’s a DIY t-shirt project for me.

    I like the yellow BP jersey. And I actually agree with Phil…it belongs in BP. Now if you remove the black side panels, then I would love it and I would say wear it in the games.

    Checking in late here, but I like the Pirates’ yellow jerseys too. Just look at the NL BP jerseys–there are six teams in red, six in black or dark blue, three in medium blue, and the Bucs.

    Now if they really want to go all out, they should pair them with yellow hats like they wore after moving into Three Rivers in 1970. Not the flat-top late-70s design, but something more like this one:

    link

    Not just Adidas is stealing ‘volt’ from Nike. Watching the Combine it looks like Cam Newton stole a pair of Oregon cleats from the title game…except they are under armour

    Since I only get to check the site on weekends I’m a few days late on this one as well but I like the update the Lightning did to add in some black & bring the bolt back to the pants but am I the only one that sees the new logo as looking WWWAAAAAYYYYY too much like Carolina’s? Both oval-ish at almost the same shape/angle but take out the toilet bowl swirl with Carolina’s, change the colors to blue, add a bolt & you have the same basic look.

    Also my 2 pennies on the adds on uniforms. I’m a former STH for an AHL team that changed uniforms every couple seasons, along with special designs worn during the seasons & also has a new warmup sweater yearly. They all had advertising on them. I hated it but it had ZERO affect on me buying a new jersey if they changed sponsors from season to season as that 2nd article seemed to suggest would be happening. If I liked the jersey I bought it, if it remained unchanged from 1 season to the next but the company that had an add on there changed it was not going to make me go out & buy that year’s jersey. Wasn’t happening & it won’t happen if MLB or the NFL put them on there either. If I’m not mistaken both articles on this had Horizon Media as the company pushing for it to happen. What is it that they gain from it happening?

    Not able to get a screen grab but…

    Hornets are wearing their Mardi Gras jerseys tonight and Jason Smith’s name is spelled “SMIHT” – if anyone can get a grab that’d be great. I’ll try to get one when I can.

    They’ve fixed it! Hornets gave him a new jersey during the timeout! I’ll be able to get a screen shot tonight when I get home. They had a great shot of both jerseys side by side. I’ll try to get that one later

    Didn’t see anyone else posting this:
    link

    I’ve actually seen Outman (best name for a pitcher ever, by the way) pitch twice in person, in Double-A and in the majors. The distinctively awesome stirrups is how I realized that. “Wait a moment, those look familiar…”

    The Tigers always wear the home caps only every spring it seems, and it makes perfect sense for them to have a road bp jersey since we are the only team in MLB to have a color on our road uniform that isn’t in the home set, the others just seem useless.

    Thanks to everyone who liked the UofM tweaks. I was especially surprised so many Bucks were pleasant. You are a credit (albeit an extreme minority) to your squad.

    Reason for Morgan carrying the football: Its a drill that their OF coach came up with, by making the players keep the ball in their hands, he forces them to move to the right spot better to make a play.

    Less diving catches and stuff I guess.

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