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Uni Watch

It’s Not Far, Not Hard to Reach: Beach Blanket Bingo, Queens Edition

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[Editor’s Note: Today we have a guest entry from reader Keith Goggin, about the unusual jersey pictured above. Enjoy. ”” PL]

By Keith Goggin

Paul’s article about the creation of the beach blanket White Sox uni brought back some memories about a jersey I once wore. I had to dig through an old bin to see if I could find it, and there it was — my own beach blanket uniform. Notice it doesn’t say “SOX,” though. Let me explain.

While growing up in Queens, New York, I played JV baseball during my freshman year of high school in the spring of 1989. Most of us also played on a weekend team, which then became our main team once the summer started and the school season ended. My weekend team was comprised of players who mostly came from three local Little Leagues: Mid-Queens/Fresh Meadows, Little Neck/Douglaston, and Bay Village. I guess our coaches felt it would be a good idea to give credit to all three of those Little Leagues, so the resulting jerseys were LIOF — leagues’ initials on front.

The jerseys were cheap v-neck pullovers with heat-pressed graphics. All I could think of was the White Sox, and even they had moved on to something better by then — these were not cool. And the initials on the front were absurd. We all looked at them and were like “What the hell is this?”

Then the season started, and things really got annoying. Other teams with normal names would see us on their schedules and think it was a misprint. Then we would show up and they would squint at the shirts and point. Catchers would ask guys about it when they were leading off; it was brutal.

I played first base, so anyone who reached would inevitably ask me what all those letters were when I had to hold him on. It was so bad, I just started saying things like “I don’t know” or “Who cares?” We became known throughout the league as the Alphabet Team. Fortunately, we were pretty good, so the jokes stopped there.

The following year, 1990, returning players had a preseason meeting with the coaches. By now, they were sick of the Alphabet Team references as well, since they were trying to build a local program that quality kids would want to try out for. We voted on a new name and were rechristened the Northeast Queens Cardinals. Much better! But the biggest thrill was that these jerseys had sewn-on graphics and button fronts. That was huge to me and most players from that era, since we grew up in Little League with the generic pullovers and screened-on logos. Having buttons made the jerseys look and feel legit.

We still had a screened-on Alphabet Team sleeve patch (they added JEH for Jamaica Estates-Hillside, another feeder league), but the questions at first base stopped, and we went out and did pretty well once again. One teammate, Peter Munro, even made it to the bigs for a little while. His claim to fame was pitching for the Astros as one of the six guys who threw that combined no-hitter against the Yankees a few years back.

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New sponsor shout-out: As you may have noticed, the top of the left sidebar now features an ad for Heritage Sports Art, which is the site where Maple Leaf Productions founder Scott Sillcox is selling off the original watercolor paintings used for the assorted “uni timeline” posters he’s produced over the years. (In case you missed it last fall, I did a big interview with Scott in which we discussed the artwork in considerable detail.)

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Scott’s a real gentleman, and the watercolors are unique pieces of uniform art. Definitely worth checking out.

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Here’s the beef: The Brooklyn Beefsteak guys are throwing another beefsteak event at the Bell House. The date is April 10, and there will be two seatings: 1pm-4pm and 5pm-8pm. Music will once again be provided by the mighty Susquehanna Industrial Tool and Die Co., who will again be joined onstage by Beefsteak Betty.

Tickets are $50 a head (a bargain, considering it’s all-you-can-eat and -drink), or $45 if you’re buying at least four tix. You can buy them here.

If you have no idea what a beefsteak is, you can read about an earlier Brooklyn Beefsteak event here, and here’s an article I wrote about a particular branch of beefsteak history.

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ESPN reminder: In case you missed it yesterday, my annual MLB season-preview column is now up on Page 2.

Contest reminder: I’m currently sponsoring a design contest to create a logo for the Baseball Project. Full details here.

Membership reminder: The membership enrollment fee will go up to $20 at the end of this month. If you want to sign up at the $15 price, there’s no time like the present.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: What’s the story with this Miller Park 10th-anniversary logo (aside from the fact that it’s a really miserable piece of design)? “It was on the envelope that my 9 pack of tickets came in this year,” says Daniel Schulz. It isn’t being used as a patch, doesn’t appear in the MLB Style Guide, etc. Just as well, because it’s a stinker. ”¦ Meanwhile, Dave Tobener pointed out an error in yesterday’s ESPN column. I had written that Catfish Hunter, Tug McGraw, and now Sparky Anderson were the only three people in the past 85 years to be memorialized on two different MLB uniforms at the same time. But I didn’t account for Tim Crews, whose No. 52 was worn by the Dodgers and Indians in 1993. Good catch! ”¦ Here’s an interesting story about the first professional female ump. Look at that jersey! (Great find by Jay Prouty.) ”¦ Never would’ve guessed that the Rays’ plain-Jane jersey design would be copied by so many teams, but here’s yet another one. That’s Lake Nona High School in Florida (with thanks to Nathanael Kurant). ”¦ While we’re at it, here’s a high school that copies the Brewers’ design (with thanks to Benjamin Tully). ”¦ Eric Read reports that Washington State will unveil its new football uniforms on April 11. ”¦ Eephus League commish Bethany Heck has opened up an online shop full of Eephus merch. ”¦ Coupla great contributions from photo archivist Dave Eskenazi: First, check out this old Toronto cap. And you can’t go wrong with a guy who’s wearing a flamingo sleeve patch while milking a cow. ”¦ Dave has also written an article about the team that wore the greatest hockey jersey ever. ”¦ The PawSox are adding a memorial patch for late owner Ben Mondor (with thanks to Ryan Harrington). ”¦ If you think being an equipment manager is rough, try being in charge of the stage costumes for Kiss (fun find by Skott Daltonic). ”¦ Weird coincidence: While stuck in a waiting room yesterday morning, I skimmed last week’s New Yorker, which included an article about Spanx (which, in case you don’t know, is the hottest brand in female foundation garments). Then I came home and found a note from Tom Mulgrew, informing me that doctors are now telling teen athletes to avoid Spanx. ”¦ Remember our recent discussion of the Hale American “Health” logo? Here it is on the cover of a 1942 football equipment catalog. First time I’ve ever seen it used in print. ”¦ Hmmm, is that an intrasquad scrimmage? Nope, it’s the Braves and Twins, who wore exceedingly similar outfits last night (screen shot by Alex van Dyck). ”¦ “This picture was taken in Lawrence, Kansas, during the VCU/Kansas Elite Eight game this past weekend,” says Jack Wilson. “I think they jumped the gun a little bit.” ”¦ Early contender for MLB giveaway of the year: this Angels wrestling mask (major thanks to David Lassen). ”¦ I’ve previously noted that Orioles catchers have been wearing retro-style catching helmets. But I didn’t know the base coaches were wearing them as well (at least not until Chris Mayberry told me). ”¦ Hmmm, is Michigan football scrapping the wraparound stripes on the road jersey, or is that just a spring practice thing? (As noted by Mike Thompson.) ”¦ Mike Styczen reports that the first person ever to wear a Blue Jays uni was apparently scout Al LaMacchia. That shot is from the 12/8/76 edition of the Montreal Gazette, so the photo was presumably taken on Dec. 7 or 6. Not bad, although I’d still like to know who the first player was, since LaMacchia doesn’t really qualify as uniformed personnel. ”¦ During Spain’s 3-1 victory over Lithuania on Tuesday, Fernando Llorente mistakenly wore the shirt from the WC’10,” says Carlos Jalife. … WFL helmet cart! (Great find by Jonee Eisen.) ”¦ My Mom’s birthday is in a few days, so my brother and I are taking her out to lunch today. Enjoy your last day of spring training, and I’ll see you on Opening Day.

 
  
 
Comments (177)

    “doctors are now telling teen athletes to avoid Spanx”

    because you might go blind….

    [rimshot]

    I don’t think that’s a flamingo patch; looks more like a scarlet ibis (link), which makes it about 50x more awesome.

    That particular jersey is the Marlins…
    link
    The St. Petersburg Saints also had a flamingo patch, but the Ebbets Field Flannels website isn’t offering it anymore.
    So here’s the Rays’ throwback version…
    link

    —Ricko

    My apolgoies, Chance. The first time I clicked on that link it went to the ’56 Marlins road jersey.

    Well, look at it this way, between the two of us we got it covered.

    —Ricko

    “What’s a ‘Beach Flamingo’?”

    A bird that often finds itself in conflict with the dreaded ham fighter.

    “ham fighter”

    Logo should be this guy wearing boxing gloves (for those who still enjoy “happy cartoon” logos, that is).
    link

    —Ricko

    Thanks, mothervilker, but I’m still confused.

    Are they Hams who fight?
    Or Fighters who fight against hams?
    Or maybe even hams who fight against one other? Y’know, like Monday Night RAW?

    Cuz from a logo design standpoint that kind of distinction’s pretty important.

    —Ricko

    Michigan players have been wearing the prototypes from the tight fabric that adidas sent them last year. none of the players liked them so adidas redid them and sent them some more to try out. in some other pictures i have seen a few players have a block M above the name plate but no name in the same fabric. im assuming that adidas just threw some together for the players to try for spring ball

    That would be my assumption as well. You can tell that’s a game jersey, and a TechFit game jersey at that, based on the sewn numerals and the cut and texture of the jersey itself. You’ll recall that Michigan was the lone team advertised to wear the TechFit jersey last season who did not actually wear it.

    My guess is that retaining the yellow trim on the body of the jersey would decrease mobility, thereby rendering moot the performance and comfort benefits of the TechFit jersey.

    …retaining the yellow trim on the body of the jersey would decrease mobility, thereby rendering moot the performance and comfort benefits of the TechFit jersey

    Indeed.

    It’s interesting to see the mix of different styles. I do hope the yellow trim goes away for good, though, as it really didn’t add anything. Thankfully, Michigan has had the good sense not to try that trim with the blue jerseys. There are some things you just don’t mess with…

    Assuming that’s mostly a style thing, is the useful application of that conceit to distinguish the base coaches from the baserunners?

    I figured maybe those were the only flapless helmets they had floating around the clubhouse. And maybe they just wore them cuz they thought they looked cool or sump’n…..perhaps this calls for a Uni Watch investigation.

    I realize they’re flapless and all, but maybe it also is partially to be certain they don’t get inadvertently stashed with the batting helmets?

    Related to that, if you were looking for yours, it certainly would be easy to spot on the bench (or wherever) in the dugout with its different color scheme.

    Just sayin’, might be convenience element in their somewhere.

    —Ricko

    More than likely it is to sell helmets. Ricko, do you know if they sell that tri-color helmet at the Twins’ stadium during games? I saw the Orioles’ tri-color hats for sale at a game there a few years ago, though not the helmet.

    I think in the case of the Twins it’s more about Mauer’s catching helmet than anyone wanting to look like Jerry White.

    —Ricko

    way to go with the jinx the jocks nitch…anyway got a sweet Oklahoma State tshirt there for only a $1 while in town for the Kansas v OSU football game last fall. Lawrence is a tremendous town.

    perhaps if they had spelled it “jock’s niche” and used trajan for the sign, they’d be selling final four shirts today

    perhaps if they hadn’t decided to name their store after a fungus it wouldn’t be bad luck?

    it was a “good, bad, and ugly” shirt with the good being Okstate, the bad KU, and OU being ugly. weird seeing that in lawrence. seems like the guy told us they dated back to big 8 days.

    The picture showing the Blue Jays’ first road uniform isn’t correct. For 1977 the Jays jerseys had “TORONTO” across the front in a solid Royal Blue version of that rounded font. The split version of “TORONTO” never appeared on the road jersey. In 1978 the solid lettering received a White outline. Starting in 1979 the Jays road shirts had split “BLUE JAYS” in White with a Royal Blue center. The uniform LaMacchia is holding could be a prototype.

    The first person to wear a Jays uniform could be outfielder Bob Bailor who was their first choice in the expansion draft and wore Number 1.

    The split version of “TORONTO” never appeared on a Blue Jays pullover road jersey but did finally show up in 1989 when they went to Grey button-front shirts.

    Excellent catch, Terry — I hadn’t noticed that in the photo!

    For those who aren’t grasping the nuances of what Terry’s saying, the photo shows the road jersey lettering with white inlining:
    link

    But the actual road jersey had solid lettering:
    link

    Most likely a prototype.

    yeah…mike (styczen) and mark figured out that mystery late last night (which explains why no one saw it)… the first year tornoto roads, as mentioned, were not split-lettering…the 1978 roads, as terry said, had solid toronto outlined in white and the rear numbers were SOLID — the only time in the entire run of that font that the numbers weren’t split

    Yup. The only version I could find.

    I too used to hate that original Blue Jays look back in the day; it was from the 1970s, it looked like a Disco font. But years later, it’s the best look they ever had given all the shit that followed.

    Wow, a uni like that would be really good for a team that was called the “Blue Jays” or something!

    Another look at that link with thinner letters.

    Wonder why they went away with the prototype’s style. Maybe it was an oversight by the manufacturer?

    My guess? The royal blue butting up against the powder blue probably started to “blur” a little over distance, the colors being in the same place on spectrum. That might have made the lettering appear to be skinny white letters with some kind of blue glow. Or, perhaps the white was so narrow the lettering seemed to go away altogther, leaving an kind of unreadable “smear” across the chest.

    So they opted for thicker royal edged in white.
    a) the “weight” helped retain definiton.
    b) the white edge separated the blues.

    Not the same problem on the homes, of course, because the royal was against white.

    —Ricko

    Can we all agree that the degeneration of the Toronto Blue Jays unis constitutes one of the saddest chapters in the history of design?

    ~~~

    funny thing…i hated that design when it came out, but it grew on me over time

    and by the late 90’s it seemed like that’s all they’d ever wear (and that was fine because it was just SOOOO toronto)

    once they ditched it for the shit they wear now, my appreciation for it only grew, to the point where now, looking back, it’s one of my favorite designs ever — not because it’s good — but because it was (and is) perfect for that franchise

    You might be right, but the unfortunate part is that the 1979 redesign made the lettering even less visible than either 1977 or 1978

    link

    Bailor was the first player drafted, but not the first Blue Jay. The first Jay was catcher Phil Roof, who was acquired from the White Sox in October ’76. Depending on how early the uniforms were available, Roof may have had that honour.

    Phil Roof, a class guy. He later managed my Rochester Red Wings under Minnesota’s watch. DYK that from 1977-83 the Blue Jays used Wilson for their home uniforms and Rawlings for the roads. For 1984 & ’85 they used Wilson for both. 1986 was back to the Wilson/Rawlings split sets. In 1987 they went to just Wilson for both sets where they stayed until 1996 when Russell did the home unis and Wilson the road and alternates.

    Watching the Braves/Twins game was horrible last night. I guess I understand the Braves not wanting to wear there “home” unis until the first official game at Turner Field, but c’mon. It was hard to watch the action. And though I love the Braves unis, just yet another example of there being too many blue/red color schemes in MLB.

    If it were up to me, all home & road jerseys, NOB on the alts wouldn’t appear until the regular season started; like how the Detroit Red Wings go with radical arched NOB in the preseason & switch to the more elegant vertically arched NOB for the regular season.

    Colors tops to me will never have the importance of the white home / gray road. But then again I was never a used car salesman & it isn’t my job to swindle people out of their money.

    “link“?

    Sorry, couldn’t resist. Just for the record, though, the Red Wings’ preseason NOBs are straight, in a serif font. The only radially-arched Wings jerseys are cheaply-produced replicas, although they’re usually of an older vintage (pre-2000s).

    In the sporting goods trade we always refer to arched letters that aren’t vertically arched as “regular arch.” Sometimes the simplest way is the clearest and easiest to understand. After all, it ain’t rocket science.

    Speaking of Red Wings, they are wearing white at home tonight against St. Louis.

    Yeah, watched part of Twins-Braves. Did look like an intrasquad game, practically.

    However, might be time to cue the famous Iverson video to remind us that Spring Training is…
    practice.

    Rule of thumb: If it’s possible that pitchers will be getting in their running on the warning track while the game is going on, we ought not take things all that seriously.

    Yeah, some games are on TV, but that’s far from the primary consideration.

    —Ricko

    For example, saw video of this team the other day…
    link
    …and some of the players on defense were wearing white pants and some on offense were wearing white pants.

    You’d think they have the white pants on one side of the ball or the other, for pete’s sake…

    Oh, wait. It’s practice. ;)

    (Don’t get me wrong, when MLB teams go, say, black jersey vs. blue jersey or something during regular season, I’ll be all over ’em like hair on soap).

    —Ricko

    Oh, sure. I’m not going to get THAT worked up over an exhibition game (though this is the place to do that, right?). But I AM a traditionalist, and I personally would always prefer the real jerseys over softball tops, spring training or not. Even if it’s an exhibition though, if it’s on television and going out to a significant number of people, you would think SOMEONE on one of the two clubs would have the foresight to stop and say, “hey… maybe two teams dressed in blue with red trim isn’t the best idea”. The Twins probably only packed on set of jerseys, but the Braves have no excuses.

    “There” instead of “their”, “on” instead of “one”… not sure what’s up with my typos today. Too bad we can’t edit our posts.

    Isn’t there an official rule that says that the home team will always wear white pants and the road team gray pants as a means of contrasting the two teams–esp if both of them wear a jersey color other than white or gray(especially true when both teams wear similarly colored batting practice jerseys)?

    Someone posted it here last summer.

    Says the home team is to wear white and the visiting team “a darker color”…or something vague like that. Don’t believe it mentions pants specifically.

    Bud Selig made a ruling related to that near the end of the 2010 season, didn’t he?

    —Ricko

    Even living in Wisconsin, following a pletora of Brewer blogs throughout the off season, and knowing people who work in the marketing department for the Crew, I have never seen that 10 year anniversary logo for Miller Park. I had asked my friends in the biz last year if they were going to do a 10 year anniversary logo, and they said they probably would, but had no plans yet (this was last summer). Oh well, Paul is right, it’s kind of a stinker. What’s up with that number font? Sheesh.

    I haven’t watched a Cubs game in a few years but is the Torco sign still up across the street? I don’t even know what Torco is/does but I always admired the sign: Just the all-caps TORCO surrounded by cheap aluminum fuzz, sort of like Christmas tree tinsel.

    Relevant to past discussions of an NCAA football playoff and the travel and expense issues for students and fans to visit multiple cities to follow teams as they advance…
    link

    —Ricko

    Obviously the lack of “marquee” teams is a factor.
    But there’s also the simple mathematics that a smaller school simply has a smaller consumer base from which to find enough supporters (fans, alumni, students) who have the time and money to follow their team weekend after weekend.

    Not trying to start a debate. Just adding to the data bank for the purpose of future pondering.

    —Ricko

    I’m not really sure how a “tickets are cheaper this year because no one really cares about the teams” article really relates to the football playoff discussion.

    If anything that’d indicate that the fans of the smaller schools would have less expenses than the fans of the larger ones.

    (Of course the whole fan traveling issue isn’t as much of a problem if you don’t insist on every playoff game being at a neutral site.)

    Mostly, I agree.

    But they don’t get cheaper last-minute airline tickets because they’re from smaller schools. Or lower hotel room rates, or lower prices on a gallon of gasoline.

    Much more to it than just ticket prices.

    Netural site games? I bring them up because most seem to think (in their oh-so-simple imagainary worlds) that the solution is to have, say, an 8- or 16-team field’s games replace the major bowls.

    Which, of course, just plain won’t work. Repeated and short-notice travel for ticket buyers being one of many valid considerations…and problems.

    That’s a core question that I think helps torpedo the idea of all neutral-site games for a large tournament field: How many people can afford to travel to places all around the country on week-to-week booking notice for conceivably four weekends…in December? Or would choose to even if they COULD afford it? You’ve got finals, the Holidays…

    Enough to maintain both a presence in the stadium AND keep ticket demand up?

    It sure is a question worth asking.

    —Ricko

    Make sure the regular season ends by the end of November. Top 8 ranked teams make the playoffs. Playoff teams are excluded from any bowl games (if Big 10 champ makes playoffs, Rose Bowl takes Big 10 #2, etc). First round, first week of December, top 4 seeds play at home. Second round, 2nd week of December, highest remaining seeds play at home. Time off for holidays. Continue to play all of the meaningless bowl games we already have, and play the Championship game on the 2nd Saturday of January.

    Something like that, yes. It still involves travel for one school’s fans in each game, but that’s a quantum improvement over placing that burden on BOTH schools week after week….and no different than any other regular season game.

    And, of course, additional home games are HUGE in terms of helping get tickets sold.

    But, yeah, trying to “incorporate the Bowls into the playoff” just flat won’t work.

    —Ricko

    How do most of those bowls draw now? I keep reading about how schools lose money by being forced to buy blocks of tickets that they can’t resell.

    Alumni contributions due to the exposure.
    Nobody heard the VCU AD say, about a week ago, that major alumni donations already were way up since the start of the tournament?

    —Ricko

    I’m sorry..
    the NUMBER of sizable alumni conributions.

    Nobody digs deep enough in the money path when they so quickly write off the bowls as “meaningless.”

    —Rick

    Woof, that’s a mouthful for a little league jersey. I thought wearing “RIB/ELKS” when I was 11 was bad enough.

    I may actually have to check on this when I get home..it may have been full company abbreviation OF + OrgOF..”RIBCo/ELKS”

    Isn’t there a rule somewhere about putting a busy pattern on top of another, contrasting, busy pattern?

    If I had to guess (last year I luckily guessed that they would go to ice cream man caps w/ navy or red brims & buttons), this year they’ll probably go to a navy cap with a red brim & button, the opposite in ’12, then inverted ice cream man caps in ’13. Tho as Ricko has pointed out before, there is no decent exit strategy for these.

    Maybe MLB can just come out and say that making their teams look like crap is no way to honor a country?

    I’d take that bet, because even the worst pillbox cap would still be pretty awesome, and as far as I can tell MLB’s entire design brief on the “patriotic” caps is, “Do not be in any way awesome.”

    I like the call on navy caps with red visors and squatchees. Only it’ll be that one very purplish shade of navy New Era likes to use that in no way matches any big-league team color.

    The trouble with pillbox hats, to my eye anyway, is that they make people look like Johnny Appleseed when he used his pot for a hat.
    link

    —Ricko

    Yes.

    Even the best pillbox hat would still be a pillbox hat, and that is one part of my past I don’t want to revisit.

    Now you wanna talk about soutache-y hats,
    link
    that’s more like it.

    “… Eephus League commish Bethany Heck has opened up an online shop full of Eephus merch. … ”

    ****

    The Eephus League site is pure gold. Honors tradition but cooly irreverent. Love that Hethany Beck — sorry, Bethany Heck.

    Also sorry about the old-guy grouchiness yesterday. My bib had slipped off, and the Home Health Aide spooned in the gruel with a lamentable carelessness.

    “Also sorry about the old-guy grouchiness yesterday. My bib had slipped off, and the Home Health Aide spooned in the gruel with a lamentable carelessness.”

    Ooo, I HATE when they happens. They always blame US for the mess, and then we don’t get extra jello.

    —Ricko

    No worries. You were more than justified in getting mad about both Chicago teams dropping your namesake pizza place.

    It is good pizza with lots of cheese, tho a little bland on the spices & light on sauce.

    What do you mean, “a little bland on the spices…”?! What are you, one of those losers raised on the spice-overload technique needed to disguise your mama’s cooking? And what’s with that “light on the sauce…” nonsense?! Why drown the sublime cheese thing we got going on?

    I’ll have to try it someday.

    Well from my pizza-going experience, Connie’s Pizza had to be the whitest pizza I have ever seen & I prefer some Italian seasonings & red pepper flakes on top or something link , & also Connie’s tend to be a heavy wad of cheese on top of a very dry & heavy dense crust. Not saying it’s bad or anything; in fact it’s one of my favorites when it comes to deep dish. Tho I prefer something a little closer to link. Yes, the very link scorned by Uni Watch.

    Hey Paul, I have a Pirates uniform question for you, seems like you get the inside info on these matters. Yesterday, you reported the Sunday home black pinstripe uniform has been abolished, which is good news.

    From your sources, does this mean the Bucs will revert to the the white 1960s style uniform for Sunday home games, or go with the black jersey alternates?

    Relating to the MLB uni preview, does anyone know if the Mariners are keeping their navy alts in addition to the teal, or is the teal a replacement for the navy?

    Thanks

    Also, in the early 90s my middle school team had a white/green/gold variation of the Sox beach blanket jersey. I know I have at least one pic of it somewhere – will have to see if I can dig that up.

    Don’t know if it counts for the “multiple teams memorializing the same player,” but the Charlotte Knights used the same patch as the Indians for Crews & Olen. They were the AAA affiliate at the time (Thome & Manny on the same team that year).

    This is also a borderline case, because it doesn’t involve two entire teams.

    Casey Stengel, who died in 1975, was honoured in 1976 by the Mets with a black armband on the bottom of their left sleeve. link

    But, unbelievably, the Yankees did nothing in commemmoration. So manager Billy Martin alone wore a black armband on his left sleeve.
    link

    In fairness, that was an era when teams didn’t think anyone who’d ever been associated with a team might need to be memorialzed upon their death.

    Not that any of those who’ve died weren’t valuable and wouldn’t be missed.

    Just that back then folks understood that sad things happen in life. Not like now when everyone seems so appalled to learn that, as the man said, “Nobody’s gettin’ outta here alive,” they have to make a big deal out of it.

    “OMG, we’re all gonna DIE someday??? Wait, we have to procees this somehow. What do we do? A patch? Yeah, a patch, that’s how we’ll come to grips with this terrible new concept.”

    —Ricko

    I’d rather see them come up with something new.

    ~~~

    because anything that was good from the past can’t possibly look good now?

    Me too.

    I did a logo (I can’t find) for them that was two interlocking wave-shaped M’s.
    I’ll see if I can find it. I like that version of the Marlin with the bat, though.

    Nah, people might say they were trying to look like the Mets…if the Mets were trying to look like the Mets, that is.

    —Ricko

    I seriously don’t want to see spoon/script on those unis.

    But “A” on the placket flanked by two “MI”s looks cool, I must admit.

    Reposted from yesterdays comments cause I’m still missing out on who asked for these:

    Someone (JTH? Vilk? IDK) requested these Royals throwbacks a while back but I forgot to post them:

    Red and Blue:
    Home link
    Road link

    Purple and Blue:
    Home link
    Road link

    Use that Red and Royal set?
    Admit that updating something from the past actually could look GOOD? Have some aesthetic value?

    Surely you jest. That’s like saying bookstores are worth holding onto now that we can kindle.

    (Great work, tho, Tim E.)

    —Ricko

    Is Kindle a verb now?

    Kindle – Kind-il – v.:
    1. To be so lonely as to need thousands of books in one handheld device while simultaneously being so boring as to eschew devices that can accomplish this feat and serve other functions.

    I think I requested the throwbacks in purple and blue. Reverse the colors and you’ve got it!

    But, it does increase the players’ inventory for the re-sale market.

    See? There’s some good in everything.

    (rpm should be here shortly to rebut)

    –Ricko

    Must be a big pic. Cuz that looks like it would great if you’re hidin’ out in a dish of potpourri.

    Seeing the video of the WFL game from the mid-70s makes me wonder if the home teams always wore white jerseys during their two-year existence. I have seen other websites with WFL pictures where the home team always had on white tops.

    Pretty much, yes. The WFL was primarily a “white at home” league. They wanted game attendees to have a bit more colorful experience each time.

    I was in the room when they talked about it.

    —Ricko

    It was that “colorful” home game experience that led to the NHL switching to white at home in 1970… only to reverse it in 2003 due to the proliferation of non-white third jerseys.

    As I said to the Queen, I’m no name-dropper.

    That’s my video linked there, by the way.

    Just saying I wasn’t making it up.
    Sometimes the source is yourself.

    Or, screw it, maybe I’ll just keep what I know to myself.

    —Ricko

    I still say…take a long hard look at those Fire helmets. Doesn’t it look like a capital NY with a long flowing tail for the Y?

    I’d say that, based on my personal experience, I can pretty much guarantee that’s just a coincidence about the Fire logo…but then I’d have to explain WHY I can say that, and someone would say I was being full of myself.

    So I guess someone with some real credibilty will just have to come along.

    —Ricko

    Oh, I have no doubt it was a coincidence. I just remember when I first saw WFL pictures in a magazine, before reading the caption, I said to myself, “That New York helmet looks pretty good.” Then I realized it was a flame.

    In the “who cares?” department…

    …did a little digging on the Bruins 1966-67 since I had heard that they might have possibly worn nothing but the white jersey (away AND home) that season.

    Using newspaperarchive as a source, the Lowell Sun in particular, I was able to track photos from 21 of the B’s 35 home games, and each game at the Boston Garden showed that the Broons wore for each one of them.

    While there are 14 games I didn’t get a pic from, one would think that if they wore gold or black at home at all that season (Bobby Orr’s rookie), it was a rare occurrence.

    So, it is very possible that Boston wore white for ALL 70 games in 66-67.

    I’ll check out 65-66 when I get a chance.

    LI Phil,

    A couple days ago, you responded to a post with a link concerning basic HTML and how to use it. I, of course, botched that up the first time I tried it, but did come to an understanding after another try. How can I do the same thing within an email. I’ve tried several times using Microsoft Outlook, but it seems like the parameters aren’t recognized outside of an actual webpage setting. Thanks for your thoughts.

    for most email now, you probably don’t need to know HTML coding — that’s pretty much passé nowadays

    if you have yahoo or gmail (and others work like this as well, i do believe), you will likely see a “link” (looks sorta like a sidewise paperclip) within your help icons — simply type your text, then highlight it…you’ll be prompted to insert the URL you want to hyperlink … insert it and click “OK” and voilà … you’ll have created a hyperlink in your email

    many of the newer programs allow this techinque as well, but if you want to create a hyperlink on UW, you need to know the old-school html

    Wow at that level of international soccer that’s quite a mixup. It’s weird because I always see pictures of how the equipment manager has everything lined up for all the players. The fact he’s wearing the world cup design smells of the player bringing the jersey with him. That’s really old school if the players have control of their unis. Weird.

    Remember that Salt Lake City Golden Eagles minor league hockey uniform with the HORIZONTAL sock stripes?

    The jersey went for $5,826 in the online auction!!!!!

    link

    -Jet

    Lakers need to have the drop shadow numbers.

    The Knicks need a whole new-old-timey look.

    “Lakers need to have the drop shadow numbers.”

    Agree to disagree.

    “The Knicks need a whole new-old-timey look.”

    elaborate…

    I think he means that when we think of the unis of Stumpy Goodrich and Elgin Baylor and Zeke from Cabin Creek and the Big Dipper, those dimensional numbers are part of the image that comes to us.

    —Ricko

    Update the tiled look of Johnnie Green and Willie Naulls…
    link

    Maybe bigger tiles. More like what Marquette as done. Or Temple football.

    Not to the degree of that card. Maybe just up side of the trunks and jersey. Done with restraint (which actually is kinda your trademark, Tim E.), could be interesing.

    —Ricko

    Interesting updated Knicks look, to be sure.
    If the home waistband were white would be some kinda seriously minimalist, wouldn’t it.

    And maybe a little too SOD. Or maybe not.

    (btw, my point about the dropshadow Laker numbers was only that we’re accustomed to seeing them, so we notice the difference right away, not that total throwbacks would be better that your concept).

    —Ricko

    “(btw, my point about the dropshadow Laker numbers was only that we’re accustomed to seeing them, so we notice the difference right away, not that total throwbacks would be better that your concept).”

    Thats a good point, and my response may have been harshened (that’s not a word) by the lack of tone on the intertube but all I meant to suggest was, while that may be what you think of, when you see that elsewhere you can recognize the ugly

    link

    Some very nice looking unis there, Tim! I’m a bit surprised, though, that I missed the part about the Lakers breaking out the short shorts with their throwbacks.

    “And while I’ve gone back mostly to the old set, I didn’t go all the way back (no one wants to see this).”
    link
    Call me No One, then, ’cause there’s nothing wrong with those shorts.

    The problem is the looseness vs the tightness. Bynum just looks turrible.

    And I posted the links to the Royals with purple as the main color, up above.

    To be fair, the script Chicago i used was from the White Sox. i couldn’t find a large enough image of the Bulls’ version to fit in the template…

    The (reborn, more or less) Ft. Lauderdale Strikers unveiled their uniforms last night:

    link

    Compare to last year’s crap throwbacks and the originals:

    link

    Why can’t stripes go all the way around jerseys or shoulders anymore?

    Paul; Since you’re planing a “Purple Amnesty” day in May will those of us who have been waiting for that day to come get “grandfathered” at the $15 membership price?

    By the beard of Zeus! If I had more notice, I would have flown home to attend the Brooklyn Beefsteak! That would have been an awesome birthday present to myself! (April 11th). Oh well, I’ll just have to keep my eyes peeled for the next one.

    -C

    So are these “beefsteaks” a NJ-NY regional thing? Or maybe even the east coast? I had never heard of them before Uniwatch. You’d think a good midwestern city like Chicago, Omaha or Kansas City would have them as well. I’d really like to attend one that isn’t 800 miles away.

    Whoa, some guy pitching for the Boston Red Sleeves is wearing going high cuffed with red socks tonight. What a novel idea!

    —Ricko

    Headline on AOL Homepage…

    “CIA Deploys Covert
    Teams in Libya”

    Well, not so covert NOW.

    —Ricko

    so…”no boots on the ground” was bullshit?

    why am i not shocked in the least?

    (or do the covert-ops guys wear loafers, so technically, he’s not lying?)

    Here’s a new one: a dispute over who owned the trademark to the Wichita Wings has been resolved by having the old and new owners share the trademark…and the new team will be known as…Wichita Wings 2.

    Insert Electric Boogaloo joke here.

    link

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