There’s No Service Like Wire Service, Vol. 27

I have a big backlog of uni-notable wire photos, so let’s clear out of a bunch of them today. Almost all of these are from the Sporting News archives, and all were submitted by Mike Hersh. At the risk of getting a letter from the Bud Light legal team, here we go:

• This shot of Carmen “Specs” Hill, circa 1918, provides a good view of the Pirates’ front chest pocket.

• Whoa, check out the amazing striped cardigans worn by the San Francisco Seals. That’s Joe D., natch.

• As we noted earlier this week, the Sporting News sponsored its own baseball team back in the mid-1930s. Plus they also had a groovy delivery truck, their own line of baseball books, and spiffy vendors’ outfits.

• Guess there was no mistaking the Cuban team in this 1939 international tournament.

• Speaking of Cuban baseball, what’s going on here? The caption tells the story.

• You don’t often see Jimmie Foxx donning the tools of ignorance. That shot is from 1940.

• Add a new entry to the list of minor league teams that wore shorts: the 1952 El Centro Imperials. According to the caption, they were the second team, after the Hollywood Stars, to go shorts-clad.

• So much to like in this shot. Minor league ball, a cool bus, Wisconsin, and steak!

• Hoo baby, dig this awesome Rochester Royals uni! The Kings need to resurrect that as a throwback, pronto.

• Here’s Sammy Baugh and his New York Titans coaching staff. Not sure I’ve seen that cap before.

• And we’ll wrap up with one color shot, of Bob Jeter of the Packers. I can never get enough of those uni-numbered hats, and I’ll take one of the pullovers, please, too.

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Blue Jay Way, continued: In case you missed it yesterday, we had a really good examination of the evolution of the Blue Jays’ 1977 road uni design. One question left unanswered by that investigation was whether the Jays changed their “Toronto” wordmark from split to solid lettering at the end of spring training or after their first road trip. But now reader Cork Gaines has found a photo from the team’s second road game, which was played in Chicago on April 16, 1977. It’s a crummy microfilm image, but it appears to show solid lettering, so it looks like the Jays made the change in time for their first road trip. Great job by everyone to help untangle this history mystery!

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Bracket contest results: After crunching the numbers, Vince reports that our top five winners are as follows:

1. PYT, by Prashant

2. Yankee Tank’s Bracket, by Adam

3. Barron, by Barron Calvert

4. Spring Training, by Mark

5. Goblue, by Joseph S

These five winners get to choose from the prizes listed here and should get in touch with me to claim their prizes (top winner gets first choice, second place gets next choice, etc.). The prizes not chosen will be offered again for the annual reader-appreciation raffle in December.

My thanks to all who entered, and to Vince for running the contest again.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Good for Tim Lincecum, who went high-cuffed yesterday. But no orange stripes? According to a small item on this page, Lincecum thinks the stripes “make you look shorter, [and] that’s something I don’t need.” … Another day, another Nats snafu. Hell, it’s only the date of Opening Day, no biggie. ”¦ Notice any difference between the men’s and women’s NCAA championship T-shirts? Hint: The school sponsored by Adidas didn’t get saddled with logo creep (as noted by Michael Kinney). ”¦ A.J. Frey notes that SNY apparently never got the memo about the Ducks changing their name. ”¦ Holy moly, look at this amazing old Stall & Dean baseball uniform. Be sure to check out all the photos — so many great details! ”¦ And here’s something you rarely see: an old jersey with button-on sleeve attachments. Note the unusual style of the rear yoke, too. ”¦ Congrats to our own Robert Marshall, who supplied stirrups for the Visalia Rawhide. Miserable team name notwithstanding, that’s one tremendous jersey. ”¦ Here’s an impressively obsessive project: Documenting the Nikes worn by Jerry Seinfeld. “Regardless of what anyone thinks about Nike or Seinfeld, this is pretty cool,” says Shane Enos. “And you have to appreciate the amount of work that had to go into this.” Agreed, on all counts. ”¦ Good story about John Buck’s uniform number (with thanks to Tom Mulgrew). ”¦ Turns out that that new TCU helmet just a new option, not a replacement. That news is buried within this page. Key passage: “The new set of uniforms and helmet simply provide us with another option on what to wear each game. We now have four sets of uniforms and four different helmets, including our traditional helmet with the Frog, our new one and the two from the Pro Combat series” (with thanks to Chris Mycoskie). ”¦ “Decided to go all-out for this year’s Brewers home opener,” writes Jason Loomis. “Then of course the local news media spotted me and mocked me on Twitter. Go figure.” ”¦ Here’s a great find: video of the A’s first-ever game wearing the green and gold. Lots of other fun details, too (big thanks to Chris Falvey). ”¦ Here’s a beaut: The 49ers are looking for a naming-rights sponsor for a stadium that doesn’t exist (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ The Nats were on the road last night, but Brad Dugan notes that Pudge Rodriguez was wearing a red — i.e., home — catcher’s helmet. ”¦ Here’s something I never knew: Back in the late 1970s, Vanderbilt baseball wore Pittsburgh Pirates-inspired uniforms (with thanks to Lee Wilds).