A Visit to the Little League Museum

Did you know there’s a Little League museum out in Williamsport, Pennsylvania? I guess it makes sense, but I hadn’t been aware of its existence until reader Sam Sharp sent me a bunch of photos that he took during a recent visit. I like a lot of these quite a bit, so let’s take a closer look, beginning with this Canadian uni (you can click on all of these images to see larger versions):

What I especially like about this uniform is the piping on the belt tunnels — rare for a youth uni. Wish we could get a better look at the piping across the shoulders, though.

Here’s a very similar jersey — maybe even the exact same stock model — that was worn by a team from Pennsylvania:

Love that swinging batter at the base of the swash. How cool would it be if a big league team did that today? Eh, but they’d probably mess it up by showing the hitter wearing pajama pants.

And here’s yet another version of this same basic design, this time with the Little League logo at the base of the swash:

Next up is a team that wore its sponsor — Lundy Lumber — on the front of the jersey:

Oddly enough, I saw a vintage youth jersey with this same exact color pattern — red and light sea green — during my recent trip to Cleveland. I initially assumed that the green had originally been darker and that it had faded over the years, but now I’m wondering if the lighter green was a standard color back in the 1950s.

I really like these displays of old gloves and helmets:

Just goes to show how much you can achieve with simple fishing line, right?

Always good to see stirrups represented in a museum like this:

Softball is also represented at the museum, as you can see in this uniform:

Here’s an unusual satin cap, with a good story behind it:

“It was handmade and worn in Poland after the fall of communism,” says Sam. “The exhibit said all players wore different hats, essentially just what their moms could make.”

And here’s one more cap — a rather nondescript one, at least at first glance:

So what’s the significance of this cap? “It was the hat worn Lycoming Dairy, the winner of the first Little League World Series,” says Sam.

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Collector’s Corner

By Brinke Guthrie

With Super Sunday fast approaching, we’re leaning toward the Giants and the Pats in this week’s edition of Collector’s Corner.
We’ll kick off with this nice-looking 1970s Patriots helmet buggy, still in the package. Some yellowing on the decal, which is to be expected given its age. We’ve also got a 1970s, Patriots helmet pencil sharpener. Is that Bert Jones on the card?

Running down the rest of this week’s finds:

• PL, check the collar tag in this 1960s Giants sideline jacket.

• Before Bill Belichick became known as Angry Homeless Hoodie Man, he displayed a clean-cut stylish look, as you can see in this framed photo and this ad for Starter.

• Here’s a totally rad New York Giants candy dish.

• Patriots fans can light things up with this 1970s light switch plate. I wanna say that’s Earl Campbell in that graphic.

• This 1970s Giants helmet plaque from Placo looks to be in excellent shape. Hang it next to this 1960s Giants poster by Dave Boss.

• Here’s something you don’t often see: a 1970s Giants cork board (feels like a Sears item to me, although the listing makes no mention of that). And this Giants push pin with the oft-maligned 1975-only “NY” logo pairs nicely with it.

• And just to toss a bone to the non-football fans out there, two Red Sox-related items from reader Warren Junium: an ATM sign from Fenway Park, and a custom-made Theo Epstein guitar.

Seen something on eBay or Etsy (or anywhere else) that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here.

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PermaRec update: If you read the original Slate articles last fall, you’ll definitely want to check out the latest news on the Permanent Record blog.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: The Astros aren’t changing their name after all. ”¦ Some good gossip about upcoming uni tweaks for the Seahawks. And some follow-up info here. … This is pretty amazing: The NFL’s own iPhone app used the outdated conference logos for its Pro Bowl scoreboard. “Can Chad Bengal fine Roger Goodell for this?” asks Caldwell Bailey. … New uniforms for the Chunichi Dragons (from Jeremy Brahm). … Bob Ludlum, along with his son and nephew, created a really nice miniature Giants gridiron on his front lawn. “Took less than three hours of work, although the three trips to Lowe’s for paint added some time,” he says. … Responding to yesterday’s info on glass cutter gloves in the CFL, Jason Cutts writes: “I think the website you were looking at was a bunch of Saskatchewan homers patting themselves on the back. I believe the first CFL player to wear glass cutters was Dave Sapunjis. Another fun fact: The technology was patented, where nylon was applied to the back of the gloves, and they were called cutters. It’s true that Flutie brought the gloves to the NFL and many Buffalo receivers started wearing them. I recall hearing that the NFL bought out the patent after being sued or at least threatened.” … Joel Hackler recently attended a local semi-pro basketball game in Bloomington, Illinois, and one of the teams — the Sauk Valley Predators — had sleeved undershirts with a pattern to match the shorts. Pretty slick for semi-pro. … New college lacrosse uniforms for Denver (from Nick Coppola). … There’s increasing progress on the initiative to lift FIFA’s ban on hijabs for female soccer players (from Morris Levin). … Good article/slideshow on the evolution of cheerleaders (thanks, Brinke). … “Pumas UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico by the Spanish acronym) is celebrating 50 years of playing in Mexico’s soccer top division,” says Omar Jalife. “To commemorate that, they made a retro jersey with smaller sponsorship. They removed the iconic Puma from the chest, since the big Puma is from later on. That’s why you will see only the U on the chest.” … Excellent slideshow of the Cardinals’ birds on the bat here (from Gary Moore). … I don’t ever remember seeing Mike Ditka wearing a Bears logo on his slacks until now. The funny thing is, that’s almost the same spot where the Cubs wear a logo on their road pants, so maybe it’s a Chicago thing (Brinke again). … Matt Shepardson was watching an old episode of the original, Japanese-produced version of Iron Chef from the 1990s (or as we like to call here at Uni Watch HQ, Iron Chef before Iron Chef sucked) and noticed something odd: Iron Chef Thai was wearing a T-shirt with an NBA sleeve logo. … The Indiana Ice wore Indianapolis Checkers throwbacks last Friday (from Nile Smith). … Aaron Scher took a bunch of photos during a recent visit to the Lake Placid Olympic museum. … UTEP hoops will wear a “noche Latina” jersey this Saturday (from Chris Avila). … Oh baby, look at the amazing sock stripes that the Marshall hoops team wore in 1961. Click through all the thumbnails in the right-hand column for the full delicious effect (mega-thanks to Brice Wallace). … Bizarre find by Andrew Levitt, who writes: “I discovered a 1991 video game that features the Reebok Pump! It’s called Drac’s Night Out by Parker Brothers (“The Game That Pumps You Up”) for the Nintendo Entertainment System, although it was never released officially. You play as Dracula, using his Reebok Pumps to walk to his girlfriend’s house to suck her blood, and no, I’m not joking.” … A huge haul of vintage NFL pom-pom caps here (from Jeff Flynn, Jr.). ”¦ The NFL will take out a house ad during the Stupor Bowl to address the issue of player safety and proper equipment. ”¦ Meanwhile, with the Stupor Bowl in town, Indianapolis is awash in Roman numerals (from Rob Wheeler). ”¦ Mike Menner wore a Minneapolis Millers throwback jacket to TwinsFest last weekend. “Upon seeing my jacket, a ticket rep told me that the Twins were planning to wear Millers throwback jerseys a couple times this season. He said dates hadn’t been set, but maybe in late June and again after the All-Star break. He also said they would like to get Willie Mays (a onetime Miller) to come to Target Field.” ”¦ How about a nice flannel suit? They take away that “Tired Feeling” — you know (thanks, Kirsten). ”¦ New preseason uniform for the Rakuten Golden Eagles. “First time I’ve seen that for a Japanese baseball team,” says Jeremy Brahm. ”¦ Also from Jeremy: New logo for the Richmond Tigers of the Australian Football League. ”¦ Fascinating story about whether a guy who paints and sells scenes of Crimson Tide football needs to have a license. Recommended reading. ”¦ Amusing typo on LeSean McCoy’s Pro Bowl T-shirt (good spot by David Ryan). ”¦ Stop whatever you’re doing — seriously, stop right now — and watch this video of a five-year-old child reacting to corporate brand logos. Guaranteed to be the most charming two and a half minutes you’ll spend today (über-thanks to James McNamara):