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Another Uni Watch Exclusive: Watch the Squatch

Yesterday I mentioned that the Mets and White Sox would be debuting a new uniform element — one that has never previously appeared on an MLB diamond — in their respective Grapefruit League openers on Monday.

Several readers who were watching the White Sox game came close to spotting the detail in question. But nobody nailed it until an hour into the Mets game, when Jeff Ciprioni posted the following comment: “It looks like the squatchee on the Mets’ helmet is raised a little bit? Like it’s glued on?”

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! That’s right — the Mets and Chisox are wearing real 3-D helmet squatchees, instead of the flat vinyl dots that are typically used to simulate the squatchees. Here are some close-ups (click to enlarge):

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It’s minor miracle that Jeff managed to see the squatchees. I knew about them in advance but had a hard time seeing them myself. As you can see in these screen shots I made, the 3-D aspect doesn’t exactly jump off the screen:

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The problem, I think, is that the squatchees aren’t raised enough. You can see the difference between a cap squatchee (very prominent) and the new helmet squatchee (much more subtle) in this shot:

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The idea for the helmet squatchees came from Mets equipment manager Kevin Kierst, who asked Pro Helmet Decals honcho David Sulecki if he could make them. “I said, ‘Sure, I don’t think that would be a problem,'” recalls Sulecki. “Then I hung up the phone and thought to myself, ‘How the hell am I going to do that?’ I called a friend of mine who’s been in the printing business for many years and he steered me in the right direction for a polyurethane doming process.”

Sulecki thought other teams might be interested, so he sent samples to all MLB teams and a few NCAA programs. The White Sox and the University of Tennessee are the only takers so far. “Steve Vucinich from the A’s called and asked if there was any benefit to using them or are they just for aesthetic purposes,” says Sulecki. “I told him Kevin made a good point in saying that the buttons could possibly help against abrasions to the top of the helmet if the helmet’s turned over.” (Vucinich was apparently unmoved by this argument, because he tells me that he has no immediate plans to use the squatchees.)

Practical utility notwithstanding, I like the helmet squatchees, although I’d like them even more if they were a smidge higher. The flat decals have always looked cheap and bogus to me, but putting a “real” button (which isn’t actually a button, but you know what I mean) on the helmet lends a nice feeling of substance. Sudden thought: Will catchers wear them on their catching helmets? The center strap of the mask might end up dislodging the squatchee.

Someone out there is probably saying, “This is stupid — it’s a solution to a non-problem.” A reasonable point, but consider this: Cap squatchees don’t serve any function to begin with — they’re just decorative. So if you don’t have any problem with those, why would you have a problem with a helmet squatchee? It really comes down to how much you want the helmet to resemble the cap. Remember, the first helmets, which were worn by the Pirates, were flocked, to mimic the fuzzy look of a wool cap. Obviously, helmet design has parted ways with cap design in many important ways since then (earflaps, Cool Flo vents, etc.), but the helmet is still essentially an armored cap. And since caps have squatchees, why not helmets?

But there’s no point in doing it if nobody except Jeff Ciprioni can see them. Make them higher! I mentioned that to Sulecki during last night’s game, and he responded, “I’ll ask Kevin to see if he’d want them higher. Like you, this is the first time I’ve seen them on TV. They’re something new, so we’re still experimenting with them. Maybe something like this?”

Meanwhile, a few other notes from yesterday’s spring training action:

•  Nats prospect Steve Lombardozzi has one doozy of an NOB. Good thing he has the skinniest uni number out there. What would they do if he wore, say, No. 38?

•  Mets pitcher Miguel Batista was wearing blue undersleeves — literally. Not sure I’ve ever seen that on a pitcher before. Then again, I wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t raised his arms like that, so maybe it’s more common than we realize.

• The Phillies’ broadcasters were wearing spring training polo shirts.

• David Robertson of the Yankees has always gone high-cuffed, but yesterday he was wearing stirrups, instead of his usual solid socks.

• No photo, but I’m told that Yanks catcher Francisco Cervelli was wearing stirrups as well.

(My thanks to all contributors, including Aaron Kusch, Michael Romero, Tyler Johnson, Dave Battafarano, and of course Phil.)

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Stands for Noxious Bullshit Advertising: The other big uni news from yesterday is that the NBA is considering adding jersey ads and may vote on the issue as soon as next month.

A few gazillion people sent me that link yesterday, mostly accompanied by all sorts of “The end is nigh!” doomsaying. But if you actually read the story, there’s no there there. Look, it’s right in the lede graf: “The sticky issue will be debated, if not voted on, at the next board of governors meeting in April.”

In other words, they’re gonna talk about it. No duh — they’ve been talking about it for years now. This article is just the latest in a long series of trial balloons that have been put out there to see how much push-back there is. You can tell as much from the key quote in the story, which comes from Golden State president and COO Rick Welts: “I am not suggesting this is an easy issue, but I feel like it is inevitable.”

That’s crap, and Welts knows it. If it were inevitable, he wouldn’t need to give a quote like that — they’d just vote on it and we’d be seeing MasterCard ad patches on Dwyane Wade’s ass by Christmas. But it isn’t that simple — Welts is worried about backlash, so he’s trying to create the air of inevitability by saying it’s inevitable. Like, if he says it enough times and nobody objects, then it starts to become true, a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Ah, but lots of people do object, including many of you who are reading this. And that’s why it’s important not to let these trial balloons fly overhead unmolested — they need to be shot down. Set up a “No NBA Uniform Ads!” Facebook page, send out lots of tweets to @NBA or your favorite team (or @Warriors, if you want to send a message to Welts), with the hashtag #nouniformads, and so on. Do it today. Stop reading this and do it right now.

It’s worth noting, incidentally, that the article doesn’t even pretend to offer the usual nonsense about how uniform ad revenue “could help defray increasing expenses” or “could help a team hold the line on ticket prices” or any of that rot. Instead, it just says, “Jersey ads are one of the last pieces of inventory that club marketers haven’t been able to sell.” Take a second to think about how gross that statement is. It basically translates to, “We’ve already pimped out all our sisters and cousins, plus a few aunts, and even Mom. But now we’re finally gonna pimp out Grandma.” Congratulations.

This is simple greed, the end. Don’t let the fuckers get away with it.

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Collector’s Corner

By Brinke Guthrie

CC is all baseball this week, as spring training swings into full action in Arizona and Florida. We’ll kick things off with this 1977 “Tequila Sunrise” Houston Astros scorecard cover. If only the illustrator had included the rainbow-striped stirrups.

In other eBay finds:

• To all those stirrups fans here, and you know who you are, check this early-1970s Pirates look. [Wow, that’s gorgeous. My-t-pricey, though. ”” PL]

• Here’s a super “Salada” coin set for the 1962 Mets.

• Where do the Red Sox hang out? On WJAR 920, every game.

• Here’s a great Jim Beam decanter for MLB’s 100th anniversary in 1969.

• Check out the Pete Rose caricature on this 1970s T-shirt.

• You too can look like a blood clot with this throwback 1974 Indians jersey.

• Mama Mia, will you look at this 1968-1969 era set of MLB pins, courtesy of reader Mike Hersh.

• Staying with MLB logos, there’s a lot of ’em on this 1970s kids’ leather belt.

• Even more logos all over this late 1970s MLB/Japan tour poster.

• You’re a big leaguer (says so on the side) with this 1950s St. Louis Cardinals/Chevy dealer glass.

• And from reader Nick Schiavo, here’s a Binghamton Mets jersey with a Binghamton Senators hockey theme.

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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I wrote a short ESPN piece yesterday about the NBA’s Noche Latina jerseys.

Also, there’s a new entry over on Permanent Record.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Handballs don’t bounce as well in cold weather, so players in a New York neighborhood have come up with a novel solution: boiling the balls before using them. They call the resulting game “steamball.” ”¦ Ryan Connelly has removed the Reebok logo creep from his latest Invaders jersey project. … Man, the Chargers used to have some massive uni numbers. Rocky Lum found that photo on an AFL blog I hadn’t seen before. Lots of good imagery on that site, and the guy who runs it appears to have a lot of interesting projects going on. Recommended. … Can’t believe it’s taken me until now to link to a photo of Beren Academy, the Jewish high school basketball team from Texas that wears Yarmulkes on the court. Also of note: Beren Academy’s opponent in the recent state championship finals, Abilene Christian, follows the common Texas sports trope of wearing the state flag on their jersey (from Brad Blunt). ”¦ Fun one from Andrew Levitt: “While babysitting, I noticed that early in the 1999 movie Elmo In Grouchland, Elmo has two copies of the same Tiger Woods photo in his bedroom — one on a poster and one in a photo-frame. Considering the year of the movie, it was easy to figure out that the photo was from the 1996 U.S. Amateur.” … Love the chain-stitched uni number on Teddy Ballgame’s stirrup. Nice Schiavo shot that photo during a recent visit to Cooperstown. … Josh Jacobs notes that Michigan is an Adidas school for most sports, yet they wear Reebok for hockey — but Adidas sells this Michigan hockey T-shirt. Granted, Reebok and Adidas are the same company, but you never see this kind of cross-branding in the NBA (Adidas) or the NHL (Reebok). … Rich Rutherford was watching the Portland news on KGW the other night and spotted a particularly egregious typo. … My Page 2 colleague Jim Caple’s recent ranking of MLB uniforms has resulted in a backlash from Padres fans. … Some Sens fans miss the old black alts (from Chris Flinn). … Here’s another weird Pirates cap. My first thought was “mesh panel,” but the shape of the see-thru area is so odd. Anyone know more? (Thanks, Brinke.) ”¦ Tim E. O’Brien was looking through an online archive and spotted some uni-noteworthy White Sox photos. ”¦ Edward Lindsey Hall III reports that Samme Givens of Drexel has an “Sa. Givens” NOB, even though there’s no other Givens on the Drexel roster. ”¦ Love the hoop-striped socks being worn by Sweden’s AIK. Meanwhile, note that their opponents, the Portland Timbers, are wearing at least three different shoe colors — not good (from Phil Amaya). ”¦ Buncha interesting stuff from Erik Morris, as follows: (1) Erik attends Johnson University, which just changed its name form Johnson Bible College. You can see an old-school “JBC” crest — among lots of other uni-notable details — in this old football photo, which Erik says is hanging in one of the school’s buildings. (2) At a flea market, Erik recently came across this Braves jacket. If you click on the last thumbnail you’ll see that the inner lining actually has a little description of the team’s mid-century uni history. (3) Another flea market find: these cool MLB mugs.

 
  
 
Comments (237)

    Those new templated practice/spring training jerseys would look so much better on the NOB-wearing teams if they either eliminated the contrasting-color collar portion, or made it large enough that the NOB part could be on that portion with the number on the main portion. The Buffalo Sabres used to do this and it looked link.

    As it is, it just makes poor link because the edges of his name are looping all the way around the sides of the number

    (Also, make the letters shorter and thinner. The Nats’ massive letters are verging on ’70s-Cincinnati teritory. Or, better yet, dump NOBs entirely.)

    Uh, what makes you think they’re backwards? The text on Tiger Woods’ hat is facing the right way in the large pic, and the poster/picture in the screenshot are the same orientation.

    Good catch! But the backwards alphabet poster is actually a reflection in a mirror.

    In regards to the Michigan and the whole ADIDAS/REEBOK situation. Reebok is actually a brand under Adidas.

    link

    Wisconsin does the same thing. It must be fairly recent as the hockey jerseys were Adidas a few years ago.

    My bad. Should have realized you would have know that lol. Anyways yeah it is odd. My guess is that since Reebok (and CCM) is more the hockey company than Adidas is, they want anything hockey uni related with the Reebok logo on it (like the NHL) and anything else like tshirts, shorts etc to have the Adidas logo. Either way as odd as it is, 1 company is reaping the benefits from it all

    Michigan wore Adidas wordmarks on their hockey gear through last season, and everything was switched over to Reebok this year. They were one of the last (if not -the- last) Adidas hockey programs to make the switch, but did so because Adidas wanted all of their hockey operations to be under the Reebok moniker. Mass confusion ensued, but as has been pointed out, it’s all the same company anyway. The only thing that changed was what was embroidered/screened on the stuff. Since hockey gets new equipment, top to bottom, every single year, it was easy to transition it out.

    My guess is that the t-shirt in question is just something that slipped through the cracks, or is simply a remnant of the pre-switch. It’s just fan gear anyway.

    It should also be pointed out, that aside from the boatload of money Adidas threw our way, it’s been a rather unpopular switch. The shade of maize they’ve been using is wrong (and will be corrected in the offseason to make it uniform across the entire athletics program), there have been some issues with the football gear, and the kids seem to all want Nike anyway. When the contract comes up in a few years, wouldn’t be shocked in the least if Michigan quickly became a Nike school again.

    what black sens alts?

    re: michigan puck wearing reebok…if reedidas are basically one company, and the nhl all wear reebok, is it really that odd that the puck team would wear the vector? it’s not like they’re a swooshie school wearing UA or something

    Especially since Adidas has such a wall between its brands that it reserves the trefoil logo for “lifestyle branding” and won’t put it on most throwbacks.

    Wonder if Senator fans really miss the ‘SENS’ unis or if it was just the two ladies in the picture. I prefer the striped ‘O’ uni they wore much more than the black ‘SENS’. Much like the Tampa Bay ‘BOLTS’ uni, not a fan of those either.

    I agree. I don’t have any problem with local media calling them the sens or the bolts, but those should never make it onto the uniforms. I’m not crazy about the PHX uniforms, but for some reason Cavs is ok. D-Backs is only marginally offensive. But again Sens and Bolts is really pushing the boundaries.

    The Pirates hat reminds me of the old Fenway Park ushers hats, which were totally mesh on top. And the old guys were often bald, so they’d put a piece of paper inside (often wetted, for coolness) to protect them from the sun. Might this be something similar that doesn’t quite fill up the whole mesh region?

    I’m pretty sure the Rick Reuschel cap was mesh; I seem to remember a shot of Jim Leyland, possibly on a baseball card, wearing a similar cap.

    I’m not surprised that they went the cheap route in spring training. Hell, I can remember seeing their AA team in Lynn, MA wearing leftover giveaway caps that had tags with a Coca-Cola logo. (I sat right behind the dugout/bench.)

    Some of the early synthetic fabrics were REALLY hot. Held in body heat like crazy. I always figured one of the reasons the majority of teams wore meshbacks in spring training back then was, quite literally, for ventilation purposes.

    Doesn’t forgive the “bucket look” of pillboxes, though. Damn, those things were gastly looking if the profile got just a little too high. Looked the damn Cat in the Hat.

    Hey, BF, was that Lynn AA club the Lynn Sailors? I caught a few of their games in the early 1980s… Great scene!

    Lynn Pirates, who were the last desperate attempt to keep the Eastern League in Lynn. Their unis were hand-me-down Pirates, and the caps were black pillbox Pirate caps.

    I don’t see the blue field and white star on the “Texas flag” on Abilene Christian’s jerseys. Maybe they’re celebrating Polish heritage.

    I thought the same thing, but I googled other photos and it is definitely the Texas flag.

    RE: “Here’s another weird Pirates cap. My first thought was “mesh panel,” but the shape of the see-thru area is so odd. Anyone know more?”

    This picture was posted in a previous Uni Watch posting:
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    In the Comments for that section, Dwayne noted: “Rick Reuschel is wearing a Spring Training mesh pillbox hat on that Topps card.”

    Here’s another related Spring training pillbox cap mention in a previous Uni Watch posting:

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    Paul noted, “…here’s the most intriguing photo of the batch… I’d never seen or heard anything about this “air-conditioned” mesh cap design before. Judging by the photo date, it looks like the Reds were experimenting with it during spring training. Anyone know if they ever used it during the regular season, and/or if any other teams ever tried anything similar?”

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    Matt commented: “THe reds cap reminded me of the 1986 Pirates baseball cards, which I assume were taken in Spring Training 1985. The ols Pillbox caps were also all mesh.” …and posted a link to a card with Mike Bielecki wearing one:

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    “Fruit-Flavored Squatchees! Peel ’em! Eat ’em! Stick ’em!Lick ’em!! Kids Love ’em!!”

    (not available in lime or grape)

    i anticipate a flood of “____’s squatchee fell off last night! ____ has no squatchee!” comments during the season.

    The Pickelhaube started with the Prussians and eventually became popular among many armies. Perhaps use of the helmet squatchee will follow a similar path.

    really though, if the NBA went to corporate ads on jerseys, who would care? It’s the NBA, they damn near lockedout the whole season.
    Also, about the helmet buttons, if the 1st and 3rd base coaches are required to wear batting helmets (it’s newly required here in Louisiana High Schools) why not have them look like a cap?

    cause the trend might spill over into a real sport.

    hey, if NBA players want to act like clowns, and play like clowns… why not look like clowns? why don’t the owners start by putting advertising patches on their suits though? they’re the idiots paying these idiots…

    why not look like clowns?

    Cue the Miami Heat Sponsored By McDonald’s jerseys…

    Yeah cause we all know that soccer, baseball, hockey, and capital “F” Football never have any kind of buffoonery among the players, no siree no hint of impropriety from those leagues.

    “really though, if the NBA went to corporate ads on jerseys, who would care?”

    That’s just the wrong attitude to have. Might as well put ads on school buses, classroom walls & textbooks, museums, streets, sidewalks & buildings. Not everything needs to be whored out for the Almighty Dollar for the sake of more revenue. It’s greedy and lame. There’s also of not selling out one’s principles to some asshole corporation.

    Not everything needs to be whored out for the Almighty Dollar for the sake of more revenue.

    For cripes sake, can we please get off the high-and-mighty “greed” angle? I’m with you on some examples (e.g., schools), but for professional sports unis this is an aesthetic point, plain and simple. A modern sports uniform already has multiple brands — not least very prominent ones from the manufacturer — plastered all over it. (Where they can squeeze them in between “tribute” patches and not distract from the player’s self-promoting tatts.) What seems to be getting everyone into a lather here are yet more ads added to all this — namely ones we just don’t like, or find visually appealing.

    For the record I wouldn’t like more ads either — but I also recognize this decision will be made (as Paul clearly outlined) based on a trade-off of ad revenue vs. avoiding a “tarnished brand”. You could define the former as “greed”, but I guarantee you the NBA mandarins will opt for the latter in a nanosecond if they thought that path would raise more dough. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t tell the team or league you don’t want them “whoring out” their brand — but making some sort of anti-greed moral argument is just N/A.

    Does that team hail from Beklerey? Are their colors Yeal Blue and Calfironia Gold?

    And now, instead of, “…were standing up like sink stoppers,” we can say, “…were standing up like helmet squatchees.”

    The Yankees’ would smell like ‘Sex Panther’ by Odion. It’s made with bits of real Panther, so you know it’s good. When the Yankees would wear those helmets, 60% of the time they would win every time.

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    I don’t buy the NBA needing uni ad revenue for a second. They WANT it.

    “A study released last year by Horizon Media calculated that a brand logo across the middle of an NBA team’s jersey occupying 3.5 percent of the TV screen would produce $31.18 million in exposure value”

    Bullfuckingshit. Plus what happens if a company pulls an Enron or Limbaugh? Then the uni would really be screwed.

    Re: pins/buttons: Interesting to see the 1969 San Diego Padres logo with the halo & swinging motion graphics. Other than a recent pennant reproduction, I haven’t seen that anywhere else. Somebody must had decided it looked better to clean up the logo early on.

    Re: Japanese MLB poster: it totally looks modern / like a fake (the layout, the flags, the gradient star), but there’s logos on there I haven’t seen replicated anywhere else (SEA, KC) plus the Cubs logo has the letters spaced out, the Dodgers script looks off. Totally fascinating, tho.

    Re: pins/buttons: Interesting to see the 1969 San Diego Padres logo with the halo & swinging motion graphics. Other than a recent pennant reproduction, I haven’t seen that anywhere else. Somebody must had decided it looked better to clean up the logo early on.

    True enough.

    The Brewers also have this problem – their link had the team name within a circle, but when it was brought back as part of the Cooperstown Collection it had been link to only the Beer Barrel Man.

    Nice to see that the polo shirts the Phillies outfitted their TV crew with used the One True Phillies Logo. Go back to burgundy, ya maroons!

    (cue Darth Vader voice) Noooooooo! (end Vader voice) leave the maroon where it belongs the 70’s and 80’s the red is a much better and cleaner look for the Phightin’s the maroon always made them look drab the red pops especially on the home uni.

    No, maroon was better. For one thing, it’s a fantastic and underused color – especially in mlb. The current Phils look kind of generic to me. And their red pinstripes on the white background give a pinkish impression that drives me crazy (pinstripes should always be a dark color – bright red doesn’t quite work). Maroon pinstripes always looked good.

    Maroon? Fie on’t! 1970s nostalgia is not cute. It’s not funny. It’s not whimsical. Imagine being a young child in the ’70s, when as far as you knew, you and everyone else would have to dress and decorate like that FOREVER. Hang on, suddenly need to visit the liquor cabinet…

    There. Anyway, if the Phils are going to change their uni at all, let it be to the ’46-’49 blues. Better yet, let them take a page from St. Louis and pair their home reds with a ’40s-inspired blue/red road uniform. Red stirrups with blue/white stripes, perhaps.

    FYI – Cincinnati is revealing a new tournament only Adudas uniform today (as are Louisville and Baylor). Whit Babcock, UC’s AD, has tweeted about them – noting that the uniforms an color scheme aren’t permanent. Pictures will be out later today, but I’m betting on gray.

    How ironic. A typo in an entry about an NOB.

    “Edward Lindsey Hall III reports that Samme Givens of Drexel has an “Sa. Given” NOB, even though there’s no other Givens on the Drexel roster.”

    It should be “Sa. Givens”.

    I’m of two minds on the raised helmet squatchee. On the one hand, cool! On the other hand, it bugs me when for example an electric lamp is designed to look like a candle. It’s not a candle, so it shouldn’t look like one. The design of electric lamps should speak the language of electric lamps, not the language of candles. So the existence of the flat pseudo-squatchee on batting helmets has always bugged me, and making the squatchee raised is another step down the road of gratuitously decorating a thing to resemble something it’s not.

    But back to the first hand, these are pretty darn cool, whatever my highfalutin’ aesthetic preferences may be.

    One quibble, though: the squatchee is not purely decorative on a cap. Sure, you can make a cap without a squatchee – bike caps don’t have ’em – but most caps without them either don’t have pie-slice panels, or if they do, they have fewer than six panels. I’ve lost squatchees on a number of caps over the years, and most did lose cohesion at the top and start to “peel”. I’m sure that’s because when you have a squatchee, the squatchee is integral to the construction, and by constructing the cap differently, you can eliminate the need for the squatchee. But that just reinforces the fact that the squatchee is, in fact, functional, at least when it’s present.

    The helmet squatchee is never functional; it is always only decorative. That is a fundamental difference in kind from the cap squatchee.

    And, since they’re stickers, these squatchees could be applied to the seat of a player’s pants, so I’m counting a moral victory with my prediction yesterday that we’d see butt-squatchees. You know, to reduce abrasion.

    Nah, the thing to look for will be players with multiple helmet squatchees. I could see some “eccentric” player getting a hold of a sticker sheet and giving his helmet a squatchee mohawk.

    Decorative in the sense that you could make the top of the cap hold together without the squatchee, absolutely. By the same token, windows are “just decorative” on a skyscraper, since you could design a perfectly functional 50-story tower with no windows.

    But in point of fact they clearly are functional to the extent that when a cap made with a squatchee loses the squatchee, it is much more likely for the panels to come apart.

    Scott, have you ever taken a squatchee off a hat? in no way is it there to hold those panels together. It’s not as though it has six separate prongs with each attached so a different panel. It’s slightly more functional than a single nail driven through the top of the cap would be.

    I dunno…my friend de-squatchee’s all of his hats (he uses them for break dancing), and they seem to hold up just fine.

    Considering that New Era has link, maybe you don’t need it.

    In my personal experience, loss of squatchee has in fact led to loss of cap structural integrity.

    On the other hand, I do destructured pretty much every cap I own, and that also slightly degrades the integrity of the seams, so maybe I’m an outlier.

    I could see it being a vestigial thing: you may not need it to hold the panels together (today), but once upon a time, it may have been the case. Or maybe you could sew the panels together a lot more sloppily if you had something “decorative” to cover where the panels came together.

    I think Douggo probably has it. Maybe the squatchees are no longer functional, but at one time they probably were. Now they are an accepted design element. (The same can be said about stirrups – once functional, now just decorative.)

    But regardless of the functional/decorative nature of hat squatchees, my opinion is they are a bit of a strectch when applied to helmets. To me it’s the equivalent of adding fake decorative spikes to the shoes players were when on artificial turf. Something I thing we would all think of as absurd if someone tried to do it.

    If they’re a hit no doubt they will start making the squatchee part of the helmet mold. Of course then I envision an incredibly sloppy job as they try to paint them.

    The squatchee color should match the color of the bill.

    The color of the squatchee on the helmet should match the color of the squatchee on the cap.

    It is amazing how many teams don’t follow that.

    That’s a dumb rule. So the Dodgers should not have a white button on their cap because the bill is blue?

    “The squatchee color should match the color of the bill.”

    I don’t adhere to that at all. I think the contrasting color to the crown adds a nice touch. Plus no cap is going to have a white brim.

    This is one bit of design where there no rule or set of rules can be applied generally, but it’s also a good rule of thumb that a contrasting squatchee usually should either the brim, the cap logo, or the eyelets. Truth is, there are few bad squatchees out there. The Yanks cap looks great without a contrast squatchee. The Dodgers cap looks great with a squatchee that matches the logo but not the brim. The Orioles cap looks great with a squatchee that matches the brim.

    I’m not a fan of the Twins, Cubs, or Rockies squatchees. For whatever reason, I think each team would be better off without a contrasting squatchee. And I think the Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins would look better with a contrast squatchee.

    And I think the Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins every team would look better with a contrast squatchee.

    (fixed)

    Works for the Braves and A’s, to be sure.

    I would add two corollaries to the rule:

    1. If you have a contrasting brim, matching the squatchee to that brim is a must.

    2. Teams with solid caps and single-color logos can match the squatchee to that logo color, like the Mets and Giants. But link just bothers the heck out of me.

    I had an opportunity to chat with a member of the Braves equipment staff during a game last season and asked why the dots on the top of the batting helmets were white while the ballcaps’ squatchees were red. He said that they arrived from the manufacturer like that.

    Whether the squatchee matches the brim or not, I think the batting helmet should match the ballcap.

    I used to admire every team that had a white button, and curse the fact the MLB insignia on the back steals attention from it (advertising trumping attention to detail=bad thing). It also didn’t escape my attention the 1977 Indians wore a dark blue hat (and squatchee) with a red bill. A subtle detail; I’m glad I noticed.

    The mesh pillbox hat in the Rick Reuschel photo looks like he stuck an index card in the crown. He’s as bald as I am and was probably worried about sunburn.

    Re that link, sometime in the mid-1990s, would have been between 1993 and 1996, the Dayton’s store at Southdale mall in the Minneapolis suburbs had an almost identical jacket for the Twins, except I’m pretty sure it had the Senators script on the front, and a history of the franchise on the inner liner. Few weeks later, Dayton’s didn’t have ’em any more, and I never saw anything quite like it again. Interesting to see that it was made for other teams too.

    I remember that text on the inside lining of a jacket was kind of a thing in the mid-1990s; a lot of bomber jackets were sold with reproduction “link” like pilots supposedly had in WWII to help them communicate with locals if they were shot down and managed to get to the ground safely. I recall seeing a lot of jackets with stuff printed or sewn into the lining and wondering what was up, and as a result learning about the blood chit thing.

    That company, Mirage, also made a great line of jerseys in almost the same style as the jackets — pinstripes with subtle baseball-stitch designs in them; block numbers on the back.

    The first series of them were made of a crinkly fabric and then they made another series out of ordinary cotton. Following that they did some with names on the backs, which didn’t quite look as good.

    I have both the Cubs’ #14 (Ernie Banks) with the mid-’90s “Cuba” logo, and the Dodgers’ #32 (Sandy Koufax) with a Brooklyn “B” on the front. I really like them and wouldn’t mind having a Cubs or Dodgers jacket in the same style.

    Quick thought on the ads on NBA jerseys… To start, I am 100% against it. Having sposorless jerseys is something that sets American teams aside from professional clubs around the world is sacred to many fans. That being said, there is a legitimate business reason for many NBA teams to seriously consider this, as half of NBA teams had negative operating income in 2011 alone link So would you rather see Dirk come out in a jersey that says American Airlines, or not see the Mavs play at all? I think we need to remember that sports is still a business and investors (e.g. owners) need to turn a profit to justify the large sums of money they spend keeping these teams afloat.

    I don’t think anyone would argue with that option, save for maybe the players of course. The more likely alternative will be that they contract the league by maybe two teams. If that happens there would be no excuse for ads on jerseys.

    Why is it the players who should get less money? It’s the damned billionaire owners who are determined to squeeze every last nickel from the product. We’re fans because we want to see the players – not the owners.

    Athletes have finite careers. It’s not too much to expect them to leverage that all they (or their agents) can.

    We don’t object when Tom Hanks pulls down $40 million plus a cut of the gross for a single movie. Yet people go bananas over player salaries.

    Direct your ire where it belongs: on the owners. Nobody’s forcing them to pay what people think are exorbitant salaries. And if they put ads on uniforms? That seals the deal regarding their greed. Bastards!

    “We don’t object when Tom Hanks pulls down $40 million plus a cut of the gross for a single movie.”

    You think I or people haven’t noticed that? No way in hell do I pay those outrageous movie theater tickets. I can wait to rent it cheap or not at all.

    Ire should be towards the Networks. They keep expecting a larger profit with every TV deal & it’s why your cable bill keeps going up as well as ticket prices.

    Ok, have the owners not lose their mind every time a player hits the free agent market. If the player wants to much $$ no one is forcing owners to pay.

    Collusion. The owners will have to pay eventually. The problem is the numbers involved are so astronomical there is no point in fighting over nickels and dimes anymore.

    If the NBA’s business model is essentially broken, then just adding one new revenue stream isn’t going to fix it.

    In five years, we’ll still have half the NBA teams losing money and ads on the uniforms.

    If choice A is the Dallas Mavericks looking like a glorified version of a semipro team that’s sponsored by the local car dealership and choice B is the Dallas Mavericks are no longer in the NBA, give me choice B.

    The most interesting (non uni-related) aspect of the Beren-Abilene Christian game was that Beren wasn’t going to be allowed to play. The semi-finals were set for Friday night, Beren is an Orthodox Jewish school, and wouldn’t allow their kids to play on the Sabbath.

    The private school league in Texas (TAPPS) refused to change game time, because they told Beren when they joined the league that most of their championships were Friday night or Saturday and they wouldn’t make exceptions or reschedule for them.

    The news went nationwide during the week. Eventually a few parents of Beren players filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to keep Beren in the playoffs. TAPPS decided not to fight it in court, and moved the semis to Friday before sundown and the championship to Saturday after sundown.

    I sympathize with both sides here, on one hand TAPPS told them they would make no exceptions for them when they joined the league, but on the other hand the Beren kids really deserved to be there. In the end it’s all about letting the kids play so I’m glad they moved the games.

    Link to Yahoo article about the controversy:
    link

    yes, *sigh*, every day. on top of it just being annoying, it is a pain if there is a video link i have been instructed to view i hear the ford truck commercial behind it. the world isn’t exactly coming to an end with these, but i have to admit i get a little 3-stoogey…slllllllllowly i turned, step by step, etc…every time i hear one.

    paul~
    no, this is not a solution to a non-problem, it accentuates a uniform detail beautifully that was previously treated, but more lazily. there is a huge difference betwixt the squatchee and the number sticker in my estimation. i might also point out that these are raised to a perfect degree, any more might be overkill. as they stand they are subtle, i love them, david really knocked this one out of the park.

    i was going to comment on how much i loved them anyway, but as i kept reading, i knew i was one of those with that crit of the bat numbers. you know i wouldn’t say i like something if i didn’t, and i really do like these.

    by the way, i am sure someone has said this, but that pirate hat is from the era of their mesh spring training caps. i bet that white pannel is a shape support pannel on the inside of the cap that the ricker didn’t tear out. i wonder if he took of the little braided rope at the base of the bill that was also quite common and stupid at the time.

    you know i didn’t. ironically, given todays recap of the helmet squatchee, i was trying to fix the squatchee size in the image so that it would show up beter, but not look too huge and out of place. but i keep photoshop on the rarely used commodore 64, and you know what that does to work at times, not to mention it went into the out of sight, out of mind file in the ol brain-pan. on top of all that i still have things ready to send you and phil sitting around here since december, so you can see the further problems with the brenly package.

    *grumble grumble*. okay, it is on my list of things to do. you know i am turning the commodore on today anyway.

    I understand having the “squatchee” on the helmet for teams that have a contrasting one on their cap, but never understood having one for those who don’t. Example, the Yankees don’t have a white squatchee on their cap, but they do on their helmet.

    Maybe a contrasting “squatchee sticker” on the helmet (whether parallel to the cap or not) is a video tool, so hitting coaches can break down batting stances? Just a thought.

    “Meanwhile, note that their opponents, the Portland Timbers, are wearing at least three different shoe colors – not good”

    Boot manufacturers usually put boots out in two colorways at a time. They’re never intentionally made in team colors, unless a player chooses to get a custom pair through Nike ID/MiAdidas/whatever.

    Also worth noting that most manufacturers have three or four different styles out there. Usually a lightweight speed boot, a “power” boot, touch/control, and occasionally a “heritage” boot.

    Andrew Levitt – I’m calling you out. Cinemassacre? I’m a huge fan as well.

    Supergirl and Elmo were the clincher.

    I’m just pleased I’ve worked out what a “squatchee” is. They say you learn something new every day.

    I shall now seek out an opportunity to use my new-found knowledge :)

    I’ve long known the hat-top-button-thingy as a Dauber, as in Roger Craig’s “Keep your dauber up”. You learn something semi-useless *cough* new every day!

    I mean if you are going to bite Nike with their neon-ness, at least choose a different color. Sheesh.

    The article says that’s a camo pattern, but does anyone else look at that and see tiger stripes as I do?

    There are many types of camo patterns. Tiger stripe is one of them, and this is an interpretation of that.

    Just seems an odd choice, considering that none of the teams are tigers (Louisville & Cincy also got them).

    the pads fans’ reaction to caple’s uni rankings is a great microcosm of what is wrong with the discourse in this country: no one is saying they hate the military. caple was just saying that he doesn’t like the way it looks on a jersey. and it’s not exactly an uncommon opinion (as we all know here). is there plenty wrong with that list? yes, but the backlash it’s generating is fairly amusing.

    i’d be remiss if i didn’t add that what i consider “wrong” with the list is completely arbitrary and based on my own opinion (such as ranking the marlins ahead of the mets).

    Eh, I blame the newspaper for running the story more than I blame the fans for posting their opinions. The posted responses to any internet item are usually just a vocal minority. (Case in point: Uni Watch gets about 15,000 page views a day, but only 200 comments.)

    Internet comments are also not demographically representative — internet commenters skew young, e.g. So writing an article about the “backlash” to Jim’s piece, when said backlash mostly consists of anonymous comments, is really just stirring the pot on a slow news day.

    is that 15,000 unique views? or does that include the four of us who reload the page 3,000 times each?

    The Union Times is blocked on my computer. What’s the gist of the article, that Jim Caple hates America?

    Adidas is releasing new NCAA basketball unis for select programs. The article linked below is for the University of Cincinnati and is filled will all kinds of ridiculous marketing fluff.

    link|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

    These are much better than their currect unis with the cat scratches all over them though.

    “But there’s no point in doing it if nobody except Jeff Ciprioni can see them. Make them higher!”

    I work as a manufacturing engineer/project manager for a company whose product lines include urethane doming, so here are some caveats for this new advancement in uniforms (dramatic language intentional).

    1) The maximum height of the urethane (called the “doming height”) is dictated by a combination of the surface tension of the urethane and the surface energy of the substrate. (Science!) Unfortunately, simply “adding more to make it taller” isn’t an option. When that maximum height is reached and more material is added, the edge of the urethane doming material “breaks” because the surface tension isn’t strong enough to overcome gravity and the material flows off of the intended area. Looking at the picture (and completely off-the-cuff), those squatchees look to be near the maximum realistic height, unfortunately. Similarly, waiting for the first urethane application to cure, then adding additional urethane material on top makes it so there are two very obviously non-contiguous urethane layers. I’ll point out that none of the previous information has ever changed a customer’s desire for wanting a higher doming height.

    2) Urethane doming has an awful tendency to turn yellow when exposed to UV light (such as sunlight). Looking at those White ones gave me the heebie-jeebies. There are specific blends of urethane doming material which lessen the yellowing from UV exposure (for trivia’s sake, the solution is usually to add Mercury up to the maximum allowable limit per the international ROHS standards), but the presence of Mercury often scares customers off…until they see their badges yellowing, and they decide that if the Mercury is below the internationally accepted minimum and the parts don’t yellow, it’s good enough for them. All that to say, keep on the lookout for yellowing during the season, as even “UV Resistant” urethane still exhibits it to some degree, and it’s especially obvious on a White substrate.

    3) Because Urethane doming is applied to flat parts, the parts have the tendency to want to return to a flat condition. The top of a batting helmet is one of the flattest surfaces on it, but it’s still a “crowned” surface. Realistically, it looks like the squatchees are small enough that they don’t really reach very far onto the curves, but lifting along the perimeter of the parts during the season is something to keep an eye on.

    I’m not meaning any of this to be calling out the guy/company making these; I’m sure he did his due diligence based on his past experience, the same way any company would. I’m just sharing some very “inside baseball” (“pun” partially intended) information about the inherent challenges in something as seemingly simple as a what’s effectively “just a 3D sticker” on top of a helmet.

    That seems like an awfully complicated process for something which could probably be visually replicated by a solid piece of molded plastic and a drop of superglue.

    What you get from urethane doming which you don’t get from molded plastic is a “self-healing” property. Generally, if urethane is scratched or scuffed (within reason, such as helmets being tossed or rolled around on a rough surface), the material quickly “heals” and the scratches disappear (this is not the case for gouges or “significant” scratches, but it’s great for normal “wear and tear” sort of conditions). Even an impact resistant plastic (Polycarbonate, for example) will look worse and require polishing after normal wear and tear.

    Also, a urethane domed part allows /some/ conformity to the surface on which it’s mounted. I’m assuming that each batting helmet size has slightly different geometry at the crown (the smaller the helmet, the sharper the radii coming off of the crown), and while a urethane domed part won’t “like” a slightly non-flat surface, a part molded flat will “hate” a slightly non-flat surface. OK, let’s say it’s not that big of a difference between sizes (and realistically, it’s probably not) and there’s a “middle ground” geometry which works reasonably well for all sizes, and let’s assume the CoolFlo helmets have the same crown geometry as the traditional helmets (probably?), you then need to commit resources for designing and actually making an injection molding tool.

    Tooling for a urethane domed part is significantly cheaper (and, well, easier) and generally requires less of a “commitment.”

    And of course, urethane domed parts are generally cheaper than molded parts, especially when you can put “many” parts on a sheet, like shown in the pictures.

    While you’re at it, Dan, could you tell me the best way to affix spikes on the top of my helmet?

    I’ve decided to take the 3D squatchee evolution in a whole new direction.

    Teebz: I’m not sure how serious you’re being, but I’ll bite.
    What are the two surfaces you’re bonding? I assume the helmet is plastic or painted plastic? (the distinction is relevant) If it’s painted, is the paint application generally smooth?

    What are the spikes made from, specifically the surface which will be bonded to the helmet? (at this point, reading the question I just wrote, I’m realizing that you might be giving me a hard time..)

    Finally, I’ll give a warning that my recommendation may be the unsatisfying “Super Glue” or “Gorilla Glue.”

    I was more mocking the 3D squatchee idea, but this could be an interesting path to walk down.

    Helmets are about function, not fashion. I’m not sure why the 3D squatchee sticker is vitally important to the overall aesthetic of the game, but I guess someone will make a buck someway, somehow.

    Will catchers be required to affix the squatchee to their helmets? Did anyone notice yesterday if this trend had moved to them?

    David Robertson said that he’s considering the stirrups for the regular season.

    I can’t even remember tha last yankees wearning stirrups. El Duque, maybe?

    Here’s a quote from the LoHud Yankees blog:

    “The thing you really care about: Robertson said he’s thinking about sticking with the stirups this season. He wore them in college and for a while in the minor leagues — I can’t remember whether he had them in Scranton — and he’s taking them on something of a test drive this spring. ‘Have a bunch more outings like that and I won’t,’ he said.”

    (Robertson struggled with command and he gave up a run. Jimmy Rollins stole two bases on him.)

    At varying points, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy wore stirrups but these were very infrequent occurrences. Same with Francisco Cervelli.

    Kudos, David Robertson. Hope you stick with the plan. I remember watching him while he was at Bama. He seems to be a pretty cool guy. If only he played for someone other than the Yankees…

    In reference to the Drexel NOB for Samme Givens – on the 2009-10 roster there were 2 Givens – Samme (soph) and Shannon (freshman), they are brothers. Shannon transferred out to West Chester U after his freshman year, but Samme kept the “SA.” on his jersey.

    So, that Chargers training camp photo you included…that was taken in my hometown (Escondido, CA). That bowling alley in the background was torn down a couple of years ago – my uncle used to be a manager there. Probably about the time this was taken. Freaking nuts! Thank you for sharing!

    The Bucs wore those pillbox hats full time for about a decade, and were very successful overall with that look on the field, but I’m not sure younger visitors to this know the pillbox look was used by a number of teams as their full time look.

    From colleges to the minor leagues, a number of teams went that direction, and it wasn’t a big deal. Obviously, styles change, and pillbox hats faded from view by the mid 80s. We saw a similar situation with the Astros rainbow style uniforms. That format was adopted by a number of colleges and minor league clubs as well across the country.

    I Seem To Recall that the pillbox hat may have been a retro-ish look for maybe the centennial of Major League Baseball (1869-1969)? I also STR the Big Red Machine (among others) having pillboxes.

    National League centennial (1876 – 1976). Many N.L. teams wore them as alternates in ’76. Buccos liked them so much that they stuck with them.

    I believe those were worn by the Pirates, Philles, Mets, Reds and Cardinals. In addition, NL umpires wore them and the NL wore them in pre-All Star Game photos.

    Interestingly (or maybe not) my local shop had the Pirates pillbox hat on the rack when I was in last weekend. Forty bucks.

    link

    I wasn’t at all tempted, I still have the one I bought in 1979 when they were “current” and not “throwback. The hat which makes my wife cringe when I wear it.

    “in their respective Grapefruit League openers on Monday”

    Didn’t know there are a lot of grapefruit in Arizona. White Sox are in the Cactus League

    Whew….You saved me from scrolling through the remainder of the comments to see if someone already commented!

    Not sure if this has been brought up already, but it is 100% that Mizzou will be losing the gold ‘M’ on their new football helmets…

    link

    I guess they’re trying to distinguish themselves from the other two “Tigers” in their new conference by putting a tige… on the… helm… wait, what? In the fight between “good” and “stupid”, that sounds at first glance to be stupid. Yes, there are multiple schools whose names start with an “M”, but still.

    Plus, is it just me, or does Gary Pinkel sound like an a-hole in that article? Is he always like that?

    Kindof a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation for him. Most people outside of Missouri associate that block ‘M’ with Michigan, and there is already Mississippi State with another block M (although they have the STATE banner across its ‘M’) in the SEC. But you’re right in that putting a tiger on there also makes them similar to LSU, so regardless he’s going to upset somebody. I’ve met Pinkel in passing, and I wouldn’t call him an a-hole per se. He was cordial, but not very personable. So in other words, the stereotypical football coach.

    i have worn a block “M” mizzou hat for years here in houston, and ALWAYS get asked if its michigan, never mizzou.

    people in MO will get over it soon enuff, no one outside recognizes it for mizzou like we do.

    Yeah… I agreed that it’s a sticky situation. So my default choice would be to just leave well enough alone. I guess it’s the line of thinking that “hey, if one single recruit chooses us based solely off the tiger on our helmet, it’s totally worth it”. And sadly, that could actually happen.

    Michigan doesn’t have an “M” on their helmets, and Miss’ippi State wears maroon. There’s no chance for confusion.

    Oh man, going off of this quote: “They went crazy,” he said. “Those are 18-year-old kids, and (those concepts are) what we’re recruiting against and what we’re playing.” It sounds like we’re going to get another lame templated Nike Oregonification set a la Oklahoma State/ASU/Washington State/Kentucky/Every team with the school name down the side of the pants.

    Also, rather than the tiger logo on the helmet, my money is that it’ll feature some kind of Mizzou workmark. All caps. Small serifs.

    I am a Padre fan. I HATE THE CAMO JERSEYS!!! This does not mean I hate the military. I just know a bad uni when I see one.

    I like the Padres, too, and one of the good things about them: they’ve had so many different uniforms, you’re bound to like one of them..

    You know who else hates America? The Padres. When the khaki road unis were introduced, the Pads made a big deal about how their home whites and road khakis payed homage to Navy and Marine Corps uniforms. So by unceremoniously ditching the military-tribute khaki unis for generic gray, the Padres spit on the flag. Or at least by the logic that says that criticizing camo jerseys is unpatriotic, it is at least equally unpatriotic for the Padres themselves to have scuttled the troop-tribute road khakis.

    I get that SD has a high population of military, and the Pad’s are playing to their fan base, but the whole “we’re supporting the Military because we want to honor them and we’re such great people” aura they put is just stupid. They’re just trying to sell tickets and make $$$!

    No pic, but I went to the Rays/Orioles spring training game yesterday, and a friend and I noticed that the Rays 40-man roster, manager and coaches all wore the regular 5950 caps, but the non-roster invitees were in the BP/Spring Training caps.

    And a note to Adidas, that’s not camouflage, that’s animal print. Way to bring back Zubaz…

    Nothin’ more intimidatin’ than a 20 year old in fur.

    THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ZUBAZ!

    ….but those uniforms are rather bad. The lack of a number on the front (is that even NCAA rule compliant?) makes them look just wrong.

    There’s a lot wrong with Zubaz, doesn’t mean I didn’t own and wear them but there’s a lot wrong with them.

    I’m pretty sure those are just blank unis, numbers will be added on for the players, just not the fashion models.

    I was a kid when zubaz was “popular” did people really wear that stuff in public? It’s just an affront to good taste.

    Tiger stripe camo was fairly common at times. I think the Air Force still wears it.

    He’s another P2 contributor. And it’s fine that he wrote that. There’s only so much I can cover for them by myself…

    Posting this again today, because it was quite late last night when I posted in yesterdays comments.

    very nice photo of the d-backs new bat knob decals

    link

    I thought for sure today’s article would be about the “under sleeves”, when I saw them last night. However, as a Met fan I love the orange helmet squatchee. The equipment manager really seems to “get it”…..a far cry from a few years back! I do agree, it needs to be juuuuust a tad bigger. I love me some black-free blue and orange anywhere I can get it! Has anyone mentioned that in the cap-helmet pic above, with TC in it…..his 2nd shirt button is white? Welcome back, baseball!

    Has anyone mentioned that in the cap-helmet pic above, with TC in it…..his 2nd shirt button is white?

    Johnny’s referring to this:
    link

    Must have been a reflection or something, because here’s another shot, taken just a few seconds earlier, showing that the button is indeed blue:
    link

    I think I like link with the NY logo on it. Is that a half-zip pullover with a front pocket type thing?

    I believe that guy is wearing this jacket…it has zip-off sleeves…the full sleeve has Mr. Met on it. I saw the Nationals wearing a similar jacket last night.

    link

    Thanks for clearing that up, Paul! @JTH- I thought the same thing! The elimination of most of the black will surely result in a few more officially-licensed uni-related purchases for me. If it is a half-zip, I’d actually enjoy wearing it on the golf course. I just used a bunch of hyphens! I

    love…love LOVE LOVE!!!

    the cards wearing their red (home) caps with their gray road jerseys (and not the clownish BP tops) during spring training

    guessing (haven’t yet seen it) that detoilet is doing the same

    and yes, i realize this isn’t something new

    i just love seeing it (again)

    i know ricko (and anyone else old enough to remember the old days) will disagree with me, but i really think the cards need to ditch the navy caps

    don’t even like them in navy crown/red bill (sunday caps)…there is a team who needs to wear as much red on an otherwise fairly plain (no pants piping) uni, particularly with the dearth of their gorgeous sockage

    the look so damn good with red caps and gray unis…the blue just offends my OCD

    Couldn’t agree more. Teams that are named after a color, should wear that color. One of those simple rules that’s always right.

    Totally agree. It doesn’t look right at all! Random Cards question- Do you guys know if they’ve ever done a “Perfectos” throwback? It’s one of my favorite odd parts of their franchise history, and a “go to” bar conversation piece…. if or some reason I’m socializing with a Cards fan.

    All depends on when you started watching the Cardinals, I guess.

    As a Cardinals player, Stan Musial never wore a cap with red crown.

    Paul- I’m the PA announcer for Tennessee Baseball, I’ll verify the squatchees tomorrow night and snap an up-close pic after the game.

    A real landmark taking place right now in the Mets/Cards game: Jon Rausch pitching to Yadier Molina — neck tattoo vs. neck tattoo.

    I wonder if this Mets team is one of the tallest in baseball history. They’ve got some BIG boys, Rausch is 6’11…. Loewen is 6’6″…. Val Pascucci is 6’6″…Ike Davis is 6’4″….Familia is 6’3″… It’s bizarre. Hey, they may not win a bunch of games, but smart money is on them in a bench-clearing brawl!

    They also have Daniel Herrera, who’s only 5’6″. It all evens out.

    Rausch, of course, now becomes the tallest Met ever (duh, since he’s the tallest MLBer ever). Who was the previous tallest Met?

    I should have thought harder before I typed that response, I’m sure there have been some taller players since Kingman.

    I can’t believe a site with as much respect for tradition as this one would use the ridiculous neologism/non-word “squatchee.” It’s a called a button. Just because Bob Brenly took too many fouls to the facemask and couldn’t remember such a common, two-syllable word doesn’t mean he’s allowed to coin new terms. Ugh! I hate this word as much as black jerseys and pajama pants. BUTTON, dammit!!!

    I see. And just what is it buttoning (esp. the one on the helmet)?

    It’s a fun word, a nonsense word, which is appropriate for a nonsense uniform element that has no real reason to exist but is nonetheless enjoyable.

    Squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee squatchee.

    It must suck getting that worked up over a squatchee…

    ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin ritalin

    link

    Head Coach Gary Pinkel of Missouri says the helmets are losing the block M in an effort to better catch the eye of recruits. Older Missouri traditionalists dislike the change of a 40 year old logo.

    Also, Creighton University is a Nike school but over the weekend were on national TV without a Nike swoosh on the chest, uncommon for an above par team like Creighton. They wore their white uniforms and had the swoosh on the left hip of the shorts only. A Google search shows that there is consistently no swoosh on the white uniforms although the blue uniforms have the swoosh on the shorts and jersey.

    Andrew Levitt, be honest about where you “found” those tiger woods info…I find it very hard to believe that you notice this within 2 days of this video being posted…give credit where credit is due…

    link

    I wonder how the new helmet squatchees will look on the Gazoos. They seem to be more curvier on top and thus less surface area for the squatchee to stay put.

    I don’t give a squat about the NBA but if they’re gonna put ads on the unis at least make it relevant to the team/city. Detroit could have Chrysler, Chicago could have Red Bull, Orlando could have Disney and so forth.

    These new helmet squatchees may not be as prominent as cap squatchees, but who says low profile is a bad thing? Going low profile has been the trend in design for years. Everything is getting thinner. If these helmet squatchees get popular this year, we may be seeing lower profile cap squatchees next year. That way both will match.

    Being a Met traditionalist, I don’t like the orange squatchee, as it was not a part of their caps for their first 33 years. I admit that had it been their originally, I might feel equally against it being removed. Could it have been added (as black was) just to sell some more caps?

    As for helmet squatchees, if a team has one on their cap, they should have one on their helmet. These stick-ons will be troublesome…they just don’t look natural to me. They are going to chip, get detached and lift up on the edges. Put a new one on a beat up helmet and it will also look off. Maybe you won’t see it on TV, maybe you won’t care. They should mold the squatchee into the helmet.

    The only good thing from those White Sox photos was the leopard. Chicago probably has the most boring uni’s in sports (except Blackhawks). The Cubs could pass for a softball team, the Bulls-borrrring, and White Sox-yawners!! I vote Chicago as one of the best cities to visit, very clean, excellent food lots to see and do BUT the worst city in sports with regards to uniform fashion (again, except Blackhawks). Forgot to mention the Bears (who have the Cincinnati Reds logo on their helmet) nuff said

    i think the bears (after green bay) have the best unis in football, with clevo a close third

    well, when they don’t wear the stupid shiny blue trou…that drops them several notches

    No, Phil. He’s totally right. It is by far the worst city in terms of sports fashion (except Blackhawks).

    But hey, not everyone can be as fortunate as Dallas or Phoenix with all of their exciting unis, right?

    And c’mon, any idiot can see that link is EXACTLY the same as link.

    im sorry sp…er, jimbo…you’re correct sir

    clearly, without zubaz and/or dazzle, chi-town’s unis are just BOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRING city

    JTH, is that Cubs photo from the game in June 2007 when they climbed all the way back to .500 with an Aramis Ramirez walk-off homer against the Brewers? (And then went on to win the division.)

    I remember that game vividly. It was such a long road back to the top of the division after their last title in 2003 and that year’s playoffs.

    And if the Cubs would just go back to wearing NNOB jerseys all the time, at least in home games, they’d be among the top tier in baseball. They can keep the red border around the numbers; just dump the names. The Cubs’ number font is so cool that it needs to link.

    Phil, Bears colors are good. It’s their helmet logo that bugs me. Could they not have a sketch of let’s say a bear?? maybe too cartoonish yeah. Doesn’t have to be roaring or taking a swipe at anything, just a plain old school sketch of a chicago bear. Christ we can put a man on the moon but the Bears cannot have their own logo? The ‘B’ on their caps is also good.

    Hopefully this link works. The jersey retirement ceremony for Mark Howe in Philly tonight had the usual video of pictures and highlights. Lots of jerseys to fawn over, but I like the Gordie Howe t-shirt that Mark is seen wearing while a child.

    link

    The current Flyers wore 2nd generation orange jerseys with Howe’s name and #2 on them. Notably, these were early 1990s style jerseys, with the old NHL logo in orange and black next to the old CCM logo on the rear hemline. Howe’s NOB was also done correctly for that era – white letters on orange nameplate.

    And that’s how their current nameplates SHOULD look – not that stupid gimmick white nameplate (and the even stupider black nameplate on their white jersey) – all because the Flyers of the 70s didn’t want to invest in orange nameplates that they would only wear for a handful of games.

    I play for a Jewish Highschool in basketball too and we also wear Yarmulkes on the court

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