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Uni Watch

What Might Have Been

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1973 (Dec13) Dick Williams NYY Mgr Shea.jpg

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Here’s an unusual sight: Dick Williams in a Yankees uniform! How did that happen? Wikipedia’s entry on Williams provides the answer:

Williams had a surprise for [A’s owner Charles O.] Finley [after the 1973 World Series]. Tired of his owner’s meddling, and upset by Finley’s public humiliation of second baseman Mike Andrews for his fielding miscues during the World Series, Williams resigned. George Steinbrenner, then finishing his first season as owner of the Yankees, immediately signed Williams as his manager. However, Finley protested that Williams owed Oakland the final year of his contract and could not manage anywhere else, and so Steinbrenner hired Bill Virdon instead.

Williams later served as a scouting consultant for the Yankees, but not in uniform (and there was one day in particular when he was really not in uniform). So this old wire photo, which was turned up by reader Bruce Menard, was probably the only time he donned the pinstripes.

Another point of interest: The Yankees played their 1974 and ’75 seasons at Shea Stadium, while the House That Ruth Built was being rennovated. But this photo of Williams was taken at Shea on Dec. 13, 1973, so the Yanks must already have moved their office operations to Shea by that point. Interesting.

This great little mini-chapter in MLB uni history is appropriate for the day when my 14th annual MLB season-preview column is running on ESPN

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Collector’s Corner

By Brinke Guthrie

Paul has occasionally showcased readers who’ve DIY’d a sports- or team-themed room in their house. I don’t have the house to do it, but it got me thinking, how would I design such a thing? Easy: NFL retro, baby. [There’s a shocker. ”” PL] I’d start with this Dave Boss mural. Then I’d add a couple of these helmet plaques. Posters? Sure. Curtains? Absolutely. Recliner? But of course. And to top it off, a helmet phone — maybe this Jaguars version with the never-used logo.

While I’m dreaming up more ways to decorate my dream room, here’s this week’s rundown of interesting eBay items:

• This Pittsburgh Pirates pin from 1903, submitted by reader David Shank, is about as old as any sports item you’ll see on eBay.

• Ooh, check out this great 1970s NFL towel.

• Nice 1970s NHL/NBC promo hockey puck. Toss it inside this 1970s NHL lunch box!

• Reader Peter Golkin passed along this awesome St. Louis Browns decal.

• We’ve got a 1970s New York Football Giants wind-up doll here. Wind him up, watch him scramble!

• Let’s wrap things up with a few beverage accessories. This glass is supposed to be a from the late 1960s or early ’70s, but it has “Seahawks” on it. Still nice, though. Here’s a vintage 1970s NFL glass featuring 28 team logos. And we’ll toss in this Padres/7-Up thermal cup.

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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Contest reminder: Phil is currently running a contest to redesign and rename the Indians and Redskins. Full details here.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: In addition to submitting that great Dick Williams photo, Bruce Menard also sent along this awesome shot of Boeing’s factory hockey team, circa 1943. … In a vaguely related item here’s the best look yet at the Mariners’ Boeing ad patch for the two games in Japan. … The NFL plans to operate a pop-up retail shop during the draft. … Here’s another shot of the Pittsburgh Power player with the hoop socks (from David Potter). … Morris Levin has set up a Jackie Robinson Day event celebrating the legacy of the Negro Leagues’ Philadelphia Stars. … Steve Andersen coaches girls’ soccer at Pius X High in Lincoln, Nebraska, which is the first team in the state — and maybe the country — to have all its players wear protective headgear. Kudos to him and to all involved in that initiative. … Check out this shot of a young Darryl Strawberry wearing Mets mesh on his head and his torso (from Phil Johnson). … New 10th-anniversary logo for — get this — the Mini Cooper. Will every auto manufacturer now start doing this? (From Mike Cooperman.) … Nicholas Schiavo notes that the Mets appear to have two different versions of their Gary Carter memorial patch — one with a white outline and one without. The outlined version will presumably be used on the black alternate jersey. … Whatever you think of the pink thing, it’s hard not to like this. Someone needs to teach that kid how to blouse his pants, though (from Joe Hilseberg). … The floor mat in the Kansas locker room the other day had the wrong font on the KU logo (from Luis Aranda). … A few more of New Era’s NFL caps can be seen here (from Robin Griffiths). … The Diamondbacks are letting fans vote on which throwback jersey they’ll wear on Sept. 15 (from Mario Murillo). … Leo Sayer: Sabres fan? Apparently. If you don’t know who Leo Sayer is, you’re really fucking lucky you’re too young to be reading a blog that features photos of Dick Williams (from Matthew Algeo). … “Some of my fourth graders are studying biographies, so I decided to read them a children’s biography of Jimi Hendrix,” says Marty Hick, who works as a teacher when he’s not busy being, you know, a genius. “It mentions how much Hendrix enjoyed drawing. Naturally, I informed the kids about his football/uniform drawings. Sure enough, there’s an illustration of a football player at the bottom of the page.” ”¦ Best in-game TV graphic ever? Certainly in the running. … Wondering what it looks like inside the Astrodome these days? Me neither, but here are some cool photos (from Rob Bratney). ”¦ Uni Watch girl-mascot Caitlin is really good at sleeping upside-down. Li’l cutie.

 
  
 
Comments (259)

    Really was not expecting for Leo Sayer to be the subject of my first side-splitting laugh of the day. Uni Watch still rules!

    First thing I thought of when I saw that pic of Leo Sayer was Phil Collins – back in the 70s, he used to wear quite the assortment of hockey jerseys:
    link

    I’ve also seen pictures of him wearing Rangers, Habs & Leafs jerseys…

    The Leo Sayer pic reminds me of a uni study I want to do – all the musicians who’ve worn sports unis. Off the top of my head, I can think of:

    – Bill Bruford, drummer in 70’s prog band King Crimson wore a tank top with the Boston Bruins “B” on the front. You can see a vid of this on Youtube

    – Terry Kath, late guitarist for Chicago during the 70’s often wore hockey jerseys on stage

    – there’s a video of Steve Marriott, late singer of Humble Pie, doing a show in the 80’s and his keyboard player in the background has a Northstars jersey, I remember seeing that on Youtube

    – when I saw Rush live at Nassau Coliseum on the Hemispheres tour, 1979, they came out for the encore wearing Islander jerseys, as the Isles were in the playoffs at the time

    there’s a few more I can’t think of right now

    -Jet

    I recall seeing Glenn Frey (Eagles) in a Kings’ sweater (1974-ish) and Robert Smith (Cure) in Washington Capitals’ finery (1990-ish). No photos: You’ll have to rely on my testimony.

    taylor swift (and i think some other country music chick) likes to rock the sweater

    ~~~

    “when I saw Rush live at Nassau Coliseum on the Hemispheres tour, 1979, they came out for the encore wearing Islander jerseys, as the Isles were in the playoffs at the time”

    HOLY SHIT pete!!! i was at that show as well, me and a couple buddies were joking that they must have busted into the isles dressing room and stolen the sweaters after their set…or maybe it was just the doobs

    but still…i remember that like it was 33 years ago

    Eddie Vedder wore a Bulls #23 jersey in the video to “Alive”. And Captain Sensible (former bassist for seminal UK punk band The Damned) wore numberless Lakers & Celtics jerseys in a video for a song whose name currently escapes me (but I think it’s on Youtube).

    One of the guitar players from Crazy Horse is wearing a Habs jersey in the Rust Never Sleeps artwork.

    Back in 1986, link of Level 42 wore a Seahawks jersey with 42 as the number and link as the NOB.

    That was almost my UW membership card design.

    taylor swift (and i think some other country music chick) likes to rock the sweater

    That would be link who gets to rock link

    Off the top of my head, I remember Snoop wearing a mid-’90s Penguins sweater in his Gin and Juice video, and Nelly saluting all the St. Louis teams in his Country Grammar video. No doubt there are tons more in videos over the years.

    The “70’s” glass has to be from 1981 or later, as it’s got the tiger striped Bengals helmet on it.

    It’s sad how often we see 60’s or 70’s stuff on ebay that really isn’t.

    Eh, whatever. Search results notwithstanding, the headline is by far the least important aspect of an eBay listing. The object is what matters.

    Corvette might be have the indisputable oldest anniversary logo. They did a 40th anniversary version back in 1993.
    link

    link emblem. Though, not the 45th edition of the Camaro, since there were years in between that were sans Camaro.

    jdreyfuss, I hope you don’t mean that 1993 was the first time a car had an anniversary logo. This was on the dash pad of my sister’s 1989 Mustang:

    link

    Not the first time I’ve been wrong. Certainly won’t be the last. It’s kind of surprising to see car companies celebrating their anniversaries that long ago when the retro design trend didn’t really take hold until the mid-90s, with the last fox-bodied mustangs.

    Yeah, but it’s just that as a result I knew to look for those logos. The Rotary Engine one came up too; I hope that’s a Mazda thing.

    There oughta be a rule that the term “throwbacks” be applied to jerseys worn when kids born that year are old enough to legally drink. Those purples aren’t throwbacks yet…they’re still throw-ups.

    This is really confusing. Why not just say throwback uniforms need to be at least 21-years retired.

    Most people who collect vintage stuff agree that in order for something to be considered vintage, it must be at least 15 years old or older. For me personally, things start to look vintage at 13 years. Am I just ahead of the curve?

    I preferred the Diamondbacks in their purple and green. I hate their desert red color that they wear now. Fortunately, I’m not a fan of theirs, so it’s not such a big deal to me.

    Paul,
    Thank you for the pictures of the Astrodome. It is a great reminder of what happens to our old sports venues after the primary tenant moves out.
    Sadly, Portland has the same fate with the Memorial Coliseum. The Blazers moved into the Rose Garden in 1995 and the Winterhawks became the primary tenant. The building has had fewer and fewer events in the last 15 years, because the newer arena has everything. And the city still cannot decide to tear it down or improve it. It was cool to have an preseason game for the 40th year anniversary in the Coliseum, but it also reminded me why the Rose Garden was built.

    they should just be razed or imploded. i’m going thru it right now watching the civic arena come down piece by piece. sure it’s sad… but i’d rather not see it become a useless eyesore falling into decay.

    Or “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.”
    link
    Then again, that might be a good reason to implode the building…

    “Sudden Death” was actually a good movie, unlike “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh”. The old Civic Arena wasn’t a bad place to watch a hockey game, the problem was, it wasn’t designed specifically with hockey or basketball in mind. When you combine the unique architecture with the history in that building, it was disappointing the structure had to come down.

    i don’t know if it’s the camera angle or what… but i always thought that this was one of the sickest dunks i’ve ever seen

    play starts at 3:05 of this vid:

    link

    (and if that whole clip doesn’t make you happy… you have no soul)

    A great clip, for sure…but still a very bad movie.

    Man, those LA unis were even more mismatched than the Lakers’ unis used to be.

    Just this weekend the Orlando Arena (O-rena/TD Waterhouse center/Amway Center) was imploded. The Magic moved to their new arena a few years ago and they got rid of the old one to make way for new construction. The old Orlando Arena was all of 23 years old.

    @tom wow has it been that long. i live in Orlando and it feels like it was just yesterday(or in this case last year)

    The Astrodome.

    Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs and—observers of modern culture agree–changed the attitude toward girls/women in sports.

    From that moment on, it was okay for a girl to be a jock.

    Those who weren’t around for it may dispute that assertion, but they’ll be wrong.

    I like the one commenter’s suggestion that they strip it down to its frame and turn it into a greenspace with the frame encircling the park as a piece of municipal art.

    That would be awesome. I’d love to see more old sports venues turned into outdoor amphitheaters.

    There’s already a similar project in Houston that shows the viability of a framed greenspace attached to a public works project in Discovery Green, so it could work there where it wouldn’t in Pittsburgh.

    Someone on that Astrodome blog had an awesome suggestion:

    “It needs to be stripped down to the iron work, it will be the Eiffel tower of Houston. Plant grass and make amazing gardens underneath it all. What a great change it would be from the acres of concrete that surronds Reliant Park.

    As for the trash… it hasn’t been cleaned up since the Houston Rodeo after-hours parties.

    DC’s RFK Stadium needs to be torn down. DC United is the only tenant now and they want to move out. I don’t think there are any other events there except DC United games. And unfortunately, the local governments in the area aren’t helping United build a new stadium.

    That reminds me – I was in Portland about a year and a half ago and drove over to see Memorial Colesium. The loading tunnel was open, so I walked right in and took pics…

    link

    “This Pittsburgh Pirates pin from 1903, submitted by reader David Shank, is about as old as any sports item you’ll see on eBay.”

    Nice pin…BUT, the Pirates didn’t use black/gold as their color scheme until 1948. Until then they used red/blue. It’s more likely that the pin is related to Princeton and their black/orange color scheme: link

    From BS’s link:

    “…The trustees adopted orange and black as the official colors for academic gowns in 1896. That year, Professor Allan Marquard pointed out that the colors of the House of Nassau were orange and blue. His objection, however, won little support…”

    Thanks, BS. I’m always happy to come across evidence of lingering Dutch influence in this country. “Old Nassau” is the name of the cherished 18th Century campus building down there in central Jersey, named after the region (and noble Protestant family) of the Netherlands. Nassau County on Long Island has the same lineage and the same passion for Dutch orange, but the Yorkers kept both the blue and the lion of the original Nassau heraldry. And the Dutch establishment of Nieuw Amsterdam is, of course, the reason the Knickerbockers (a funny faux-name invented by Washington Irving) wear blue and orange to this day.

    I think it’s been about three months since I’ve done this blue-and-orange shtick, and maybe four months since my most recent declaration of hatred of Princeton but respect for its cool uni history and the Tiger and such, except that they’ve besmirched that tradition with some godawful recent desecrations of what had been the best-looking football uni of all time. Assholes.

    For team merchandise, sure. I’ve seen a wild array of wrong colored team merch through the years (esp. ‘1950s-’60s). However, something that the team issued to its players as a reward should have the correct color scheme, like the 1925 Pirates Championship Award with red/blue: link

    “…In addition to submitting that great Dick Williams photo…”

    Look at Dick’s hair! Thems wuz the daze. Paul notes that the Yanks played at Shea for a couple of years while Yankee Stadium got “renovated.” A botch job, by the way. I couldn’t work up much regret when the new place came along a few years ago: the demolition of the House That Ruth Built was half accomplished by the brutalisms of the ’70s work.

    “… Bruce Menard also sent along this awesome shot of Boeing’s factory hockey team, circa 1943 … ”

    Spectacular.

    That NFL towel (in collector’s corner) is from Sears. I had the full set. The bath towel looked just like that hand towel. The washcloth was different; it had a centered NFL logo that took up almost the entire space.

    I clicked on the link for the Mini logo.

    Saw it mentioned that gas was “an average of $1.25/gallon”.

    I cried a little.

    sadder when you can remember there was no such thing as a “catalytic converter”

    I am not sure why, but when I first read about the girls soccer team wearing head protection, I automatically pictured football helmets and facemasks…..

    As it gets closer and closer, I wonder, Why does baseball opening day just seem so much better than say football or basketball. It’s like other sports simply have a “first game”.

    I get excited for that first Sunday of 1:00pm kickoffs….but it doesn’t compare to “OPENING DAY”. Just hearing those 2 words brings visions of…..?

    To me, it’s visions of taking the subway to Yankee Stadium or watching the game on old WPIX Channel 11 ( later SportsChannel, MSG or YES ). My birthday is in early April so my parents allowed me to skip school on opening day.

    Oh, brilliant.

    The NFL is trying to horn in on the action with their Kickoff Night game or whatever they’re calling it, but it’s just not the same.

    You know there are 29 MLB teams that fans are looking forward to Opening Day, even in places like Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Wrigleyville.

    The one team that isn’t? link

    Some of the magic of Opening Day is related to simply being human. It means winter is over. Or, from the vantage point of a nine-year-old, we’re heading into the final stretch of the school year. ;)

    This, and I think also the longer nature of the baseball season. With only 16 games, the second week of the NFL season is just as dramatic as the first week, or often the last week. The intensity there is more sustained, so the first game doesn’t stand out as much. And NBA and NFL have much less meaningful “seasons”, what with playoffs that it seems like every team goes to anyway. Baseball has higher stakes for its regular season, but a longer campaign, so the drama is intensified at the start and then slackens, sort of like how the opening gate of a horse race is a thrill unto itself, then there’s a bit of a dramatic lull before the race begins to sort itself out and develop building drama toward the end.

    Not to downplay the awesomeness of it, but I think it may be as simple as just the tradition. Opening Day has been around now for 110+ years. The closest anybody else gets to that is the NFL, I guess? But even then, the League spent the first few decades of its life on the fringe of public consciousness. Baseball was and is America’s Pasttime. Even people that don’t like any other sports (my mom, for example) seem to be able to find a connection to it.

    A big part of it is starting the season on a weekday afternoon (which is no longer standard for EVERY team but is still the case for most teams). It feels like you’re playing hookey!

    You are probably right about the playing hookey angle. I can’t recall any other situation or scenario in which my parents ( who were both educators ) would ever allow my brothers and I to miss school. But they always did for Opening Day. We got lucky if the Yanks opened on the road, because we would get allowed to miss school for the home opener as well.

    But now teams are starting games…in Japan..on Sunday nights, Thursday nights etc. I understand its for ratings, but can’t kill a tradition?

    Other sports have a preseason, which is played at the same stadia and arenae, so by the time ‘opening day’ comes around for football or basketball or hockey, you’ve already seen a handful of meaningless games at the place and the luster is already gone. Baseball teams make the migrating trek from warm weather training destinations to the cooler spring climates of their permanent homes, and the first time the ballpark is used is for that glorious thing we know as Opening Day. It’s a spectacle in and of itself, unmatched by those of other sports, except maybe the Olympics.

    It’s sad to see what has become of the Astrodome. We’re going through it right now with the Civic Arena–I try to avoid the photos whenever possible. Interestingly enough, I never went to the Civic Arena for Penguins games (Never been to a Penguins game or a Steelers FOOTBALL game. But PLENTY of Pirates games, Steelers training camp, and those charity basketball games the Steelers do about this time of year.), but I DID go to plenty of WWE events, link (NSFW) I know the Astrodome is the world’s first domed stadium, but the Civic Arena was the world’s first retractable roof stadium and its being torn down for redevelopment. If it’s not being used, the city of Houston should tear down the Astrodome and put one of link there.

    No need for a Walmart near the Astrodome. There’s a Fiesta (more or less the Mexican equivalent) across the street from Reliant Park and a Super Target a block away.

    Meh, they’ll go there eventually. I remember a number of years back when Walmart tore down Dixmont State Hospital near Sewickley to build a store there, only for it to be cancelled due to a landslide. Meh, the buildings needed torn down anyways.

    link

    Ummmmm… NO! That is what they said about Astroworld. The land was worth more than the park could make every year. You know what is there now? link! After at least 7 years, still link, OVERGROWN with grass. DISGUSTING, douchebags!

    Well, Dixmont intentionally is going back to nature after Walmart failed to build there. But I could see Walley World going onto the site of the Astrodome. It’s only inevitable…

    That glass from collector’s corner with “Seahawks” on it has to be from 1976. It was the Seahawks first season, and they started in the NFC West before moving to the AFC the following year.

    “…Mets appear to have two different versions of their Gary Carter memorial patch – one with a white outline and one without. The outlined version will presumably be used on the BLACK alternate jersey.”

    You linked to the BLUE alt, Paul. Chalking this up to an old, bad habit.

    That’s a blue BP jersey. There *will* be a (hopefully scarcely-used) black alternate this year, as the final phase-out of the black. (Probably too much inventory in the retail shops.)

    As far as black jerseys go, the Pirates link that they seem to wear more often than their standard home and away uniform is one of the best-looking black jerseys in baseball. Better than what they had a link, and certainly better than link, with all due respects to current Pirates postgame analyst Kent Tekulve.

    I love the current Pirates black alts, but the bumblebee ones are a close second, in my opinion.

    If the baseball Boeing patch looked more like the hockey Boeing logo, I would have much less issue with it. My reasoning can be explained through Pulp Fiction: (baseball patch = pig ; hockey logo = dog)…charm and personality go a long way!

    Jules: “Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I’d never know ’cause I wouldn’t eat the filthy motherfucker. Pigs sleep and root in shit. That’s a filthy animal. I ain’t eat nothin’ that ain’t got sense enough to disregard its own feces.”

    Vincent: “How about a dog? Dogs eats its own feces.”

    Jules: “I don’t eat dog either.”

    Vincent: “Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?”

    Jules: “I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.”

    Vincent: “Ah, so by that rationale, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?”

    Jules: “Well we’d have to be talkin’ about one charming motherfuckin’ pig. I mean he’d have to be ten times more charmin’ than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I’m sayin’?”

    As uni-watchers, we mostly consider ad patches on a baseball jersey a “filthy” idea, however, if the design of said ad patch is charming as hell, it ceases to be as filthy…but still dirty overall.

    Holy crap, those 4×5 Kodachromes from today’s COTD are unbelievably clear for 70 year old photos! They look like they were taken yesterday, amazing.

    The NHL lunch box is from either ’76-’77 or ’77-’78…the Cleveland Barons only 2 years in the league.

    Please don’t venture over to HBIC, Tony. The contests running all year are not for you.

    Personally, people who want to bitch about having fun while trying to win something offered for free are nothing is the definition of douchebaggery.

    “Whatever you think of the pink thing, it’s hard not to like this.”

    Really? It looks a bit busy and cheap. Maybe one ribbon wrapped around the leg or just a ribbon featured on the front or back and I “might” care.

    “The Diamondbacks are letting fans vote on which throwback jersey they’ll wear on Sept. 15”

    Is “None of the above” an option?

    Crap. Do I have to be the one to nitpick the Mini item in the ticker? It’s the 10th anniversary of Mini USA. The Cooper has been around for like 50 years.

    …Pius X High in Lincoln, Nebraska, which is the first team in the state – and maybe the country – to have all its players wear protective headgear. Kudos to him and to all involved in that initiative.

    I don’t know…

    Yes, it’s great as an aide in recovery, but to make it mandatory? This here quote is what makes me worried:
    “People will come on the field laughing at us, but they’ll walk off saying, ‘Whoa, they’re going hard,'” Sullivan said. “I think people will go up (in the air) more for balls. I saw it today already.”

    Going harder, going up for more balls, taking more risks…sounds like what’s happened with football. Technology improves, players take more chances as a result and end up getting hurt anyway. Sometimes worse.

    Why does every sport have to get harder, stronger and faster? A game played cautiously can be just as competitive and entertaining as a game where people keep trying to push the envelope.

    Same thing with softball. Now the fielders wear face masks? Why not just make the ball, you know, SOFTer? Not mush ball, mind you, but if girls are getting stronger, compensate by making the ball safer.

    Same thing with softball. Now the fielders wear face masks? Why not just make the ball, you know, SOFTer? Not mush ball, mind you, but if girls are getting stronger, compensate by making the ball safer.

    C’mon, Jim… everyone knows chicks dig the long ball. ;o)

    Good one…

    Now, just to be clear, I’m not saying that just for girls and women. Men’s sports need to stop getting too big and fast for the players’ safety as well.

    In our indoor soccer rec league, there are some limitations. You can’t slide, for instance. At all. Even if you do it accidentally, the other team gets the ball. No big deal, you adapt and move on. It’s safer (although some nuts still try the occasional bicycle kick), but it’s still competitive and fun. That’s what sports should be, not always trying to take it to the next level.

    Jim – in softball, they HAVE reduced the COR a little bit – but remember in fast pitch softball, by the time the pitcher has released the ball, she is maybe 35 feet from HP…and the third and first basemen play up fairly close to home – maybe 30 feet. Trust me, I was one of the curmudgeon umps who thought that fielder’s masks were unnecessary – until I saw a kid ALMOST get one right in the mouth.

    We’re actually in agreement, in regards to the current rules. If they’re that close, then the masks are necessary. My point is they should tweak the rules – move the bases and the mound back, make the ball even softer, put some coating over the bat surface…something.

    I used to play slow-pitch in my late teens. One time they asked me to play third. The biggest guy on the other team hit a BB right past me that I heard (and felt the breeze) but never saw. It wasn’t even one of those juiced balls, but from that moment on I was done as an infielder. Even if I had a mask, I don’t think I would play third base now.

    you should stick to slow-pitch whiffle

    and NO sidearming or submariners

    I always wonder how often people are surfing the internet, looking at photo collections like those Kodachromes, and recognize themselves or people they know. Has that ever happened to anyone here?

    I once found a gallery of Manchester post-WWII that featured a photograph of my grandmother and great-aunts, which was pretty neat.

    I clicked on the image in the New Era press release linked above in the ticker and got this website:

    link

    which, if you go to, will lead you to the designs for every team…the Giants page is linked here

    link

    If it was possible to wear a baseball cap to a Browns game after September I would get that white front cap immediately. That hat is gloriously ’80s without being tongue-in-cheek about it. New Era showed some good restraint in choosing which modern or retro designs work for which teams.

    Except for the Eagles. The three color design does not work with the black and midnight green. It should be the kelly green.

    This is the one and only time I’m going to call a Mets bias on your part. The Blue Jays uni should have been on the lead photo instead!

    Other than that, good stuff.

    Oh, and anyone who has tickets for the Astros…if you take me to the game when they wear the tequila sunrise unis, I’ll buy your beer and hot dogs.

    What the Marlins SHOULD have done, instead of retiring No. 5 for Carl Barger, is retire No. 93, for the Marlins’ first season. Now, it just looks like the team is forgetting its history to placate another overpaid player.

    Great breakdown as usual Paul. Regarding the Marlins old design, as I stated on this blog’s comments before, I was a fan of it. Really liked the black, teal, and silver colorway…just kidding, color combo. I also prefer the realistic looking marlin over the abstract one. No, I don’t think their old design was an all time great, but for some reason I just always took a fancy to it. That being said, I don’t think the new design is terrible at all (some issues here and there like you stated in the piece), just always liked the old one.

    Let’s call it one of my uniform guilty pleasures ;)

    Has there ever been a discussion here about all the teams that went teal after the Sharks (1989, IIRC) subsequently de-tealing themselves?

    My guess would be that the Hornets were the first teal team (unless you count the Dolphins).

    Off the top of my head, here are the teams from the leagues I pay attention to that have gone with teal (or something similar like jade, aqua, etc.) and then jettisoned it:
    NBA: Grizzlies, Pistons, Wizards
    MLB: (Devil) Rays, Diamondbacks, Marlins
    NHL: (Mighty) Ducks, Islanders, Capitals

    There are others that are debatable like the Spurs (logo only), Cavs and Jazz. And maybe the Washington teams don’t fit in this list, but that color was close enough to teal in my book.

    Devil Rays a teal team? Never. They were black and purple (with the hideous gradient lettering), then dark green with royal blue trim.

    I liked their original unis — when teal was the dominant color, but good riddance to the “final uni set” of the Florida Marlins.

    As for the new stuff. It’s not bad. I’m really hoping they come to their senses and decide to wear the orange caps with the home whites.

    I’m one who preferred the original Florida Marlins colors and uniforms. I’m fine with one team being team. They can’t all be red, white, and blue. Plus, the teal and silver worked for a team named the Marlins and located in South Florida.

    What do they have now? It’s garbage! They look like they are marketing a cruise line to me.

    I forgot to ask this when it came up before. Is the bat on the Cardinals’ jersey gold too or is the regular ash just really close to the shade of gold they’re using?

    If by pointless you mean beautiful, I agree.

    Never liked the San Fr ancisco jersey.

    Oh, that’s right…the headspoon is on that one, too.

    Let me rephrase: The headspoon with the SF is beautiful, the headspoon with the San Fr ancisco is pointless.

    Yeah I should have been clearer. The SF headspoon is great, they just need to make the sleeve stripes the same piping as the headspoon.

    Not the wrong font on the KU rug, just outdated, still lots of merchandise floating around Lawrence with the old font on the Jayhawk (sometimes labeled as retro).

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    The A’s and Mariners are here in Japan for Opening Day, and some of the players went up to tsunami-ravaged Ishinomaki for a baseball clinic.

    Check out the awesome powder blue on these kids’s uniforms:

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    Love that image of the Boeing hockey player. In the 30’s and 40’s Seattle had a City League, which was an amateur loop with teams from all around the area. They would have Sunday doubleheaders and one could see, say, Rainier District play Ballard and West Seattle take on Green Lake. During WWII the City League became really popular, and turnouts were good. (I think at that time they called it the Defense Industrial League) Lake Washington Shipyards vs. Boeing. The Ironmen of Isaacson Steel vs. Shurfine Grocers.

    Paul,
    Great job as always on the season preview!
    Is there a reason why no mention of the raised helmet squatchees on the Mets and White Sox helmets in the article? Are they only being used in Spring Training?

    I noticed that the number font on the White Sox red jerseys is correctamundo. Not just the generic font they normally use. Makes me think they got the big numbers on the back right, too!

    i believe that the yankee stadium renovation started immediately after the 1973 season – i have a vivid memory of watching the nbc (?) baseball game of the week on a saturday afternoon – the postgame “studio” (or what passed for it in those days) was in yankee stadium, and the mikes picked up fans hammering away at the seats in the stands above, so as to make off with them before the wrecking ball. the announcer even remarked on the noise, as i recall.

    this may be a manufactured memory, however…perhaps i’m confusing it with the last vikings game in metropolitan stadium?

    No, the destruction immediately after the game at the Met was started by the fans. :)

    I remember the Giants wanted to finish the year at Yankee Stadum, but the city was honked off about the move to the Meadowlands, so the Giants were told to piss off, as the Brits say.

    I thought there’d be some commentary about the Mets pennant that Lane Pryce was rocking on last week’s episode of Man Men.

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    As long as we’re chatting about ripping down old arenas, Maple Leaf Gardens was in the news lately as the renovations near completion.

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    Grocery store on the main (former ice) level, basketball courts above that, small hockey rink for Ryerson University above that. The opportunity to play hockey and skate directly beneath the iconic domed roof? SWEET!

    I agree with the Nationals not doing a Gary Carter patch or anything. Yes, he was an Expo and the Expos became the Nationals. But still. At this point, I feel we’re far enough removed from the Expos that we should let the Nationals be the Nationals. The Rangers used to be the Senators, but they’re only marking their history on their patch to when they became the Rangers. Nationals fans have no memories of Gary Carter playing catcher.

    I think it’s bad, because it’s bad history. It reinforces the notion that the Nats popped up out of nowhere, which they didn’t.

    I don’t think it’s necessary. Lots of teams moved. Some changed identities, some didn’t. My feeling is that if the team re-labels themselves, especially when a new owner takes over, then they aren’t obligated to hold onto the past history and records.

    The Dodgers, Giants and A’s maintained their identities. It’s easier to connect those teams with New York and Philadelphia.
    There is something awkward about connecting the Nationals with Montreal. The Baltimore Orioles don’t mention the St. Louis Browns. If there was anything worth mentioning about the Browns. (50+ years of history, George Sisler, Dizzy Dean, Rogers Hornsby, Satchel Paige…) (Yes, I had to look that up.)

    Like I mentioned, the Rangers are celebrating 40 years. But they were the Senators before that. As were the Twins. It doesn’t bother me if they don’t recognize ties to Washington. (Killebrew was more a Twin than a Senator.)

    The Nationals are in a unique situation. There were two previous franchises here. And they’re relocated from Montreal. That’s the history of three teams. And I think they’re doing a bad job of balancing all of that. I think they should just try to be the Nationals.

    I would prefer acknowledgement of the team’s history, but there is longstanding precedent and tradition behind the binary approaches of celebrating a franchise’s whole history (Dodgers, for example) and pretending that the team sprang into being the moment it arrived in town (Yankees, Orioles, for example). My frustration as a local fan with the Nats is that they’re neither here nor there. Sometimes, they’re a team that used to play in Montreal. Sometimes, they spontaneously sprang from the ether in 1905 – er, I mean, 2005.

    Given that the Nats do celebrate non-franchise Washington baseball history, which I approve of, I think they need also to acknowledge the Montreal history of the franchise, at least to the extent of honoring a player like Carter.

    just like the broncos should un-retire 18 for manning

    no one cares about a club’s history anymore, and why should they?

    guess the dodgers should unretire 42, right? i mean, jackie never played a game in LA

    Players like Jackie Robinson, and some of the other Dodger greats were a different situation and era than the Expos/Nationals. For starters, LA kept the Dodger name, and back in those days, there were more Dodger fans transplanted from New York than Expo fans now living in Washington. In that era, far fewer teams. I challenge anyone to show photos of many Expo jerseys or hats at Washington home games. Lastly, the old Brooklyn Dodgers were just more successful with star players and team accomplishments than the old Montreal Expos. One world title, and a number of pennants. The combination of the market and legacy is just something the old Expos will never be able to match. Jason is spot on with his post, history is important, but much more so when it happens in that specific city.

    The Manning situation is also different, because you had one of the best QBs ever who obtained the blessing of the retired player who left the game almost a half century ago.
    And while Frank Tripuka will always have a special place in Denver Bronco history, his accomplishments weren’t at the level of a John Elway.

    Remember how we used to think you were special?
    Yeah, well…we don’t anymore.
    Someone better came along.

    Nice message, that.

    gusto

    the point isn’t how popular a player is with the fans today, it’s how important he was to a franchise

    if you want to deny that the expos begat the nationals, fine, but you cannot ever deny kid meant a lot to the expos, and the expos ARE the nationals

    stop this city-centric shit you obsess over

    franchises are what they are…cities don’t own a player (in fact, no one owns a player) and cities don’t own teams either

    no, johnny u never played a down in indianapolis, but he was still a colt…you don’t have the ravens retiring “19” for him

    by your logic, LA fans shouldn’t accept ANY history from brooklyn…and by extension, shouldn’t acknowledge 42 — despite how you try to spin it

    it sucks that clubs up and move, i’ll be the first to admit that…but retired numbers (or simply memorial gestures, if they have to be done) should be done by the franchise, not the city…to deny carter played for the franchise that now plays in washington is like denying that jackie robinson played for the franchise who now play their games in LA

    Just as a point of fact: the ravens didn’t retire #19, but they did put a big-ass statue right in front of the stadium:

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    I don’t think football teams should retire numbers.

    Baltimore might argue with you over Johnny Unitas. Baltimore loathes Indianapolis. And Baltimore dissociates itself from the Cleveland Browns history as much as they can.

    Baltimore should.
    Disassociate, that is.
    Owing to the Browns Anomaly, that history never left the shores of Lake Erie.

    Don’t worry. I pulled up my dictionary before I typed that. But thanks.
    link

    I spelled it disassociate the first time, too.
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    In regards to the Cleveland Browns, you’re right. It stayed there. But why are the Nationals expected to hold onto the Expos history?

    What? We’re supposed to re-read before we hit “Submit Comment”?
    Then again…
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    Technically, Ravens are a new franchise.
    I know, I know…so weird. That’s why “Browns Anomaly”.

    and…

    “Nationals fans have no memories of Gary Carter playing catcher.”

    i’d bet arr scott does

    Any chance one will pop-up on the unis when the season starts, or have you confirmed with the team that it is a definite ‘no’?

    Isn’t it odd that the Expos retired # 10 for Rusty Staub in 1993, then re-retired it for Andre Dawson 4 years later? I guess anything worth doing is worth doing twice?

    Yes, but only because I’m exactly that old that Carter was everyone’s hero when I was a kid.

    If possible I’d like to re-open the jags and colts both in white jersey’s discussion from yesterday regarding this photo in yesterday’s ticker.

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    Late last night I posted a comment wondering if the colts jersey may actually be a green jets jersey. I agree that it most certainly looks like a white colts jersey, but just think about it, think about the jets green jersey, it is at all possible that it’s just the lighting that is making it appear blue?

    Because I am very curious about this, and no reasonable explanation mentioned yesterday seems right, I’m sure we can solve this mystery.

    Probably not. If you look at this pic, the stripe on the Jets green jersey connects to the green torso of the jersey, not the white like the picture in question.

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    Also, look at the teal parts of the jaguars jersey, they appear on this screen as a greenish/teal color which would leave me to believe green jersey elements would appear pretty green. Those look to be a pretty solid blue. I’ve been to a number of jags games and searched online and thought maybe in the plethora of jags combos, at one point jags wore black helmets/white jersey/black pants and the colts white/white/white but didn’t find any photo evidence.

    Lighting could be a possibility, because the Jaguars met the Jets on the road twice in that uniform on Nov. 15th, 2009 and Sep. 18th, 2011. I still doubt it, though. Look at the cuff on the Colt/Jet? player’s right sleeve. It’s all-white. The Jets’ green tops have link. Maybe it was a Photoshop mishap?

    Well it seems like there is now enough evidence to rule it being a jets jersey out. I’m just so damn curious ya know? I sure hope we can solve this mystery someday.

    “In 2002…..a gallon of gas selling for an average of $1.25” and “ten years later…..gas prices have more than tripled “.

    I’m sobbing quietly here. You don’t know how lucky you are.

    Here in the UK petrol (“gas”) is about £1.39 per litre. I make that $10.15 per gallon.

    Sob, sob, sob…. :(

    There’s a bunch of reasons why that is though, George. The UK is a smaller country with a more-developed rail system that serves as the primary mode of long-distance travel, whereas in the US the Interstate system is highly developed and serves as the primary mode of long-distance terrestrial travel. There’s also a much greater domestic oil supply in the US, if there even is one in the UK. Those factors create a greater incentive for the British government to heavily regulate and tax usage than there is here.

    There’s also a much greater domestic oil supply in the US, if there even is one in the UK.

    Um…:
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    We all know why gas is cheaper here: Because the oil lobby has outsize influence in Washington. Which is also why the next Deepwater Horizon-style disaster will likely happen here.

    Nothing surprises me any more.

    I could be pedantic and point out this isn’t an “away kit”, as (a) no-one is at home or away, or (b) if anyone is at home so shouldn’t need to change it’s us :)

    It’s a “change kit”. Horrible, but nonetheless a change kit.

    Woops! That’s how upset I am – I’ve replied to the wrong posting.

    This refers to the UK Olympic “away shirts” posted by Pat at 2:44pm (your time)

    I was trying to avoid the political pressures and just look at the economics, but yeah that’s definitely a factor. Even if it’s the primary factor it’s not the only factor though, Paul. This country chose cars in the Fifties while most of the world chose trains and both the oil lobby and the government encourage and feed off of that social paradigm.

    Indeed, jdreyfuss. And thus about 90% of America is unlivable for those of us who can’t drive cars. (“Learn to drive” is not an answer. If your vision is under 20/60, you’re forbidden from driving.)

    Phil, big cities are the good 10%. This is why New York is awesome and is the Capital of the World.

    So if everyone was in a hissy fit about the UK unis not having red wait until you see their football(soccer) away unis. Hints of red but the lightest of sky blues really? I don’t mind the design it’s just color choices that they’ve screwed up on.

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    George Chilvers | March 27, 2012 at 3:29 pm |

    Nothing surprises me any more.

    I could be pedantic and point out this isn’t an “away kit”, as (a) no-one is at home or away, or (b) if anyone is at home so shouldn’t need to change it’s us :)

    It’s a “change kit”. Horrible, but nonetheless a change kit.

    /There, George…now your comment’s in the right place. ;)

    So I was watching the replays of the T20 Cricket tournament in Dubai over the weekend, and one of the matches I watched was Canada v. Scotland. I was a little puzzled by the Canadian team’s uniforms.

    They seemed pretty heavy on the black and gold for a team from Canada.

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    So I guess the Seinfeldian question to be asked is what is up with that?

    I also noted that some of them have the name above the number, and some have the name below.

    The only one that’s remotely close to an improvement is the Red Zone channel. All the others are major downgrades, especially NFL Films.

    Beat me to the punch.

    But yeah, I love Roger Goddell’s uniform logoism for the NFL. It may be dumb, but I do miss those unique Super Bowl logos from years prior.

    No kidding. Even though they were getting cheesier each year, they at least gave each Super Bowl its own identity. Now the Super Bowl is all corporate. They either wanted to copy the NBA or save money on graphic artists.

    They suck aesthetically and practically. Instead of “NFL Network”, the reader sees “object NETWORK”. They diluted their own branding in trying to consolidate it.

    Boy, that took zero thought and creativity.

    The most creative part of all of them is that the “red” in “RedZone” is colored red.

    Someone got paid to do this, remember.

    The rockies right fielder just got his glove caught in his jersey and missed a fly ball.

    5th inning, Ryan Roberts the batter, second-to-last hitter of the inning, right fielder Tyler Colvin.

    Kinda makes you wonder why there aren’t any pullovers in the Major Leagues anymore, and also what purpose buttons serve.

    THE would like to buy you a drink

    and in truth, buttons and “traditional” jerseys serve no purpose, other than for ‘decoration’ (i mean, aside from actually buttoning the jersey)…

    but for all intents and purposes, pullovers would work just as well as buttondowns

    for that matter, socks/stirrups and belts serve no function anymore either

    and if someone were inventing the game today, you probably wouldn’t have any of those things

    but baseball is such a grand game BECAUSE of the tradition, and that includes *looking* like a ballplayer

    it’s aesthetics

    but from a purely “practical” standpoint? no need a’tall

    The best option would be pullovers with decorative buttons added to them. No gaps in wordmarks or ways for a ball or glove (how DO you get your glove stuck in your jersey? C’mon man…) to get caught – and you’d still have the traditional look.

    except…im pretty sure those awesome threads only had two buttons at the top (with a faux placket)

    could you do that with full buttons?

    well, shit, you could, but that really seems stupid

    just make the jersey out of that fabric (to approximately the look of wool flannel), but still use real buttons

    actually…check that

    not 100% sure about tech and mizzou, but pepperdine does have the faux buttons (only the top two are functional)

    still…seems to me to be a solution to a non-problem

    you don’t need buttons on a jersey — so there is no reason to put fake ones on there

    there’s a reason baseball had (almost) an entire league of pullovers and now not a one

    they look shitty, but they’re completely functional

    zippers solved the button problem too, even before pullovers, so it wasn’t like baseball hasn’t tried to address the “problem”

    but still…it just didn’t look right

    If you’re gonna have decorative buttons on a pullover, then you gotta have a placket-flap that mimics a real button up jersey, if you get what I’m saying. A faux-placket as Phil just coined it.

    Which is stupid as hell though, just wear a real button up jersey. Or a regular pull over.

    Oh wait, so that’s what Pepperdine has done, I didn’t read that thoroughly. But ha, look at UA’s reasoning for the faux placket on their *Throwback Technology Platform* – “Faux Full Button- Reduces overall weight and eliminates bulge at tuck point” WTF, give me a break.

    Whoever did it up for Mr. Pence did their research as well.

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    That’s how a throwback should be done. What an awesome cover.

    Is the new show on ABC about sports memorabilia, “Ball Boys,” approved by Uniwatch? Will there be stirrups? link

    It’s on ABC? Not another faux-History Channel knock-off? I’d probably watch it. Good move promo-ing with the Jim Brown segment. Gotta love Jim Brown.

    If you go to New Era’s facebook page and like the page NFL sneak peek you can see all 3 New Era hats for each team except the Seattle Seahawks. Any color scheme changes or logo changes coming that have been unannounced?

    If they’re unannounced, how would we know about them?

    The Seahawks are changing uniforms. To what, we don’t exactly know yet.

    I just was reading Paul’s ESPN column, and noticed something about the Giants road uni’s: they’ve moved the three stripe piping up – away from the edge of the sleeves. Good move! I have to say that has driven me nuts since the piping reappeared. I love three thin-strip piping on any jersey, when appropriate, but the tradition has always been that the stripes are not actually on the edge of the sleeve. So, however you feel about the headspoons, the sleeves are now in harmony with the baseball universe. Ommm.

    I propose we have a day, where everyone here goes by a The prefix. (see above.)

    Who’s with me?

    I really don’t think that’s necessary. I know I’m pretty awesome and all, but I’m not sure I deserve a whole day in my honor.

    I had forgotten about Dick Williams and the Yankees…wonder why they didn’t just let him sit out a year, then hire him. As for Shea in that picture, since the picture was taken in December, the field was a football field for the Jets and Dick was likely very cold. Yankee Stadium was probably looking like this

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    Overall, very positive MLB changes. MLB seems to do it better than NBA, NCDA (National Collegiate Douchebag Assoc.), MFS (Major Fucking Soccer), and NFL. The only exceptions are the Marlins (just change the F on the cap to an M and call it good), and Dbacks who managed to make a uni makeover worse than the original.

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