.
Whatever else you can say about the Astros, they’ve certainly had some of the game’s most notable uniforms over the past century. And as most of you know, they’ll have a new uni set next season. But before the new design is unveiled, I’ve decided to let Uni Watch readers try their hand at adding to Houston’s storied uni history. So my ESPN column today will include a call for “Redesign the Astros” entries (although that’s not the primary focus of the column, which will be about a fairly obvious MLB trend this season). Full details here.
Don’t forget, voting is underway for Phil’s contest to redesign the Redskins. Cast your ballot here.
If you liked the new Permanent Record article on Slate, you’ll want to see the short follow-up piece I just posted on the PermaRec blog.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Shame on the Baltimore City Council, which is considering putting ads on fire trucks. Bad move, hon (from Joe Hilseberg). … Ohio University is taking bids for a new outfitter now that their contract with Russell Athletic has ended (from Johnny Bruno). … Here’s the logo for Tokyo’s 2020 Oympics bid (from Jeremy Brahm). … A consumer tip from Jeff Fedenko: Don’t use Eastern Lettering. “They have yet to respond to my concern over a warm-up I sent down for lettering over a month ago and I am still waiting,” says Jeff. “They have my money and, more importantly, my warm-up. Not a good experience.” … “The Nike Logo Project, displayed in an exhibition space at Nike Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, is a recollection of the vast history of the Nike logo and its offspring, sprouting from the original Swoosh into some of the most historic emblems ever known like the ”˜Jumpman’ and the simplistic Nike Sportswear crests.” That quote comes from this interesting page (from Raymond Parrish). … MLB umpire caps don’t have New Era logo creep — except when they do. That’s ump Dan Bellino arguing with MLB’s coolest manager, Joe Maddon. Appears to have been a isolated incident, thankfully, since the logo creep doesn’t appear in other photos of Bellino (good spot by Ryan DeFilippi). … The U.S. Army has started using a new kind of anti-shrapnel shorts whose design was inspired by football pants (from BJ Lanier). … Gary Chanko’s alma mater is the U. of Delaware, so he made himself a Cubee of the Blue Hens’ All-American RB, Andrew Pierce. Here’s the template. … Female badminton players won’t have to wear skirts after all (thanks, Brinke). … This is odd: Cal Ripken Jr. and Sr. wearing the same uni number. “Must have been shot before Cal made the big club,” says Alan Tompas. ”¦ Robert Griffin III was wearing a U.S. men’s soccer team jersey last night, complete with RNOB (thanks, Phil). ”¦ Speaking of U.S. soccer, the uni number color was changed last night, for TV visibility. Details toward the bottom of this page (from Britt Jackson). ”¦ In that same match, midfielder Sandro of Brazil suffered a facial laceration and ended up was wearing a blue swimmer’s cap, apparently to help keep a bandage in place (from Tim E. O’Brien and Omar Aujani). ”¦ Looks like the Niners are still wearing Reebok pants (from Matt Paver). ”¦ “This site allows shoppers to pick a pro tennis player to pick and choose all their gear — apparel, racquets, shoes, even string!” says Martin Wolf II. ”¦ The Brewers have added a logo timeline to a wall at Miller Park — and to their credit, they included the Pilots logo (Phil again). ”¦ Check out the team-branded uniforms worn by the Devils’ glass crew (from Marc Bauche). ”¦ Saw Moonrise Kingdom last night. The good news is that I loved it; the better news is that all the Boy Scouts (or Khaki Scouts, as they’re called in the film) have really killer socks. ”¦ The Brooklyn Cyclones are giving away a variety of jersey designs for Thursday home games this summer. ”¦ In case you haven’t already seen it, this color footage from the 1939 World Series is worth checking out. “Love the red usher blazers and the all-white grounds crew,” says Steven Wyder. ”¦ Even better than the “Dingle” and “Berry” photo (from Kurt Esposito). ”¦ The MTA — that’s the agency that runs the buses and subways here in NYC — has changed a controversial policy regarding Sikh and Muslim employees. Under the new policy, these workers will no longer have to wear the MTA logo on their turbans (thanks, Kirsten). ”¦ Marcus Hall has an interesting question: Are there home and road versions of the Harlem Globetrotters uniform, or just one? ”¦ In case you missed it in the highlight segments over the weekend, Todd Frazier of the Reds did something really unusual on Sunday: He hit a home run while barely having his hands on the bat. Additional video here. ”¦ Reprinted from last night’s comments: Excellent piece on hockey ear guards.
Am I stupid for not having a *clue* what the CoTD is all about? Or was that the point?
My head hurts.
Looks like zoomed in pictures from sculptures and paintings. Odd page, fer sure.
Guys, it’s hilarious.
To me.
Jokes are never funny when they’re explained, but, you know, I’d say it’s the juxtaposition of the classy font, the prurient come-on, the removal of all context, and the utterly non-erotic imagery.
Funny.
“non-erotic”?
Says YOU!!
;^)
I noticed the COTD yesterday, wasn’t too impressed. Most of the entries for COTD have been “good unique” things even if I didn’t particularly care for them, however the nipples at the met is more “loophole unique”.
Link re: Messrs. Ripken is wonky.
Fixed.
Female badminton players won’t have to wear skirts after all (thanks, Brinke).
~~~
yeah, brinke…thanks a lot
link
“… Here’s the logo for Tokyo’s 2020 Oympics bid (from Jeremy Brahm)… ”
Excellent. Lovely, even.
“… Speaking of U.S. soccer, the uni number color was changed last night…”
That red-and-white hoop stripe look on the USA shirt really works for me, though I wish the white square on the back were smaller. Blue shorts work too. Go, Yanks! Too bad about the ever-inadequate US defense.
Brazil looked sharp, of course, though I sadly note the absence of some conspicuous use of green. As Robert M can verify, blue-green-yellow combinations — with rotating emphases on each of the tri-colors — has long been the official colors of the Union of San Patricio / Estado Unido de San Patricio, a kleptocratic nation-state with which I have been associated.
The hoop stripes look great for Team USA, but then again so did the navy sash look. I kind of don’t care whether USA uniforms look good; I just want them to be consistent and stick with something, anything, long enough for USA to have a definite look like, say, Brazil or Italy or France or Germany or England or, really, any serious soccer nation. Hell, Japan (Japan!) has a more recognizable national uni than the ever-changing USA. Makes us look like pikers, and feeds into a longstanding practice of international disrespect that actually makes a difference in seeding and officiating.
As to ever-inadequate defense, I still blame the offense. USA soccer games always feel like 10 minutes of exciting, slashing offensive attacks (usually ended with hasty passing) punctuating 80 minutes of in-our-half manic defense. Nobody’s defenders are good enough to deal with the lack of ball-controlling offense that the US has had for the last 20 years or so. Much too similar a style of play to pre-Sven England. Though criminally biased officiating in the Germany quarter (see uniforms and respect, lack of, above) did cost USA a ticket to the World Cup final match in 2002, heart-attack-inducing defensive backfooting and all.
“… Much too similar a style of play to pre-Sven England…”
True enough. But I still think the defenders (minus Bocanegra, solid but old) are a sorry lot.
I wouldn’t include Fabian Johnson in such an assessment. He’s quite good. And young, too. We might have solved that problem for the next decade.
Or maybe both?
Oops. Wrong place.
Brazil looked sharp, of course, though I sadly note the absence of some conspicuous use of green
Numbers and sleeve stripes weren’t enough for you? Besides, the one consistent color in Brazillian soccer is blue (Brazil’s original uniform was an all-white strip with blue trim, abandoned after losing to Uruguay 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup in front of almost 200,000 at the Maracaña).
According to the broadcaster, the reason why Sandro was wearing the blue swimming cap has more to do with it being a FIFA rule that requires any sort of headgear/bandage to match the color of the team’s shorts.
That pic of Dan Bellino and Joe Maddon looks like it’s pretty old. It’s an outdoor pic with Maddon wearing home whites in the daytime, so it appears to be Spring Training, my best guess is 2008 because 1) That’s the first year of the Rays’ new unis and 2) it looks like a Reds player in the background, and their last Spring Training in Florida was 2008 and 3) it looks like it’s in Al Lang stadium which the Rays left in 2008. Guesses anyone?
Oops, missed this. Said the same thing below.
I seem to remember their last spring game at Al Lang was televised and was against the Reds, too.
Because they won all three games wearing the “M” hats, Twins will continue to wear them.
Likely the camo version, I suppose. Unless they raided the fan store for red “M” hats.
Because they won all three games wearing the “M” hats, Twins will continue to wear them.
Good. That’s what they should be wearing. They’re the Minnesota Twins, not the Twin City Whatevers. The TC hat shouldn’t even exist. M for Minnesota, T for Twins, or even MT for Minnesota Twins would be acceptable. The Minnesota Twins using TC is like the Texas Rangers using LS for “Lone Star”.
Likely the camo version
Boooooooo!!!!
Said it many times, and I know it’s odd, but the TC actually serves as a graphic presentation, “artwork” explaining that “Twins” is in reference to the Twin Cities. The letters don’t stand for anything in the team or city name, not technically.
A map would have too many details to work that small.
So, if we were categorizing MLB hats by, say, city name, nickname or logo, the “TC” probably could(should?) be in with the likes of Chief Wahoo and the various Oriole birds.
Yes. If you need everything to be so literal that you can’t appreciate the TC on a Minneapolis-based team’s cap as one of baseball’s lovely quirks, then you’ve got a problem.
If you need everything to be so literal that you can’t appreciate the TC on a Minneapolis-based team’s cap as one of baseball’s lovely quirks, then you’ve got a problem.
The more I observe the more I love it when things don’t make sense. Utah Jazz, gold stripe on an old Falcons helmet, “Daddy, why does it say TC on the Twins hats?”…..Where is the crime in talking about these things?
The TC logo is a brilliant bit of conceptual design, and effectively a mascot cap as Ricko observes. However, it’s a terrible cap logo, easily the single worst design execution on any MLB cap today, or possibly in history.
Given that their hometown is most commonly referred to as the “Twin Cities,” it’s nothing at all like a Rangers “LS” cap. The only analog is to the Rays wearing TB caps despite not actually playing in Tampa Bay, there being no actual place called “Tampa Bay” than they could play in. It’s a regional nickname, in addition to being a body of water. It’s just that the Twins didn’t formally adopt the regional nickname as part of their corporate name.
Someone want a research project?
I always thought the Binghampton Triplets wore a TC on their hats before the Twins did. In their case, it was for “Tri-Cities”, of course.
So I figured that’s where the Twins got the notion.
Or, I also have always wondered if the TC hats were orders when the club thought they’d be the Twins Cities Twins…before the decision was made to go with “Minnesota”.
Kinda figure it’s one or the other.
Or possibly both?
“However, it’s a terrible cap logo, easily the single worst design execution on any MLB cap today, or possibly in history.”
Arr Scott…. I do appreciate your observations and pithy commentary, your invaluable insights and your voice of reason on this site. But there are times, like now, when I just roll my eyes and wonder, who is this guy?
I am not going defend the TC because it needs no defense.
Nah, it’s plain bad execution. In most lighting conditions, there is no TC cap; there’s just a T cap with a hold in the T. The un-outlined red just doesn’t offer sufficient contrast to the midnight navy cap.* A lighter shade of navy on the cap would fix that (and also match the team’s blue alt jerseys), as would some kind of outline, or a one-color TC logo, or switching to navy and kelly green, or wearing the old red caps, or, well, almost any conceivable change to the execution of the logo. I’m a huge Twins fan, and I love the TC logo, and I’ve come around to loving the TC cap for its quirky uniqueness even though the M-wearing Twins are the ones I got to see play in the World Series. But the particular execution of the logo on the caps is just really, really poor.
Don’t mean to belabor the point, just to explain specifically what I mean. It’s an example of “I like it, but I don’t think it’s very good.” Sort of like the music of Def Leppard.
* Worth noting that back when the TC was first worn, the Twins wore a truer navy cap with noticeably more saturation, so the red C popped much more and was more visible. The current league-standardized dark navy New Era uses for so many teams is too dark and unsaturated for unoutlined red logos.
I couldn’t disagree more. I never did care for the ‘M’ logo, though that could be because I also didn’t care for their pinstriped unis. Particularly the road version: the chunky font, the pinstripes-on-grey. Too busy. Thank God they ditched that a couple of years ago.
Binghampton Triplets, 1953…
link
Yankees’ Single A Eastern League team. Marvelous Marv Throneberry, at the age of 19, played 8 games for them…
link
Twins/Rays is a bad comparison. They are actually called the Tampa Bay Rays, so the TB makes perfect sense for them. If they were the Florida Rays or the St. Petersburg Rays, then the TB/TC example would be on the money.
The only true MLB analog I can think of right now is the DC cap logo for the Nats.
Seeing as how the Nats DC cap logo was the single best thing about their original uni set, I accept the challenge to my Rays analogy and stipulate that the Twins/Nats comparison is the correct one. Which decisively settles the matter in favor of the TC cap being appropriate, sensible, and thoroughly awesome.
The crossed TC logo on the Triplets is interesting, and clearly predates the Twins, so it makes me wonder whether there was any awareness within the organization when it relocated from Washington. And if so, why didn’t the Twins adopt a more direct imitation? More distinctive than a run-of-the-mill wishbone C, and the one-color logo has great contrast and visibility.
Cap looks like navy with a red brim. Good lookin’ chapeau.
So you’re trying to tell me that the darker blue provides *less* contrast with the red than a lighter blue would?
Someone want a research project?
I always thought the Binghampton Triplets wore a TC on their hats before the Twins did. In their case, it was for “Tri-Cities”, of course.
So I figured that’s where the Twins got the notion.
Or, I also have always wondered if the TC hats were orders when the club thought they’d be the Twins Cities Twins…before the decision was made to go with “Minnesota”.
Kinda figure it’s one or the other.
Ricko, I’m pretty sure that the “TC” was introduced because there was some concern around the Twin Cities that the new club would only represent Minneapolis. Remember, the Senators were moving into a market that had two minor league teams for half a century – they wanted to appeal to both fanbases, much like the Mets would do a few years later. An “M” cap, it was feared, would turn off all those St. Paul Saints fans.
FWIW, although Griffith announced “Minnesota Twins” as the name for his relocated franchise only weeks after the move was made official, the Milwaukee Journal referred to them as the “Twin Cities Twins” for the first couple years after the move from Washington.
Mr. Rogers — I wholeheartedly agree.
It makes me wonder, though. Would I want to see other teams do this? OC for the Angels? DFW for the Rangers?
Probably not.
Beyond the fact that I don’t think there’s a visibility problem with the red on navy blue to begin with, from the standpoint of color theory, it’s also much easier to pick up the red C on the navy blue cap than it is to pick up the navy blue C on the red cap. This has been discussed at length in the past regarding the success of the Indians’ navy blue caps vs. the failure of their red caps.
Not really, because they wouldn’t be reflections/explanations/representations of the team nickname.
The one that holds up is the Triplets.
Chance, I lived through all that. :)
Yes, the announcement of “Minnesota Twins” did come very early-on, and they were right not to slight St. Paul. At the time, Minneapolis alone likely wouldn’t have been large enough to support MLB. It definitely was the metro-wide market, not just the larger of the two cities, that got Minnesota into the bigs.
Mentioned this before as evidence of those inter-city concerns: For first half of ’61 season, wire services datelined stories “MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL”, and reversed it for second half.
By possibly as early as ’62, though, they used “BLOOMINGTON”, and it stayed that way ’til the team moved to the Metrodome.
You know what DOES hold up as analogous, sorta?
(HINT: It’s at the top of the page)
“.45s” on the hat. It’s neither an “H” nor a “C”, of course, but it does offer further explanation of the team nickname across the chest.
“Oh, I get it. The gun, not the horse.”
“Oh, I get it. The gun, not the horse.”
Because the smoking revolver on the jersey lent itself to widespread confusion?
Yeah, after I hit “submit” realized I should have said it offered more explanation if someone heard, “That’s a Houston Colts hat”.
“Colt .45s” wasn’t used all that often in the vernacular. Used to listen to their games on WWL from New Orleans back in ’62, and “Colts” was the typical reference term, even by the broadcast team.
I accept Marc Okkonen’s logic on the Twins’ hat: An “M” for Minnesota would have the whiff of favoring Minneapolis at the expense of St. Paul, so rather than clutter the hat up with an “M-S-T-P” blotch, the “T-C” monogram craftily inserted the teams’ nickname in the explanation.
Whose idea was it to name the “TAMPA BAY” Buccaneers or Rays “Tampa Bay, instead of “Tampa”? Just curious. Is it a bid to market/appeal to a larger “Metro Area?” Sort of how the “Boston” Patriots became first (short-lived) the “Bay State” Patriots, then even before kicking of the season switched again to “New England” Patriots….
Saints owner Tom Benson upon purchasing the team in 1985 considered some type of name change to embrace/market to the larger Gulf Coast area, but eventually decided against a name change, and instead did away with (some say specifically banned) the Saints’ original 1967 Sir Saint and shield logos, replacing them with a Mora-era State of Louisiana shape logo for many years. It wasn’t until Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, when fans on a pretty widespread basis bootlegged merchandise and embraced the older logos in a show of solidarity, that Tom Benson allowed the older logos back into approved circulation ….
Sorry to drift afar from the original question ….
When the Twins came out with those “TC” hats, I thought they were the Reds.
I grew up with the “M” being the logo for the Twins…the TC is too similar to the Reds.
Here’s the funny part, the team store loaded up on TC camo caps for Monday’s holiday, having no idea the team was going to unexpectedly break out the M logo. There were zero M logo camo caps in Target Field.
Then, the team continued to wear the standard M logo caps for the next two days and the only ones in the team sore of that style were the ultra large dregs remaining from last year’s order, as they were not restocked this year since Twins fans prefer the TC by a enormous margin, certainly aided by the fact the team had all but shunned the M caps since moving into Target Field.
“Because they won all three games wearing the “M” hats, Twins will continue to wear them.”
~~~
and here we go again with teams (and fans) equating shitty uniforms with good baseball and thereby loving the unis…while teams with great unis that sucked often have fans view those great unis with contempt
while many (especially ricko) would disagree with my contention that the 1987-2010 unis were the worst looking in minnie history…they played their best baseball in them, so the fans *love* the uni
again, it’s just my opinion that those unis weren’t nearly as good as what preceded (we can have a discussion about the powder-blue double knits some other time) or succeeded them…but since they won their 2 world series’ in those, fans will forever think of them as “great” unis (when it was the teams wearing them who were great)
i feel the same way about the 1982-1992 mets unis — for most of those years, the mets were very good to great (winning the 1986 world series in them), so most fans think the uniform is great — but it’s awful — the only more awful period was the black-for-black-sake 1998-2011…
i just find it funny how if you have a good team wearing shitty unis, the fans will love the uni — because you equate the togs with a winner
and how teams with a great uni that sucked will hate those unis, because they equate the uni with suckage
only on UW could we appreciate this sort of thing
~~~
as far as the interlocking TC vs the M?
no contest — the TC is 1000x better
no contest – the TC on a red cap with a blue brim is 1000x better
(fixed)
Much agreed. We often think of baseball players’ superstitions as a harmless, charming quirk, part of the grand tradition–but almost more often than not, it results in something that makes the game harder to like, or to watch.
@Phil
Ugliest uniforms to win a world series- – – 1979 Pirates
ugh
and those Mets unis from 82-92 look like diamonds compared to the lump of coal from the BFBS era
There is no way of quantifying a good uniform; it will always be a matter of opinion. But you can’t argue with W’s.
And then there are Cubs fans, perfectly happy to lose in the same uniform decade after decade. The White Sox win a World Series and, after two decades of black, begin a serious flirtation with red. Chicago=exception that proves the rule.
you say that like it’s a bad thing
Sounds like another Sox fan a bit too interested in the Cubs.
Focus on your own team.
“here we go again with teams (and fans) equating shitty uniforms with good and thereby loving the unis”…
this coming from an Islanders fan…
Oh, way to go, link. Didn’t you get the memo? Football does NOT equal combat!
Why do the Astros need new unis? I understand ownership was to “start over” with them joining the AL but the current unis are a great design.
Why does any team need new uniforms? If the owners want a change… that’s pretty much all the reason you need.
In the Astros’ case, I think they look too “southwestern” and not enough “space”. They are the Astros – as in Astronomy, Astronauts, etc – not the Wranglers or Rustlers or whatever.
What he said. The current look has always seemed to me more than a bit at crossed purposes with the nickname.
Dump the pinstripes and it’s actually a nicely space-age retro look. That script is actually not old-timey at all; it’s very Mercury-era modernist. The colors work better with the space-themed name than blue and orange ever did.
There’s a bit of unfortunate association going on with the Astros; people see the steam locomotive and assume that everything about the unis introduced at the same time is therefore straight out of the 1870s. But when you look at the elements on their merits, that critique doesn’t stand up. The prejudice seems unbreakable, however, and so overcoming it probably requires a complete overhaul.
Plus killing off pinstripes. Pinstripes are for bankers and train conductors, not astronauts.
Yes, but adobe flower pots are brick colored.
And Tang is orange.
:)
I dunno Arrrr, I’ve seen astronauts wearing orange jumpsuits, and the NASA logo has a good amount of blue in it. I can’t say I’ve seen too much brick red and sand in the space program.
You’re right about the star logo and script. On their own, they’re probably modern enough, but I really don’t think they work with the brick & sand color scheme.
I guess I’m gonna have to come up with a uniform to go along with my logo: link (I’ve posted it before, so it may be familiar) since Paul’s doing an official contest.
The current Houston scripts are pretty crafty, especially the star-shaped swash in the capitals. The rest of the design? Dump it.
Hey Mr. Jeff, may I borrow the template you used for the Cleveland contest?
As I’ve mentioned before, Astros = Stars. There are blue and orange stars.
Black is acceptable, I suppose. I struggle to see how brick red is associated with the American space program, though.
Orange, on the other hand? It’s all over the place.
link
link
link
link…
Hey Mr. Jeff, may I borrow the template you used for the Cleveland contest?
As much as I hate to admit it, that’s actually a modified version of a Tim E. O’Brien template. So, yeah, go ahead and borrow it. That is sorta the whole point of templates, after all.
@JTH-
orange parachutes too: link
“As much as I hate to admit it, that’s actually a modified version of a Tim E. O’Brien template.”
Why would you hate to admit that?
Anywho, share and share alike: link
The Jeff took the words right out of my mouth. I’ve been hoping for ages that UniWatch would do a contest like this, and my hopes have finally been answered (thanks, Paul!).
That’s simply one more reason to change the team’s godforsaken nickname. “Astros” are actually not stars: they are not spaceships, planets, or anything else in particular. An “Astro” is a goddamned PREFIX, and should never be been in print or haberdashery except as part of a longer compound word.
Tell that to the Mets.
I also hate the Mets’ nickname, but THEY deserve it.
Space = Tang = Space Food Sticks = staying up late to watch the Apollo Moon Landings…..
I like the Astros’ current script, and wonder if perhaps the current uniforms would be better received if they were rendered in an orange/navy colorway instead of the current brick colorway.
Looking at the Astros’ old uniforms (Shooting Star) that everybody seems to like, I just don’t get excited. I’ll concede that it looks nice, but at the same time I think it looks dated. If it was introduced brand new tomorrow, having never been worn, I don’t think it would be as well received. I can’t help but wonder if the nostalgia factor is playing a role in people’s fondness for it.
The Jeff, looking through your work, I don’t think you get enough credit as being one of the best uni-designers on this site. Great concepts and execution.
Thanks Eddie, I really appreciate that. Also, I haven’t uploaded all of my work to DevArt. I don’t know how long you’ve been reading this blog, but Phil’s featured my work on NFL helmets here: link and link …and all 30 MLB teams here: link and here: link
Anybody have a vector (.eps or .ai) template?
You’ll probably have to google for one of those, Ben. I use vectors occasionally, but my program of choice doesn’t allow me to save files in either of those formats.
Thanks The. Didn’t see a link to your deviantart page in the thread, care to share?
The Astros current uniforms are fine, except they don’t look like the Houston Astros. I will admit a deep, unwavering bias against all things Drayton McLane, but his two uniform overhauls — the blue and gold “Lockheed Star” uniforms of the mid-90s and the current “brick, coal & sand” look — had nothing to do with Astros tradition.
Ol’ Judge Hofheinz chose blue and orange for two reasons: it represented the water of Galveston Bay and the sun that blasts us for 10 months of the year, and they were the colors of Gulf Oil. Orange is a weird, kookily optimistic color, and this is a weird, kookily optimistic town. Brick, Coal, and Sand? That’s anyplace. It’s boring.
I agree that the shooting star jerseys look a little dated. But the design is so good; surely in talented hands it could be refreshed!
There is only one time I ever liked anything about the current Astros design. It was their 1st or 2nd year at Enron Field, early in the season. We’d gotten field level seats from my brother-in-law’s firm. It was a Saturday afternoon in April, the roof was open, and the ‘Stros were in their all white, no piping unis, with the brick star on the chest and their brick-colored caps. Dwight Gooden was on the mound, staring down a batter, bathed in sunlight, in that lovely white uniform. It was like baseball as depicted by Vermeer.
Other than that, meh.
There is only one time
Agree; I’m a shooting star fan all the way !
Why do they need new ones? Because the current ones are bland.
Plus, you go to Astros games, you have as many or more people wearing the orange and blue as wearing the red. I’d wager most of their merchandise sales are for the throwback stuff. So why not sell to what people are buying?
Wow, ads on firetrucks. What’s next, ambulances and cop cars? These are strange times.
Looking forward to the day when police officers have to announce a sponsorship message at the start of a ticket or arrest.
“Sir, I’m going to need to see your license and registration. This traffic stop is brought to you by Jiffy Lube, who reminds you that driving at high speed wears out engine oil faster, so come in for a full-service inspection and lube every 3,000 miles. Do you know how fast you were going back there?”
“That’s enough. Up against the wall. You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. After your arraignment, Chico’s Bail Bonds is ready to help you arrange your release pending trial at unbeatable rates. Chico’s, where your car is your collateral. Do you understand your rights and this special offer from Chico’s Bail Bonds?”
Ha. “This speeding ticket is brought to you by Geico, reminding you that 15 mph over the speed limit will cost you 15 dollars a month on your car insurance.”
Hey, hey, I played softball for Absolute Bail Bonds for a couple seasons.
Remembering the phone number that was on the jerseys actually came in handy one time. But that’s another story.
Reminds me of the movie Idiocracy, where that one guy says “Carl’s Jr.” at the end of every sentence.
Fantastic Movie. It was the Secretary of State, brought to you by Carl’s Jr.
That’s it – now I finally figured out exactly why I can no longer stand /despise watching interviews of NASCAR drivers ‘… their constantly working in the sponsors’ names when describing or reviewing crucial portions of a race. That, and the corrupt practice of blocking for other “teammates” so certain other drivers can win.
If NASCAR had ANY guts at all, they’d dispense with the unbelievable corrupt pretense of 33 different drivers and cars in each race, and instead openly declare have 11 “teams” of three cars/drivers each, and let them block and stall each others’ drivers to their hearts’ content. That I’d enjoy watching ….
Wu Tang was awesome.
That would’ve been even cooler if their numbers were 3 and 6.
9 original members. I got nuthin for 16, though.
“My hip hop will rock and shock the nation, Like the Emancipation Proclamation.”
Lincoln was the 16th president.
Uh… link?
Well played Marty. The hip-hop/history nerds in me are beaming.
James – I thought about that, but I think it’s a little too specific when coupled with 9.
Marty wins. Brilliant.
Number of ODB’s children?
Looks like Eastern Lettering is no longer according to the BBB: link
That notation is almost a year old – Jeff, when did you send your jacket to them?
I sent the jacket to them about a month ago. I had originally ordered the tackle twill numbers and was going to have them sewn on myself but they weren’t large enough so I sent them back with the warmup since they seemed reputable/reliable but they have promised me it is on its way for over three week now. BTW, that link is not the same company as they are located in Raleigh North Carolina not Virginia.
I did order some tackle twill numbers from them about a year ago. They were fine for me.
That’s Moonrise Kingdom, not Moonlight.
When I got to the theater, I asked for two tickets to Moonshine Kingdom…. Seem to have a mental block on that title….
… or a drinking problem.
Moonshine Kingdom… starring Rafe Holister.
Looking at a couple of pictures from last night’s Stanley Cup game, including this one:
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makes me wonder: Is goaltender Jonathan Quick not wearing socks?
According to this blog account, Quick went sockless in Phoenix in 2011. link
Celtics with their alternate uniforms for the last 2 games against Miami Heat. As a Celtics fan, I hate the design scheme (black and green, ugh) but I love the word Boston. I’m a guy who believes that every NBA jersey should have their team nicknames at home and their city name on the road.
I know the green Celtics jersey has a lot of history back to the 70s and 80s but I’d like to get back to the green jerseys with the white Boston letterings during Russell’s playing days.
The Celtics’ BFBS unis are an abomination. They should make the green-and-gold St. Paddy’s alts the permanent third, or, even better, make it the full-time road uni.
IIRC, it was around the time Russell became player-coach of the Celtics that “Boston” was removed from the road jerseys and replaced with “Celtics.” I know that in Russell’s autobiography “Second Wind” he talks about the animosity he held toward the city at the time because of its racial problems, and (I don’t remember if he explicitly said this) I always assumed he was behind the rebranding and it was for that reason.
It’s widely known he disliked Boston back then but I’ll have to look into that if that was really the reason why they switched. Maybe it isn’t BFBS after all…
Today’s ESPN column is up:
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Cool work, boss. Comprehensive but lively.
link went Negro League throwback (Crawfords and Stars, respectively) on May 19.
Couple more shots:
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Eh. Try this for that second one:
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Oooh, good one — I’ll add that to the list.
Just left a note below, the Braves faux-back is omitted. Mariners are back in teal this year too, right?
Looks like President Romney will be right at home in Washington, home of the Natinals:
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To be partisanally even-handed, presumably Amercia is the country that has fewer than 57 states.
Is it just me or do thosse red and white striped U.S. kits make them look like evil henchmen from Popeye?
That umpire pic with the New Era logo is from a spring training game. Rays are outside in home whites and appear to be playing Cincinnati.
You can come redesign the Astros all you want, but Joe Morgan knows the team got it right from the start! It’s got nothing to do with nostalgia – that’s just a beautiful baseball uniform…
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Yep. Second-best uniform in Houston’s history. (The best being the original Colts unis, of course.)
The ‘Stros got it mostly right from the start; making orange the primary in ’71 was the master stroke:
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Any redesign should include an Astrodome(Memorial?)patch.
Nah, gotta disagree there. The move to orange pushed them into garish territory.
As much as I liked the tequila sunrise unis…*that’s* garish. The ’71 unis were not. They were classic, yet with a welcome addition to the MLB color palette.
Martin Scorcese in a bowtie at far left, looking sharp.
I like how the waistbands featured a thinner white line separating top and bottom color than most teams.
Love the trainer’s jacket. White….how different is that?
Something about those ’71 unis just screams “American League” to me. Hope that’s close to where they’ve decided to go.
As a matter of pure merchandising, I’ve believed for a while that a culturally Southern team with an orange ballcap would be a huge seller nationwide. Not umber or burnt orange, but a bright enough orange that it could pass for hunting gear even if it’s not technically blaze. It’d be the anti-Yankees cap. Especially if instead of an H or other city initial, the logo was a star.
Hey Paul, commenter on ESPN noticed you omitted the Braves cream faux-backs.
Also, aren’t the Mariners sporting their Jr. era teal unis again?
Can’t find a pic, but wrapping up the MLSassacre of the past few days, Portland’s Jack jewsbury got bloodied up during last night’s match against Cal FC and had to switch into a blood jersey.
He also ended up getting a two layer bandage wrap around his dome. One in normal bandage beige, and a top layer in green. Ended up sort of looking like Sandro’s cap.
I wish I had some artistic talent (or even Photoshopping skills), as I’d love to get in on this Astros contest. They have always been my second-favorite team, and them moving to the AL makes that even more convenient.
I’ve mentioned it on this here site before, but I’d like to see a color scheme of a dark, “midnight” purple, a muted orange, and sky blue. Besides the fact that these colors work well together and would be something totally unique in MLB, it also has obvious connections to the sky/space. Plus it would give them a chance to have THREE different softball tops. You know the owners (and their wallets) would love that!
I do think that, if nothing else, the Astros should go back to blue and orange. There’s enough red in the major leagues already (and certainly enough in the AL West).
Looking at the Brewers logo history is sad. Three great logos to start off but it has been megacrap since ’94.
Meh. What’s wrong with the Brewers current logo? Yeah, it looks a bit like a beer logo…and that’s the whole freakin point. A team called the Brewers should have a logo that belongs on a beer bottle. The MB/Glove logo gets *far* too much love around here. It’s about as generic as you can get. Yeah, it’s really clever. It’s cute. It works for anything that’s related to baseball with a B and an M in the name. Anything at all. It could be a skills training camp for kids in Miami Beach or it could be “Mike & Bob’s Baseball Card Shop”. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. It’s just not a good team logo.
I’ll jump on this one mainly because Jeff has clearly suffered some sort of debilitating head trauma.
The ball-in-glove is one of the most simplistic designs ever that represents exactly what the Milwaukee Brewers do. Namely, they play baseball. They don’t brew beer, they don’t own a brewery, and they aren’t a professional drinking team (although that last point could be debated based on their play).
The fact that they can work the first letters of their city and team names into the logo makes it all the more better. Do you think the Hartford Whalers logo is crap too? It has the H and W and the whale tail on it.
Simple logos are ALWAYS better. When you can work your branding into it, you have a perfect logo. Unless you think Apple’s logo is FAR too generic as well. I mean, it’s just an Apple. It tells me nothing about the iPad or iPod or Steve Jobs.
The current cap is *OK*, but I still think the Brewers are tied with the D-Backs for worst MLB unis. Going back to the ball-in-glove unis would rocket them to near the top of the list.
What Teebz said.
The only flaws with the ’94 redesign were the introduction of green and the interlocking logo on the caps.
The ’94 logo could be for any baseball team on any level by replacing the M and B with any other letters. It is by far the most generic logo. My distaste for the current logo may be just personal opinion but they had a cool logo that referenced beer and brewing before.
Right, the 1994 logo is “generic,” whereas a bubbly cartoon M and B in the shape of a ballglove could only be a team called the Milwaukee Brewers. Show that logo to a space alien and no way would his first guess be “Myrtle Beach”.
Ball-in-glove adherents keep using that word, “generic.” I do not believe it means what they think it means!
Whoops, this was meant to be a general comment, not a specific response to Dudam.
We wrote more about the Twins caps today on Authentically Speaking: link
Excellent ESPN column. I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this yet or not but the Mets might have gotten the “black” out but someone needs to tell SNY this. They constantly show a Mets logo including the black.
Better tell MLB, too – I subscribe to MLB.tv, and when you go to the archives and look at a Mets game summary, they use LAST year’s logo as a bumper…I’ll get around to taking a pic someday…
Re: Harlem Globetrotters inquiry; I think that the Globetrotters are always the home team, so there isn’t a need for a road uni.
I think you’ve got that backwards. They’re a traveling team, pretty much by necessity, so they’re always on the road. They have no home uniform.
Checking out Wikipedia is what prompted my question
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Check out the “home” and “away” uniforms
In the picture of the Ripkens it looks like Sr. is wearing 47, seems to be the bottom of the 7 under his arm.
Uh, right — and it looks like Junior is link.
Oops. Bad link. Let’s try that again.
…link
The Pirates were the first team to switch from wool flannel to double-knit uniforms in 1970. Whereas white flannel was truly an off-white cream, the new double-knit unis were a clean white. By 1973, all twenty-four Major League teams had switched to double-knits, and home whites were bright white.
TELL THIS TO RICKO PLEASE!!!
Give it a rest.
What I said was that by the mid-50s white unis weren’t as cream as the recreations lead us to believe they were. Not at first, not out of the box.
People back then did NOT walk into ballpark, look at the home team and think, “Hey, that white is really cream colored.” The unis would appear, to most who saw them, to be pretty much the same color as the white sanitaries. That can NOT be said of many of the allegedly accurate malted-milk-ball-innards-colored replicas. If we drag a 60-year-white wool uni out of closet, it simply is NOT likely to be the color it originally was. But far too many supposed experts think it is.
Oh, btw, if we’re being accurate, virtually NOBODY switched directly from wool flannel to doubleknit. There was about 15 years there in-between of wool blends, cotton/synthetic blends and other synthetic/synthetic blends. And some very nicely white unis because of it. Our new 1962 Babe Ruth unis were a blend of synthetics and every bit as white as the doubleknits that followed a decade later.
I know because I wore probably every one of those fabric combinations at one time or another during those years. So, I’ll ask because I don’t know…can you say that?
Rortega, Thank you for directly quoting our 5/31/12 entry of the Authentically Speaking blog from Pro League Authentics. We are working hard on the site to provide entertaining stories to those who love the uniform niche. Moving forward, all we ask is for credit for our work.
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Thanks.
Son of a bitch: link
Sorry, forgot to finish my thought prior to submitting. CTA (Chicago Transit Authority)asking for bids for naming rights to stations.
How often does the glass break at a hockey game?
There is an entire CREW of guys paid to attend every home game just for the minute chance that a panel of glass will break? And then how long does it take to fix it? A half hour at most?
That has got to be the EASIEST job on earth! And if you’re a hockey fan, you get PAID to watch hockey most of the time. I’m sure entire seasons go by without a single panel of glass breaking.
They are already paying these guys to do mostly nothing, and on top of it they buy them uniforms! Unbelievable.
Speaking of crews, are there always 50 guys at a baseball game ready to roll the giant tarp over the diamond in case it starts raining? I mean, what’s more likely to happen: a torrential downpour on a sunny day, or hockey glass breaking?
Also, when did the whole YMCA dance by the Yankees grounds crew thing start? That is SO out of character for the Yankees, the quintessential conservative/traditional team that doesn’t allow players to have facial hair and is known as the Evil Empire.
I would imagine they’re part some sort of maintenance crew. Replacing glass is just one of the many things they do.
There isn’t a whole crew that wais for glass to break. They’re the maintenance guys. They do all sorts of fixes in and around the arena. They fix the doors that lead onto the ice. They fix the benches. They fix the stantions and glass. They repair the netting. They are the men who get paid to keep the place looking like an NHL arena.
As for the glass, those panes of plexiglass weight about 150 pounds each. They aren’t just feather-weight plastic. They are required to stop vulcanized rubber traveling at speeds of 70-100 mph. It’s nearly bulletproof.
So having four men carry it out? Common.
Having multiple people hold the glass while it’s being put into place. Common.
Why does it take six people to roll a tarp onto a baseball diamond? Same reason it takes six people to put plexiglass up – it’s bloody heavy! :o)
Plus for arenas which fluctuate between ice rinks and basketball courts or concert venues or rodeos or circi (multiple circuseses?), someone has to actually set up and take down all of the walls/glass/stages/courts etc., they just don’t do 5 minutes of work once every three games, they do hours and hours of work most often late at night or early in the morning on game days AND off days.
Just look at all the work these people do so quickly
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This is a great video showing what they do: link
They’re using all their meal money too.
Vernon Davis with bicycle shorts/NFL pants to a level I’ve never seen before
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Downright link.
not sure if anyone else watched the usa v brazil match, but when the brazilian who had to wear the cap came back out onto the pitch, the broadcaster mentioned it being blue, and said that fifa has a rule that any kind of bandage has to match uni colors (thus, blue was fine for his cap, but apparently he couldn’t wear a white bandage)…
They had white on their shorts… It was very confusing.
I think you misheard. The bandages need not be a particular color. If a player wears compression shorts, they have to be the same color as the uniform shorts.
any SFGiants fans here? Wallpaper time.
heheh.
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In case you missed it in the highlight segments over the weekend, Todd Frazier of the Reds did something really unusual on Sunday: He hit a home run while barely having his hands on the bat. Additional video here
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A very loose grip like Frazier’s is not uncommon at all. Many (most?) big hitters have a grip that will have their bottom hand holding the bat with only two fingers and thumb and their top hand overlapping loosely. It creates more leverage, which translates to more pop.
The first link on the home run was especially sweet. I’ve seen this type of thing here before I believe. The slow motion, and the fact the video reveals, bit by bit, exactly what happened. Awesome at the very least. More of that please.
Is there a difference between the Minnesota Twins playing in Minneapolis and the Minnesota Wild playing in St. Paul?
Also, I still love the old Twins logo of the two guys shaking hands across the river.
The difference is that the area where the old arena was that the North Stars played in is now covered over by a building called the Mall of America. The arena is no longer there.
The Xcel Energy Center was built in St. Paul. The Wild moved in when they were granted an expansion franchise. It’s more of a case of “if you have the area to build it, put it there”.
I would assume the location of Target Field was much the same idea.
Brooklyn Cyclones Jersday Thurday’s are FANTASTIC. The quality of the jersey’s are great, but they always run out as people line up to get into the ballpark at least three hours ahead of time.
The 1939 Yanks footage is awesome! At the 2:29 mark there is a guy throwing batting practice, and it looks like he has a top hat and some kind of long suit on. Could this be a Yankee mascot?
I think he was entertaining the crowd, not throwing batting practice. But who’s to say….
Yes, you’re right. That’s link.
Speaking of the TC cap logo… link
1939 was the ultimate year for color film. For movies like Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and many others. Many college football films or sports film have been found from 1939.
I always wonder why after 1939 color film was rather rare for decades after.
First, World War II.
After that, a lot of film was shot for TV use so no sense going to the expense of color.
Also, because TV was cutting into movie theater ticket sales, ROI became a serious issue for feature films…sometimes even the bigger ones.
Not saying those were the only reasons, but they’re were among them.
I figured WW2 but after that I had no good reason.
HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS ….
I can not answer whether or not the Trotters ever had designated “home” or “road” unis, but I can tell you that Grey Flannel Auctions – which annually has 3-4 auctions of top-quality and rare game-worn uniforms and memorabilia, has often offered authentic, vintage (1940s-1970s), star-worn Harlem Globetrotters uniforms and warmups for auction, and on occasion they have offered a White game-worn version of the iconic Harlem Globetrotters jersey.
I would say that If I had seen 15 seperate auctions for Trotters unis over the years, that I have seen 1-2 offerings of the White version of the jersey, complete with proper tagging and wear and sweat, etc.
The real question is “home” and “road”. Do the Trotters even have a “home” court? As they rent and schedule each game, isn’t every game they play a “home” game? (Setting aside their playing College teams in the preseason – as they have done a bit over the past decade). Given that the World pretty much knows the Trotters via their Blue jersey sets, wouldn’t the Blue jerseys be considered their “home” set? Given that basketball almost universally has the “home” team wearing lighter colors at home, and the “road” team wearing the darker set, wouldn’t the Trotters alays seem to be wearing their “road” jerseys, even for a “home” game?
My Final Answer … The Harlem Globetrotters are in fact “globetrotters”, meaning, they are ALWAYS on the “road”, which accounts for why they almost always have worn the inconic Blue “road” jerseys that the World has come to know them by. The question we all should ask is …
Why would the Globetrotters EVER need to wear a White jersey set?
If they ever played in Harlem.
By the way, anyone interested in the Harlem Globetrotters should find a way to read the book “Spinning The Globe” by FSU professor Ben Green. It is a thorough, detailed history of the Globetrotters that reads like a novel. Wonderful book.
Not alot of uni detail, certainly no answer to the “road” vs. “home” question, but the book does mention that for years the team kept a uniform set with them on tour for Wilt Chamberlain, as he would occasionally show upon tour and play with them as he had full-time in his first season after leaving college . The book also notes how Trotters’ owner Abe Saperstein – being the cheapy that almost all owners of the time were – had but one set of uniforms for the team at a given time, and had the players wash their uniforms in their hotel room sin
ks between games while on tour …
Really interesting moment just now in the Tigers-Red Sox game. Tigers first base coach Tom Brookens got tossed, and was replaced by Rafael Belliard. On his way off the field, Belliard stopped Brookens and asked for his batting helmet. Interesting they don’t have helmets for the backup base coaches, especially given the rate the Tigers have been subbing them in as of late.
Paul, Did you see former Rams equipment manager Paul Hewitt is suing the Rams for age discrimination?? I hope he wins, although I think he needs a new lawyer. She doesn’t even know where he works now. “[H]e works as equipment manager for a college football team. She wasn’t sure which team.” Really?? How do you not know that?
todd* hewitt. works at Cal now, he’s a great guy, got to know him this past year working in the Cal equipment room. I heard he was suing the team, but I thought it was for a pension or something similar after spagnuolo fired him.
Something brought to my attention today at work from a client, an Aaron Rodgers jersey spelt ‘Rogers’
with so much history in Chicago, and comparing (the Cubs) to other pro teams they got to have the worst unis from then till now. However, I agree on the Blue Jays having best makeover-and do the Indians still rock the ‘Indian’ on their ball caps?..haven’t seen them for a while, everytime I catch the Indians they are sporting the ‘C’ ball cap.
“do the Indians still rock the ‘Indian’ on their ball caps?”
~~~
sadly, yes
That “WU” “TANG” pic aint nothing to, well, you know…
The Globetrotters home jersey are white, the road is blue and shorts are always red and white with blue trim.
In 2009, the Globetrotters wore the blue jerseys but they were on different teams, while the other players wore white (home) and purple (road) uniforms. link
The very next year, to avoid confusion who’s on which team, several members played a celebrity all-star game wearing the home and road unis while the others wore white (home) and red (road) uniforms. link