The Tao of Steve — Part I

By Phil Hecken

If you like baseball, and you like color photography — and you love baseball uniforms of the 60’s and 70’s — then I hope you have a couple of hours handy today.

Several years ago, old Uni Watch readers (or should I say, “long-time” Uni Watch readers) will remember, we frequently made reference to a site, called “Steve’s Baseball Photography Pages (A pictoral history of baseball in the 1960s and 70s” or thatsmyboy03.com. Like the name implies, it contains thousands of beautiful color photographs (posed, game action, non-game photos) from those two colorful decades, chronicling every team and various different uniforms worn during those two decades. You can get lost in there, literally — I remember spending hours upon hours just checking out the photos.

If you look at the home page, you’ll note that Steve’s last update was July 4, 2009. I’m not sure what happened since then (and I believe at one time that site was listed under the Uni Watch Recommends [a/k/a “links”] section of this blog). But there are probably thousands of readers who’ve come aboard UW since 2009 who have never experienced SBPP. It’s incredible.

The site is basically divided into two sections — the “team pages” (Boston Red Sox, Detroit, Houston and Kansas City, and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh just to name a few), and then there are the “blog”-ish posts — which in my mind is where the real gems reside. I’ll be taking a look at some of the more awesome pics in the first half of those today, just to whet your appetites.

Anyone who loves baseball (or even doesn’t, since the photography is outstanding) really should spend a bunch of time on this site. If you’re like me, in your mid-to-late 40s, and you grew up with most of these uniforms, then this will be both a trip down memory lane and a look back at the time when baseball was transitioning from wool flannel to double-knits, color tv was coming into vogue, and almost anything went when it came to fashion both on and off the field. If you’re younger, this is going to be quite a history lesson for you, and one which I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

OK, enough of my yakking — lets take some looks at some of the more awesome shots contained in SBPP:

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• Steve has several photographs of Boog Powell — but I bet not a lot of you will remember (or think of him) as a Dodger! (And thanks to the Cleveland Indians all-red ‘blood clots’, a none-too-flattering pic in that uni as well.)

• “Getting it right the first time:” The Minnesota Twins road uniform was perfect from the get-go, and has never looked as good as the first years.

• The Brewers, who moved from Seattle after just one season, basically kept the road and home uniforms from the Seattle Pilots. Yes, there are lots of Pilots photos. Lots and lots — loved those scrambled eggs on the brim.

• I’m not a big fan of vests (or sleeveless jerseys, nowadays), but for some reason, I always loved the Cleveland Indians look — they wore those from 1963-1969, although with a blue cap and (and red sleeves) in 1963 & 1964.

• There are a couple of sections with great shots of the 1972 All Star Game. There were a few good hitters at that game…for both sides. I hope the Astros return to the blue-dominate “shooting star” uni next season, but even I’ll admit, the orange looked pretty fine too.

• For the monochrome uniform lovers, there are dozens of photos of the Padres in their gold (they wore that in 1972 & 1973, although in ’73 they wore the roads with white sanis) — and look at how empty Fulton County stadium appears there. Plus the Fathers in brown tops and gold tops over white pants with gold sanis/brown stirrups.

• It might be the color filter, but look how blue the Phillies powder blues were.

• Hmmmm…signs of the times — what’s that in the background? Yes, less enlightened times back then.

• Not a big fan of this Cubs sleeve patch, although others disagree.

• On the other hand, I loved this White Sox uniform (worn in 1969-70) — probably because they paired it with blue sanitaries.

• The Reds wore this pinstriped vest with matching cap from 1961-66 (and the sleeve hems were black — a very interesting quirk begun in 1961, when the originally plain vests had one single black piece of piping, begun as a memorial for team owner Powell Crosley). They added the reciprocal stripe in 1962 and kept it there for five years. But the “C-reds” patch was navy blue (sometimes mistakenly depicted as black in throwbacks).

• Lots of photos of the Senators (1968-71), including the blue script and block “W” cap home and road (1959-60,), as well as the pinstripes & blue curly W cap home and road (with dropshadow “W” and soutache!).

• Some great shots of the KC Athletics (look at the TV number), which they wore only in 1961, the sleeveless vest & white crown cap (a rare 1962 alt), and then green and white (and sometimes green and gold), when Charles O. Finley began making his mark on baseball (they began wearing green/gold in 1963, and added the green & white in 1964 and wore it through 1967).

• Many of Steve’s shots are from Spring Training, and it’s always jarring to see jackets underneath uniforms, particularly when they’re in different colors from what the sleeves would be.

• The Orioles used to have an odd-looking sleeve patch, which to my knowledge, never brought back through all their uniform iterations over the years.

• More monochrome: sprinkled throughout the website are photos of the bloodclot Indians and the all-orange Baltimore Orioles.

• LOVE this photo of Larry Doby, wearing a special coaches soutache cap — speaking of special caps for coaches, the Oakland A’s manager and coaches wore white caps for years to distinguish them from players.

• You guys know the Pirates wore a “21” patch for Roberto Clemente, but prior to the patch, in one of the first uni-memorial gestures, the simply wore a black ribbon (I believe) safety-pinned to their sleeves. And how great were those flocked helmets?

• I know a lot of folks don’t like the Braves wearing the solid blue cap with their roads, but it’s actually a harkback to 1968-71 unis, before they went to the wild feather-on-sleeve look.

• When did the Padres (top row, center) wear this? Not in the bigs — that’s a shot of the PCL Padres, in a uniform that looked similar to this 1952 one — anyone have an idea of the date on this one? Ricko?

• I’m not sure if this is a goof or not but look at the size of that glove (on Fritz Peterson — bottom row, left)!

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That’s going to do it for this installment of the Tao of Steve. If you spend the rest of the day on that site, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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#NoUniAds Campaign…Day 28

This will be a regular feature on Uni Watch until the NBA rescinds its incredibly offensive and stupid proposal to place corporate advertising on uniforms.

And now, a personal note from Paul:

It’s important that we keep making our voices heard: Call the NBA’s publicly listed phone number (212-407-8000), ask for Adam Silver’s and/or David Stern’s office), e-mail deputy commissioner Adam Silver at his his publicly listed address (asilver@nba.com), and tweet to @NBA with the hashtag #NoUniAds. Do it now.

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READER SHOUT-OUT TODAY: Dan Bewley is a reporter with the CBS television affiliate in Tulsa, OK. He’s also an avid reader of Uni Watch.

He writes, “I’m curious about your campaign to stop the NBA from putting ads on NBA jerseys. I was wondering if you’ve had any contact with NBA fans here in Oklahoma who are upset. I’d like to do a story on that but I would need to speak with a local fan.”

So, If you’re on board with the #NoUniAds movement and live in or near Oklahoma City, drop us a line! OK? OK!!!

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Now, more of your letters to the NBA:

Gabe Billig (who has a unique twist to the campaign, although I’m uncertain as to its efficacy):

dear “Mr.” Silver
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
es gogni uniformia des fret gorchoni.
i speak english but i figured i will annoy you because you are annoying me with uniform ads.

Matt “Chicago Shep” Shepardson (who writes not to Mr. Silver, but the UW community with this admonition):

The more I think about the NBA survey about adding ads that they sent yesterday, the more sick I get about it. I mentioned in the comments section yesterday that I didn’t fill it out because it didn’t have a “no ads” option in the questions and I didn’t want to be part of the spin that the survey results will surely borne. I was being slightly smartly about the spin, but as I’ve thought about it, I really think that the questions have been designed in a way as to facilitate provide either a supporting info set for their chosen outcome, or a facilitate a response similar to “it isn’t as bad as people thought… the ads we’re *actually* using are so much less obtrusive than people assumed they would be”.

I know that it’s fallen off the front page, but I’m afraid if we don’t come up with some new angle (I’m not sure how many more emails/phone calls/tweets I can make without being classified as a stalker,) we will discover that the NBA is moving forward with what will change the aesthetic of every American sports league forever. I’m not sure I have any concrete ideas, but there has to be a way to make a point and utilize the larger media to make our point for us. I’m hoping that we haven’t list this already…

Good points, Chicago Shep. But we can’t approach this with the attitude that the NBA has already decided to move forward with the ads. Perhaps a new and different campaign is needed — if anyone out there has any new ideas, please share them in the comments.

Thanks for keeping the faith readers! We can stop the NBA if we can keep up the pressure.

#NoUniAds!

Thanks to Tim E. O’Brien and Chris Giorgio for the image in the upper right of this section!

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Attention! Stirrups!

This past Monday we had a fantastic lede from Comrade Robert Marshall. If you haven’t read that, do yourself a favor and do so now. In case you missed it, Robert is back with more stirrup offerings, and he discusses them below:

* As far as “new” offerings go, I have a feeling interest will be underwhelming, but that has to come with the territory every now and again. On the bright side the latest crop were shipped to me last Thursday, and will be in Chicago on Tuesday 9-15, at the latest, so there is that bonus.

* Some have asked me what the “official” stirrup of the Revolution is, and I say Nap gave us the stirrup and called it good, so they are all good, book closed. but I need/want to reissue the Nap for those who say, yeah, I dig what Nap put down. Even if it wasn’t the “first” stirrup, it was what started the revolution, and at conception was navy and white hose in a style vastly under appreciated, love the single fat stripe. And it is a early 1900’s 4″ instead of the usual 5″, sorry 7ist counter revolutionaries.

* I feel the need to say thank you to Kansas City and the wonderful people I met there, so why not a Monarch in navy and gold?

* Reissue “new” choices include the Bravos, Phillies, and Athletics (also a KC shout out, but in dark green).

* If there is anything else you are looking for maybe I can help at robertmarshallart.com

from each according their stirrvp,
to each according their strype.

comrade 91200

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“Benchies” first appeared at U-W in 2008, and has been a Saturday & Sunday feature here for the past two years.

. . . . .

You win some, you lose some, sometimes you dodge a big ol’ bullet…

Click to enlarge

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Lukas Hoffland was reading through his copy of the 2012 Green Bay Packers yearbook this evening when he noticed something odd. The jerseys in the yearbook photos looked awfully clean. Like, pre-logo-creep-era clean. The cover of the 2012 yearbook has a Reebok and a no-Reebok version. From the Packers Pro Shop website, the cover WITH the Reebok logo, and, from the Packerville, U.S.A. blog, the cover WITHOUT the Reebok logo. … “Hanley’s lower leg stylings,” says Dustin Kline. “The Dodgers posted this picture on their facebook page on Aug. 9. I know things are laid back in LA, but no socks at all? C’mon man!” … More “same logos” from Alexander Tsipis: Eagan High School looks almost identical to KSU. … Paul Lee says, “I know this is an article from March of last year, but since Carmelo was late in filing for number 15 for the 2011-12 season, is it possible that he filed to wear number 15 before March 1, 2012 for the upcoming 2012-13 season to coincide with the new NYK jerseys?” … From the “Ah, isn’t that cute” file: Coleman Mullins found this old photo of himself in Little League (’88?). Look close, stirrups! … A couple of people noticed Yankees Manager Joe Girardi was wearing a Yankees jersey with the Majestic logo. On the field – Two nights in a row. Says Paul, who forwarded that to me, “Scandalous!” … Doug Keklak grabbed this shot of former Pirates reliever Kent Tekulve with his name misspelled on his jersey at Pirates’ Fantasy Camp. … Check out this video of names being added to Penn State jerseys (thanks to Andrew Hoenig). … Yesterday, I ticker-linked to WarBlogles old Auburn jerseys. He forgot to send the link to his original post showing all of Auburn’s uniforms. … Eddie (Atari) Westfield notes the Giants have blue Nike-swooshes on their white practice jerseys. Will this carry over to their gameday whites? … Matt Daley notes Bowling Green is an Adidas school. On Monday at BGSU’s football practice, one of the coaches came out wearing Nike gear. This mistake earned a post-practice punishment, where the coach had to run a drill normally reserved for players who mess up in practice. … Jonathan Mayer says there are a couple uni-notable things in this picture. We all know college teams have multiple players with the same number, but it still looks strange to see all the duplicate numbers. Also, they went with the monochrome blue look, and the rumored matte blue helmet is shown up front. … Chris Mahr informs us UMass Football Gets All-Black Helmets for 2012. Sweet. We need more BFBS. This was also noted by Joe Condon, and seconded by John Glynn. … “Nike to make a run at taking over Wilson as NFL football manufacturer?” asks Justin Howland. “Rubber laces. Footballs color-coded to match teams. swooshes everywhere. groan.” (also spotted by Dan Rakowski) … Rick Friedel saw these All America game caps on UA’s facebook page. “I think its a nice touch that they used Maryland’s state colors,” he says. … Jason Mott found this photo of Cal Ripken in a Rays jersey. Odd. … Interesting find from Daniel Rerko on synthetically laced footballs. From the article, it seems that quarterbacks have been having trouble with new synthetic laces on the preseason game balls. He adds, “Sounds a whole lot like thee NBA’s issues with switching from leather to synthetic basketballs.” … “Fi+SrNOB” alert from Alex Skelton who notes Pierre Allen Sr. is a defensive Lineman for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and who features a first initial AND “SR.” on his jersey. … Donnie Gould “Found this interesting when I was surfing around the Premier League team pages. If you scroll down it will show you all of the team kits, plus both the club sponsor and the kit supplier which are both links to their respective websites.” … Shouldn’t the Cardinals pennant only be found in Somalia?: Ben Ford “went to a pizza place in Kansas City today that had World Series champion pennants for BOTH the Royals and Cardinals. (The Royals actually won.) The restaurant (www.waldopizza.net) sells “St. Louis-style” pizza, so maybe the owners are Cards fans and it’s a bit of wishful thinking on their part. Don’t know where they would have bought the pennant, though.” … Condoleeza Rice claims the Browns as her team (thanks Brinke. … “Ever see this before…pretty cool early technology” writes Alan Tompas, referring to this very early helmet-cam (too bad those aren’t blue brown Bronco helmets. … Richard Drummond is a student at CMU. “We just unveiled our new football unis and I have to say, I really like the gold alternate. I don’t know how I feel about the black yet though! Here’s the hype video.” Thanks to Jeff Ash, we learn the Old Expos logo has become a fashion statement, for younger hipsters, according to the CBC. … It’s one thing to outsource your USA Olympics unis to China, like Ralph Lauren did. This is quite a bit worse. From Mike Wissman: “Saw this at Macy’s on Saturday in the section with all of their overpriced Olympic gear. There were several countries represented but I found it rather appalling that in this case, given the year they’d select Germany. 1934 wasn’t exactly a year to celebrate in German (or world) history. And if Lauren had chosen to ‘recognize’ that great year of 1935 instead, that flag of Germany would have looked much different. Surprised they can get away with this. Completely insensitive to those still living today who were impacted by the horror of the Nazi regime.” … More on the Irish in Ireland from Warren Junium: New Adidas pant and jersey for ND.

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That’s it for this fine Thursday, everyone. Thanks to my guest wri…wait, I actually did this one all by myself. Anyway, make sure you read the #NoUniAds section, if you haven’t, and if you live in the OKC area and are on board with our campaign, be sure to drop us a line. Thanks to Ricko, as always, for the Frisbee chronicles, and make sure you buy a pair or three of stirrups from Comrade Marshall. I want to warn everyone in advance that today is going to be a personal day-from-hell for me (at least a 14-15 hour workday, among other things — and if you saw my comment total yesterday, that was no picnic either), so hopefully the ticker submissions will be light (and I hope to get to all of them for Friday). But Morris Levin will have another great lede for you tomorrow, as usual. Everyone have a great day.

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“In the entire interest of clarity, I knew what you meant (being that I’m a guy), but there is a good percentage of the population (>50%, if I recall correctly) that don’t get a guy’s perspective.”
–Teebz