A Bloody Good Show

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Mets starter Matt Harvey had his game face on last night, as he took the mound with a rather prominent nosebleed. I believe this is MLB’s first bloody nose since Angels right-hander Ervin Santana spent the better part of an inning pitching with a nosebleed back in 2011. But as you can in that last link, Santana had a wad of tissue or gauze up his nostril to stanch the bleeding — a total wuss move compared to Harvey pitching with an unstanched nosebleed.

Unfortunately, the Mets’ training staff was able to cap the gusher after the top of the 1st, which put an end to the fun. Even worse, Harvey somehow managed to avoid getting any blood on his jersey. A pity.

This video clip shows how the Mets’ broadcast team responded to the emanations from Harvey’s nostril:

Sid Gillman, continued: The question of whether Sid Gillman came up with the idea of football NOBs, as claimed on his Wikipedia page, refuses to die. The latest contribution on this front comes from reader Frank Bitzer, who writes:

I recently finished the book Sid Gillman: Father of the Passing Game by Josh Katzowitz of CBSSports.com. Throughout the book there are references to Sid’s interest in uniforms (it goes into detail on how he redesigned the University of Cincinnati uniforms upon taking the reins there in the late ’40s to make them more form-fitting and harder for an opponent to grab). And, there is a great deal of depth on the AFL and the Chargers. However, nowhere in the book does it discuss Sid initiating the concept of names on jerseys.

There is a chapter devoted specifically to the innovations Sid brought to football: using a mathematics professor to help identify the best angles and depth of routes for maximum completion percentage; dividing the field into seven passing zones; adopting wing-T formations for the passing game; making the tight end a pass receiving weapon between the hashes; ignoring the NFL’s unofficial quota on black players and recruiting and signing the best athletes regardless of skin tone. But it does not mention the nameplates.

That seemed to settle the issue. But just in case, I followed up with Josh Katzowitz, the author of the book described above. His response:

Talked to [Gillman’s] oldest daughter, Lyle, who talked to the second-oldest daughter, Bobbe, and they both think Sid was the one to do it (though they also admit that it’s a somewhat vague memory). But they’ve put in a call to Tom, Sid’s only son, to confirm.

Hmmmm. I’m still skeptical. Family oral histories are notoriously unreliable. But this is turning out to be an interesting rabbit hole.

Uni Watch News Ticker: A certain pair of people at the recent Brooklyn Beefsteak sure looked happy. … Here’s what some Nike-sponsored tennis players will be wearing at the French Open. … New football uniforms for UCF. Here are the pants. Additional photos toward the bottom of this set, and there’s additional info here (thanks, Phil). ”¦ Lots of retro soccer jerseys available here (from Mark Emge). … Now that’s a baseball team! That’s the St. Louis Brown Stockings, circa 1875. What’s with that Greek motif on the collars? (From Jim Walaitis.) … More Redskins controversy, this time involving an Indiana high school. The local city council president says the name “should be taken as a compliment” (from Dan Nester). … Here’s a list of every sneaker worn by UNC basketball players last season. … Love this Astros shooting star bobblehead (from Michael Clary). … The Jets apparently haven’t gotten the memo about the Bills wearing white helmets these days (from Jerome McDonnell). … Here’s a Golden State Warriors soda display (from Logan Rockmore). … New logo for West Chester University in Pennsylvania (from Bill Waldron). … Are today’s football helmets any safer than the old leather ones? Maybe, or maybe not (from Yancy Yeater). … New field design in the works for Wyoming football. Details here (from Bryan Stevens). … Kind of a bush move by Justin Turner and Ike Davis of the Mets, who “supported” the Rangers yesterday by wearing “Ovi Sucks” T-shirts. For starters, you should be able to support a team without trashing another team’s player. And Ike Davis isn’t exactly in a position right now to tell another athlete he sucks (from Robert Silverman). … Some good pics of Notre Dame’s famous green uniforms from the 1983 game against USC here (from Brendan McAlinden). … “A new independent league team has sprung up — the Vallejo Admirals of the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs,” writes Chris Cruz. I have no idea if the team will survive but thought they had an interesting logo.” … Dan Chanelli has created a Yankees uniform database website. I haven’t had a chance to explore it fully, but some preliminary clicks look promising. Check it out and feel free to give feedback to Dan in the comments. … “I was watching a Twins commercial and noticed the jerseys in the background,” says Nick Johnson. “All of them have been worn this year or last year except for the light-blue one in the middle. Could this maybe be an alternate they are going to introduce at a future date? Hope not.” ”¦ Aaron Scher notes that Dan Girardi and Michael Del Zotto of the Rangers had barber pole tape striping on their sticks on Monday night. ”¦ “During the Penguins/Islanders game, they showed a sit-down interview with Penguins defenseman Douglas Murray and he was wearing a No. 10 jersey, even though he wears No. 3,” says Zach Conrad. “Brenden Morrow wears No. 10.” ”¦ The Nashville Sounds will support the Nashville Zoo on May 25 by wearing giraffe-patterned jerseys (from Lee David Wilds). ”¦ Very subtle logo update for Little Debbie (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ The new USA dragon boat racing jerseys have a semi-hypnotic pattern (from Marc Rivlin). ”¦ Todd Vaught of Sky Design recently designed the new “Chophouse” bar for the Braves. Dig that bobblehead wall! ”¦ A gay couple in Manhattan was brutally assaulted by a bunch of assholes in Knicks gear. ”¦ “This weekend, I was at a Long Island bat mitzvah party where the theme was Jeans and Jerseys,” says Andrew Hoenig. “The only jersey that really stood out was this awesome Houston Rockets number. I didn’t get a chance to ask what the name meant.” … Oooh, dig this: AFC and NFC helmet buggies, back from the days when those helmet designs were used for the Pro Bowl (big thanks to Steve Mandich). ”¦ Great story out of Kansas City, where some Royals fans are showing up at Kaufman Stadium in throwback clothing. “It’s a nod to Negro League games, where fans were often in their ‘Sunday best for games, because they came straight from church to the ballpark,” explains Andy Horne.