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Father’s Day Recap

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Yesterday, of course, was Father’s Day. In case you missed it, Phil used the occasion to post something very, very special, which I strongly recommend to one and all. I’m very proud to have had it on the site yesterday.

Meanwhile, MLB players once again wore blue chest ribbons and, in many cases, blue wristbands and other accessories. Most of it was pretty straightforward, but reader Randy Allemann points out that Carlos Gomez of the Brewers, shown above, got a bit creative — or maybe just a bit stupid — by wearing his wristband down around his ankle. Has this ever happened before with a pink or blue wristband? Probably, but I can’t recall any specific instances. (The one case of an MLB ankleband that I do recall had nothing to do with Father’s or Mother’s Day. It was when Cards pitcher Jason Simontacchi wore a memorial ankleband for Darryl Kile in 2002.)

A few other notes regarding the blue ribbons and accessories:

• The Angels are already wearing a left-chest memorial patch for Dr. Lewis Yocum, so their blue ribbon patch sort of stacked up next to the memorial patch.

• The blue ribbons on the Nats’ jerseys were inside the space of the curly W.

• The Astros’ blue ribbons were positioned really high, because of the point of their star logo.

• As usual, the umpires wore the ribbons and wristbands too.

Meanwhile, as many of you have probably heard by now, there was a bit of a snafu at the College World Series, where the word “College” was misspelled on one of the dugouts:

Lots of people have already suggested that the extra “L” stands for “learning.” But here at Uni Watch, we know it stands for “greatness.”

Anyway, they eventually fixed it, as seen in this photo by reader Scott Ingalsbe:

+ + + + +

Uni Watch News Ticker: Phil Jackson and a host of others have come out in favor of the ’Skins changing their name (from Tommy Turner). … Meanwhile, more sportswriters are announcing that they will no longer refer to the ’Skins by their name (from Andrew Gladstone). … No confirmation on this, but a plausible-seeming source reports that Navy will be switching from Nike to Under Armour in 2014. ”¦ Absolutely brutal new third kit for Liverpool (from Michelle Martinez). … The Idaho high school that was going to stop calling its teams the Redskins has now put that plan on hold, pending further input from the public and the Native American community. … Memphis is inviting fans to vote on a new basketball court design. … Literature and Uni Watch collide in this note from Gregory Koch: “According to my high school English teacher, one of the many symbolisms of the title of Catcher in the Rye is that baseball catchers wear their hats backward when they catch, and so did Holden in the novel. Is this true?” I read Catcher in the Rye in high school like everyone else, but I don’t recall Holden wearing his cap backwards, and I doubt I’d have made the connection anyway. Anyone know more? … Under Armour’s presence on the golf course is increasing (from Tommy Turner). … Here’s something I didn’t realize (or maybe just forgot): In 1951, the Braves moved their Indian head sleeve patch from the left sleeve, where it was normally worn, to the right sleeve, in order to accommodate the National League 75th-anniversary patch (from Brian Codagnone). … The Canucks have a new farm team — the Utica Comets. Here’s an slideshow about their logo and uniforms (from Andy Bronson). … Here’s a slideshow from this year’s Congressional Baseball Game, with additional pics here (from Sean Walsh and Joseph Williams, respectivley). … There’s bunch of Bills fans on Twitter who call themselves the Bills Mafia (yes, very original). They’ve now come up with a patch to sew onto their jerseys (from Michael Sullivan). … Lots of readers are freaking out over the Eugene Emeralds’ new uniforms. … Here’s a breakdown of which bats are being used by the College World Series teams. … The Rays gave away jersey-styled aprons on Friday night. “Easily one of the best giveaways I’ve received at the Trop,” says Kevin Kleinhans. … Here’s former Chicago guitarist Terry Kath wearing a Chicago Cougars jersey in a 1977 performance (from Peter Fredrickson). … If you have to wear flag uniforms, I guess Flag Day is the day to do it. That’s what the Pensacola Blue Wahoos did on Friday. … Barry Zito was wearing last year’s BP cap for a recent TV interview (from Patrick Karraker). ”¦ Oregon State is wearing an awful lot of patches in the CWS, including separate patches for the Pac-12 and the Pac-12 championship. Also, as you can see, there’s a memorial patch that some players have and others don’t (from Trey Ashby). ”¦ What would you call this — a BroncGator? (From Jon Solomonson.) ”¦ Jay Heiple notes that Giants closer Sergio Romo stopped wearing his signature orange-striped socks a few weeks ago and is now going with solid black. Disappointing. ”¦ Munenori Kawasaki of the Blue Jays lost an eye black sticker during Saturday’s game against the Rangers (from Stephen Sickles). ”¦ Josephy Hiley’s 12u team got throwbacks and very nice Northwestern-striped stirrups. ”¦ Here’s a really good article about how players on the Browns don’t like the new NFL rule requiring thigh and knee pads. Recommended reading (from Liberty Bowman). ”¦ Reebok has come out with a sensor-equipped cap that can indicate when someone’s taken a strong blow to the head (from Tommy Turner). ”¦ Interesting combination of a gradient shell and a plaid helmet logo for Alma College, a D3 school. ”¦ New third kit for the L.A. Galaxy. “BFBS strikes again,” says Trevor Williams. ”¦ ” Went to the Custer Street Art Festival in Evanston, Illinois, and the White Sox had this display featuring some classic logos,” says David Firestone. “Also, they were giving away these White Sox Rubik’s cubes.” ”¦ “I saw a note from the local historical society that there would be a WWII military encampment that would include a women’s baseball game this past weekend,” says Nicole Haase. “We went to check it out and it was amazing — so much so that I’m already signing up to join a team. Here are the photos I took. The uniforms, which are gorgeous, are made by K&P Weaver. They have guidelines and suggestions for uniforms, gloves, and equipment (including how to black out manufacturers’ logos). And since a new uniform can take eight to 12 weeks to make, they have apparel suggestions for rookies.”

Uni Watch’s Highest Rating: Over the weekend I saw the new film Far Out Isn’t Far Enough, a documentary about the illustrator Tomi Ungerer. It was easily the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. If you’re familiar with Ungerer’s work, you know how important he is; if you’re not familiar with him, the short version is that he’s charted a highly improbable career path as one of history’s most important children’s book authors, a scathingly effective political posterist, and a great erotic illustrator. Turns out he’s also really charming on film. There’s a good review here, and here’s the trailer:

 
  
 
Comments (87)

    Inaugural season for the Eugene Emeralds?

    The team has been around since the 1950s and is one of the most consistent brands in MiLB.

    Perhaps Paul meant, “inaugural season for the new unis…”

    in Catcher in the Rye Holden is mentioned as wearing the hunting cap backwards while in his dorm room

    Holden consistently mentions wearing his hunting hat backwards throughout the book. He keeps saying he’s sure it looks odd, but he likes how he looks in it.

    Holden talks about turning his hunting cap around so the peak is in the front (as I recall). I have looked but have never been able to find an image of such a hunting cap–or I did find it but didn’t recognize it. Anyone?

    In any event I think the connection to baseball catchers is pretty ludicrous. Holden turns his hat around because he’s playing with it. It’s more connected to his ambivalent response to looming adulthood than it is to baseball.

    Catcher in the title is a reference to what Holden feels his role is. Late in the novel he discusses with his younger sister what he wants to do with his life, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff–I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.” I could be wrong but I don’t think there is any reference to baseball in the entire novel.

    I know Bob Uecker wears his hat backwards in “Catcher in the Wry”. It’s his autobiography and really funny.

    What’s with the extra splotch of gold between the “w” and “a” on the Milwaukee jersey?

    The Brewers carry the gold outline under the placket, but not the white letter, so instead of a double letter when the placket is open, you get an extra flash of gold.

    Equally bad. In the case of the Brewers, they nicely split the word Milwaukee between letters, so there’s no need to extend anything other than the underline beneath the placket. Say the jersey flaps open a bit and there’s a little gap between the W and the A – so what? That’s not a problem to be solved; that’s a best-case scenario for jersey lettering. That’s the proof that you’ve done it right.

    The folks at K&P Weaver do fantastic work for many vintage base ball teams. There’s probably a good UW interview there.

    Maybe the current edition of the Emeralds uniform is a “gateway” to a cannabis leaf sweat back jersey.

    Good point about an MJ symbol as an eventual step in the progression of Eugene Emeralds’ uniforms. As someone may have pointed already, the Ems’ new road jersey is green tie-dye, which they call “a tribute to (their) eccentric hometown.”

    Not much to say today except that Josephy Hiley’s 12u team looks great. Oh, and Fette Sau Philly was wonderful. If the Brooklyn version is anywhere near as good, I’ll have to put it on my must-visit list.

    My guess is that the Unitas photo comes from his (short) time with the Pittsburgh Steelers

    Probably. Here’s a link to another photo from that same shoot.

    link

    My question is, why is Johnny U jumping while posing in the original photo?

    According to some reports, the Vancouver Canucks did not want to put their farm team in Seattle, not Utica, but were apparently told by the NHL that Seattle “is not available.” Hello, Seattle Coyotes???

    Utica needs all the help in can get, and Utica Comets is a fine name. The unis and logo aren’t bad, really, but the logo is well below the high standards of the erstwhile Clinton Comets.

    “Comets” is a nickname with a long history in that part of the world.

    In the 1970’s, the Mohawk Valley Comets, based in Utica, played in the North American Hockey League, a low minors circuit that was the inspiration for the movie, “Slap Shot”.

    Clubs in Utica have been called “Comets” for decades.

    Except that the Clinton Comets – the team that made the area famous for hockey – was not based in Utica until much later, and they were not the Comets that made the area famous. Clinton is 10 miles away from Utica. Utica assuming the history of the Clinton Comets is like the New York Islanders assuming the history of the Brooklyn Americans just because they’re moving to Brooklyn. It’s wrong on so many levels.

    The Winnipeg Jets have yet to assume their old history, and I’d prefer if they didn’t. Despite being the same team name, the franchises are entirely different in their founding. As is this new Utica Comets team.

    There is zero history of this new franchise in the Utica area. The Canucks should be able to promote the history of the name they chose, but to assume it is egregiously wrong when speaking about the “history” of the team.

    I will add this, Dane: they were going to relocate it to Abbotford if the Flames could break their contract and move their team to Utica. The Flames will deny this, but had the Heat moved, the “Comets” would be in Abbotsford, BC today.

    If you look at Terry Kath’s guitar, you see a Blackhawks’ sticker, too. I also remember him wearing Blackhawks’, Golden Seals’, Blues’ and Rangers’ sweaters during concerts.

    Terry Kath (a highly underrated rhythm guitarist and a fine vocalist) was a pioneer in the “Wearing Hockey Sweaters to Mask Your Girth” movement.

    Big men everywhere owe him a debt.

    I had a chance to update the link I’m keeping this weekend with a pile of new images. The Terry Kath-WHA Cougars will be added as well.

    Jet, huge thanks for that link to the ProgressiveEar website. Those guys really know their stuff. I added in a pile of stuff and credited them.

    If anyone wants to add to the database, please email me with a photo!

    “Your guitar player is better than me”

    -Jimi Hendrix, speaking to one of Kath’s bandmates.

    Not of uni significance, but I can clearly remember exactly where I was when I heard that Terry Kath had accidentally killed himself.

    At last night’s WWE pay-per-view in Chicago, CM Punk got into the Stanley Cup spirit by wearing Blackhawks tights for his match.

    link

    CM Punk is from Chicago (where the WWE Payback PPV took place last night), so this isn’t a surprise. He’s one of those rare wrestlers that even when playing a heel, or bad guy (which he is), he is over as a babyface (or good guy) in his hometown. Kurt Angle is another one: I was at a show at the Mellon Arena one time when he called the fans “blue-collar idiots”, and the fans STILL cheered for him.

    New Era is still using the Indians S&S cap that shows the Chief Wahoo logo in the reflection instead of the “C” that is being shown on the hat

    link & link

    Three soccer gripes:

    * The new third kit is a “nod to the Galaxy’s old colors”? I don’t remember teal being so black.

    * You know what would be worse than Liverpool’s third kit? A Frankenjersey with Liverpool’s second and third kits.

    * It bugs me to no ends that FIFA doesn’t do color vs color in Confederations Cup. Uruguay’s light blue doesn’t clash with Spain’s red. Likewise with Japan’s blue vs Brazil’s yellow and Italy’s blue vs Mexico’s green. Yet all three teams wore white.

    I don’t get the point – I get that in the past, production trucks got black and white pictures so the contrast helped, but why now?

    It’s not FIFA that dictate it can’t be colour v colour – the teams themselves ahve decided to wear change kits, and for one reason only – replica kit sales. If a team has two kits then they will try and wear both in a tournament to boost sales.

    As for why shorts and socks can’t clash, I presume this is the same reason now as when originally the rule that socks couldn’t clash was introduced in the early 70s. When playing with head down you can instantly see your team mates if they have different socks to the opposition. I suppose that has just been extended to shorts as well over the last 10 years or so.

    I get why change kits exist. But in FIFA competitions, the competition committee (?), not the teams, determines who wears what.

    It’s why you see Brazil get out in the ugly yellow/white/white combo, and Italy rarely wears its usual blue/white/blue combo in FIFA competitions.

    I hold my hand up – you are correct.

    For the last World Cup in South Africa article 32 applies:
    link

    Thanks, George and TH. But tell me, men, what did you think of the unis themselves? Like that blue bar on the jersey of the Italy whites? The substitution of red shorts for white in the Mexico kit? The darker — almost Portuguese — shade of red worn by Spain?

    In the play of the matches yesterday, I must say that both Italy and Spain were utterly dominant. Spain has been fun to watch for a long time now, but I was pleasantly surprised to note how pretty the Italians played. I know it’s been a while now since Italy played a defense-above-all rather dull game plan, but yesterday certainly was a showcase of complex versatility. Fun to watch, but poor Mexico!

    Red shorts for the Mexicans was just wrong, although no having seen the regulations I understand why. Assuming Mexico have declared a green/white/red combo as first choice and maybe white/red/white as change (same as they wore v Italy in 1994 World Cup in RFK Stadium), then they had no option but to have white or red shorts – green (imho the better option) was unavailable to them.

    Italy will have declared blue/white/blue and presumably a change of white (with blue band)/blue/white to provide options for all blue etc. Quite why FIFA didn’t go with green/white/red for Mexico and white/blue/white for Italy I don’t know – maybe so both teams have had to change to some extent. I really like the blue band – it’s just like the old days.

    As for Spain’s red – it’s not the tone that concerns me but that weird yellow V.

    The red of Spain’s jerseys isn’t any darker than normal, and certainly not a move to what Portugal has worn in recent years:

    link

    What made it look darker — and what wasn’t apparent save for a two-second establishing shot — was that the match in Recife was played in the rain.

    The weird thing with Mexico’s red shorts is that it’s not part of their home or away combo (their change kit is all black).

    I’ve noticed that in recent tournaments, teams essentially bring three kits – primary, change kit, and monotone. For example, in the 2010 World Cup, the Netherlands’ primary look was orange/black/orange. and their change kit was white/blue/white. But in the final match, they wore all orange.

    “I read Cather in the Rye in high school like everyone else…”

    Little typo in catcher there.

    Also, I may be the only person in the world who hasn’t been forced to read Catcher in the Rye.

    Me either.

    When I was in 8th grade, I demanded that our English class be allowed to read it, because my aunt, who was a College Graduate, said it was the most important book of her generation.

    Our teacher said she’d let us read it, so long as I could tell the class what it was about. I confidently replied, “Baseball.”

    Not the first time a teacher told me to sit down and shut up. Thrity-some years later, and I’m still too embarrassed to read the thing.

    That is an excellent story. I can’t imagine how annoyed your teacher would’ve been that 13 year old questioned her lesson plan due to a book that he didn’t even know the subject of.

    If I could go back to any time in history, I’d go back to my adolescence. I’d just follow my teenaged self around, saying, “Don’t.”

    In my life I’ve learnt lots of things. If I could go back to my adolescence I’d still make the same mistakes – but I’d enjoy them this time.

    Never read it in school, although I’ve attempted (and failed) to read it twice later in life… just can’t get into it.

    I’ll probably force myself to read it one of these days.

    If you haven’t read it by the time you’re 17, I wouldn’t bother. IMO its a book that speaks volumes to alienated youth, but by the time you grow up a bit, you realize what a self-centred goof he is. Sort of a 1950s version of Tucker Max.

    Thinking about it a little more – I still think its an important piece of literature and maybe worth a read. But it should be read in that context – if you’re 30+ and you’re expecting the book to reveal life’s secrets to you or if you’re identifying with Holden I think you’re making a mistake.

    I realize it won’t happen because there’s money to be made from extra merch, but wouldn’t it be nice if every baseball commemoration was limited to wrist bands and jersey patches, instead of alt hats and jerseys?

    When authentic models run $40, lots of people are priced out of the cap market. Lots and lots of people aren’t willing to pay $150 for a jersey.

    Almost everyone is willing to shell out 20 bucks for a tee-shirt.

    What if they took commemorative patches — the Stan Musial patch is a good example — blew ’em up, and silk screened them onto the front of a shirt? People would buy ’em. Lots of ’em.

    Maybe this is cynical, and maybe they’re already doing this and I just haven’t noticed, but it seems like a gold mine for the clubs.

    I heard graham poll that different color socks for each team ghelp determine who last kicked a ball out of bounds in s sideline scrum.

    White Sox gear in Evanston… that could be dangerous, since Evanston is the first northern suburb on Lake Michigan.

    Fake bad British commentary of baseball: link

    He runs in to bowl…Mork and Mindy, that’s going for six! No! Caught by the chap in the pajamas with the glove that makes everything easier. And they all scuttle off for a nap.

    Hartford Whalers-themed wedding: link

    They went to a lot of effort to make it happen, especially considering the bride ended up running away with some guy from North Carolina.

    The Milwaukee Brewers have designated this Sunday as “Polish Heritage Day”, so of course, that means a new uniform set:

    link

    Not as bad as the Italian Heritage jersey, but still, not that great.

    Oh… and don’t worry. You can buy a “Piwowarzy” jersey at the team store for $200.

    Man, I would love to go to that!!!!

    Unfortunately, me and all my friends are changing a lightbulb that day.

    Denny Hamlin ran a throwback paint scheme at Michigan yesterday to pay tribute to the original pilot of the the JGR #11, the late Jason Leffler:

    link

    LA galaxy did not go BFBS…the new alternate jersey is a “nod” to the black that was worn until 1999…still a pretty ugly alternate

    I don’t know, “nod” feels a little disingenuous – if you forget the god awful inaugural jersey set (and we all should), black has never been a primary team color:
    link

    It may not be entirely BFBS, but it’s black mostly for black’s sake. It’s akin to “nodding” to the Founding Fathers with a statue of Aaron Burr.

    The reason the jersey is all black is because on the Facebook template designer it didn’t have the option for a halved jersey color.

    Right, but black was always a secondary color (again, we’re assuming the inaugural jersey abominations didn’t exist). Until the Beckhamization of 2007, Galaxy’s colors were teal, and then gold.

    i was watching GMA this morning and they had a story on the TB pitcher who go hit in the head w/ a line drive.

    in the story, they have examples of new baseball gear thats being developed for the pitcher to wear- such as ballcap inserts and masks. pretty interesting

    link

    Two quick hits today:

    1. Nicole Haase – Love your photos of the women’s base ball event!

    2. Lots of people have already suggested that the extra “L” stands for “learning.” But here at Uni Watch, we know it stands for “greatness.”

    Ooops – end of point #2 got cut off. Was nominating Paul’s comment for QOTD.

    The COTD is awesome. Love(D) Black Flag.
    Also the kid sitting on the bench in the 12u photo is fantastic. That is how it is done!!

    On the college bats, the graphic link is not exactly accurate. Teams have deals with bat manufacturers, then each player can pick out whichever bat model from that manufacturer they choose. It’s not like all the players at UCLA will use the same Easton bat model; they will choose whichever one they like best made by Easton.

    I was perusing Netflix over the weekend, having finished watching the fourth season of Arrested Development, and came across a 2004 IFC film called “C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America.” It posits what American history would have been like from about 1865 onward had the South won the war, in mockumentary form (from a fictitious British media outlet, airing the documentary for the first time on American airwaves, complete with “commercials.”).

    I bring this up here because, about 1h5m in, the narrator mentions that, in the 1960 CSAFL championship, the Washington Injuns defeated the New York N*****s. I found it thought-provoking, because I think even fewer people today would defend a team nicknamed the “Injuns,” as opposed to those who support “Redskins.” Yet, “Redskins” strikes me as the more offensive of the two, as it’s simply identifying a person by their skin color and nothing more, while “Injuns” is basically just a lazy manner of speaking the (erroneous) name given to Native Americans by the first Europeans to bump into this land mass.

    I attended the UCLA vs. LSU College World Series game last night. Before the first pitch, both teams lined up for opening ceremonies (UCLA down the first base line and LSU down third). I wish I had a photo of how UCLA looked: EVERY player and coach had perfect powder blue stirrups over white sanitaries, perfect pant length (just below knee level) and identical black adidas spikes with 3 white stripes all around. My God, they looked great. They looked…….uniform. Their jerseys with that weird armpit treatment look strange, but from the waist down they were all business. Haven’t seen a team look that sharp in a loooong time.

    After reading the piece on even more people calling for the daniel to change the name of the team that he owns, a thought just occurred to me while stepping outside to smoke (a disgusting habit that NOBODY should pick up) an American Spirit (a brand of cigarettes that incorporates the silouhette of a Native American in their logo)…how about the Washington football club change ditch their offensive name in favor of “The Americans”??? They could keep their colors/uniforms/logo basically the same, only it would seem a bajillion times less racist…in a way, it really could be viewed as the “tribute” that the team/league seem to think their racially insensitive name is; a way of recognizing the original Americans as being just that…the original Americans…just an idea…

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