Time for our first wire service round-up of 2014. The first five of these come from Jeff Wilk, the next one is from Jared Wheeler, and the rest are from Bruce Menard. My thanks to all of them. Here we go:
• Why are these baseball players wearing sneakers? Because, as you can see in the caption, these teams were part of an indoor baseball league!
• Oh baby, how awesome are the sweaters being worn by these skaters! I’d kill to see (and own) a color version of the one in the center.
• Something you wouldn’t see today: an MLB player posing for a photo while aiming a gun at the cameraman.
• Here’s one of the better views I’ve seen of the sleeve wordmarks worn by the 1934 Reds (although that photo was actually taken during spring training of ’35).
• While we’re at it, here’s another team with a sleeve wordmark: the 1932 Cubs.
• Here’s a rare sight: Pete Rose wearing No. 27.
• As many of you are aware, I love attending a beefsteak (and have written about them too). Here’s one featuring the Bambino himself!
• For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the 1948 St. Paul Saints, who were a Dodgers affiliate at the time, wore sombreros for their team portrait. That’s future Dodgers skipper and Walter Alston in the third row, third from the left.
• Doesn’t get much better than this shot of the Philadelphia A’s basketball team, although a white elephant on the shorts would’ve been a nice bonus touch.
• Can never get enough of these executioner-style football mask/helmet combos.
• Even better: One of those early mouth-protector masks decorated with teeth! Never seen anything like that before.
• Not sure what to make of this shot of Andy Pettitte in an unusual “New York” jersey. The lettering is similar to what Ron Guidry wore while rehabbing with the Ft. Lauderdale Yanks, but of course that team wouldn’t be wearing “New York” across the chest. “I don’t know if this was a spring training experiment or from a minor league/rehab game or what,” says Bruce Menard, who submitted the photo. Anyone know more?
• This is weird: New York football Giants coach Steve Owen appears to have been wearing baseball pants for a practice.
• Love the raised “T” on Johnny Mize’s Cardinals road cap. That design was only worn in 1940.
• Check out this shot of the New York Rangers’ first practice back in 1926. Although the pants look white in that photo, they were actually tan.
’Skins Watch: The Louisville women’s hoops team has two Native American players — Shoni and Jude Schimmel. Shoni’s final home game is this Sunday, and the school has dubbed the game Native American Appreciation Night. More than 1500 Natives plan to show up.
Baseball News: The IronPigs’ bacon-themed uniform has led to the inevitable question: What if every MLB team had a food-themed cap? (From Chris Wright.) … Ghostbusters-themed unis on tap for the Toledo Mud Hens (thanks, Phil). … Cork Gaines has written a good piece about the Rays’ St. Paddy’s Day jerseys. … Over at Red Sox camp, there are two Perezes, but only one of them is wearing FIOB (from David Feigenbaum). … Lots of Jerry Coleman tributes at Padres camp. … Cubs OF Justin Ruggiano wore Chicago skyline socks for yesterday’s Cactus League game against the D-Backs (from Randy Policar). … Holy moly: Joba Chamberlain, now with the Tigers, turned his Tommy John surgery scar into a smiley face tattoo (thanks, Phil). ”¦ Cardinals coach Red Schoendienst — now 91 years old! — wore a home jersey with road pants for Photo Day (from Kevin Eckhoff). ”¦ The Sydney Cricket Ground is being prepared for the season-opening Dodgers/D-Backs games (from Matthew Robins). ”¦ Longtime Uni Watch hosiery hero Josh Outman is now with the Indians and is still wearing stirrups, although they’re much lower-cut than the versions he wore in Oakland and Colorado (from Bryant Johnston).
NFL News: I think we’ve seen this before but once more won’t hurt: Tons of old AFL program cover designs available here (from my pal Friederike Paetzold). … Here’s an update on the OKC NFL design contest.
College Football News: The NCAA considered allowing EA Sports to put player NOBs on the jerseys in the company’s NCAA Football game but eventually decided against it.
Hockey News: New logo in store for the Blues? Possibly. … Everything you could possibly want to know about the California Golden Seals is available in this book. “There’s even some discussion of uniforms, and players complaining about how heavy the continually repainted white skates got,” says Jerry Wolper. … The Sharks could play Stadium Series games at AT&T Park (thanks, Brinke). … We knew Marc Andre Fleury would be wearing a Steelers-themed mask, but we didn’t know it would include the NFL logo on the backplate. “I can’t imagine there have been too many occurrences of one sports league’s logo appearing in another league’s game,” notes Dane Drutis.
Soccer News: New World Cup kits for South Korea, Belgium, and Nigeria. … “People are funny,” says Dennis Hasty. “I did this video on the history of Pop-Tarts for Time.com and the question I get most is ‘Why are you wearing a Columbus Crew shirt?'” … Indie-rock fans will enjoy this analysis of Scotland’s new kit (from Claudia Gonson). … This is pretty interesting: a knitted soccer shoe! More photos here, and snarky comments from Redditors here. … New championship scarf for Sporting KC (from Mark Coale). … Latest MLS leak: Columbus home.
NBA News: The NBA’s annual Noche Latina program tips off this Sunday. In case you’d forgotten, all of the Spanish-language jerseys will be, of course, sleeved. Further info on the program here (thanks, Phil). … Hawks G Kyle Korver had a red “X” on his hand two nights ago. “This was to draw attention to the End It Movement, which is trying to end slavery that still exists in the world,” explains Chip Reagan. “The official day for drawing awareness to the cause was Thursday, but the Hawks didn’t have a game that night, so it appears Korver took advantage of his public platform a day early.” I checked the photos from all of last night’s NBA games and didn’t see any other X-marked players. … Okay, so this isn’t technically an NBA item, but still: The Harlem Globetrotters used to have some very cool program covers (from Jeff Ash). … LeBron James, playing with a broken nose, wore a mask last night (Phil again).
College Hoops News: 1911 throwbacks this weekend for Nebraska. Granted, I wasn’t around in 1911, but I’m betting that the Adidas logo wasn’t part of the uniform back then.
Grab Bag: Lots of good stuff in this slideshow of photos from the old St. Louis Arena (from Steven Bonney). … Two Aussie rules football items from Leo Strawn Jr.: “Hawthorn Hawks football club is now selling jumpers with sublimated NOBs for the first time, in advance of the round 5 debut of NOB AFL jumpers, and the Greater Western Sydney Giants have released photos of their new clash jumper.” … Here we have 19 “hipster” brand logos (whatever that means) repurposed as evil corporate brands. … Here’s a look at the latest in snowboarding helmets and goggles. … A Missouri high school football player has pleaded guilty to assault after he ripped the helmet off of an opponent and then beat him in the head with it. … The godfather of Helvetica has passed away (thanks, Phil). ”¦ A St. Louis-area company called Triflare has become the official apparel sponsor of the U.S. synchronized swimming team (from Stlwahoo, who didn’t give his/her real name). ”¦ A woman in Atlanta used a Waffle House uniform to impersonate a Waffle House manager and steal $100. … If you run yesterday’s Uni Watch entry through Gizoogle, you get some amusing results (thanks, I think, Mike).
Emancipation Day: Eighteen years ago today (well, it was actually Feb. 29, but that date only appears on the calendar once every four years), I walked out of my office at Billboard Books for the final time and began life as a full-time freelance writer. I’d been freelancing on the side for the previous two and a half years and had decided it was time to take the plunge. Haven’t had a regular job or a boss since then. (Also haven’t had employer-subsidized health benefits, paid vacation, sick days, or any other job-related perks, but of course I knew what I was getting into in that regard.) At the time, I thought of going freelance as an experiment. I guess we could now say the experiment has been at least something of a success.
Anyway, as I like to remind people — and remind myself — each year on this date, the moral of the story is this: If you want to change your life or reinvent yourself, don’t just sit around fantasizing about it ”” go ahead and do it. Even if the experiment doesn’t work out, at least you won’t be wondering what might have been. (Of course, maybe you already like your life just fine the way it is, in which case more power to ya.)
I’ll be spending today with my Mom. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week.
…..well, not a revolver anyway.
Oblique reference is oblique… care to elucidate, DG?
Nevermind, I found it. Kinda skipped through the Wire items first read-through, and was looking through the ticker for a connection.
Though… it does help if the item being commented on is actually referenced.
I hate to dumb things down.
I’m a bit disappointed that the Blues are ditching navy blue from their color scheme. I love how the color looks on their alternate jersey. I hope their new jerseys will modeled after their current alternate jersey because their standard home and away jerseys look a little too busy.
They need to be either this:
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or this:
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I like the uniforms in the bottom link. They’re a lot less busy than what they wear today. That piping they wear now has to go!
This was their best look ever:
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I hope that’s not their new logo. It’s way too cluttered, like some minor league club. The Note is a classic look!
Very similar to the color-shift made by the US Soccer team.
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Both moves are a down-grade in my book. I prefer the darker navy, especially on the STL Blues.
If the circular logo becomes the full-time crest, I’d be disappointed. The NHL does not need any more circular logos. If it becomes a full-time shoulder patch, it would be a little stupid but it would look good. But really, all the Blues need to do is whip out the eraser and get rid of the extra yellow piping. However, there is also too much navy in the NHL, so if a navy jersey disappears, I won’t miss it.
The Blues would likely still have royal blue as their dominant color no matter what. I agree with you about the piping. It gots to go! What’s with all these damn roundels? I’m seeing too many of them popping up in North American pro sports these days.
One of the quirky things I like about the Blues uniforms is the white NOB with the yellow numbers. I think a few other teams have gone this way, I think it looks great. Keep that.
I think even rarer, white numbers, athletic gold NOB, I.e. Pittsburgh Steelers
As a St. Louis area resident and Blues fan for 20 years, I would prefer that their alternate jersey become their primary sweater.
Unrelated topic, our local paper recently reported that forty Tim Hortons restaurants are planned to open in the area beginning in 2015.
What is the deal with internet people taking rumors and reacting to them as if they are fact?
So… why is the story about Louisville in the ‘Skins Watch section? It’s got nothing to do with the name/logo issues. You’re not seriously going to put every sports story with a Native American connection into that section are you? Doesn’t that sort of enforce the idea that “Redskin” and “Native American” are interchangeable terms? Seeing how you’re opposed to the name, that’s not exactly the message you want to send, is it?
I put it there because Louisville is running Native American Appreciation Night based on real Native American players, and real Native Americans are responding to it, all of which seems like a much better way to “honor” Native Americans than cartoon mascots.
If that doesn’t work for you, Jeff, well, we all know there’s a lot about ’Skins Watch that doesn’t work for you.
The Schimmels have brought an incredible amount of positive attention to the university. I’d like to see the university pay that work back with a scholarship for Native American students.
I have to say, I’m spoiled. I got to watch the Schimmels play when I/they were in high school. One of their cousins went to my high school and then transferred to play her senior year with them. Super talented.
As great as the skating sweaters are, the caption is even better. Why were the top finishers disqualified?
Excellent question.
PS Gotta love that half-US / half-Norway shield on the sweater of the winner / 4th place finisher.
Agreed on that shield. To quote one of my favorite whippersnappers who occasionally is on the site “I’d wear that!” (well, if it were extra-mega-jumbo and thus within the realm of possible-to-wear items).
Didn’t the Yankees wear road uniforms like that in 1999?
“Didn’t the Yankees wear road uniforms like that in 1999?”
Not that I’ve come across…but it’s possible, maybe for one game?
I’d guess it’s a rehab. He’s wearing stirrups instead of his typical pajama pants look.
Of course why the New York?
Odd.
I know the Oneonta Yankees wore those as their road jerseys during the 1990s.
I love that new StL Blues logo. If they went back to the all royal blue uniforms, they’d look awesome.
No they wouldn’t.
Re the gun-toting Boston player: Anyone know why the Red Sox would have been training in Scottsdale??
Because they did, from 1959-1965, at least according to Wikipedia. It’s the only time the Red Sox didn’t hold Spring Training on the East Coast.
EDIT: It’s early and I can’t read my source material. It’s not the only time, but the others were one-offs in the 1910s and 1920s.
The BoSox were in Scottsdale from 1959-65 before moving to Winter Haven, FL (1966-92) and then to Fort Meyers, FL (1993-present).
In that Pete Rose pic, what’s wrong with his cap? It looks too big for his head, and it’s lined up perfectly with the camera, even though his head is angled away and down a little. Really looks like a bad Photoshop (or clip, or however they did it in those days.
His cap cought my eye as being odd too. Particularly the white portion near the sides of the bill. But then i see other photos where he/his cap have the same look.
????
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I think Pete’s cap just lacks any breaking in…and it’s sitting on his head a bit funny, no editing.
Watching the local news last nite I saw Ian Desmond sporting high cut stirrups with lots of white sanitary showing. Looked great.
The whole red X thing with Korver just makes him look straight edge. I’m trying to figure out why an organization would use a symbol that is already a known thing for their cause.
But in reality how many people really know about straight edge and X’ing up?
I know I don’t.
Never heard of straight edge either. I think one other Hawk wore the red X. Also an Arizone Diamondback, and Carrie Underwood and her husband, a hockey player.
Pitcher Paul Maholm of the Dodgers has wore the red X last year. Not sure about yesterday.
Ian MacKaye is rolling over in his grave.
Ian’s alive, kicking, and being OK with Urban Outfitters selling Minor Threat t-shirts.
About twenty years ago I went to a free show Fugazi was playing in Malcolm X Park in downtown DC. I was milling around the audience shortly before showtime when this random stranger struck up a conversation with me that eventually turned to the topic of the camcorder I was carrying. At which point I realized I was talking to Ian and that he wanted to make sure I wasn’t taping the show for commercial purposes. Pleasant guy.
Ian’s alive…
Heh.
Yeah, I know. And at this point, Fugazi is still a band. they’ve been on hiatus for more than a decade but they are technically still a band.
At first I thought that was AJ Pierz(I gotta learn how to spell this) holding the gun.
But it’s not a catcher.
Give AJ time.
The “Hipster Logos repurposed as soulless corporate logos” thing is fairly lame, but there was link.
The Urban Outfitters one came close to making me chuckle.
I wonder if the low cut stirrups are left over from Ubaldo last season since that’s what he wore.
John Axford tweeted that he would wear stirrups if they were available. Now we have to hold him to it.
Happy Anniversary Paul. Glad you decided to make that change 18 years ago.
Wolp, any photos in that book? Just wondering because the price for the kindle version is dirt cheap but sometimes you lose that stuff in the e-verison.
Slow day at work, so I started reading through the pages that Amazon uploaded to the Web, and it’s very interesting. Ended up reading everything that was posted, and it’s an insight into how an expansion team is so much more than trying to put the best team on the ice (floor, field, etc.). More like a primer on how NOT to start a franchise. Might have to buy it.
Didn’t look at it closely but saw that the foreword is mistakenly called a “Forward.” That’s amateur stuff….
LOL! $3.03 though, I guess you get what you pay for!
Have the ‘Shorthanded’ book by Kurtzberg.
In the middle of the book there are black and white photos. 2 per page (except 2 pages with just one) from page 147 to 170.
Also, after the last photo it says “copies of these and additional Seals photos are available by contacting Ron Riesterer at link (but my edition is copyright 2006 so don’t know if he still has the same email)
No one evokes the wholesomeness of a knitted shoe than racist, cheating, arm-biting Luis Suarez.
Man, how I miss the old Checkerdome Arena in St. Louis. There was something about the steep angle of the seating sections that made you feel like you were right on-top of the action. You just can’t get that same feel in modern-day stadiums and arenas. I think I witnessed just as many fights in the stands of the Arena as I did on the ice during Blues games.
Any photo gallery with Slobo Ilijevski is a good one, loved the Steamers.
I’m not sure why, but I miss it, too. Never went to a Blues game there, only a handful of Storm & Ambush games (I was 4 when the Steamers folded). I do remember Slobo, though. I’m probably more nostalgic for the Arena than I am for Busch Stadium II, though I attended a far greater number of games there, and have a much better recollection of that stadium.
One of my favorite memories is of the one game I got to see at the old Arena. Brett Hull scored a hat trick.
Old arenas and stadia are fascinating to me, and I love to see how they were modified as the years went on. I never noticed before that the St. Louis Arena didn’t have the upper deck before the Blues began play, or the ring of skylights around the building. It begs the question, did they have a hockey press box above the seating bowl prior to 1967? They wouldn’t necessarily need one for rodeo, dairy shows or basketball.
Brings to mind the Joe Louis Arena (same similarity is purely coincidental), which was designed and thrown up so quickly, that they forgot about the press box until the place was nearly complete.
Congrats Paul!
The IronPigs’ bacon-themed uniform has led to the inevitable question: What if every MLB team had a food-themed cap?
… unfortunately, that article was littered with the gross misuse of “it’s”. So listen up, because I’m only gonna do this one more time…
OHHHHHHH… If you want it to be possessive, it’s just “I-T-S”, but if it’s supposed to be a contraction, then it’s “I-T-apostrophe-S”…
… scalawag!
I love how two of the four players in that 1926 NY Rangers photo are wearing their elbow pads on the OUTSIDE of their jerseys!
-Jet
That was pretty common in those days.
I think the year is wrong, though. According to the NHL Uniform Database, the Rangers didn’t wear red numbers trimmed in white until 1928-29.
After reading your note about emancipation day, Paul, I realized that you make total sense. I’ve been on the fence about a couple of projects for years. The opportunities have been there, but I never took the plunge. Seeing your words was the last sign of many that I have seen lately. It’s time to get moving and see what happens. I think not trying would be worse then doing nothing at all. Thanks for some timely words.
Regarding the hipster/evil logo thing… I have to say the Nets one made me actually laugh out loud.
Your use of “kits” as the plural of “kit” seems incorrect to me. I typically see “kit” used for both singular and plural elsewhere, although elsewhere is primarily Commonwealth-based sites. I’d argue for the UK-/Commonwealth-style usage on Uni Watch.
Interesting! As we all know by now, I’m totally soccer- and rugby-clueless, and it has never once occurred to me that the plural of “kit” would be anything other than “kits.”
Any other soccer/rugby fans care to weigh in on this?
– Paul, checking in from my Mom’s house
Hi, Paul’s mom! He didn’t turn out so bad after all, did he? A little sad about the no-granchildren, I know, but there’s still time. Trust me on that one.
May I borrow him for just a sec?
The Jeff has a point. We say shirt, not camiseta, so why should we say kit, not uni? The answer might be that the Angles speak English, just like us, kind of, and they invented the game, so maybe we should go along and say pitch and nil and unlucky et al… But then we might be tempted to use their infuriating mismatch of singular and plural as in “England were defeated by a determined France today…” and that would be upsetting.
A little sad about the no-granchildren, I know, but there’s still time.
You’re assuming (a) that my Mom wants grandchildren and (b) that I’m even slightly open to producing them.
Both assumptions are misguided.
That’s not what your mom told me when I talked to her earlier.
/I keed, I keed!
I think the plural used here is correct, but strips or uniforms would be better word choice. A player’s kit would normally include their boots (soccer shoes) & shinpads. Singular kit could also refer to the collective kit of the whole team that the kit man would be responsible for.
When you are referring to uniforms for multiple teams you would use the plural which is kits.
I think you find more reference to “naff kit” rather than “naff kits” when the Brits publish their lists of ugly uniforms.
when the Brits publish their lists of ugly uniforms
Which is a weekly occurrence, from what I’ve seen.
I’d argue for dropping the “kit” crap and calling them “uniforms” like we do for every other team sport.
I rarely agree with The Jeff’s curmudgeonliness, but this is an exception. I don’t see why we shouldn’t be using American English here.
Though do we keep referring NHL jerseys as “sweaters”, even though they’re just printed polyester and not something your grandma knit with wool?
I consider it jargon.
Just like saying “nil” for 0, same as saying “love” for 0 in tennis.
Then we should be talking about hockey jerseys and Aussie Rules football jerseys instead of sweaters and guernseys.
@Odessasteps,
I thought about that, too. For example, I don’t mind “pitch” instead of “field”, or “extra time” instead of “overtime”, but uniforms feel less specific to the sport.
I refuse to consider the wishes, wants or demands of those who don’t like the sport in question.
Lee
Loved the St Louis Arena pics. Those old sports buildings are greater than great. Call Gus Kyle for Blues season tix on the ’67 marquee…
Johnny Mize’s eyebrow – eesh! And nevermind George Earnshaw’s…
My favorite part from the gizoogle: “And it’s why sprang hustlin is 100% phat.”
The Plain Dealer says Tribe should say goodbye to Wahoo…link
Uni-watchers, What if Wahoo wasn’t a racist caricature? Don’t you think he’s kind of stale? Other teams have changed their logos. The Tampa Bay Bucaneers, for example. I mean, Wahoo is a racist caricature, yes, but isn’t he also just … stale?
Interesting hypothetical. It raises a thornier problem, though: how could one produce a logo for that particular mascot that wouldn’t be described as a racist caricature?
Sorry about that earlier link Here’s the correct one …link
The 1948 St. Paul Saints might have been training in or around Seguin, Texas, 30 miles outside San Antonio, and were given a hats as swag… (In the caption: “decked out in Texas straw sombreros which were presented to them by a Seguin Manufacturer.”)
“I can’t imagine there have been too many occurrences of one sports league’s logo appearing in another league’s game,” notes Dane Drutis.
____________________
The NFL has inserted itself into golf (sponsoring Payne Stewart’s clothing) and auto racing (Dale Jarrett wore NFL-themed NASCAR helmets for a long time).
Paul, how much more is known about the Blues for next year, if this logo is legit? Would love to see these with the current Bluenote (not roundel).
link
how much more is known about the Blues for next year?
By me? Zero.
The hats on the 1948 St. Paul Saints don’t look like sombreros to me – they just look like ordinary straw cowboy hats. (the caption notwithstanding)
The indentations in the tops of the hats = cowboy hats
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Interesting, the mbta found no serious bidders to name stations
Not sure if this was pointed out elsewhere in the comments (if so, I apologize) But the Columbus Crew home kit was included in the rundown of the kits from a few days ago.
This happens on occasion. I don’t typically say anything since there are several contributors to the ticker and also a few compilers for it too.