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Cubs Throwbacks, Part 2

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The Cubs held the second of their nine 2014 throwback games last night. This time around they were turning back the clock to 1929, and the Cardinals were on hand to play along. Here are some notes and observations:

• As you can see above, the Cubbies’ jerseys were henley pullovers, not full-length button-fronts. Interestingly, they went with a five-button placket, although the 1929 originals appear to have had four buttons, not five.

• Unless there’s been some sort of new historical research that I’m unaware of (always a possibility), the Cardinals’ uniforms had some major historical inaccuracies. Back in ’29, St. Looie wore pinstriped four-button henleys with pinstriped caps on the road. But there were no pinstripes to be found on last night’s throwbacks.

• From what I could see, every player on both teams went high-cuffed, revealing some very nice striped stirrups.

• Throwback batting helmets? Yes for the Cubs, no for the Cards.

• ESPN, which was broadcasting the game, got in the spirit by using period-appropriate logos for both teams.

• Some of the modern footwear kinda ruined the retro effect.

All in all, not bad, although the Cards’ inaccuracies are troubling. Meanwhile, longtime Uni Watch reader/pal Todd Radom found an old newspaper item about the Cubbies’ 1929 unis — a nice cherry on top for this promotion.

Finally, in case you missed Phil’s coverage of it in yesterday’s entry, there was another really good throwback game on Saturday, as the Giants and Braves wore Negro Leagues uniforms. You can see photos from that game here.

(Big thanks to Phil for contributing most of the photos linked from this section.)

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Uni Watch party in Chicago: A bunch of Chicago-based readers — including Jimbo Huening, Comrade Robert Marshall, and Marty Hick (who actually lives in St. Louis, not Chicago, but he’ll be visiting Chi-town) — are putting together a Uni Watch party for June 7. I won’t be in Chicago that weekend, so this will be strictly a reader gathering (which I’m all in favor of — you don’t need me there to have a Uni Watch party!).

The venue hasn’t been selected yet. That’s where you come in — if you have suggestions on the venue, or if you want to get more info from the organizers, email Marty Hick. Thanks.

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Anniversary news: This is May, which means some important dates on the Uni Watch calendar are fast approaching:

• May 17 will mark the eighth anniversary of the first post on this site. Seems like yesterday — or, okay, maybe the day before yesterday.

• The site’s anniversary is usually when I hold Purple Amnesty Day (i.e., the one day of the year when you can order a purple-inclusive Uni Watch membership card). But this year May 17 falls on a Saturday, which is usually a low-traffic day on the site, so I’m officially declaring that this year’s Purple Amnesty Day will be on Friday, May 16. Those of you who’ve been patiently awaiting your chance to order a purple-centric membership card should mark your datebooks accordingly.

• May 26 (which also happens to be Memorial Day) will mark the 15th anniversary of the very first Uni Watch column, which was published in the now-defunct sports section of The Village Voice. Pretty amazing to see how Uni Watch has grown since then. Plans for an anniversary logo are currently in the works — stay tuned.

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’Skins Watch: Arizona Senator and former Republican presidential nominee John McCain thinks Dan Snyder should change the ’Skins name. … Interesting to see how the ’Skins situation looks to non-Americans. Here’s a good article from the BBC that covers the controversy from several angles (from Damian Coyle).

Baseball News: Holy moly, check out the triple-triple-striped socks (yes, that’s not a typo) being worn by Chief Sealth High School in Seattle (big thanks to our own Scott M. X. Turner). ”¦ My last ESPN column included a mention of the Brewers’ 1999 memorial patch for the ironworkers who were killed during the construction of Miller Park. Here’s an article about the guy who designed that patch (from Richard Subrizio). ”¦ While cleaning out her mother’s apartment, Bonnie Skibins found this sweatshirt featuring Mr. Met and his family. I’ve never seen those particular graphics before. ”¦ LSU’s purple jerseys sure have a tiny chest insignia (as noted by Casey Hart). ”¦ Here’s something you’ve probably never seen before: a frog in stirrups. Chris Flinn spotted that in a restaurant. ”¦ The Trenton Thunder wore Spider-Man uniforms on Saturday (thanks, Phil). ”¦ Throwbacks yesterday for Indiana (from Kurt Sutton). ”¦ Kent State and Northern Illinois went color-on-color yesterday (from David Feigenbaum). ”¦ “Crazy hot dog vendor” jerseys yesterday for the Reading Fightin Phils (thanks, Phil). ”¦ A Canadian high school baseball player who’s been growing his hair long so it can be used in wigs for kids with cancer has been benched by his coach for refusing to cut his hair. ”¦ The Giants wore their orange-brimmed Sunday caps yesterday — except for Hunter Pence, who wore a black-brimmed cap (from Sean Higgins and James Garnette). … Interesting article on composite bats (from William Yurasko). … The latest episode of Mad Men showed Don Draper throwing a Mets pennant in the trash.

NFL News: The Three Village Central School District’s teams are called the Patriots, and they had been using a Flying Elvis logo, but now they’re looking at a range of new logo possibilities (from Enrico Chacon).

NBA News: Here’s a really good visual retrospective on the Charlotte Bobcats, who have now played their last game. ”¦ Fans attending tonight’s Clippers/Thunder playoff game in OKC will receive this T-shirt. “The logo on that shirt is the temporary logo OKC used when they relocated from Seattle but before they were branded as the Thunder,” says Ryan Hartwig. “You can see it in this shot from the 2008 Orlando Summer League.”

College Hoops News: Reader Ori Amiel found an old photo of Elgin Baylor wearing a sleeved jersey while playing for Seattle University.

Grab Bag: Moon over Belfast! That’s a player for Ulster in yesterday’s rugby match against Leinster (blame Eric Bangeman). ”¦ New logo for the Screen Actors Guild (from Matt Shevin). … The Penguins had a tablet in their Gatorade rack for yesterday’s playoff game against the Rangers (thanks, Phil).

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What Paul did last night on Saturday: Owing to an odd confluence of luck, friendship, and genealogy, the New Girl and I found ourselves invited to a Kentucky Derby party that was attended by the largest gaggle of geriatric old-money Connecticut WASPs it’s ever been my pleasure to get drunk with.

As a no-money Jew, I don’t often have occasion to dress up as an old-money WASP, but I did my best to fit in, as seen in this photo that was taken on the hostess’s patio (click to enlarge):

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As you can see, the New Girl’s chapeau was equine-equipped for the occasion. The pony, which the New Girl sewed onto the hat herself, was quickly dubbed Brimming Over. Here’s a closer look at him, this time photographed on the back deck overlooking the river (click to enlarge):

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Quite a few of the folks in attendance were well acquainted with the ways of horse shows and stables and such, and one of them was kind enough to inform us that Brimming Over was a highly inauthentic representation of a horse because no real horse would ever have a completely brown body with a white mane and tail, which is just one of the many things you can learn when spending the day with a gaggle of old-money Connecticut WASPs. Educational!

Naturally, I was unhappy with the Derby-winning horse’s color scheme, but the party was so much fun that it more than made up for it. Big thanks to Penny, Rob, and Stephanie for inviting us. Can’t wait to do it again next year.

 
  
 
Comments (107)

    Last item in the Grab Bag is Penguins bench vs. Rangers, not Bruins/Habs.

    The Cardinals throwbacks may be historically incorrect, but they look great.

    Love the necktie. Reminds me a bit of Johnny Cochran (blue and red) during a famous summation of an infamous trial.

    I was thinking Paul should have gone with a bolo tie with a turquoise clasp.

    Is it just me, or would anyone else like to hear Big Cock Johnson’s take on the Kentucky Derby party?

    Many props to New Girl for the effort on her chapeau, geriatric old-money WASPs be damned. The low-budget origins of the Derby winner had to be a bit of a bird flip to them, no?

    Seattle U. presaged the sleeve version of the Astros tequila sunrise?

    That Mets pennant was a great symbol for how Lane Pryce so desperately wanted to be American, but he never quite got it.

    Also, this was mentioned in the weekend tickers, but sad to see link.

    And by the end of the show was on Don’s wall, nit in the trash. With a whole ill fated trip to the ball park sequence. All part of Don’s emotional response to bert telling him he was in a dead man’s office.

    Exactly. It has nothing to do with the Mets, and everything to do with the connection Don feels to Lane. Don’s decision to fire him, essentially for having come clean about his false life, prompted Lane’s suicide.

    Lane tacked up that pennant in what, 1966? Long before the Mets were fashionable. Now Don is in the “dead man’s office,” his whole world imploding, and this reminder of a very ugly episode from his past is thrust in his face. And in the end he chooses, like Lane, to tack the pennant to his office wall.

    The Mets Police should have watched to whole episode.

    All good/true points, but it is the spring of 1969…and we all know how that season ended for the Mets. I think Matthew Weiner might have had a lot of things in mind re: the foretelling of Don’s future.

    re: the foretelling of Don’s future.

    Cocaine-fueled good times in the 80s?

    Just read a good comment over on the AVClub’s review of last night episode, and the reader pointed out that Don used to be the Yankees (classic, rich, fan-favorite) and now he’s the Mets (scrappy underdog). Hopefully Don finds redemption as the Miracle Mets win the World Series.

    Holy moly, check out the triple-triple-striped socks (yes, that’s not a typo) being worn by Chief Sealth High School in Seattle (big thanks to our own Scott M. X. Turner)

    Evocative of the Buffalo Sabres; and by descent, the Toronto Maple Leafs

    Great tie, Paul, but if you’re going to hold baseball throwbacks to such exacting standards, then it must be pointed out that you wore that tie anachronistically long. The whole thing with treating a necktie as a cover for the belt buckle, rather than a decoration for one’s shirt, is a very recent (1980s-present) phenomenon. It’s the baseball pajama pants or football no-sleeve jersey of civilian attire. Fight the scourge of too-long ties!

    [End of gentle ribbing. I have ties on the brain from all of the great mid-40s cravats in the movie “42,” which I finally watched on Saturday.]

    A half Windsor knot rather than a four-in-hand would also help with that excess tie length. Although four-in-hand does work well with the slightly less formal daytime attire popular at the track.

    ” LSU’s purple jerseys sure have a tiny chest insignia (as noted by Casey Hart)”

    Those are LSU’s new BP jerseys. They got them a few weeks ago and have preceded to wear them in games a pretty good bit. Must be a comfort thing. Their purple jerseys from earlier this year (and the last few years) are linked below:

    link

    One thing about the 1929 Cubs throwbacks that I wasn’t sure I would like, but now really like: they used the McAuliffe font for the numbers.

    In 1929 the Cubs hadn’t yet put numbers on the backs of their jerseys, and until now the default for such throwbacks (1909 and ’12 Cubs; Mets’ circa-1903 throwbacks that they wore several times a few years ago) seems to have been a nonstandard-but-boring block font that just looks weird.

    And while I love the Cubs’ number font and think that it looks great in any era, in the 1930s the Cubs were still experimenting with different fonts. I haven’t seen much research on this, but in 1938 they used McAuliffe. They should have done last year’s 1909 throbacks like this, or at least used the timeless current number font.

    I’m looking forward to the 1940s throwback day, when a subtle variation on the modern font will be used. If the mock-ups at the beginning of the year are any indication, Majestic is going to get this one right.

    Bobcats is such a funny name to me. I’m sad to see it leave us. You know I can’t believe they actually went with BOBcats over Flight. And I can’t believe it took them until their last season to abbreviate the team name to ‘Cats on official merchandise.

    They couldn’t realistically change the uniform design earlier since new designs have to be submitted a year in advance. Since Michael Jordan’s purchase wasn’t finalized until 2010, it’s likely didn’t submit a new design until the 2011-12 season.

    And I was never a fan of the “Flight” name. My dislike for singular names aside, I don’t exactly associate basketball in Charlotte with Kitty Hawk Beach. If we’re going with motorized vehicles, I associate Charlotte more with stock car racing than prop planes.

    The stirrups the Cubs wore last night were first worn two years earlier in 1927.

    The Cubs wore essentially that same hose from 1927 through 1956, which given the turnover in the rest of the uniform is remarkably consistent.

    Side note: The Bears would adopt similar socks and jerseys in 1941.

    Per the Dressed to the Nines DB, the stirrups last night weren’t quite right, as the lower portion of the originals were actually white, not blue.

    A Chitown get together? I mean, Roscoe Village is easy enough to get to, right?

    (I live in Roscoe)

    i’m doing what now? well, if i am…

    why roscoe village? because tim lives there? that seems like a pretty weak reason. how about reggie’s on the south side, they have a uni centric mural of sports reggies, good grub, and a bier garden if it’s a nice day. and as a bonus i still have not gotten my hearing back from the zorn-lambardo-laswell show saturday night, so it is obviously pretty kid friendly.

    same reason i liked reggie’s, proximity to self, natch. but if we are meeting up around 6, reggie’s is out. let’s just skip the whole thing and go record shopping at the JRM downtown, and if we want to get all official UW, we can wear stirrups while we do it, and i’ll look for link.

    Paul, on the link to what the 1929 Cardinals unis should look like, the photo of Hal Goldsmith is correct, but the jersey to the left of it is an earlier shirt made by Rawlings. Here’s one of the giveaways — no white border around the letters. Also, the 1929 Sainz birds are different from the Rawlings birds. I’ve never seen an actual 1929 road shirt, just photos. However, 1929 home shirts have popped up. Here’s a example where you can see the Sainz birds and white letter trim: link

    Okkonen’s research is correct from what we know, the photo on the right is from 1929 or 1930.. and the middle photo is possibly labeled incorrectly. That jersey is listed in the Cardinals catalogue as 1924-26, and they own a couple that are on display in their museum right now

    1930 jerseys had a different manufacturer (Spalding), different birds and different trim (note the dual-banded sleeve trim): link

    Here’s a 1929 crest next to a 1930 crest. The differences aren’t noticeable in Okkonen’s drawings, but are obvious when viewed in this context.

    link

    Looking again at the Hal Goldsmith photo, the logo looks like the 1930 Spalding birds… which is curious since he only played two games in 1929 and ended his career. You’d think They would have used 1929 jerseys in spring training 1930 if he attended. Raises more questions! BTW, the crests I posted are from the Cardinals museum and the team seems pretty certain of the dates.

    I don’t usually watch Family Guy, but I was too lazy to change the channel between The Simpsons and Cosmos last night, anywhoo:

    They had a scathing satire of Native American mascots: link

    Thereby proving, only cartoon white people care about…

    Re: Alberta H.S. Baseball Coach : Get A Haircut Or Get Off The Field

    Lol, there are still men out there that have an opinion on another man’s hair?? Haha, too funny (and sad/pathetic).

    Lee

    I’m doing the same, and some don’t realize that when donating for children’s wigs, you have to keep extra good care of your hair. Gotta keep it clean and untangled, no split ends, no coloring, no perms, no flat irons, shouldn’t even blow dry it much.

    Seems like going through all the trouble of having long hair is more character building than being subordinate to “coach”.

    “The Three Village Central School District’s teams are called the Patriots, and they had been using a Flying Elvis logo, but now they’re looking at a range of new logo possibilities.”

    Good for them. By the looks of it, I’m guessing the contest entries came from students. Some are definitely better than others, but at least they’ll have their own unique identity rather than riding some other team’s coattails.

    Just yesterday, a car passed me on the freeway. It had a decal on the back that looked just like the link, but in burgundy and gold rather than green and silver. I didn’t notice any lettering accompanying the logo, so I was left with no idea what team the logo was supposed to represent. If that team had come up with its own visual identity, I might have been able to recognize who they were by a graphical logo alone rather than thinking it was a Philadelphia Eagles logo in a color scheme that would make most die-hard Philly sports fans sick to their stomachs.

    I don’t think so because the “gold” was really yellow. I suspect it was a local high school or club team from here in the Denver metro area.

    That said, it’s pretty disappointing that a college can’t come up with its own logo rather than swiping one from a pro team. I kind of understand (but don’t condone it) when a high school or club team does it. But a four-year college? Come on! They should have access to better resources than that.

    Faith Christian Academy in Arvada (a Denver suburb for you non-locals) has an Eagle mascot with those colors, so it could have been theirs.

    That seems like a plausible assumption, but Faith Christian Academy link. And it looks way cooler, in my opinion, than simply appropriating the Philadelphia Eagle’s logo. Good job, Faith!

    If Fairbault had a minor league baseball team, my guess is they’d be called the Faribault Faribaultians.

    As it is now, it’s a beauty. But it would have been worse than Faribault’s flag if link. I’m glad the mayor had the good sense not to sign the bill.

    “From what I could see, every player on both teams went high-cuffed, revelaing some very nice striped stirrups.”

    You say that about all stirrups, Paul ;)

    Hey Paul, where was the Derby party in CT? Looks like a lovely location, just wondering since I grew up in Southwestern CT.

    Maybe those oldsters were the inspiration for those randy swingers in The Ice Storm.

    The stuffy WASPs are nothing … be grateful you survived the Metro North ride!

    I’ve been waiting for the Cardinals to sell a throwback cap with piping and the caps they wore last night were available in the team store at Busch Stadium last week, though not at all prominently. The use of contemporary spikes, dugout jackets, and helmets dilutes the throwback effect, IMHO. The Cardinals didn’t look at all comfortable in the uni’s. Maybe they sensed the historical inaccuracies.

    Those caps are still available link. No jerseys, unfortunately, which makes me despair somewhat for the prospect of being able to add to my Brewers colletion.

    In no way is this a paid endorsement but I just received a vintage inspired pennant from Oxford Pennant and couldn’t be happier with the work and the personalized note that came with it. I think they’d appeal to the Uni Watch set, plus I’m biased but they’re a small company from my hometown which I think is pretty great as well.

    link

    The hot dog vendor jerseys remind me of a story from last year. A buddy of mine was in town, and we were hanging out, playing MLB 2004 in my room. We choose teams, and he chooses the Padres, with the 1984 uniform. He asks me what the RAC patch stands for and I explain that it was for Ray Kroc who bought the team after founding McDonalds. He thinks about it and says “that uniform looks like something a fast food worker would wear” and I think about it and said “You’re right, it does.”

    Fans attending tonight’s Clippers/Thunder playoff game in OKC will receive link. “The logo on that shirt is the temporary logo OKC used when they relocated from Seattle but before they were branded as the Thunder,” says Ryan Hartwig.

    Pretty rare, that a temporary placeholder logo is so much better than the eventual “real” version.

    You said that the Cubs’ “1929 originals appear to have had four buttons, not five”, but when you click through that link, all three jerseys in the photos have five buttons in a Henley placket. What am I missing?

    You’re referring to this, right?
    link

    The two guys on the left, in the old photo, have four-button plackets, at least to my eyes. I see heavily reinforced stitching at the base of the placket and then four buttons.

    The throwback jersey, shown on the right, has five buttons.

    Wow, I don’t know where to leave this comment because I love the pennants by Oxford Pennant and the idea of the Uni Watch anniversary logo. I’d love to see the logo applied to one of those pennants and kill two birds with one stone.

    apologies if this has been covered as I don’t follow the NFL news on the ticker very closely. Star Wars themed NFL helmets.
    link

    The Ticker had something similar a couple of weeks ago, except that it was a link – namely, instead of NFL teams, the helmets were based on specific Star Wars elements – though I’m disappointed there wasn’t one for Luke’s X-Wing pilot helmet!

    Brazilian football club Corinthians honored former F1 Racing Champion Arytgon Senna by wearing replica racing masks before their Copa do Brasil match.
    link

    Oh, dear sweet Celestia, link

    And apparently the Tigers couldn’t wait to put ’em on either, as Joba’s already link. I thought this kind of thing was reserved for road trips, but Detroit’s starting a home stand…

    For the Chicago meetup it would be interesting to see how spread out the readership is and then find a happy medium I’d think. I’m by Jeff Park now but lived near Roscoe Village for years…seeing the the build-out of the new Commonwealth makes me miss the dankness of the old Mulligans in that location.

    I find city flag design particularly interesting. Here in Chicago people go nuts over the Chicago flag, incorporating the design into many knockoff shirts, hats, etc., as shown by a google image search:

    link

    Absolutely being a homer, I’m fond of the flag of my hometown, Jacksonville, FL.

    link

    I always thought the sunburst image behind Andrew Jackson riding his horse looked neat. Also, the city has that design on all of it’s manhole covers as well.

    link

    So I’m lucky enough to be in Chicago in and around the June 7 proposed meet-up, and hope it comes together. Does it have a 20 yet?

    I grew up Lutheran, so I was a witness to a lot of potential wasp on WASP crime this weekend. Wasps kept slipping through a hole in my Parent’s screened-in porch.

    I asked a sportswriter about the uniform discrepancy. He said: ” The Cardinals made it very clear to all of us that the jerseys worn last night were “inspired” by the 1929 team and the 1920s overall. They were not exact replicas. They were more compilations of the decade.”

    The question is: why *not* do it accurately??

    Maybe they’re thinking about working them into the rotation, and thought pins would be too much?

    Grasping at straws, I know.

    Love the Thunders Spidey unis although the webbing is upside down.To prevent being sued by Marvel/Disney maybe?

    These are in fact fantastic ideas in concerning blogging.

    You have touched some pleasant points here.
    Any way keep up wrinting.

    Would it be possible to have both Friday and Saturday be Purple Amnesty Days? That way people wanting to do a Carlos May tribute wouldn’t have to do it a day early.

Comments are closed.