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Bill Henderson wants your help for the Seventh Edition of the Game Worn MLB Jersey Guide

Henderson Hed

By Morris Levin

Bill Henderson publishes the Game Worn MLB Jersey Guide. The most recent edition was the Sixth which he released in 2012. Bill catalogs and identifies every jersey worn in a Major League game since 1970, and shows the unique attributes specific to each garment to assist the collector in identifying authentic game worn jerseys.

Paul posted on this site “Thus Spake Henderson (again)” on July 16, 2012 to announce the release of the Sixth Edition for which he wrote the Introduction. I first came to know of Bill and his work through Uni-Watch and came to serve as editor of recent editions. The guide is available for sale on Bill’s website here and on Amazon here.

Bill is a collector himself. In many ways, he wrote this as a filing system for his own notes and collection of corroborating photographs to organize the information he found in his research and purchases.

He was most interested in the double-knit era of baseball uniforms. These were the uniforms, which started to appear in the early 1970s and with which he grew up. The Pirates were first to wear polyester double-knits in 1970. The Yankees (the only year they wore double-knit at Yankee Stadium prior to the 1973-1975 renovations) and Expos were the last to adopt the uniforms in 1973. Bill started each team’s chapter with the year of the team’s first polyester uniform (or expansion year for post-1969 teams). In 2012’s Sixth Edition, Bill traced each team’s history to the beginning of the 1970 season and showed game worn flannel examples and their evolution into the team’s first knits.

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While intended for the collector, the thoroughness of the guide, and Bill’s receptivity to receiving corrections and additions from readers, has rendered each subsequent edition ever more precise and definitive. The guide came to be a history reference guide overlapping with and picking up where Marc Okkonen left off.

In pricipio creavit Okkonen Baseball Uniforms of The 20th Century: The Official Major League Baseball Guide. I first encountered Okkenon’s work in Sports Illustrated in 1989 (and for the first time had the distinct feeling that I was not alone in my otherwise idiosyncratic infatuation with team uniforms and logos). Accompanying Sarah Ballard’s April 5, 1989 article “Fabric Of the Game: The Baseball Uniform Has A History As Colorful As The Players Who Have Worn It” in the 1989 Baseball Preview edition was Okkenon’s “The Illustrated History of the White Sox Uniform”. The illustrations do not accompany the SI Vault reprint but this is the introduction:

Some five years ago, commercial artist Marc Okkonen set out to”¨ document the history of every uniform of every major league team of”¨the 20th century — a task which, understandably, no one had ever ”¨taken on before. Okkonen’s work, just completed, provides voluminous ”¨visual proof of the fickle ways of baseball’s fashion czars. In the”¨ 89 years, the major leagues have produced nearly 3,000 different ”¨uniforms, including 56 significant variations for the Chicago White ”¨Sox alone.

Okkenon released a hard cover edition in 1989 and soft cover in 1993. You can purchase a physical copy of the book here and search the work in the database now maintained by Tom Sheiber and the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Dressed to the Nines.

Rob Holecko introduced the Diamond Baseball Database under the headline “Uniform Database Expansion” in April 2012. It now resides here. The database is similar to the database on Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net which is the MLB Uniform Tracker. These are Marc Okkonen’s database for the internet age where every day-specific uniform may be rendered in line-art and published to an easily accessed database.

The value of Bill’s work is in his commentary to guide the reader through the distinctions of each game worn uniform be it in its decoration and fabrication. He knows the garments because he has collected for so many years and educated himself on the evolution of the polyester fabrics used in MLB. This deconstruction of the actual garments through images and words distinguishes Bill’s work from and compliments the MLB Uniform Tracker.

I came to know Bill when I wrote to him with additions and edits to one of his first iterations of his Phillies chapter. Over the years, Bill has built a network of experts with knowledge of certain teams or eras to review and provide feedback on chapters, and supply information on special jerseys or details he might have missed.

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The most challenging part of updating the Guide is compiling the huge number of special event uniform games now held every year. This is where he needs our help. He would like to release a revised, Seventh Edition in 2015, and wants to include all of these events. This includes league-wide one-offs like the patches worn for the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s seventy-fifth anniversary on Sunday, July 27, and on Friday, July 4 for the 75th Anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s Speech, as well as every team’s Turn Back the Clock uniform.

Compiling a list of all special uniform events in 2012, 2013, and 2014 is a daunting task. It not only takes time, but a knowledge of every permutation presented by all thirty teams. When this list is compiled, Bill then seeks game photographs and where possible photographs of the jerseys themselves. The rise of the Internet has made this task easier than ever. It still takes time, and those of us who follow a specific team can also provide details that Bill might have missed. While Bill has tracked dates, he is certain he does not have all of them captured from the calendar, and needs game and jersey photos for many.

Would you like to be a contributor to the creation of the Seventh Edition?

This can be done from the comfort of your own chair and web browser.

Bill also seeks fact checkers for the chapter on each team to review chapters prior to publication. Bill has a list of individual team experts (I am on the Phillies-review team), many of which are Uni Watch readers, and Bill welcomes new blood, enthusiasm, and perspectives.

Contributors will be credited in the book. If you are interested in helping and being part of uniform tracking history, Bill wants to hear from you. Please write to him at wfhenderson@yahoo.com.

____________

Morris Levin will be pinch-hitting the next three Fridays: August 15, August 22, and August 29. Next week’s column will be on the Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co. 1990 catalog which remains a gorgeous example of printing and baseball uniform histories. On August 29 he looks forward to sharing a picture-looking gallery of MLB uniforms on which he has been working. He’s not sure yet what to write about on August 22, but is considering the Philadelphia SPHAs logos and word-marks. Morris would love to have enough images to compile a uniform chronology of the team’s jerseys from 1919 through the 1940s. If you have images or info on the SPHAs, send them his way at morris[at]elysianfieldsphila[dot]com.

Morris Levin is the proprietor of the business consulting practice Elysian Fields LLC in Philadelphia. He is not compensated for the editing of the Guide and has been reimbursed for postage expenses. Morris pinch-hits for Phil on Fridays when Phil pinch-hits for Paul in August. Morris’ favorite jersey is his 1987 Phillies #42 Don Carman batting practice jersey, and favorite uniform the 1950 to 1969 Phillies home set.

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no-redskins


Skin Deep…

Phil here…

This item would normally appear in the ‘skins Watch section, but this is a potentially a huge development that probably deserves its own sub-section.

Yesterday the University of Minnesota requested that the Washington football team wear throwback uniforms for their November 2 game against the Vikings.

While they don’t specify which “throwback” they want worn, they want uniforms “without the team name or logo.” (Maybe the Lombardi-inspired “R” helmets? Problem is that nasty “one helmet” rule. I suppose they could just remove the decal from the current helmet.)

The University

has also asked that the game not have any Washington apparel or paraphernalia sold on the premise; that the word “Redskins” not be uttered by the game’s public address announcer, and that the team’s moniker not appear on the scoreboard or in the program guide and other game-related print or digital material…

It should be noted that this request did NOT come from the Vikings but from the University of Minnesota (as the Vikings will be playing their home games in U of M’s TCF Bank Stadium this fall). And while the Vikings themselves do not have to power to “force” Washington to do this, according to Katrice Albert, UM’s Vice President in the Office of Equity and Diversity,

“(The Vikings) said they’d make that request of the Washington team, but were not sure how it would be received,” she said. “The two Vikings officials said they are part of the NFL and don’t have the authority to force the hand to change the Washington name, but understand it’s offensive to some members of our community. The Vikings have a great working relationship with the tribal nations of Minnesota, and they’re very understanding of how this team name and logo impacts our community.”

This may be just the first of many shots fired across the bow of the Washington team this year as the momentum upon Dan Snyder to change the team’s name continues to intensify nationwide. We’ll just have to see.

Now, here’s the rest of your Friday …

skins watch - 50 wide

‘skins Watch: The Governor of Virginia feels the ‘skins are Virginia’s team, since the team’s players all seem to live there and the fan-base seems to be from there (according to Mike Wise, the article’s author). Wise notes Virginia’s Governor has accepted campaign donations from Dan Snyder and “wanted no part of the name-change scrum,” (submitted by Garrett McGrath). … Chris Cooley, a former player, asked Snyder for his thoughts on the team’s name, specifically ‘what it means to be a Redskin‘ to which Snyder replied, “It’s honor. It’s respect. It’s pride” and more, (thanks, Paul). … Also from Paul: while Virginia’s Governor is apparently a big ‘skins fan, the Governor of Maryland (where the ‘skins actually play their games), is not a fan of the name, saying, “I do believe it is probably time for the Washington Redskins to change their team name.” … “A friend of mine posted a picture of his new t-shirt bought a few days ago at a Pow-Wow,” writes Jared Kurtti. “Appears two different shirts are out there to wake America up into how it feels to have your race depicted as a sports team. The t-shirt he bought was a likeness of the Cleveland Indians and Chief Wahoo and the other one I found was the likeness of the Washington football team.” … A state senator from Cincinnati, Eric Kearney, wants to apply pressure to Cleveland Indians ownership to change the team’s nickname and mascot, Chief Wahoo (thanks to Patrick O’Neill). … Yesterday’s NFL matchup featured a cartoon of the New England Patriots vs. the Washington no names (via WEEI).

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What the Flock - hed - 550


Flocking Update

On Tuesday, we took a look at teams who flocked their helmets in Major League Baseball.

I mentioned that if there were any additional teams we could add to our list, I would update them here. Sure enough, we have a few examples. Click on any most images to enlarge.

. . . . .

We begin with the Philadelphia Phillies, and we have TWO examples (one was from Chris Hickey, who posted in the comments, and the other from an e-mail submission from Robert Wong):

Stan_Lopata_(1956_Phillies)_3


Phillies Flocked Helmet

Next up are the New York Mets (top submission from Robert Wong, bottom comes from Sean O’Shea):

Mets Flocked helmet

Mets flocked helmet2

Another one from Robert Wong, here is the Washington Senators:

Washington Senators flocked helmet

Also, it is a bit tough to tell, but it looks like the Kansas City Athletics also flocked (from Chris Hickey):

KC A's Flocked Helmet

Reader Tim Dunn found the following helmet on eBay for the New York Giants [EDIT: This is a reproduction according to reader Scott Johnston]:

NY Giants flocked helmet

And finally, thanks to Susan Freeman, (who notes that at about 4:50 of this video), it looks like the Houston Colt .45s also flocked:

Colt 45s Flocked Helmet

. . . . .

Great sleuthing, people! If anyone comes across more examples of flocking, please send them in!

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Too Good For the Ticker


Too Good…

for the Ticker

Wow. Nice find today from Joseph Gerard, who sent me the following e-mail:

Hey Phil,

I’m at the Pirates-Marlins game now, but was at Steelers training camp earlier. Anyways, I was in the Traveling Great Hall and noticed they had a colorized image of Bobby Layne with white numbers when the numbers were gold at the time. Don’t know if this is an oversight on the Steelers part when the image was colorized or not, but that uniform is what the throwbacks that were used a few years ago were based off of.

Also on display were the Steelers rare white pants that they wore with the white jerseys in the early 1970s. Didn’t know any of these survived.

Joe

Here are the images he sent to accompany the e-mail (click to enlarge slightly):

Bobby Layne Colorized

Steelers white pants

At first I was skeptical and didn’t think the image was colorized, but it has to be — because Bobby Layne played for the Steelers from 1958 through 1962, and if we check the GUD, we find that for those years (1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962) — the years Layne was a Steeler — they never wore a black jersey with white numbers.

Even a cursory google image search on Bobby Layne Steelers yields exactly ZERO photos of him wearing a black jersey with white numbers.

It’s a good thing the Steelers didn’t completely base their throwbacks off that image (the throwback numbers were properly gold), but it’s a curious oversight.

The only other option that comes to mind is if that image is not colorized, when did Layne ever wear that particular jersey? And no other photographic evidence (at least in my cursory search) exists to show the team wearing that style jersey with white numbers. And if we go back to the GUD we find that the Steelers never had white numbers on a black jersey in any of the years prior to Layne’s playing days — so it’s not like they were wearing a previous year’s jersey — and that definitely appears to be a game shot, so those aren’t practice jerseys. Guess the photo is colorized, but that’s a pretty huge oversight.

Thanks to Joe for bringing this to our attention!

. . .

Great stuff. OK, now onto the ticker…

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Uni Watch News Ticker:

Baseball News: Check out this 1889 photo of Joe Visner of the American Association Brooklyn Bridegrooms with “Plaid and laces and a pillbox cap! And that BELT!” (thanks to Leo Strawn, Jr.). … In a ‘turnabout is fair play’ sort of story, since the Mets gave out a collectible truck with a Phillies logo, it seems only fitting that the Phils gave out the same truck with a Mets logo (thanks to Jonathan Daniel). … Are the Braves planning on wearing 1914 throwbacks? Looks like they might on August 16th (h/t to Mike Nessen). … Oooohhhh, this is nice: “Got an email from the California Historical Society today” says Dave Sikula “with a link to a Flickr page with a bunch of historical club baseball teams.”

NFL News: As noted in yesterday’s comments, the Eagles probably won’t be going back to kelly green jerseys (at least not as a primary — possibly as an alt — but the ‘one helmet rule’ is the issue). Dang. … The Lions have been practicing in black, stripeless pants. Hmmm. (thanks to Joey Zurek). Apparently it’s nothing to be concerned about, since they do it as a camp thing. … After Saints Coach Sean Payton expressed mild annoyance during offseason workouts with the presence of sponsorship patches on the team’s practice jerseys, the next day, he arrived at the team facility to see in the coaches’ locker room an array of polo shirts carrying the same patch, all courtesy of QB Drew Brees (thanks Brinke). And what was the patch? Update from Brinke: “after Payton made his comment about the patches on the practice jerseys, then Brees put them all on the coaches shirts. Then Payton retaliated by putting the Rogaine one solely on Brees jersey.” … The Washington football club is/was selling t-shirts for last night’s preseason game v. the Pats. Says Leo Strawn, Jr. who sent that in, “Kinda pricey, but no logo creep.” … Not only do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers new fonts suck, they’re also magical reflective. Just what we need. … Looks like Peyton Hillis’ 2013 facemask didn’t make the cut: 2013 through most of 2014 training camp, and 2014 HoF game (great spot by Ryan Perkins). … There is the expectation that the Patriots are going to update their uniform font this year, but they were wearing the old wordmark during their pre-season game against Washington last evening (h/t Paul Woods). This is the new wordmark. … “I came across this patch on a jacket at the Goodwill store in Junction City, Oregon,” writes Alex Allen. “The only NFL alum living nearby that I’m aware of is Hall of Famer Dave Wilcox.”

College Football News: The “Hate Maps” continue, this time with one of the most hated NCAA football teams by State. There were some complaints about the methodology, and a new tabulation was made. … Here’s a pretty neat article on how LSU’s helmets are “prepped for battle” (thanks to Joel Manuel). … Here’s a few more looks at the new Utah Utes unis (say that 3 times fast). … The University of Mississippi discusses changing (or at least limiting the use of) its “Ole Miss” nickname as part of a broader debate about race relations (from Yusuke Toyoda). … Here’s some neat old photos of Ballard (Seattle) football, most from the turn of last century. … The Northern Illinois University Huskies are going to wear special “Cornfest” jerseys in their season opener. Yup. … Clint Richardson asks, “What’s with the black stripe.”. It’s one of those “freshmen & transfers have to earn the orange stripe” things. … WSU’s 2014 football poster has the schedule featuring an opponent’s helmet. Submitter Eric Read notes this “is tough to predict in the Pac12.”

NBA News: Now that the “deal” to send #1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins to the Minnesota Timberwolves (for Kevin Love) is pretty much a done deal, the NBA store is giving refunds to those who bought Cavs jerseys with Wiggins’ name on them. Only catch? They gotta have the tags still on them. … Great photo of the 2008 Olympic Team (posted by Darren Rovell) in which the only non-Nike player, Dwight Howard, has his adidas shoes blocked out by Coach K, and his hand appears to be blocking the swoosh on the shorts as well (though it is still visible on the jersey). Rovell points out that normally the coach would have been standing and Chris Bosh should have been holding the ball. … This is probably not an intern-firing offense, but who is LeBron Jones and why is he visiting the Browns’ practice and chatting with Johnny Football? (via Allan Upton).

Soccer News: The new unveilings continue, as Newcastle United has revealed a new home kit and Everton have revealed a a new third kit (thanks to Mark Coale for the second submission). Bit more on the Everton third kit here (from Casey Hart). …

College Hoops News: After the Notre Dame Mens’ Hoop toured the Colosseum and Roman Forum, they saw the Vatican, after which the Swiss Guard “laced up their UnderArmour kicks” and joined the team for what looks like a little scrimmage on the court (from Joe Reimers). … Check out the uniforms THE OSU will be wearing for their Bahamas competition — note the LBJ logo! (thanks to Chad Wonderling). Here’s what the University of Kentucky will wear in the Bahamas (I think we’d seen these before, but just in case…).

Grab Bag: Is the biggest rivalry in “sports” actually between swooshie and three stripes? adidas is planning its biggest advertising campaign ever next year as it fights back against rival Nike. … Carleton College (a Minnesota institution) has gotten a new set of logos. … Here’s a long, convoluted and expensive story of Army’s “new” camo pattern (from Yusuke Toyoda). … Do you want to know what the difference is between a logo and a symbol? Now you can (thanks Brinke). … Also from Brinke, this “stunning photo series shows the evolution of British soldiers kits from 1066 to 2014.” … If you care at all about Provincial Rugby jerseys, well, here is a “definitive” ranking of them for you. … More on those protective guards for helmets, from Steve Johnston: “If you go to this story it looks like the entire team (except for the punter) is wearing the protective padding during practice. They even seem to have two colors – offense vs defense?” … Alan Reifman found some old NBA color-by-number drawing sheets from his childhood (late 1960s). “They show some interesting old NBA uniforms (e.g., the Seattle SuperSonics’ hula-hoop-like stripes on their shorts),” he notes. … And finally, douchebaggery at the PGA: Chris Edwards writes, “my Dad went to the PGA Championship practice round Wed and said as long as the bottle was sealed upon entry, you could bring in water. As you got to the entrance, officials were there telling everyone that if your water was not Aquafina, you had to take the label off.”

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Whew! That will do it for this fine Friday. Big thanks to Morris for the first of his Friday guest articles (always look forward to these during Paul’s vacation — glad to have you back, buddy!). Lots of stuff to digest today, I know.

This weekend you’ll be treated to the unique stylings of Uni Watch Webmaster John Ekdahl, who will be subbing most weekends for me while I’m on weekday duty.

You guys and gals have a great weekend and I’ll catch you on Monday. Happy August 8th, Robert Marshall!

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

.. … ..

“I make all kinds of uniform-related comments to people, but aside from the wife and you guys, no one knows the real extent of my fascination with uniforms and logos and the aesthetics of athletics. I’ve gotten enough ‘Who cares about that?’ responses that I know when to keep my mouth shut and when to share my enthusiasm.”

— Jim Vilk

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winooski_plantsale_raffle_2007_logo_1

Raffle reminder: Remember, we’re currently raffling off three copies of this visual compendium of baseball uniform history.

Full details here.

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Comments (120)

    Umm…..ULM Warhawks having a “Camo out” vs. Wake Forest and promoting it with their coach and AD standing in a swamp with shotguns. Never seen anything like it…..

    Link should open a splash page with a video…
    link

    Like the lettering on the Swiss Guard basketball uni, but that’s a textbook case of using too much of one color.

    Hard to believe even the modified CFB hate map list as it says Texas rather than the Bugeaters for Colorado.

    Kinda makes sense that the hatred is divided a bit now that Nebraska is in B1G.

    . . . but the Buffs don’t play the ‘horns any more either, and have played them many fewer times.

    Oh. Right. Stupid conference realignments.

    Eh, with no natural in-conference rivals, I guess they just hate the richest team in their general vicinity. Or their cable packages include the Longhorn Network.

    Funny you should mention the Longhorn Network. Texas’ refusal to cooperate with the rest of the Big 12 on revenue sharing and the formation of a conference-wide television network was driven largely by their plan to launch the Longhorn Network. The whole situation fomented lots of resentment toward Texas within the rest of the league, some of which still lingers to this day.

    Colorado and Nebraska both jumped ship at least in part to get away from the bully on the block that Texas had become. When you’re responsible for effectively breaking up a conference, it should come as no surprise that the fans of departed conference members still hate you, even when you don’t play those teams anymore.

    It’s no secret that Coloradans have a reputation for link (although, in reality, the depth of resentment is largely overblown and mostly a relic of the past). Nevertheless, I’m wondering if, now that the Buffs/Huskers rivalry (or non-rivalry, according to Nebraska) is no longer a yearly occurrence, Coloradans take out their ire on the college sports embodiment of their supposed least favorite state.

    There has been some dislike for Texans in these parts for a while, but I think it’s fading. The first time I ever saw the word “bullshit” in print was back in the sixties with the (for the time quite salty) bumper sticker “If God had meant for Texans to ski, He’d have made bullshit white”. A few years later came “Don’t Californicate Colorado”, which sentiment is growing.

    I know someone who grew up in California and Texas before moving to Colorado. She jokes that she feels like the most disliked woman in the state! Truth is, I think there are as many transplants to Colorado from the East Coast and Midwest these days as from California and Texas.

    As a Nebraska fan and haven taken a sort of “informal” poll, I can say most Nebraska fans didn’t even think of Colorado as a rival. It has been, and always will be Oklahoma. The big problem is, not a lot of people in Colorado care about college football. It’s all Denver Broncos, all the time.

    I live in Denver and when CU and Nebraska were in the same conference, I would go up to Boulder every other year for the game. Folsom Field would easily be half to three quarters red. It’s so pathetic that you have a better chance of seeing a Nebraska game broadcast in the Denver Metro area than you would CU. Dont even ask about Colorado State and Air Force.

    I can’t remember the year, but CU was playing Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game in Kansas City I believe. It was estimated that there were over 62, 000 Oklahoma fans and about 1700 CU fans. Terrible fan base.

    The flocked Giants helmet on eBay is a reproduction put out by ABC (American Baseball Cap – long-time supplier of batting helmets to MLB) about 10 or 15 years ago. I have NY Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers, Yankees and Pirates helmets from this collection. If I remember correctly, ABC put these out a year or two before the company was bought out by Rawlings, which took place in 2003.

    Thanks, Scott!

    I’ve edited the text to indicate it’s a repro.

    Meanwhile, Robert Wong just sent in another example, from the Washington Senators — which is now added to the text. You can alse click here to view.

    I stumbled across this baseball card the other day which, based on what appears to be raised lettering on the batting helmet, perhaps suggests flocking by the Cleveland Indians:
    link

    Tough call on that one – I would say matte finish and not flocked…but I can be swayed!

    Public admission ownage. Am I the only one who would not have guessed reason for flocking was to make a batting helmet look like a cloth hat? Till a few days ago, thought it was to harden surface / increase protection somehow.

    I think that when Branch Rickey introduced helmets (made by a company he owned), he meant for them to be worn in the field as well, so flocking would make them look more like traditional caps.

    The Bobby Layne picture is definitely colorized; look at the Giants player! Blue NW stripes? Blue pants stripe (and only one stripe, at that)? Blue socks? There’s only one way I can link

    If you look up close, it’s colorized. That’s why when I emailed Phil that image (by that point I was at PNC Park yesterday), I didn’t make any mention of that image not being colorized. I didn’t even notice the Giants striping until you said something, but there was no dispute when I saw that the image was colorized.

    Thing is, I’ve been in the Traveling Great Hall before (though its been a few years) and it really hasn’t changed since then–heck, I took link (which is still on display there) from the last time I was there and uploaded it to Wikipedia. I never really paid attention to the Layne image from the last time. I think the only thing that might’ve changed is the sponsorship on the outside: from Coca-Cola to FedEx.

    Forgive m for sounding like a uniform snob, but honestly, that is such a bad job of colorizing on the uniforms that’s it’s embarrassing. The Steelers never wore white numbers on a black jersey until the 1966 “Batmans.” And the Giants wearing that shade of blue?? Blue numbers and stripes when they were red?

    Wow. If you’re going to mess up, I guess you better mess up real good!

    i question the NCAA “heat” maps validity .. there’s no way UT is the most hated team in Texas and the same for OSU in Ohio

    Even the retabulation list raises eyebrows. While getting Michigan and Ohio right (MI hating OSU the most, and OH hating UM), I have to call into question the continental listing. Clemson? The most hated in North America? I’d think it’d be either Alabama, Notre Dame, or Michigan. CLEMSON??

    Every Day Should be Saturday is a site that used to be just about college football and humor related to it – sadly it’s become pervasively political this year so I read it much less – has a funny recurring anti-Clemson meme.

    Clemson has also been the fashionable national championship contender for the last few years, so the nationwide hate is understandable.

    Why wouldn’t Texas be the most hated team in Texas? Even if the Horns were the most popular team (and they probably are), fans of other schools are united in hating Texas, while Texas fans may not universally hate Oklahoma.

    Same thing in North Carolina, where the Heels are the most popular team, but they’re also universally hated by fans of other schools in the state.

    How is Michigan hated in about seventeen states, and one of them isn’t Ohio? When was this survey done, 1982?

    Part of this is sampling. terriblehuman makes a good point about UT (make no mistake – UT is hated in most of Texas, but th’s point is still valid). What about BYU? You ask the question in Salt Lake, Ogden, or Logan, and it’s BYU. Ask it in Provo, or Orem, of most of southern Utah, and the answer is probably going to be Utah.

    NFL helmet rule and throwbacks: May have been discussed before, but why can’t teams just use a wrap to put on the helmets like NASCAR does for their cars? Or will this somehow ‘void the helmet warranty’?

    It’s probably easier to wrap a car than a helmet. Cars aren’t as round and have actual seams in the body that you can tuck excess material into. I don’t think there’s a rule against it, it’s just not practical.

    I’d still love to see some actual statistics to back up this wonderful aesthetic-killing rule of theirs. We’ve got college teams wearing 3, 4, even 5 helmets in one season… are they suffering more concussions than one helmet schools?

    From what I understood from last year’s discussions, a key issue is that there are players in the NFL still using older, discontinued helmets (read: Tom Brady) that have been grandfathered in. When such players were involved in throwback games, they had to switch to a newer helmet for that game, which means breaking in a different lining system; apparently, the lining can be switched easily between the same shell models, while the different geometries of the newer models (e.g. more coverage on the jawbone) make older linings incompatible. Hence, the league’s consultants on the matter decided that they didn’t want to risk players having to acclimate to a different model for sporadic use, as it could potentially increase their risk… or something like that.

    Meanwhile, NCAA teams roll out up to six different helmet designs, but presumably the schools are outfitting their players in all current models (and the built-in turnover presumably means there aren’t any NCAA players using helmets that are ten or more years old).

    Personally, I’d like to see the NFL and the PA come together and just ban the old models, force the players to be up-to-date, and come to an agreement with the manufacturers to ensure current models are available throughout the year – no discontinuations until after the Super Bowl, unless a particular model is discovered to be defective and must be recalled. Then, alternate helmets could be reintroduced, since players would no longer have to switch shell models as they’d all be current.

    If that’s the real reason, then it’s even dumber. The very idea of grandfathered safety equipment is just bad. If the league cares about player safety, then wearing the most up-to-date equipment should be mandatory. If it can be shown that Helmet B is better than Helmet A, then Helmet A should no longer be worn, regardless of Star Player X liking it.

    Again, from what I understand, the models that were discontinued but are still in use still pass the minimum safety requirements; the manufacturers have simply moved on from those designs, though.

    (And the “again” refers to my level of understanding of the situation, not an attempt to reiterate a point that wasn’t part of the original post. Just to clear that up.)

    ” We’ve got college teams wearing 3, 4, even 5 helmets in one season… are they suffering more concussions than one helmet schools?”

    ~~~

    You may have answered your own question…

    It isn’t just Nascar that does the wrap. Indycar teams use wraps as well. If they can wrap a car with as many different angles and shaped surfaces as an IndyCar, I don’t see why they couldn’t wrap a helmet.

    I’m probably one of very few, but I find it disturbing that a governmental entity that’s renting out property pursuant to an existing agreement is seeking to censor speech at an event on that property.

    Yeah, it does seem to be just a bit on the “wrong” side of that line. I’m sure Paul can give us some wordy justification for how it somehow doesn’t qualify as censorship though. Probably because it’s State rather than Federal, or something.

    If I was Dan Snyder, not only would I not agree to wear a logo-less throwback, I’d put an extra logo patch on the team’s jerseys and pants for that game.

    Well, if I were Dan Snyder, I’d have changed the name by now. But I’m not him.

    As to what I think Snyder will do, I expect him to ramp up the rhetoric a few more notches, and probably bring along some extra sideline decorations in an attempt to drive his point home.

    If I were Dan Snyder, I’d buy more of the “Keep the Name” t shirts he purchased last week and give them away to Redskins fans outside the stadium(assuming that Redskins fans will not have to adhere to any sort of dress code):

    link

    Censorship would be one thing, but I don’t see censorship here. You’ll notice that it’s a lot of “requested”, “asked” and “no power to ‘force'” type language in there.

    The original comment said “seeking” to censor – which describes the situation accurately.

    But my point is they aren’t even seeking to censor. They’re just asking bodies to make a decision on their own behalf to avoid certain words and imagery, but should they decline then there’s nothing they can or would do about it.

    Don’t even need to get to the constitutional question, it’s a matter of contract and the facility use agreement b/w UM & the Vikings certainly doesn’t give it any rights in that regard.
    link
    From reading the WP article, I’d be willing to wager that the same Native American tribe that donated $10M to UM’s Athletic Dept. to build a plaza in the stadium honoring the state’s Native American tribes has made its feelings known to the Department on this issue. Or the Department is acting preemptively, though it seems pretty late in the game for that.

    It looks like the attempt is more important than the resolution. The university gets to say to its Indian constituents, “at least we gave it our best try”. No shame in that.

    Exactly, just as the Redskins and other bodies should have freedom of speech, so should the university have the freedom to speak out. So long as they aren’t coercing anybody to do anything this is purely a matter of speech versus speech.

    There’s no ability of the U of M to enforce this request or punish the Washington FC for failing to comply. The only thing they probably could do is have their own PA announcer not use the team moniker.

    Its a request and a pretty strong statement. Although part of me thinks that the best course is to state directly that they find the name offensive and just let Snyder and the league embarrass themselves by wearing them on the field.

    let Snyder and the league embarrass themselves by wearing them on the field

    Not to mention Snyder throwing what looks like millions in PR money for the rope to hang himself with.

    I’m shocked that no one has made a remark yet about how the University of Minnesota’s “double standard” in objecting to Washington’s nickname but having no problem with a team nicknamed the Vikings.

    And yes, I know it’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. One nickname involves a collective identity and likeness being misappropriated from a marginalized minority and repackaged in the form of a racial slur while the other involves celebrating the cultural heritage of a significant portion of the region and fanbase. But it’s one of those weak arguments that gets trotted out every time the ‘skins naming issue comes up and it’s served up in this story on a silver platter. I don’t know if I’m disappointed someone didn’t take the bate or grateful that perhaps we’ve done a good enough job on this message board of debunking the comparison that people don’t even bother to bring it up anymore.

    “I know it’s an apples-to-oranges comparison”

    ~~~

    Yes it is and we’ve been down that road MANY TIMES before.

    Let’s NOT revisit it today, thanks!

    I’m not trying to start the debate. I’m trying to take the legs out from under the argument before someone brought up the point. I’m on your side on this one, Phil.

    Oh, I know (I hope my comment didn’t come off the wrong way — I maybe should have used a smiley face!).

    I just don’t want others to start down the whole “Vikings” and “Fighting Irish” and cetera shit again.

    Thanks for understanding!

    Ah, yes! The challenges of detecting nuance on the internet.

    (Is now the wrong time to point out that I, for one, have always been offended by the Miami Heat’s name because I know people who have had heat stroke and… oh, never mind!)

    Gopher U is no stranger to the “double standard”.
    Back in 2006 their Athletics Department’s stance against the use of American Indian-themed nicknames took form; they were refusing to accept scheduling requests by the University of North Dakota’s teams (aka: The Fighting Sioux)…except ice hockey, for some reason:

    link

    Minnesota’s reason for continuing to play North Dakota in hockey was due to conference obligations. They were both in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association from 1951 to 2013. The article you linked to mentions the league membership issue.

    Ole Miss should change the helmet NOT because of alleged ‘racism”, but because the helmet is unimaginatively stupid looking and merits change perhaps more than any other helmet in the NCAA. A block “M” would be better. A BLANK Navy helmet with a Red stripe would be better. But Team Names spelled out on a helmet suck. Particularly in script. UCLA is perhaps an exception. But “Ole Miss” in script is a mess. Get rid of it. Insofar as “changing” the entire university’s nickname for alleged “racism” grounding. Not gonna happen. Try finding TEN Black people that do not call the school “Ole Miss” They already added a “secondary” team nickname – “The Black Bears”, in the never-ending battle to refine Southern History, tastes and favor. That new nickname is about as popular as New Coke. But it is printed by the Smart Set in newspapers and is heartily joked about whenever co-hosts feel the urge to razz Archie Manning when he is on the CBS wrap up shows. But I truly think that you can fly a plane to China with one wing before you get Mississippians to stop calling the school Ole Miss.

    Yes, remember the effort to rebrand the U. of Pittsburgh when they brought on the “Iron Panther” and disparaged the “Pitt” monicker? You can get an “A” for effort, but going against generations of usage is a thankless struggle. Colleges are especially hidebound by old habits. Time would be better spent integrating the “Ole Miss” with any new campaign.

    Well, the “Ole Miss” thing was just a small part of an overall discussion about race relations and the perception of antebellum fetishism, but naturally it attracted a disproportionate kneejerk outrage.

    And FWIW, the proposal is to keep the nickname as part of the sports identity but keep it out of academic settings.

    Overall, people seem to be okay with “Ole Miss”, even if they recognize the cringey slavery reference. “Rebels” might be a bit problematic, what with glorifying folks who committed treason because they wanted to keep trading people like cattle.

    Ole Miss has to persist to the mid-23rd century, at least until Leonard McCoy can graduate and move on to Starfleet!

    I disagree. The Ole Miss helmet is very nice looking, in my opinion. The only negative is that the script isn’t original, as it is very close to Florida’s and the old Pitt and old Terps helmets.

    Long comment in moderation… *shrug*

    Meanwhile… the picture from the Phillies giveaway (with the Mets logo on the side of the cab) reveals a Phillies logo on the truck’s cargo box. Unfortunately, the only pictures I’ve seen from the Mets giveaway have shown the package straight-on, so we don’t get to see the top of the cargo box on the truck with the Phillies logo on the side.

    If there’s a Mets logo on that cargo box top, then it would seem that we would have a simple case of swapped parts during assembly.

    Paul,
    You were listed on Olbermann last night as someone who’s protesting the ‘skins name. Bad news is that they spelled your last name wrong! Check out the video:link

    Bill Henderson’s jersey guide is a stunning project; I love everything about it. But I find myself wanting to see caps, helmets, pants, stirrups, socks and shoes. A bit like Marc Okkonen’s approach, only showing the backs of uniforms, too. The kind of pictures I would zealously draw as a teenager, but would never think of tackling now!

    walter- I too want to see caps, helmets, pants, stirrups, socks, and shoes, and I remain so impressed that Bill has expended the time to catalog the jerseys which alone are a massive effort. Morris

    The Rays road Fauxback is GLORIOUS!

    That is one wonderfully colorful, batshit crazy uniform. I have to hand it to the Rays, other clubs do the one offs and try to look cool or intimidating (especially in football) or sleek but not the Rays. They’ve managed to make these fauxbacks fun above all else. Its like the guy who shows up in an orange tuxedo with no sense of shame or irony.

    Tempted to go to the game Sunday just to see those things live.

    link

    Yeah, that cap is gonna get completely washed out. Sky logo on a white front panel of a sky cap…I would have designed it differently. Really like that top in a design vacuum though. Still not sure I like reaching into a non-existent Rays history, but what the hell, it looks good.

    I was thinking about what pants they would wear and came to the same conclusion about the cap. They’ll probably go with link but it just seems a little unbalanced featuring the yellow so prominently on the jersey but then nowhere else. I was thinking they could go mad and go with yellow pants but again it would really need a link to keep it balanced.

    (By the way, I yoinked the template for those from Rob H. and his gloriously funky Devil Rays concepts. Hope that’s ok)

    As glorious as this second iteration of the Rays’ fauxbacks may be, they belong in the faux 1970s, and I believe this game is allegedly a throwback to 1988, therefore I’d have rather seen the Rays wearing something like this, a fauxback more appropriate to the late 1980s, or so I proposed…

    link

    Even for the Padres, the (not) faux 1970s only lasted until 1984.

    Maybe drop the gray striped stirrups. That seems more like the 1910s. Thin black would be appropriate. One minor tweak to an otherwise perfect concept would be to make it a button down with an extended double knit collar. Like the Royals. A few teams did that as a way to bridge the pullover era to the more conservative button downs.
    link

    Mike Wise is probably right about the ‘Skins being Virginia’s team. You see way more burgandy and gold farther south of the Beltway, while you see Ravens gear as soon as you cross the DC/MD border. Plus, half the folks in DC are Cowboys fans.

    Mike Wise just called the whole state of VA racist. I never see Ravens gear in DC. Cowboys sure a bit, but its usually 1. Skins, 2. Cowboys, 3. Steelers.

    There’s a lot of stuff to like today. Anything by and about Okkenon. Those baseball images from the California Historical Society. [Check out the odd, charming photo of the boys team all dressed up as girl sailors!] That Caucasians T-shirt. The new Newcastle home uni.

    But it’s a non-sports item that steals the day, for me at least:
    “… Also from Brinke, this ‘stunning photo series shows the evolution of British soldiers kits from 1066 to 2014’ …”

    Amazing.

    I agree.

    Tim O’Brien wrote a brilliant short story called “The Things They Carried”, about US soldiers in Vietnam. These photos have the same impact. It’s a thought-provoking, humbling project.

    As part of the agricultural tie-in, does the NIU “Cornfest” jersey also include barbed wire over the corn? It appears it might, and that would follow as it was apparently invented in DeKalb, IL (known as the “Barb City” / local high school nickname “the Barbs”).

    Or maybe it’s just weird corn. Either way, probably not jersey-worthy.

    Happy August 8th, Robert Marshall!

    Yes, and may you live at least another seventy-four years!

    I understand the controversy about the Redskins name, but I don’t get how the logo gets lumped in with it. I think it is the most respectful logo of all the Native American sports logos, which is ironic because the Redskins name is the least respectful.

    The Vikings had to agree to several conditions with the University of Minnesota in order to agree to play at TCF Bank Stadium for two years, such as no prime time games during the school year (which effectively means no home prime-time games until the last two weeks of the regular season–and Week 17 we can rule out unless the Vikings make a turnaround at the same time the rest of the NFC North collapses)–their only prime time game is week 5 in Green Bay–as well as concession contracts, since the Vikings and Minnesota had contradictory soft drink contracts, as well as limitations on alcohol sales.

    As nice as it is for NFL fans (and especially Vikings fans) to see them play home games in the elements again for the next two years, it’s also a good thing it’s just a temporary home. If it was permanent, this would by far be the worst stadium deal in professional sports.

    I don’t think as many people have a problem with Washington’s logo as with their nickname. The main arguments against the logo that I’ve heard have been:

    1) Although not a cartoonish caricature like Chief Wahoo, it’s a generic representation that could be seen as lumping all Native Americans into one undifferentiated whole. Sort of like the way that the prevailing culture often depicts all Native Americans as living in tepees and wearing war bonnets.

    2) No matter how respectfully rendered, Washington’s logo still represents the misappropriation of another culture’s identity and imagery without permission. In other words, it’s not the Washington football team’s “intellectual” property (or, perhaps more appropriately, cultural property), and they never sought approval from any group with moral authority to allow its use.

    It seems like the University of Minnesota’s objections fall more in the first category.

    I think its the first of your two point which makes the logo more offensive. There were thousands of distinct native cultures in pre-Columbian America each with their own language, social structure, art and dress. To reduce that diversity to a skin color is pretty bad.

    It’s less about the logo and more about the identity as a whole. UM wants the Minnesota Vikings to play the Washington Professional Football Team. They just don’t want the team name or imagery in their stadium.

    I doubt they’ll succeed in keeping them from wearing the logo and name, but they can refuse to say it. Much like the Ravens do when the “Indianapolis Professional Football Team” comes to Baltimore.

    I just received a very nice note from Rob Holecko at link. Rob corrected me: the Diamond Uniform Databse is not affiliated with Chris Creamer’s daily MLB Uniform Tracking. That is my error for conflating the two projects and I apologize to Rob, Jay Jackson, and Matt Donnelly who do the great work on the DUD. I hope to write more on the Diamond Uniform Database in one of my upcoming posts.

    Thanks, Morris… yep the DUD has a lot more in store in the near future that is not ready to be published to our site yet, but if you’re a fan of Dressed To The Nines and Henderson’s guides, you’ll definitely want to stay tuned.

    Whenever I see “LBJ,” I don’t think “LeBron James.” I think “Lyndon Baines Johnson.” “LBJ” doesn’t even make sense as an acronym for James’ name. “LeBron” is one word. His middle name is Raymone. If anything, it should be “LRJ.”

    Yeah I agree… but it has sort of stuck at this point. However I’ll take it over “King James” that ESPN loves calling to use. Seriously, you are reporting the “sports news.” It’s not like King has been a name that has stuck since youth like “Bubba” “Tiger” or “Chipper”. The media create these silly names for him then use them constantly.

    From the Braves Facebook page:

    The ‪#‎Braves‬ will wear a “Pete” patch on the left chest of their jerseys starting tonight through the remainder of the season.

    Are you sure tags are required for returning Wiggins Cavs jerseys? Normally that’s the case, but this story by Rovell would seem to indicate otherwise. See the last line: link

    I love how a commenter stated the term Redskins and Vikings and then authors of this site shut it down verbally because “we’ve been down this road many times before”? What does Phil and Paul expect? I feel like some people get stifled here for merely making a comment. But because it has been discussed before it no longer cannot be talked about. I don’t get it. Much like we have been told about skins watch, if you don’t like it, skip it.

    If you read the entirety of that thread you’d see that the commentator wanted to shut down the comparison before it got started. Even said that the absence of anyone presenting the comparison was a positive sign that its been thoroughly debunked by previous comments.

    I agree Robert. We have been down the road of the Redskins name many times before. I love the site but if one does not agree with the political correctness should not mean others can not voice their opinions. I just have stayed out of the sports nickname debate. I have said I actually would be tired of it if the site was pro Redskins name.

    I personally do not find those Caucasian shirts offensive in the least.

    Logos are logos. They are cartoons or drawings.

    I do not find Mario and Luigi offensive. Are they stereotypes and caricatures of Italians? Sure they are. Big deal.

    I do check the site every day and enjoy many of the uniform related pictures and topics.

    As a kid I was always intrigued by those flocked helmets. I had yearbooks of the Pirates wearing them and the baseball cards too. Fun to see what other teams had them.

    In this case though, its not a matter of agreeing or not agreeing.
    It’s a matter of whether we need to see some yokel making the same bad argument for the 4000th time.

    Collectively, we don’t.

    Thanks
    Lee

    “I personally do not find those Caucasian shirts offensive in the least.

    Logos are logos. They are cartoons or drawings.

    I do not find Mario and Luigi offensive. Are they stereotypes and caricatures of Italians? Sure they are. Big deal.”

    This. It’s a cartoon. I don’t take it as a negative representation of all white people any more than I take Popeye as a negative representation of all men in the military.

    Its not supposed to be offend. Its satire. Its meant to ridicule the Washington logo not a white person, unless said white person is one who stubbornly contends the Washington logo is an “honor.”

    That player in the red flocked helmet on the Jimmy Piersall card is Tim Harkness, who batted behind Piersall that day.
    The person who colorized the photo should have made that blue.

    Any time there’s a pic of this

    link

    on Uni Watch, it’s a good day. Freaking gorgeous and sorely missed.

    Does anyone know how/why De’Anthony Thomas is wearing jersey number 1 for the Cheifs? He is listed as a RB/WR which according to NFL rules would limit him to wear a number between 10-49 or 80-89. Anyone have any insight into this?

    It’s my favorite part of the preseason… WRs and RBs wearing single digits, WRs wearing 20s, LBs in the 40s… The NFL allows it while the teams trim their rosters, since most teams run out of eligible numbers.

    Next week’s column will be on the Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co. 1990 catalog

    Morris, I can’t wait!

    I used to have an extensive collection of Mitchell & Ness and Ebbets Field Flannels catalogues, which in those days were about the best visual history you could have.

    Is it just me, or do some of the “flocked” helmets look more like flat paint, not flocking? Is there a history flat as opposed to glossy helmets in MLB? Apologies if this has been discussed in the past. Its probably better for me to apologize here for missing text or comments from earlier Uni Watch entries than to apologize at work for missing calls or email when I was reading Uni Watch instead.

    I agree Marc, that is what makes it hard in some cases to determine flocked vs matte/flat.

    Before anyone confuses Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland for a supporter of a name change for the Redskins, here’s this from April of 2013.

    link

    The Eagles are posting pictures of the uniforms they will be wearing tonight, it looks like they are finally gonna start using the Nike uniform template. You can see it best in this picture.

    link

    If not mistaken, Manny Sanguillen wore a flocked helmet post 1970 while the rest of the team did not. Dock Ellis would wear it as well.

    Guess the MEAC/SWAC “high school” patch issue did not not get cleared up yet. HBCU’s get no respect again.

    Not sure if it was mentioned in past entries but watching the eagles vs. bears tonight and the eagles have a different collar than they did last year

    What are the Milwaukee Brewers wearing tonight? It is not an alt, it looks like a retro batting practice jersey to me. A little help?

    Dan will do what he wants. Would you want someone to change your “uni-watch” name? A privately owned business is privately owned. For some reason, the “Redskin” name wasn’t offensive when Theismann was QB. I blame the internet.

    so I wonder if the University of Minnesota will object the next time the Notre Dame ever plays there and has that stupid leprechaun prancing around the field. Fighting Irish makes fun of the Irish and in the article Minnesota said they object to any mascot that derides any race or people.

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