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Uni Watch

1979 (or 1978) Isn’t Quite How I Remembered It

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By Phil Hecken

Earlier this week, I got extremely excited when I saw this tweet from the Angels announcing last night and today would be “70’s Weekend” at the Big A, and there would be throwback uniforms both nights. I checked the schedule and saw the Angels would be playing the White Sox, and got even more excited — and finally I saw this tweet and figured the Angels would be throwing back to 1979. I mean…that’s what the pennant says, so it must be…right? And what did the White Sox wear in 1979? You guessed it! How awesome was this going to be. I should have figured something was amiss immediately when the tweet and graphic featured an apostrophe catastrophe.

Unfortunately…the throwback to “1979” wasn’t really a throwback to 1979, uni-wise.

First off, the White Sox chose not to play along (either that or the Angels wouldn’t pay for their throwbacks), so you had a game between the “1979 Angels” and the modern day White Sox. Boo. It only went downhill from there.

Let’s take a quick look at the 1979 Angels uniforms:

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Pretty sweet right? OK, so it’s pullovers and sansabelts man! Nice blue cap with red brim (same for the helmet), sans-serif font, “A” with a little halo for a logo, State of California patch on the sleeve. Blue-red-blue trim on the sleeves and collar, repeated down the pants leg, and on the sansabelt as well. Red shoes. NNOB. Block number font, front and back. Pretty simple, but beautiful. Easy to replicate, right?

But…was the uniform worn last evening actually supposed to be 1979? (the original tweet just said “70s weekend”, but the pennant in the splash photo seems to indicate the uniform was from 1979. You know what happens when one assumes). However…

…these uniforms have McAuliffe number fonts, and NOBs. So…I guess they weren’t 1979 uniforms. OK — according to Chris Creamer’s SportsLogos blog, the Angels used McAuliffe during the 1970s, just not in 1979. And last night’s uniforms had NOB — which they only had in 1978, according to Chris. Very confusing. I guess these uniforms were supposed to be from 1978 then? Bill Henderson’s guide shows NOBs for 1978, along with the McAuliffe font. And even more misleading is the Okkonen guide, which doesn’t appear to show the McAuliffe font. Other than shoe color…all those uniforms look identical (and unfortunately don’t show where or not there is NOB or not). So…we can probably eliminate 1979 as the year (despite the tweet using the ’79 Division Champions graphic).

What the teams wore last evening was pretty close to the 1978 original (the road uni was identical, except for being rendered in gray — and that’s from the 1978 season, as confirmed by Getty, showing a road uni with a NOB)…

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Yeah, the sleeve piping appears a bit off (the unis back then had the sleeve hemmed with the blue-red-blue trim, whereas these unis had that striping element above the white sleeve end).

If the unis were from 1978, then Majestic seemed to get the wordmark font exactly right, with the front and back numbers were rendered in McAuliffe, NOT block.

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Anyway…regardless of the specific year, one thing the 1978 or 1979 Angels did NOT have was a solid red batting helmet. Yet, last evening, they did:

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Now — the team wears red helmets currently, so I could see that they didn’t want to repaint (or get new) blue/red helmets. BUT…they DID remove the current helmet decal and replaced it with the one from the 1970s. That looked worse than had they just gone with their current helmets. And I’m sure the Eq. manager had fun peeling off the current decal and placing the throwback decal on some of the more…tacky helmets.

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This game had so much potential. White Sox in their leisure suits(!) versus the Angels in a 1979 (or 1978) redux? Instead we got a uniform of an indiscriminate (but probably 1978) year with wrong helmets versus one team in 2016 roadies. And they’ll do it again today, so I’m not expecting any changes. And don’t get me started on the pajama pants and loose-fitting unis.

You can see more game photos here.

1979 (or 1978) just wasn’t quite how I remembered it.

(My thanks to RNs Funhouse for some of the photos used here.)

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An Iggles Pants Mystery???

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Interesting little development occurred on Twitter last evening. I’ll just let the progression of tweets speak for themselves. But basically…in the words of Vince Lombardi…”What the hell’s goin’ on heah?”

Nah…that can’t be a pink stripe. Must be something funny with the photo…right?

There wouldn’t be another photo showing that, right?

That can’t be pink…right?

Well, if it’s not pink…what is it…and why haven’t we ever seen it before?

So. It’s “charcoal”?

Anyone have any idea what’s going on here? I don’t think the Eagles did anything “special” or out of the ordinary for October, and the color bleed seems to be very noticeable. Is this just another “problem” with the Nike unis? Has anyone ever noticed this before?

Seems plausible. I just think it’s odd that it’s so pronounced (in some photos) and that no one seems to have noticed this before.

But…but…

I don’t know about that…

Any of you readers have any theories?

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UW Friday Flashback

UW’s Friday Flashback

In case you missed it Friday, the anniversary of the White Sox hosting the first throwback game in pro sports history was earlier this week, so Paul’s weekly Friday Flashback column on ESPN takes a look at that game ”” including recollections from some fans who were there at Comiskey ”” and also looks at some of the first throwbacks worn by the other Big Four leagues (including the NFL’s diamond anniversary throwbacks from 1994, shown here).

Check out the Friday Flashback here.

Enjoy!

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It’s All Over But The Crying…

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Thursday was Hot Dog Day, so of course the one question that seems to never die on Uni Watch is that of “Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?”

The answer, my friends, is a resounding NO!

I decided to do a Twitter Poll, which, as anyone knows, is absolutely THE most effective way to judge public sentiment on anything. I thought, “maybe…maybe it’ll be 60-40 in favor of NOT a sandwich.” Boy was I wrong. See for yourself:

Almost 5,000 people voted (4,945 to be precise). More than an large enough sample size. It wasn’t just a “NOT a sandwich” victory, it was a slaughter. Fully 82% believe a hot dog is NOT a sandwich.

So, we can now bring this sad sad chapter on here to a close, and never speak of it again. A hot dog is a hot dog. But it’s not a sandwich.

And you don’t have to take my word for it. Buzzfeed (yeah, I know) found much the same thing, only their results were only 76% saying it’s not a sammich.

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Something called “Death and Taxes” also asked this seminal question, and while their results skewed a bit more towards the ‘sandwich’, an overwhelming majority there felt that no…it’s not a sammich.

So, folks, I will no longer debate this issue on the boards (to the great relief, I’m certain, of all many of you). But from now on…when we refer to the great American product sold at ballparks and cooked on grills everywhere, we will not ever refer to it as a sandwich, ever again.

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Uni Watch News Ticker

Baseball News: The West Virginia Black Bears will be doing their camopander thingy on July 21st (from Corey Crisan). … The Kalamazoo Growlers will be going stormtrooper on Sunday, for Star Wars Night (from OT Sports). … SBTB’s Mr. Belding was present as the Toledo Mud Hens became the Bayside Mud Hens on thursday night (from Brian Hanudel). … Here’s a cool 1976 Chicago Cubs Baseball Schedule, featuring the Cubs patriotic NL Centennial logo (from Bruce Menard). … Related: “I know you were tweeting stuff with the Cubs 100 logo on it,” says Jamie Uthe. “My grandmother got this on opening day 1976” … “Did you guys ever talk about Bryce Harper’s 4th of July issues?” asks Max Weintraub. “And his comments about how the MLB restricts player expressions of individuality? I don’t remember seeing it, but it certainly seems UniWatch-y.” … The Burlington Royals did their Star Wars jersey thing last night (from OT Sports). … Also from OT, the Kenosha Kingfish will not be doing Star Wars but instead will wear these Batman-themed jerseys on July 30th. … The Carolina Mudcats will wear these rainbow-esque jerseys this weekend for their Strike Out Cancer promotion. … Ooooo — check out this beautiful photo of Minnie Minoso, who is 50 years old when that photo was taken, as a player/coach for the ChiSox in 1976 (from Bruce Menard). … Good spot by Steve Dodell who notes “For their 30 and 30 Special ‘Doc and Darryl,’ ESPN had to eliminate Lenny Dykstra from their cover photo; added a bat and removed a Pepsi cup too. Doc almost went Pajama pantsed in 1985.” … Here’s a very good article about how MiLB teams are using food and crazy jerseys to extract more money from their fans. In the race for the next best idea, the minor league baseball food wars have moved from the concession stands onto the field. … Tonight is “Aces in the Arts” night for the Reno Aces, who’ll be wearing these jerseys (OT again). Here’s another look. … The Bowling Green “Bootleggers” night is tonight (from Eric C Leach). … Paul has covered helmet ‘firsts’ extensively in the past, but here’s an article from Philly.com, “Why Phillies’ Tony Gonzalez ushered in two-flap batting helmet” that’s worth the read. … Check out this flag desecration cap for the BoSox (from Megan Brown). … “New display put up in left field of ‘I’m calling it Sox Park’,” writes Steve Johnston. “A history of logos used over the years.” … “In your blog you said that you are a Mets fan. A picture of Darryl Strawberry was taken with a Mets patch on the cap,” writes Josh Hinton. “Do u know anything about when they went to the ‘NY’?” … The Nationals wore navy helmets, except for the guy pictured who wore a red helmet, says Will Lawson. Also, the Dash wore their Warthogs throwbacks. … Love this stirrups on Linfield College (from Sean Pellatz). … Why do Japanese uniforms have English letters rather than Japanese characters? Glad you asked (from Graveyard Baseball). … More X-mas in July unis, this time for the Medford Rogues (from OT Sports). … The Myrtle Beach Pelicans celebrated the legendary Wrigley Field ivy last night (via Joe Murano). … Here’s your first look at the new home and away jerseys for Lawrence Tech, as well as their softball gear for their inaugural season (both of those from Tod Hess). … Nats Park vendors have numbers on their back. Jimmer Vilk says, “Would’ve loved that back in my day. Nicer font than the Bucs’, too.” — Speaking of that, Jimmer adds, “Still can’t get used to/don’t like the 7 in the Bucs’ font. Looks like an incomplete 2″

NFL/CFL/College Football News: A week after Hall of Famer Paul Hornung filed a lawsuit against Riddell, another group of former NFL players including former Steelers wide receiver Yancey Thigpen filed their own suit against the helmet-maker. … The New Era Pinstripe Bowl has a new secondary logo (from Tyler Johnson). … Patches for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic have arrived, and that’s what they look like on a UNC uni (from James Gilbert). … Here’s a look at the best facemask and helmet designs in college football. … The SB Nation website “Cowboys Ride For Free” has ranked the unis of the Big XII. … Oops, a promoted tweet in Indianapolis uses a mirrored image for one player. 44 and 16 on his helmet reversed (from Hankster LITE). … UAB appears to have switched to Under Armour” says Joseph McCarty. Adds Paul, see note at the bottom of this article. … Here’s a shocker: Oregon will have new uniforms this year. … Related: The Ducks uniforms “remain number 1 in the nation”. … Yard lines have been painted at Banff Trail station by the Calgary Stampeders. Says Mike Styczen, “Note of course, two fifty yard lines.” … The UW Huskies hope to improve player safety as one of the first teams to wear a ”˜state of the art’ helmet. … The Montreal Alouettes wore alternate helmets and uniforms last night (from Griffin Smith). A couple years back, Mike Styczen reviewed those unis (when they were made by Reebok). … Not sure if this means anything, but KJ Britt tweeted out a photo of the Georgia Bulldogs with a black jersey (from Owen Caldwell). However, if you read this article, it appears that indeed, Georgia will wear the black jerseys at some point this fall.

Hockey News: The New York Rangers Hockey Club will be celebrating it’s 90th Season/Anniversary this year, so of course there will be a patch on the uniforms (from Bryan Prouse and also McClutherness, who adds, “Interesting use of the logo as a zero, but okay.”). … Here’s a picture of the jersey with the patch and a link to video (from Aaron Scholder). And a close up of the patch (from Matthew P. Hanes IV).

NBA News: Yesterday’s ticker featured news that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor says his team is planning new logos and jerseys for the near future. Now we have some additional information on that “rebrand.” … Here’s a pretty good look at the Denver Nuggets uniforms from the 1970s (from John Turney). … “This is why the NBA has been pushing logos on jerseys,” writes Gilbert Lee. “$$$ Urgh.” … Deandre Bembry “will be wearing the jersey number 95 for the year my little brother was born,” and submitter Zach notes this will be the first 95 worn in NBA history.

Soccer News: It’s a period soccer football fans look forward to with anticipation every summer – the release of next season’s home and away kits. Now you can vote for your favorite ones here (from Griffin Smith). … The new Olympiacos 2016-17 away kit introduces an understated look for the Greek champion, once again made by Adidas. … Here’s a look at the kits MLS teams will be wearing for July 15-17 (from Josh Hinton). … The Sheffield Owls have introduced new kits for 2016-17. … “More from the Liverpool Echo on Umbro templates,” writes Casey Hart. … Penn State Women’s Soccer released a new crest to commemorate the program’s first national title (from Mike Slavonic).

Grab Bag: “Even though he’s not a Magpie, Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey is one of my favorite AFL players and a role model for us short, older guys who love to play Aussie rules football, at 38 years old and only 5′ 9” tall,” says Leo Strawn, Jr. “He debuted in 1996 and is only a couple of weeks away from his 427th match which will break the all-time record for most games played. North Melbourne Kangaroos will wear a commemorative ‘The Record Breaker’ jumper to honor his achievement on July 30 v. St. Kilda.” … That binder clip Phil Mickelson is has been wearing at the Open? It must be his good luck charm (from Jack Krabbe). Here’s an article that asks why he’s wearing the binder clip and two golf gloves (from Alex Putelo). … With the official announcement by Donald Trump of Mike Pence for his running mate, here’s the logo they will use going forward (from Griffin Smith). … I know we have all been waiting with bated breath for Fiji to release their Olympic unis. Well, the wait is over. … Our own Mike Chamernik thinks “UNT on a coffee mug isn’t the best idea.”

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And that’s going to do it for today. Everyone have a great Saturday and I’ll catch you guys tomorrow, but until then…

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken

Peace.

.. … ..

“Proves nothing. You can’t put the truth up for a vote. It is what it is, regardless of people’s feelings about it. Sandwich.”

— Jimmer Vilk

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Comments (47)

    My theory is Roger Goodell implinted the “pink” stripe post season through photo shop to combat the press of NBA free agency. He was a week late and confused as always. Haha

    “The Sheffield owls ” is incorrect they are called Sheffield Wednesday ,owls is just a nickname

    Yeah it’s the Sheffield Wednesday Owls, like the Los Angeles Galaxy or Red Bull New York

    Brendan and diz have this right.

    Sheffield Wednesday
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    SWFC
    The Owls

    It’s different, yeah…soccer does that sometimes.

    Ok I don’t post much… Buuuuut.. Those who don’t think a hot dog is a sandwich please explain what a sandwich is… Is it because of the hinged bread? Well then hoagies, grinders, pitas, gyros, flatbreads and old school v cut subway sandwiches… Ummm ….aren’t sandwiches?

    Just like, New York style, deep dish, Detroit style, flatbread, artisan, etc are all still pizza … a hot dog, is still a sandwich

    I’m with Brad on this. If it’s not a sandwich, why not?

    Now, I don’t say “hot dog sandwich.” But that doesn’t mean it’s not a sandwich.

    A hot dog meets the technical requirements of being a sandwich in the same way a sub sandwich is one, or a hamburger.

    However, due to the name “hot dog,” and due to its enduring appeal to our sense of nostalgia and as a reminder of simpler, happier times, it receives a special exemption from mere sandwich status and stands as its own category.

    1. I’m with Jimmer – the Pirates 7 never looked right and has always bothered me.
    2. The Eagles’ “pink stripe” is charcoal gray, has been for a while.
    3. Majestic did NOT get the font right last night for the Angels. It looks like a basic MS Impact derivative, where the Angels’ font from the ’70s was probably an original design. That was not one of Majestic’s better efforts.

    Would have been cool if the screen scoreboard on the baseball broadcast would have been “CAL” instead of “LAA” for this game, as we were watching the California Angels. Maybe some type of red tape involved in broadcasting these days that would prevent that?

    That silly-looking 7 on the Pirates’ jerseys has bothered me ever since they started using it. They need to put square corners on it; it looks like a 2 with the bottom bar cut off.

    Oh and here’s this

    A sandwich def:
    1.
    an item of food consisting of two pieces of bread with meat, cheese, or other filling between them, eaten as a light meal.

    The only thing to quibble about is the whole 2 pieces of bread thing … But no one has ever opened the bun too much?

    It’s a sandwich people. Don’t go mess up the joy of shoveling a salty piece of processed pork or beef between day old bread with topping of my choice into my mouth… I don’t want to have to think ‘ son of a bitch, what AM I eating here, any more than I already do..

    How appropriate that this was UPI Almanac’s QOTD:
    A thought for the day: “Truth is not determined by a majority vote.” — Pope Benedict XVI

    Sandwich.

    “I could agree with you Phil, but then we’d both be wrong”

    – Abraham Lincoln

    The “UNT” thing in the grab bag has been all over my fb timeline and if it’s for sale, may not be the smartest move in the politically offended world we live in. Sorry North Texas.

    In the soccer ticker, the team is named Sheffield Wednesday, not “Sheffield Owls”.

    Turned on the TV last night for the football game and was absolutely horrified.

    Absolutely horrified to see that the Montreal Alouettes have brought back that third uniform.

    I thought the alternate this Reebok designed uniform from the last 2 years had been buried. It was like a bad horror movie to see this monstrosity emerge from the grave.

    The Eagles have had that charcoal stripe for the past 12 years or so. This is nowhere near a mystery.

    Also, I don’t know what they’re seeing, but every picture shown, I see the gray, not any reddish or pinkish look, but distinctly gray.

    A couple of things: those Denver Nuggets uniforms were only used in the 1974-75 season, their first season as the Nuggets. They were the Rockets prior to that season. For the final ABA season they wore the same uniforms they wore their first season in the NBA.

    On the Mets logo – the game caps always had the NY; that cap must have been a spring training cap of some kind.

    I have seen that Met cap before…the one with the baseball logo instead of the NY. It was never worn by the NEW YORK Mets…they have always worn the NY. I did see pictures in yearbooks from the early 70s where it was worn in instructional leagues. I remember Ralph Kiner wearing it. There is a strong possibility it was also worn by Mets minor league affiliates at that time, such as the Jackson or Lynchburg Mets. Darryl in that picture looks like he had just been drafted in 1980, so that would explain such a cap. Here is another photo:

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    It was not worn by the Little Falls Mets of the NY Penn League from 77-88. They had “LF” on their hat similar to the “NY”.

    Not uni-related, but Angels related.

    I went to I’m Calling It The Big A for a couple of games a couple of months back.

    While there’s this longstanding dispute about whether the team has to include “Anaheim” in its name (I know, their website says “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim,” but their official press releases usually say just “Angels” and their press game notes say just “Angels’), the public address announcer used neither “Los Angeles” or “Anaheim” in any announcements during the two games we went to. It was just “your Angels” or “the Angels.”

    I would imagine they would not refer to themselves as “California Angels” during this 70s weekend, though it would be cool.

    This is directed to all the major sports (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, etc) honchos (you know who you are).

    (beginning of rant)

    If you are going to do a throwback, would you please first consult with Paul, Phil, Chris Creamer, and Bill Henderson, before you screw it up? Most of those uniforms that you are trying to remake were classics and were made, for the most part, with an attention to detail not found today. The gentlemen mentioned above care a great deal about sports uniforms and will gladly assist you in getting the throwback to as close to genuine as possible. Details matter. Thank you.

    (end of rant)

    Creamer is really great on many things, obviously logos and wordmarks, but with uni’s he’s spotty or sometimes flat wrong. Henderson is the man for post flannel (70-ish on). And I believe he’s working on a guide for the last few decades of flannel. He’s got the attention to detail. Problem is – his guide costs a few bucks, so that may be why some teams go no further than Creamer or DTTN’s.

    This 30 for 30 focuses on Gooden and Strawberry.

    I imagine Dykstrya will be the subject of a future 30 for 30.

    ESPN could do a 30 for 30 on most of that club; Hernandez, Darling, Carter etc.

    A hotdog is on the same shaped bread as a submarine sandwich. It is a meal on bread so that you can eat it while doing other stuff just like the Earl of sandwich intended. You are entitled to your own opinion not to your own facts. As for the poll results what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular

    Under hockey news, “it’s” should be replaced with “its” in the first bit about the Rangers 90th season/anniversary.

    Do replica jerseys typically include the anniversary patches in the year they’re being sold? I might pull the trigger on a second Rangers jersey with the patch (and cos I was thinking of getting a McDonagh jersey anyway)

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