A Very Happy Father’s Day From Uni Watch, 2017

Here’s my Father, Armando Piroso,second baseman, top row second from the right, in 1936 or ’37, eight grade, P.S. 176, Brooklyn.

You can see the championship trophy at the bottom.

P.S. 176 is between Bay Ridge Avenue and Ovington Avenue, thus “Ovington” on that cool jersey.
The lettering on the uniform was (sorry, Paul) purple.

Sending along a photo of the 1930 state champion Hamlin (Tx) Pied Pipers that had my Grandfather (Bentley Baize) played on. Uniforms aren’t that outstanding but always liked the “Pied Pipers” name.

Thanks!

Dad was always a University of Kentucky and Boston Celtics basketball fan. Some of my fondest memories growing up were on Tuesday and Saturday night, sitting at the kitchen table listening to Caywood Ledford broadcast the Kentucky Wildcats games on the radio. These were the days before every game was televised and it was a treat to see the ”˜Cats on TV. We would sit around the table and Dad would always pop a big bag of popcorn for us to enjoy. The first NBA game I went to was during the 1971-1972 season seeing the New York Knicks vs. the Cincinnati Royals at the Cincinnati Gardens.

He just turned 82 in February and gets around better than most guys half his age. Happy Fathers Day Dad, and I love you!

This is from my dad’s playing days at the University of Colorado in the late 70’s (he is #99). This was a picture they took of all the California-born players on the team at the time (I believe a few were missing). CU wore throwbacks like these from 2010-2015, but unfortunately changed back to a more modern design in the 2015-16 season. GO BUFFS!

Here’s a photo of my great-uncles Moe (Army) and Dave (Navy) Kazick, probably in 1943. Moe was killed in action in France in 1944. Dave was a lifelong Dodgers fan, both in his hometown of Brooklyn and later in retirement in Southern California. He told me that he played semi-pro baseball when he was young. A third brother, Milt, was a member of the James Madison High School Brooklyn city baseball championship team of 1938. He died that summer in a swimming accident.

Happy Father’s Day everyone!

This photo was taken 55 years ago today, 15 June 1962 at graduation of the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. My father, Major Richard Paris Clark, Jr., US Army, at right, is receiving an award for effective military writing from the man at left, General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Thanks for doing this again””the Fathers’ Day piece is such a great idea, and a way for the Uni Watch community to share a little bit of their own story. I have sent you photos of my (late) father in the past, but am afraid that I have run out of Uni photos of him, at least until another surfaces somewhere.

My entry this year:

Here is a photo of my maternal grandfather in his Navy Uniform sometime in 1916. He lied about his age when he joined up, and served through the end of WW1. He died long before I was born, but I heard many stories. By the way, check out the texture of the shirt worn under the jumper. I presume that this is the “underclothes (heavy)” from the uniform articles listed in the Bluejacket’s Manual that he was issued, which I have.

I am attaching a picture of my grandfather, Elliot Levine (No. 8, right front), from his basketball team, the 1953 Lafayette High School “Frenchies,” in Brooklyn. He was on the team with New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and baseball legend Sandy Koufax (both at left in the back row), as well as the man who is still his best friend, Joel Comiteau (né Comito). This picture comes from a 2012 article in the New York Times. My grandpa had no idea it was going to come out until Joel called him and told him he was in the New York Times!

Thanks!

This is a photo of my family from when we went to visit my uncle, as well as our friends Matt and Melissa, in June of last year. We were in St. Louis at a Cards game at the time. My dad is wearing probably his favorite jersey, an old baseball jersey that he got at a garage sale that was worn by a person who played at the college he and my mom both work at, Albion College. At Albion, my dad is the Sports Information Director. His job description is amazingly long, but, I’ll water it down this way, he does pretty much everything for all 22 sports teams at our small D3 college, he attends every single one of the home sporting events, does stats for every game, writes stories recapping how every team did that day, and, sometimes, even has whole teams over for dinner. He has been known to stay up Saturdays during Football Season long enough to watch all of SNL, and, when he wakes up the next morning for church, he never gripes or complains. This shows how devoted he is to his job. He is one of the few people I know who I can truly say loves his job, and because of that, though I don’t exactly always like the schedule and how little I see him, I will never complain about it, because I know he’s doing something he truly loves. He’s truly the epitome of Superman, always busy dealing with coaches and his AD (Athletic Director), which can be a very painful task, especially after a loss, but, he still has time to deal with me and my teenagerdom. I will always love him.

Sincerely,

Here is a photo of my grandfather Adolph “Carrots” Chiarucci on his San Francisco semi-pro/sandlot team ”“ Bear Photo Service. The photo was taken at San Quentin, circa 1941. He is in the middle row, 2nd from the right.

I love this tradition. And my dad, Terry, got picked for the banner this year. I love that photo of him pitching.

Cheers, Nick

My Dad, Hank Bierbaum, fell in love with auto racing watching the “midgets” compete in the NYC area in the ’30s, then served 30 years in the Air Force before retiring in 1973, and, at the age of 50, buying his own “midget” in which he competed for four years before turning the wheel over to my brother. My Dad attended the Indy 500 34 times, a total I respectfully surpassed this year with my 35th. My late brother attended 43 in a row. What a gift it was to share our enthusiasm for the sport. To my fascination, my Dad was building and painting slot cars for almost as long as I can remember and my interest in sports, race car paint jobs and uniforms probably comes largely from him.

My dad is top row, first on the left. The Dunn Station team was in SW Pennsylvania and played for many years. Many on the team were WWII vets. Dad was 16 or 17 [picture is circa 1947].

My uncle is the batboy in the picture.

This is a picture of my dad Dave Stephens and I in 1973. I was two and he was 22. He played fast pitch softball for almost thirty years and I was lucky to play with him for a few years when I got older. He played third base and I played second base and one of the many favorite moments we had were turning father to son double plays.

1) My dad (Don Sprague ”“ 83) when he played TE at Cal from 79-81. I believe the picture was taken in the spring of 1981. That’s Mutsi (in his arms) and Toby with their custom knitted ”˜83’ Cal uniforms done by my grandma Gloria Sprague (Don’s mom and Luke’s wife). Everyone still wonders one thing about this picture”¦ How in the world were my grandparent’s dogs allowed on the field in Memorial Stadium in Berkeley?

2) My dad blocking for John Tuggle (31) at Cal. If you look closely at my dad’s facemask, you’ll notice the two bars over his cheek area. They literally created the facemask for him when he broke his cheek bone that year to give him protection from hands and elbows, while still giving him full vision unlike the bar down the middle like on Tuggle’s. So the facemask that players like Eric Dickerson and Deion Sanders made famous, was created for my dad. I suppose you can thank the guy that broke his cheek for that innovative facemask.

3) My grandpa (Larry “Luke” Sprague ”“ 47) while he was at Coalinga High School in Coalinga, CA. Notice the beautiful Michigan stripes on the shoulders and the sewn on numbers. I wish this was in color!

4) My grandpa (left ”“ 47) and his “backfield mates”, as Gloria called them, at CHS in 1950. My grandpa was the FB and the QB is to his left (6). The QB’s two younger brothers were to his left (5 & 4). Just a gorgeous representation of what uniforms once were. I wish this one also was in color.

I appreciate you giving the perfect opportunity to share these great photos and stories.

Thanks,

US Army. Circa 1943. He served in Europe, landing at Normandy D-Day + 6.

In past years, I’ve sent pics of my dad playing basketball. Here is one of him reffing basketball. He officiated high school and college for the better part of 25 years. It kept him involved in the game he loved.

This is a screenshot from an old Sportscahnnel HS Game of the week. It was from February 1989 at Christ the King HS in Middle Village, Queens. CK was loaded, with 5 division one players, and eventually won the NY city and state championships. They played Archbishop Molloy in this game, who started all time NY State leading scorer and high school legend Kenny Anderson. I was a freshman in high school and saw both of these teams play live against my own school, and it was something. This game was packed, and won by CK.

Another screenshot is of the broadcasting crew, with a now familiar face who calls somewhat more visible games.

Thanks as usual for this opportunity to share!

Here’s a combined photo of my dad and grandfather in very different uniforms, one of the United States Army from around 1945, and the other of Notre Dame University’s Soccer Club, where Dad is seated with a dog in his lap around 1970.

Tom Shriver Sr served the U.S. in the European theatre of World War II for several years, through V-E day. His stand-out moment was earning a Bronze Star “for heroic achievement in Germany on 14 March 1945, in connection with military operations against an enemy of the United States…Lt Shriver, an artillery forward observer, remained in his position and continued to direct fire. Later, assuming the command of a leaderless rifle platoon, he successfully led his men in the consolidation of the original objective.” A superior officer later wrote he should have been recommended for the Silver Star.
Tom Shriver Jr majored in sociology at Notre Dame and worked in various capacities through the years, and to this day remains a consultant to Columbia Medical School in New York City despite numerous health issues, including one time overcoming colon cancer. He played soccer recreationally through the age of 58.

I hope I can be like one of these guys some day.

Thanks for honoring all the dads,

Here is a uniform that very really gets a mention in the site. This is my dad, Keith, in is his element. My dad has been a Scoutmaster for Troop 101 for many years in my hometown in Hays. My dad has been active with the troop for 25 plus years. He still having fun and the boys are having just as much fun with him, too. Three of the boys are Eagle Scouts and the other have since earned their rank if Eagle Scout when this was taken last year at the Eagle Scout ceremony for the young man in the middle and all five are in the same patrol, too.

Thanks for letting me share.

Here’s a picture of my dad, Martin, playing ball. I’m not exactly sure when it’s from or what kind of league it’s in, though my best guess is University of Waterloo intramurals, which would place it around 1980. I’m also not sure what position he’s playing – it looks like he’s standing in foul territory on the 3B side?

Unfortunately my dad died back in 2003, so I can’t just call him up to ask. He was the kind of dad that always coached my little league team, would come out to play catch after supper any day of the week, and took me to many many Blue Jays games. I found this picture in an album that I went through after he died and I like looking at it, imagining him having fun.

Since he died, I’ve usually more or less ignored Father’s day, but this tradition seems a nice way to celebrate. So thanks for putting it together.

Regards,