The concepters have concepted. The readers have spoken. After four “semi-final” rounds involving a whopping NINETY-EIGHT submissions, we’ve narrowed the “Fauxback Jersey Contest” to our final sixteen contestants. I’ll run them all today, in alphabetical order, and you readers will then vote for your favorite(s). The jersey receiving the most votes will be declared our winner, and will receive a custom-made jersey from Steve Rosenbeck of Garb Athletics, who has partnered with Uni Watch (again!) for this great contest. I thank EVERYONE who submitted a design, and all of the readers who voted in the previous rounds, and congratulate our final sixteen. Their submissions (some with explanations, some not) are below. You can click on any image to enlarge. Following the entries, there will be a final vote — you can vote for as many (or few) as you’d like, but you can only vote once. OK? OK!
Let’s get started.
1. John Baranowski (1930s Columbus Blue Jackets)
No description provided
2. Garrett Beatty (1970 Jacksonville Jaguars)
My name’s Garrett Beatty and I’m a sophomore in high school. Funny story: I actually made a faxback jersey for the Royals and didn’t realize the year rule until after I finished. But here’s a Jacksonville Jaguars one. If I do win, is it possible to get the jersey in the long-sleeved version? If not that’s fine. Made a long sleeved and normal sleeved version of the jersey.
3. Gary Chanko (1976 Miami Marlins)
For the 1976 season the Marlins introduced the legendary “collared” jersey. The style was popular among the players and fans and remained unchanged until 1980. The Chicago White Sox attempt with a similar jersey style proved a disaster and was quickly abandoned.
4. Sean Connor (1975 Miami Marlins)
I’ve got a 1975 Miami Marlins road jersey for you. In his first year of free agency, it would have made sense for Jim Hunter to sign with “The Fish.”
5. Brendan Gargano (1976 Colorado Rockies)
i chose the rockies because their uniforms have always sucked. im throwing it back to 1976, including the national league centennial patch worn by the NL teams that year. the color palette was inspired by the state of colorado flag, which i partially incorporated on the other sleeve.
6. Brent Hatfield (1975 Marlins)
1975 Marlins Home Faux-back Jersey
7. Jason Higgins (1973 Nashville Predators)
No description provided
8. Jaylen Lane & Ashton Strub (1992 Oklahoma City Thunder)
We chose to throwback the OKC Thunder to 1992 because that was the year I was born in and felt like it would be fun to see a team with a boring identity be taken to life with the wacky and vibrant jerseys of the 90’s.
9. Michael Malinowski (1967 Anaheim Ducks)
My submission is an imagining of what the Anaheim Duck’s jersey might have looked had southern California been awarded two expansion franchises for the 1967 season instead of Oakland getting the California Seals.
10. Matt Medium (1979-80 San Jose Sharks)
Description in graphic
11. Justin Peterson (1965 Florida Marlins)
The 1965 Florida Marlins sport a cream colored, vested jersey, featuring orange piping around the neck and sleeves, teal undershirts with team patches, a Miami art-deco style logo and era-approprate NNOB.
12. Bryan Phillips (1940s Anaheim Mighty Ducks)
Using the Mallard as inspiration, I picked Forest Green, Athletic Gold, and Purple for team colors, and made the collar white to replicate the ring around the Mallard’s neck. I designed a Mallard logo in a 1940s logo style and kept “Mighty” because adjectives in team names were more common.
13. Gene Sanny (1932 Iowa Barnstormers)
Iowa Barnstormers arena football team fauxing back all the way to 1932 :)
14. Matt Tibaldi (1978 Miami Marlins)
No description given
15. Brian Wenzel (1920s Anaheim Ducks)
This concept imagines the Anaheim Ducks as if they’d existed in the 1920s, as California’s original hockey team.
A bold ”˜A’ and prominent orange color proudly represent the city of Anaheim and Orange County (unlike Anaheim’s other team).
Clean striping and a sublimated flying-V complete the look.
16. James Yaques (1977 Miami Marlins)
Description in image
And there you have it ”” the finalists for the Fauxback Jersey Contest. Voting is below (remember, you can vote for as many designs as you’d like, but you may only vote one time).
Good luck to all the finalists! I’ll announce the winner next weekend!
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Rangers & Angels Throwback…
…with both teams in ROAD unis!
Unlike yesterday’s dissection of the Padres/Phillies, I’m not going to get all that in depth (or upset) at last night’s throwback game — which was very odd in that BOTH teams wore their road uniforms from 1977.
You don't often see two road unis (@Rangers & @Angels) — throwing back in Texas tonight… pic.twitter.com/VtMdZ1SOhE
— Phil Hecken (@PhilHecken) July 9, 2017
It’s tough to get angry at the little indescrepencies of the throwbacks (more on that below) when the Rangers come at you with this:
So…who wore it better, Phil?
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 9, 2017
(You had to anticipate my answer, right?)
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The teams were throwing back to 1977 last night. Here’s what the unis looked like then (thanks, again, to Paul for the screengrabs):
1977 Angels:
1977 Rangers:
The Rangers were the home team for this one, but chose to wear (wisely) their powder blue road unis from 1977. They were in the mood for a TBTC game from the get go, with the obligatory scoreboard graphics and “throwback” dot matrix stats:
More of the 70s flair for Rangers game. pic.twitter.com/UC3RGpDdaf
— Anthony Andro (@aandro) July 9, 2017
Partying like it's 1977. pic.twitter.com/ZBzkkrvghf
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 9, 2017
Fans were into it too, since the team was giving away replica powder blue jerseys:
@PhilHecken @UniWatch Rangers gave away these beauties tonight for Turn Back The Clock Night vs the Angels. pic.twitter.com/vRd6PCAT1H
— Andy Pipes (@AndyPipes) July 9, 2017
I didn’t get to see much of this game, but I did catch a bunch of live look-ins on the MLB channel. Watching the game live was weird, as I was more struck by the fact that it was clearly two teams wearing road unis, moreso even than that they were wearing throwbacks.
Aside from the fact that Adrian Beltre *still* doesn’t like people touching his head (wait till the end of the video), the Rangers got special helmets in gloss finish (they currently wear both red and navy matte finish helmets) for the game:
HIT 2,978 IS HISTORY!!! And he STILL doesn't like it when you touch his head.
Adrian Beltre puts the @Rangers ahead 3-1 with a 2-run HR! pic.twitter.com/l4Jh1aQfgs
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) July 9, 2017
But it’s weird seeing two teams play in what are clearly road uniforms. I didn’t hate it either:
Miss Mazara's RBI double that put the @Rangers ahead 1-0? We've got you covered.
WATCH NOW:
📺 Fox Sports SW
📲 https://t.co/GnYfWcEWAk pic.twitter.com/dYlPeN9e5o— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) July 9, 2017
@PhilHecken @UniWatch Sansabelt! And Angels in throwbacks as well. pic.twitter.com/Qk7hHagthK
— Matt Shevin (@mattshevin) July 9, 2017
The Angels did a pretty good job of replicating their 77 roadies:
They wore pullovers and sansabelts, just like back then, and the numbers were done in McAuliffe font (which is the font currently used by the Red Sox, but several teams have used it over the years). Most guys wore their pants “modern” (baggy, pajamed) style, but I did see at least one player rocking actual rups:
Of course, you’ll also notice the player (Cameron Maybin of the Angels) is wearing a red helmet — the current helmet of the Angels. The Rangers didn’t go the extra mile to get period appropriate blue helmets with red bills.
The Rangers looked pretty good too (save for the loose fitting style).
So how’d they do? Well, I’ll let twitter tell ya:
@PhilHecken Rangers' 1977 throwback w/3 flaws: 1) no sleeve patch, 2) straight NOB, not radially arched, 3) thin pant stripes (forgivable).
— Peter Ponce (@peteponce7) July 9, 2017
Unfortunately with the "modern" relaxed/loose fit.
— Phantom Dreamer (@ChrisRichardsPD) July 9, 2017
Angels look good, although they're wearing their normal batting helmets, which looks horrible.
— Peter Ponce (@peteponce7) July 9, 2017
Too bad the Angels helmets aren't right 🙄
— Shane Bua (@ThatShaneBua) July 9, 2017
So great to see the throwbacks, but the loose fit, lack of stirrups and other small details missed ruins them.
— David Brown (@OrbitStudios) July 9, 2017
Of course, not everyone was so…critical:
Still the best Angels uni.
— luke (@Chesterfield359) July 9, 2017
Angels, you've NEVER looked better. Rangers, you have, but not by much. That's a fantastic matchup
— Jim Vilk (@JimVilk) July 9, 2017
@UniWatch @PhilHecken Neck/sleeve stripes blue-white-red but waist stripes red-white-blue — period-correct for '77 TEX road blues!
— Toooast!!! (@toooast) July 9, 2017
Did we miss anything?
Anyway, it was fun to watch this one…after obsessively studying the athletic aesthetics of Friday night’s tilt…I decided to go easy on this one. I’m sure you’re all pleased.
You can see more game photos here.
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Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil
Baseball News: As mentioned in yesterday’s ticker, Big Sexy (aka Bartolo Colon) is now a member of the Rochester Red Wings, who are becoming the Rochester “Plates” next month. The D&C also thinks Bartolo needs to pitch in that game. Even if it doesn’t happen, at least they mocked it up (h/t Nick Lineback). … WHOA — check out these ‘tequila sunrise-inspired’ uniforms for the Everett AquaSox (from Ethan Novak). … Not sure the date of issue, but check out these beautiful Negro League stamps issued by the USPS (from TeamBrownApparel). … Here’s a look at Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighter Brandon Laird’s shinguard. Max G. notes he is known for his “sushi chef making 🣔 hand gesture when he homers. … Robert Hayes saw this tweet and asked, “What’s with that Padres uniform with the swinging friar logo?” He’s referring to the jersey on the rack seen here. Paul had the answer. … Nice before/after colorization of MLB All-Stars Harder & Walker at Cleveland Stadium – July 8, 1935; (from Bruce Menard). … The Spokane Indians have a new cap and jersey, for the #RedbandRally, a collaborative promotional campaign that is designed to connect citizens to the Spokane River, educate about work to clean up the river, and support local organizations devoted to river protection (h/t Gavin Lane). … Good spot by Chris H. who noticed Eric Thames still uses his Korean elbow guard. … If “hookem.com” does say so themselves, it’s official, Texas has the best throwback uniforms in college baseball. … F.K. Yaaj said, “saw this at @Twins yardsale today. New BP template but diff crest. Haven’t seen before. Prototype? Team issued, not RA” … The Cedar Rapids Kernels wore these jerseys yesterday, proceeds from which go to Animal rescue (from Cedar Rapids Kernels). And here they are in action. … “I don’t know if you got an answer to your question about the Dodgers plane on the 1977 WS ring,” writes Ira Siflin. “This should help.” … Last night the Corpus Christi Hooks wore tequila sunrise-inspired pink jerseys and auctioned them “with all money going to the AutoNation Breast Cancer Research Foundation,” (from Robert). Here’s a look at them in action. … Tremendous photo from John Thorn (the Official Historian for Major League Baseball) who says, “At Fan Fest in Miami Beach, a real treasure: a Montreal Royals uniform from 1946. Maybe Jackie’s, maybe not.” (h/t J E D). … Whoops: Charlotte Knights pitching coach Steve McCatty with a different uniform than the rest of the team (from South Side Jason). … Yesterday the Montgomery “Biscuits (were) donning Stranger Things jerseys for Game 2 of our double header. We’ve thankfully been Demogoran free. No sight of Barbara though.” … Joseph Giordano sent in some shots of the D-backs old timers game. Even their softball top throwbacks are better than their current unis. Joseph adds, “New Era logo creep is of course on the hats.”
NFL/CFL/College/High School Football News: The UT Vols have released their jersey numbers for incoming freshmen. … Rutgers football has added a patch of the State of New Jersey to the back of their new adidas jerseys. … The Toronto Argonauts were serious about wearing all white on Saturday night in Ottawa, going as far as wearing complete white socks with the road uniform for the first time (from Wade Heidt).
NBA/G-League/College/High School Basketball News: In the summer league (and perhaps the regular season as well), new Phoenix Suns player Josh Jackson is wearing #99 (from Zachary Loesl). … Apologies if these were posted before (I know I tweeted them the other day), but check out these Indiana Pacers concepts. … Kevin Forney asks, “Adidas just mailing it in?? Looks like the got summer league refs in a tee.” … Duffy asks, “are the dubs the only team with their logo on their summer league jerseys?”
Soccer News: Here are some new shirts for Lechia Gdansk (from Ed Å»elaski”). … AFC Wimbledon, of English League One, have announced their new third kit for the 2017-18 season. This announcement also included new training gear. All of this comes as the Dons begin a new kit deal with Puma (from Sam Fishel). … For yesterday’s game against Calgary Foothills FC, the Portland Timbers U-23 squad wore their primary green socks with their red alternate uniforms (from Ian Gerig).
Grab Bag: In cricket news, Jimmer Vilk reports that Derbyshire defeated Yorkshire, who also have new jerseys with a sublimated white rose (one of their club logos); also from Jimmer: It’s got to be the new uniforms! Derbyshire CCC are 2-0 to start the season. Even cricket news from Jimmer here too (but I think now he’s actually onto something. … Looks like NYRA (New York Racing Association) has a new logo (from Mr. Farenheit). … In the fight between colleges and high schools poaching their logos, some schools are cool with it, others are not, like this GT vs. Damascus HS tilt (from Malcolm Spicer). Malcolm adds, “I previously resided for several years in the Damascus, Md., area and frequently drove past this high school, noticing the prominent sign/landmark in front with an image of the school mascot and thinking, “That’s a copy of the Georgia Tech mascot. Allowed or just copied?” This article answers that in addition to describing what, to me at least, is an unusual sports logo enforcement.” Here’s more on that story from the WaPo. … Great one from Michael Rawson: “Apparently in the 13th century, King John stayed at this local inn in Kingsclere, Hampshire in England when he got stranded while hunting, and got the shit bit out of him by bedbugs. So of course, he ordered them to install a weathervane shaped like a bedbug. And then when the local rugby team was formed, they took the weathervane as the fucking logo! It’s still their logo today, and they wear it on the game shirt. One of the best backstories I’ve heard. And their facebook, which has some photos of the red and white striped shirt with the bedbug logo on it.” … Here’s an article listing some pretty good fictional jerseys (They call them the Greatest). Nice find by Dave Feit. … “For the old school sign lovers,” writes Coleman Mullins, “This is the sign to Camden Park, a pretty old and well known amusement park here in Huntington, WV.” … Our pal and awesome DIYer Wafflebored noted this excellent hockey jersey quilting fabric at the store. I’d like to see him make a DIY outta that!
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And that’s it for today. Congrats to the 16 finalists in the Fauxback Jersey Contest. VOTE NOW and I’ll have your winner next weekend.
I may also be ready to announce our next contest with Steve Rosenbeck and Garb Athletics, and this one will be a bit different — so stay tuned. You guys have a great week (enjoy the ASG, the Derby, Futures, Softball game, etc., and all the shenanigans that surrounds the festivities). I’ll be back next Saturday…
…but until then…
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.
Peace.
“The problem is the ‘now’ in the MLB, and unfortunately too many places, is a severe blanding down to the level of pablum mixed with the worchestire sauce topped on ice cream of the ‘special day’ (Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc.) jerseys.
“If you current uniform pales in comparison with the throwback, the problem is your current uniform. If bringing back the throwbacks for games just highlights the inadequacies of your current uniform it isn’t a bad thing ”“ at least we get a fabulous dessert after our mediocre lukewarm fast food meal.”
— Will S.
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Phil, I’m having some trouble voting for more than one entry. Also, #16 (James Yaques) is mislabeled as #24 in the description section. Can’t wait to cast my votes!
It appears that the poll is using radio buttons instead of checkboxes. Based on the text I’m guessing this is unintentional.
Thanks for pointing this out…my vote was messed up as were others’ I’m sure. This must be re-voted.
Regardless, each voter still voted for the design they liked most. The results reflect that. With over 2,000 votes it would be unfair to ask for a revote.
Not necessarily…I voted for two designs…only the second was recorded due to this coding error. My top choice of the two was the one not getting the my vote.
Yes the more than oine vote function doesn’t work
I’m having the same problem as well. Can’t vote for more than one entry.
Same here. Can someone clarify whether we should wait to vote until it’s fixed?
With over 2,000 votes already cast it doesn’t make sense to revote. The favorites have received their votes. Makes more sense for a final vote
Typo: “The Rangers didn’t go the extra mile to get period appropriate blue helmets with red bills.”
Should read “The ANGELS didn’t go the extra mile to get period appropriate blue helmets with red bills.”
If the game was in Arlington, then it’s the Rangers’ responsibility to do right by their opponent. Or at least that’s how I’ve understood these games to work.
The game was in Arlington, so it would have been the Rangers who would have ordered the helmets. Since it’s their throwback night, the Rangers will take all of that gear from both teams and sell it on their auction site and any on-site memorabilia store.
Either the Rangers were too cheap to order helmets or the Angels didn’t want the throwback helmets. Either way, it’s a shame because the helmet is supposed to be an extension of the cap and it just looks bad.
Forgotten from the list of fictional jerseys….Clark Kent’s Smallville Crows uniform and letter jacket….link:
Fittingly with a Luthor Corp advertising patch, so we can tell who the bad guy is.
Hadn’t noticed that …very cool…
“If “hookem.com” does say so themselves, it’s official, Texas has the best throwback uniforms in college baseball.”
Hookem.com (i.e., the Austin American-Statesman) didn’t rank the Texas throwbacks No. 1. The ranking came from Uniform Authority. Hookem.com merely reported it.
link
Negro league stamps…
Description
On July 15th, 2010 the Postal Service honored the organizations that gave black players a chance to show their talents before the major leagues were integrated. The USPS issued Negro Leagues Baseball commemorative stamps in two se-tenant designs, designed by Howard E. Paine of Delaplane, Virginia. The Negro Leagues Baseball stamp pays tribute to the all-black professional baseball leagues that operated from 1920 to about 1960. Considered the “father” of Negro leagues baseball, Andrew “Rube” Foster (1879-1930) established the Negro National League in 1920, the first successful league of African-American baseball teams. Although no longer a vital component of American baseball after about 1960, the Negro leagues led to lasting changes within the sport. The two se-tenant stamps feature a scene painted by Kadir Nelson of San Diego, California. A pair of 44-cent commemorative stamps was dedicated in ceremonies at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. One stamp shows a close play at home plate, while the other commemorates Andrew “Rube” Foster, founder of the leagues that operated from 1920 to 1960. Legendary stars who played in the leagues included Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, James “Cool Papa” Bell, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947.
Those Negro League stamps were issued in 2010.
Tough to settle on a SINGLE throwback vote. Great job, guys.
And while Phil might forgive the Rangers for their skinny pants stripe last night, I cannot. As per usual, Texans do everything bigger and the ’70s pants stripe was no different. It was ugly as it was defining.
Wow, lots of love for the Marlins! Six out of the final 16, with five of those representing 1975-1978. Also three Anaheim Ducks concepts in the finals. Interesting that only one Rockies concept made it to the finals despite quite a few submissions. I really enjoy seeing all of the excellent designs and have a hard time deciding who to vote for.
Dear lord…those Texas Rangers throwbacks are absolutely horrid. They need to stay dead and buried in the 70’s.
If anyone who went to that game feels the same way, I’d be happy to take your giveaway jersey off your hands.
The Angels’ current caps badly need to have a navy crown/red brim like the throwbacks.
And add the halo on the top.
I’ve always thought that too. A red logo on a red cap is asinine.
I can appreciate the Angels wanting to use red as their primary color, to contrast with the Dodgers’ bue. But the Red Sox can emphasize red while still keeping their better-looking navy caps; why can’t the Angels?
Of the 30 teams in the majors, 426 of them use red and/or blue. There are lots of other colors in the crayon box from which to choose. Anything but red…that’s associated with *fallen* angels!
How about gold? Or purple? Or just about anything else?
As the legend goes, it was Gene Autry’s favorite color.
These are all so great, it’s very hard to vote for one. I will say the OKC thundering buffalo is really good. I don’t think this will win, since it’s awful, which is why it’s so good. It’s awful in that I would hate for my team to have something like this. However it’s great depicting this time period, and reminds me of that era when you think of the first Toronto Raptors dino uniform.
This
Angels starting pitcher Jesse Chavez normally goes high cuffed with stirrups. Yet on throw back the clock night, when that look would be most appropriate, he decides on pajama pants. Would be interested on hearing the reason for that.
With a simple program on your computer that generates new, false IP’s, you can vote as much as you want for whoever you want. Just saying.
I wasn’t able to vote for more than one entry. So this fan of 70s baseball uniforms picked…Peterson’s ’65 Marlins.
Great stuff, everyone!
As a finalist Im curious when voting officially ends? Also thank you everyone for the generous feedback I’ve received for my 75 Marlins design!
Hopefully the answer is that voting ended the evening of July 10, before some, er, curious vote tallying began.
Yup. Idk how you can get 600 votes, from social media, all overnight. Something’s not right. I’m down by 500 votes but I can deal with that, I’m not gonna manipulate the votes. I just accepted the fact I lost.
The Rangers’ throwback helmets should have been a darker shade of blue.
link
Re: last night’s throwback game’s uni’s with the Angels and Rangers. The stripes on the Angels uniforms are off. The sleeve piping is too thin for the 70’s when many teams thickened sleeve stripes. Essentially it’s the piping used on the Braves jerseys. Additionally, the stripes around the neck are too thick! It’s nice to see the McAuliffe font used, but the front numbers are the only numbers Majestic had to come up with for these tb’s. On the back they just had to sew numbers from the current Red Sox stock. That’s authentic, but the Braves piping?
The other road team looked fine.
During Nolan Ryan’s tenure with the team, the braids at the ends of the sleeves were skinny. I don’t recall the Angels fattening them up until the year they dropped the McAuliffe numbers. My beef is with the trousers the Rangers were wearing; If memory serves, in 1977 they went to a fat stripe down the side, a perfect match to the sansabelt. It was garish and a fashion faux pas, but the god’s honest truth.
I am also
Matt Medium’s Sharks fauxback is wonderful. I really like it. It’s perfect late-70s, early-80s design.
I thought that too
In the throwback Angles pic, it looks like Chavez is tied in , in addition to his sansabelt. Was that common? It seems to undermine the sansabelt function.
RSB
#2 proves just how awesome the Jags’ unis could be. Oh please Jgs at least get rid of the two-toned helmets. But an even deeper plea is to take the potential that lies before you and DO SOMETHING with it! Please Jags, please!!!
If you don’t believe this vote can be manipulated you’re living in a fauxback fantasy land.
I don’t think Brent or Bryan are gonna Warrior or Falcon this contest, so I’ll just put this here.
It was pretty cool to make it to the finals, but (Brent or Bryan, whoever ends up winning) congrats. You deserved it.
I vote for #13
Amazing post, interesting and informative. There is definitely a lot to learn from this issue. I really like all the details you wrote. Thanks for sharing