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Uni Watch

And Your Fauxback Jersey Contest Winner Is…

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fauxback winner final 550

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By Phil Hecken

As far as contests go, I’ve had a LOT of fun hosting them (even though it is actually a tremendous amount of work), and I’d like to continue to do so. We had NINETY-EIGHT (mostly outstanding) entries for this past one, and I’d like to think the final sixteen contestants deserved to be there. I also would like to think our winner, Brent Hatfield, won this contest fairly and squarely. He received the most votes of all sixteen finalists in the preliminary rounds, and as you’ll see by the results of the poll below (which I screenshot at 9:30 pm EDT, last evening), he eked out a victory over the second place finisher(s).

fauxback poll final

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From the moment the final voting was released, there seemed to be a problem with mobile users being able to cast only ONE vote (rather than a “vote for as many as you’d like”) option. Still, there ended up being upwards of 4,000 total votes cast. I hope they were all legitimate.

Throughout the week, I and Paul were both approached by several readers (who shall all remain nameless) and who pointed out what appeared to be some voting irregularities. These continued throughout the week. There were accusations of some folks using “bots” or something like that to cast votes. I confess I’m very technically disinclined, so I honestly don’t even know what that means or how one would go about “rigging” the voting. I have no proof of any of it, of course, just my suspicions. In the end, the design of Brent Hatfield received the most votes in both the prelims and the final voting, so I’m satisfied with these results. Regardless of whether this was 100% honest (and I choose to think, or at least hope, that it was), you can’t argue that Brent didn’t come up with a hell of a design.

So, CONGRATULATIONS to our winner, Brent Hatfield. I’ve notified our partner, Steve Rosenbeck of Garb Athletics, who should be getting in contact with you shortly to create your custom jersey based on this design.

• • • • • •

With that out of the way (and while I can’t prohibit discussion in the comments, I’d like everyone to avoid any personal animosity or attacks and engage in civil discussion, please), I want to continue to run these contests. But it seems as though I need to figure out a better way for a winner to be determined. Even if there was no “vote rigging” or other shenanigans, it’s obvious that using a free poll program like pollcode isn’t 100% perfect. I know it’s possible to cast a vote from more than one computer/phone (though I do think the software works well in preventing multiple voting from a single IP address). I’m sure there are ways around that. I just thought such things would have been above Uni Watchers.

So, there are a couple of options going forward. We can scrap any and all contests (save for the upcoming Griffins jersey design contest I’ll be doing again this year). I don’t want to do that.

We can take away the power of the vote from the readership (I don’t want to do that either). I believe democratically deciding these things is far superior to establishing some kind of uni panel (which is another option).

What I think is needed is someone who is willing to help out with the polling. So that’s where I’m going to ask you guys for your help. Paul and I have discussed this internally and we’re NOT going to pay for a professional polling service. Paul suggested I ask those who frequently enter these contests if they’d be willing to take up a collection to pay for such a service, but unless everyone agrees to it, it probably won’t work.

Another option is for someone who has a lot more technical expertise than I (which is probably about 90% of you) to come up with other solutions. If you have experience in this area AND are interested in helping out with a new polling software or provider, would you please Send Me An E-mail so we can possibly set something up? I know next to nothing in this regard, and maybe there is a good/almost free/more secure polling software or program out there of which I’m not aware. Or, if you can set up a secure poll, I’d love to hear from you.

I want to thank everyone for participating — both the concepters and the voters. I want to continue to run these contests, and Steve wants to continue to provide our winner with a custom jersey. But they are a lot of work — work which I’m happy to put in so long as we’re having a fair contest. Let’s keep everything on the up and up people. I’ll work my hardest to ensure that happens going forward — but I need your help too. If you can’t actually help with any future polling but can point me in the direction of a better service, please drop me a line.

My big thanks again go out to Steve Rosenbeck from Garb Athletics. You can follow them and check out their work on Instagram, Facebook and of course Twitter.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the next contest. I hope to have a more secure polling service in place by that time. You’re gonna REALLY like the next one…trust me.

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Wait…Didn’t The Phillies Throwback Last Weekend Too???

Why yes, yes they did. And they did it again last evening, this time on the road, playing the Brewers in Milwaukee. The Brewers, who reached the World Series in 1982 (remember, they were in the AMERICAN League then), and who have thrown back to that magical year several times before, are doing it again this weekend. They’ll also hook up with the Phillies in throwbacks today and tomorrow as well. Before we look at the throwbacks worn last night…let’s see what they wore back in 1982. Once again, I turn to the master, Bill Henderson, whose guide is invaluable in terms of any unis worn from 1970 and onward (he also does a great job on throwbacks worn prior to 1970).

Brewers:

Brewers 79-89 Home

Phillies:

Phillies 73-86 Road

If you read Uni Watch during the week, you know that Bill Henderson did a tremendous job sussing out some of the details of the prior Phillies (vs. Padres) throwback that I had written about last Saturday. So before this game even began, I contacted Bill and asked if he could give me some of his thoughts on last night’s game.

Going in, we knew the Phillies probably weren’t going to wear period-appropriate zipper-front jerseys, and they’d probably screw up the fonts again. I had higher hopes for the Brewers because they’ve done these 1982 throwbacks before:

Brewers 97 TBTC to 82

1997:

Brewers 02 TBTC to 82

2002:

and

Brewers 07 TCTC to 82

2007:

The Phillies, actually, had some experience throwing back to this era:

Phillies 02 TBTC to 70s

So. How’d they do?

Let’s first take a look at some game photos (and tweets & videos). Then I’ll have Bill’s thoughts.

Back in 82, the Phillies wore the zipperfront jerseys and their NOBs were vertically arched. You can refer to Bill’s excellent description above for all the finer details. Most of those details were pretty well addressed last night, with the (big) exceptions of the zipper and the NOBs were radially arched. In 1982, The Brewers wore pullover jerseys and sansabelt pants, which they nailed pretty well. They even went the extra mile in wearing period appropriate helmets (and provided the Phillies with burgundy helmets as well — or maybe the Phillies had those leftover; either way, they Phils had proper headgear).

Twitter? What say you?

How about some videos showing the unis in action:

Not bad, right? I mean, if you can overlook the whole zipperfront and wrong arching on the NOBs (plus there was the slight helmet number discrepancy) for the Phils. Brewers seemed to nail it pretty well.

What does Bill Henderson think?

My impressions, the Phillies look good. Nothing to complain about really, besides the button fronts, the fact that the NOB should be vertical arch, and the overall fact that everyone is wearing everything three sizes too big. The back names and numbers seem worn lower than is correct and the sleeves seem an inch too long on everyone. The side trim has too much white and the center maroon stripe is not wide enough…. but on the plus side they are wearing maroon Batting helmets and socks (when visible) and I see some maroon undershirts. Overall quite good.

The Brewers are near perfect. Except for bring too baggy. The lack of NOB is correct for 1983 [sic], and is sure appears that they used the Sand Knit varsity number fonts on back and front , which are quite likely the ones I documented or they could have done them themselves. Look especially at the numeral 5 with its diagonal angle on the crossbar and the deep side angle cuts on the 8. The players showing socks and those wearing their uniforms slightly tight look just like 1983 [sic]. I give them a solid A.

Bill included this neat graphic:

9087F0F8-4D25-4CEE-88CF-6824CBE0A1BB

He added this later:

Phil, other than the two baggy uniforms, this could pass for 1983 [sic]. Sure, some of the Phillies details are correct, and I think that unit watch really should go on a crusade for’ bringing back the vertical arch name on back.’ I think that would be something that would be pretty cool to get behind, because if it achieved results it would be highly noticeable.

We bitch and complain a lot when things are egregiously wrong. I think we really need to give these guys a tip of the [cap] [f]or this game. I also noticed that on the Brewers all of their accessories are the right color of royal blue. Perhaps that’s not such a big thing for them since their alternate nostalgia uniform is the same color, but they all match pretty well.

Works for me, Bill. Thanks for sharing! I appreciate your supreme knowledge of the details, and love how you sweat them as much as any UWer! And I think most of us on here would totally get behind a movement to bring back the vertical arch!

What did you guys think? You can see more game photos here.

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Lukas b&w

In Case You Missed It…Paul’s Latest ESPN Piece

In case you missed it on Friday, Paul’s latest ESPN column takes a look at MLB teams that have worn zippered jerseys (including Cleveland, shown here, whose 1969 zippered vests featured the MLB centennial patch on the chest, instead on the sleeve).

If you didn’t read Paul’s latest piece, here ya go.

Good stuff there!

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Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Sexy. Big Sexy. Just. #BigSexy. … Whoa — check out these Diablos Rojos MX caps — looks like the bills flip up to reveal a devil mask (fitting, for a team called the “Red Devils”) From Maximiliano. … Not just freaks and geeks: 105 Years Ago Yesterday: the Barnum & Bailey Circus Baseball Team pose for a picture in Zanesville, Ohio (July 14, 1912). From Bruce Menard. … On July 29th, the Indians and White Sox will play a 1917 throwback game — here’s some more deets on that (from Robert Hayes). … A tweeter who goes by The Jersey Archive says this was “The classiest Padres Uni worn by Ozzy Smith in ’77 for the Minor League Walla Walla team.” He (she?) follows up by adding, “Interesting detail: jock tag, Sand Knit made these jerseys in 1976. Wilson, the next year. This 76 batch was sent to WW.” … Great photo (and that pill box cap!) of A’s second sacker Eddie Collins at Shibe Park, 1910 (from Alex Cheremeteff). Also from Alex, here’s another great shot of Eddie Collins, this time from 1915, in his first season with the ChiSox. … “I saw this clip from the 1970 All-Star Game,” says Brice Wallace. “At the :20 mark, it looks like there’s some kind of sign placed inside the third-base coaching box. Any idea what it is or what it says? I can’t find any other video or photos, and this was a couple of years before I became a baseball fan.” … There is a piece of beloved baseball lore that’s been hiding in plain sight for 40 years: The bullpen cart. Paul helped Michael Clair with this excellent, excellent article on them — a MUST read! Incredibly well-researched and thorough. … Speaking of motorized things to come out of bullpens, in 1979 you could buy the Yankees Pinstripe Toyota Celica bullpen car from their catalog for $8,349.75! (from Bruce Menard). … Interesting way of NOB/#OBing the Cubs penultimate World Series victory (good spot from Phil Walck). … Reader Tom Ekstrand has a follow up: “In response to Andrew Lehman’s inquiry 7/14 regarding Fredbird’s Cardinal Cap variation: This is the Cards Cap I purchased at Wrigley Field in 1978. Similar but not the same as what Fredbird wears, but I’ve never seen this version worn on field by the Cardinals.” … I didn’t think it was possible for the Fresno Grizzlies to outdo their own Tacos gimmick, and yet here’s a new variation they’ll wear on July 28th. To say these caps/jerseys are tremendous would be an understatement (from the Fresno Grizzlies). … The Rochester Red Wings (in red) and the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (in black) played a “Color Rush” game last evening (h/t Someone). … Check out the pullovers and sansabelts worn by Pudge Rodriguez’ little league team, which the Rangers showed off for their Friday Flashback photo (nice spot by Eric Gamborg). … We sure do love long names on back, even when they’re radially arched, don’t we? (h/t Michael). … The Toledo Mud Hens did a Harry Potter jersey night yesterday. … According to a few stats released by the league, Aaron Judge walked away with not only the Derby crown but some pretty magnificent jersey sales. Jersey sales for All-Star Game festivities as a whole were up 42% year-over-year and the league has credited that specifically to Judge’s influence. … “How rare is two #0s in one game?” asks ian (#IIAY)”. “Yunel Escobar and Mallex Smith are both wearing a goose egg tonight.”

NFL/College/CFL/High School Football News News: This article ranks the B1G uniforms. According to the feedback I received on Twitter, the author has not made popular choices. … Speaking of rankings, someone else ranked the SEC. … Despite President Martha Pollack’s announcement Monday that the University will no longer license official apparel through Nike once the current supply is sold out, Cornell athletics teams will continue to sport the famed swoosh this upcoming season. … Just because there isn’t a “Shamrock Series” game in 2017, that doesn’t mean won’t wear an alternate get-up this year. … Speaking of alternate jerseys — will Georgia Tech be wearing blue jerseys this season? (from Cody Fortune). … The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks got an upgrade to their purple unis for 2017 (from Chris Mycoskie). … Of those new SFA unis, Uni Review says, “I think I’ve seen this stripe design before.” Which triggered this response (and several others). … The Missouri Western Griffons have new uniforms (or at least white jerseys) (via Paul). … WHOA — check out this “Design of the day: Tulane Green Wave vs. Florida Gators, October 5, 1946″ (from Sports Paper). … BFGS? “Saw this black Patriots helmet signed by Gronk at a store in the Mall of New Hampshire,” says Joey Ellis. … New uniforms for Northern Arizona University this season (from Dave Zorn). Here’s another look. … New Speedflex hats for Georgia State Football this fall (from Doug “Bear” Hazard). … With a new facility, the ASU Sun Devils have Issued a Swag Alert (from ASU Jedi).

Hockey News: Some New Jersey Devils players at development camp earlier this week wearing old Reebok jerseys, not the new Adidas jerseys (noted by James Beattie). … For those of you who care about such things, here’s a list of the highest selling NHL player jerseys in 2017. Of course, with adidas taking over the Reebok branding, now everyone will have to go out and buy new $300 polyester shirts.

NBA/G-League/Summer League/College Basketball News: Interesting (if depressing) take on the NBA uni ads sitch (and how to “follow the money”) from Ad Age which notes “Follow the Money: Ads on NBA Jerseys Open the Doors for Other Top Sports.” … Great find from our own Mike Chamernik who notes this “great compilation of the ridiculous free-use photos used for players’ profile pages on Wikipedia.” … On Wednesday, Lonzo Ball raised eyebrows when he wore a pair of Nikes ”” instead of his family’s own Big Baller Brand shoes, priced at a mere $495 ”” in a Summer League game for the Lakers, and he followed that up Thursday with another big performance, in yet another pair of shoes. … Because they wouldn’t want to miss out on a legal cash cow, ad patches are being discussed for new Blazers jerseys.

Soccer News: Granada yesterday launched its new Home, Away and Third kits for the 2017-18 season. Official supplier Joma has created a Home shirt that keeps the club’s identity and its red and white colors as main element. … The new Nürnberg 2017-2018 home kit was released yesterday. Again made by Umbro, the new Nürnberg 2017-18 kit boasts a bespoke look. … Turkish Süper Lig Osmanlıspor this week revealed their new jerseys for the 2017-18 season. The new Osmanlispor 2017-2018 shirts boast outstanding designs, created by the club and based on Nike Teamwear jerseys (h/t Cory Mizer).

Grab Bag: Is “adidas in favor of removing racially insensitive team names?” P.K. Richardson notes that in “this new ad campaign from adidas, a fictional HS basketball team can be seen taping over the INDIANS wordmark on their jerseys.” … Seems like after some chatter about how the archaic and unstable dress code barred women wearing otherwise professional sleeveless dresses and tops in certain areas of the House of Representatives, Speaker Paul Ryan has promised updates to the dress code (from Tommy Turner).

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And that’s it for today. Congratulations again to Brent Hatfield for winning the Fauxback Jersey Contest. Thanks to Bill Henderson for his words of wisdom on last night’s throwbacks. Everyone have a great Saturday. I’ll be back tomorrow…

…but until then…

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

.. … ..

“I grew up calling them sneakers and wonder if anybody else were like my brother and I when we got a new pair. By that I mean we’d test out how fast they were by running to the end of the hallway and back in our apartment building.”

— S.Menecola

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Comments (71)

    It would add to the atmosphere when teams wear throwback uniforms that the umpires wear the uniforms that they wore during the era showcased.

    I second the motion for balloon chest protectors. And not just for throwback games!

    I’m a ten plus year daily reader/contributor to this fine blog, but I need to rant:
    Am I the only one who wants to beat my head against the wall every day when I see the daily cringeworthy and utterly mind numbingly stupid minor league special promotion jersey in the ticker? Am I just a curmudgeon? Just… just stop the lunacy.

    That is all.

    I just skip over them, unless it’s a rare case where something catches my eye. Apparently, they work for someone.

    I skip them also, like you and BurgFan.

    The only silver lining is that minor league baseball franchises are financially healthy enough to parade an incessant number of these promotion jerseys. It seems like back in the 1970’s, most minor league operations were held together by wire and duct tape.

    Young David Bloomquist, you are not alone.

    The minor league “wacky promotion jerseys” jumped the shark eons ago. As a matter of fact, don’t be surprised if the Lehigh Pigf**ks aren’t sporting a jersey that shows Chewbacca JUMPING A DAMN SHARK before the end of July.

    But alas, the beauty of uni-watch is we have the freedom to scroll on by those played-out crapfests and find the good stuff. I personally race by anything with the words PINK or CAMOUFLAGE as I find those two themes not only tiresome but very ugly to gaze upon. Yet I assume there is some twisted and demented individual out there who likes that crap and who am I to deny him or her the right to desecrate to their pink heart’s delight?

    Mr. Bloomquist, you are what is right with the world and what is right with the uni-watch community. Keep up the great work and please comment more often!

    Auf Wiedersehen!

    Young David Bloomquist (we’re the same age so I know we’re young), you most definitely are not alone.
    I remember the days when I used to click on every single link on the ticker every single day. Eventually I got away from that, and what started it was the endless stream of copycat minor league promotions. Yes, the designs are different but the ideas aren’t.
    I have to be *extremely* bored to click on a link to a minor league promotion. And the only reason I click on a link to a minor league naming contest is so I can vote “none of the above.”

    Under Hockey News:

    “…buy new $300 polyester shirts.”

    Apologies for being a Canadian but this hurts the eyes to read this.

    Sweaters… always hockey sweaters.

    He is using the term “$300 polyester shirts” to refer to what the general public buys at retail, not what the players wear in the game. Paul and Phil use this term to make a statement about how ridiculous it is to spend so much money for something that is a simple garment, a shirt. Most people who buy hockey “sweater” or a football “jersey” are not going to actually play the sport while wearing it. Functionally for the average consumer it simply worn as a “shirt.”

    I would love to assist with your uni-contests and can safely and accurately handle the voting results. Please look for an email from me soon.

    Dasvidaniya,

    link

    Gotta say, I’m pretty disappointed with the voters. No one else was bothered that the word mark was ripped off from the Dolphins? I thought we were celebrating originality with these contests? Not disparaging the design in any way, just want some feedback on why you voted for it if you did.

    I hear that, but this time, not bothered at all. Multipurpose stadia were extremely popular back then, and the Marlins got great use out of Joe Robbie despite only getting started in the 90’s. Orange might as well have been an original Marlins team color given all the empty seats…add that the Dolphins were awesome and once undefeated in the 70’s, and it’s completely appropriate that the 1975 fauxback Marlins would have shared a stadium, colors, and a general vibe with the Dolphins. It’s groovy, and a very worthy winner.

    This is a great explanation. I voted for it bc it was my fav design. It looked retro to me, and I didn’t think about it beyond that. I’d be curious to hear from Brent about whether the above was his thought process.

    As opposed to the real-life inspiration of this contest, in which to Rays totally do not rip off – ahem, draw inspiration from – the Padres? Brent’s entry is very much in the spirit of the contest, as well as the larger fauxback phenomenon. And I’m glad that a 1970s baseball concept won, given that that is also the inspiration of the contest. The excellent and popular early-20th-century hockey designs perhaps merit their own future contest. Lately, baseball teams mainly fauxback to the 1970s, whereas hockey teams mainly fauxback to the Roosevelt administration.

    Brent’s entry was among several that made me say, “That’s what the Marlins should look like right now.” Not as a fauxback but full time. So a special kudos to all of the Marlins designers among the finalists!

    Boo. Nothing more than a baseball version of a 73 Dolphins getup. There were many more creative ideas presented.

    I was disappointed, too. I really speaks to collective judgement by ‘committee,’ I suppose. And also a lack of criteria from which to judge entries.

    I assumed that a mock throwback would require plenty of creativity. However, the winner’s entry was one of the least creative in my book. Polished. Nicely designed. Precise and an overall terrifically attractive design. But major points were deducted because it lacked creativity. (In my mind defined as ‘something out of the ordinary, that I hadn’t seen before, or thought of, or integrated unique references).

    To each their own. He deserved to win because he got the most votes. Yet one could question whether the masses give contests like this thorough thought.

    Remember the Pepsi Challenge. Always dusted Coke head to head in a blind taste test. Even though Coke was the #1. The fact Pepsi was ‘sweeter’ in small doses was often described as the reasoning for its dominance.

    Maybe this Marlins design was just ‘real pretty’ to readers? And the sweetest lookin? Certainly wasn’t the most interesting or unique. And knicking the Dolphins was too much for me to overcome.

    I think this marlins design was very well done and polished but I agree it is basically a dolphins theme fit to the marlins. I can see how it won because it looks realistic, but my vote was for the rockies throwback since it was original, creative and could have been a real uni back in the day. In fact it would be an improvement on their current threads!

    Is sad that people would cheat during an internet uniform contest. The entries were fantastic and I truly appreciated seeing them all. This is further proof as to why we’ll never have internet voting. Old style in person/manual voting is the best chance to keep elections as fair as possible. Btw. If I were a Marlins fan I’d have to own one of those jerseys!

    i guess you might say that Brent HATFIELD’s design is the real MCCOY….

    Sincerely,

    The Redheaded Dbag Caruso on CSI

    Brewers throwback jerseys look like they use the Wilson varsity font, based on the “4”. 4 doesn’t have the slightly narrow width the sandknit version had. This was probably Majestic thinking “ehh…close enough, who will notice?”

    I, too, would love to see vertically arched lettering come back but it looks like (to me, at least) Majestic doesn’t use it solely to cut costs and maintain a strict assembly line process for mass production. Better in their eyes to keep everyone doing the same thing and train everyone on one style of lettering than having to train a few extra people how to do something different.

    Would it kill Majestic to provide narrow letters for long names? Actually, probably.

    I stand corrected, they did get the numbering right on the Brewers jerseys although the 4 to me still looks like it isn’t quite the same, but I think I’ll let it slide…

    I knew from the very start of the contest that Brent’s submission would be tough to beat. Congrats, Brent!

    Also, late to the party, but Paul shouldn’t have to look any farther for his 4th of July picture for next year. That Redskins Grub Tub is the most ‘Murican thing I’ve ever seen.

    The only way to make the Grub Tub more ‘Murican would be to tie it in with a wacky minor league promotion.

    Or how about the bowl full of buffalo wings and the cup full of ranch dressing?

    I know, I know. Bleu cheese is for wings, not ranch. But we’re talking about drinking it though a straw here, people!

    I loved Brent’s design (and several others – I thought all the finalists, and several folks that didn’t make the finals, did an impressive job). Both in the prelims and the finals, Brent’s was the only one that I stopped on and was like – whoa that’s awesome.

    Same reaction here. The vibrant colors, the absence of black, the literal (not stylized Marlin), and design elements that flat-bottomed connected on a subliminal level made for a winning entry. Like a Supreme Court Justice once said about a good throwback jersey, “I know it when I see it.”

    It was supposed to read “flat-out connected,” but the auto-correct feature sabotaged it. Sheesh.

    The Phillies should seriously wear those throwbacks full time. Killer sports uniform.

    Mad love for Ozzie, but that home jersey has always been my least favorite of the brown San Diego uniforms. The too-fat sleeve stripes, oddly-mitered collar and crummy outlining of the team name were botched details which marred an otherwise clean jersey. I seem to recall they were cleaned up in 1977 before going to the brown-sleeved uniform of the All-Star Game year. The film of Lou Brock upending Tucker Ashford is about the only time you get to witness this rarely-seen uniform.

    Congrats Brent! You knocked it out of the park with your Marlins design.
    And thank you Phil for putting these contests together. I hope this sort controversy doesn’t persist because these contests are a ton of fun and are a staple of the Uni Watch community.
    Also thank you to the readers and voters. Making it to the finals was pleasantly surprising and to be in a competitive second place for most of the voting period was truly an honor.

    I hope we can find a way to keep the voting system honest. I think we owe it to ourselves as a community.

    Well said. I thoroughly enjoy competing in these contests, win or lose. I hope there is some way to keep them going.

    Using an online survey tool (vs an embedded one) may be the way to go with voting. You can restrict multiple ways, with the easiest being single sign on. Still cheatable, but the “cheater” would have to go out of their way and put in substantial effort. Ideally pain factor > cheating.

    Phillies fan since the 70s.

    The blue doesn’t look quite right. It’s *darker* than I remember and also from what I see in pics. Is it the different material, perhaps?

    I know this is speculation, but I think that Major League Baseball banned vertically-arched nameplates after 2005 (the last year the Braves wore them full-time). Why would otherwise accurate throwbacks always be missing them, and why would a team like the Braves suddenly abandon them after 18 years? The “ban” hypothesis makes sense to em.

    You’re the only one to whom it makes sense. There is no reason why MLB would have such a silly prohibition.

    I thought I read once that vertically arched names were more expensive, as each letter had to be individually cut. These days, with computers and laser-cutting, I’d guess the cost has gone down, but now the aesthetic has changed — radial arching is seen as “correct.”

    I’m a curmudgeon who enjoys his red meat, but even I wouldn’t entertain a conspiracy theory that fishy. Even though vertically-arched lettering is lovely to behold, I can see the quality-control issues it would bring up. Look, MLB couldn’t spell “Nationals” right, and it was on every uniform! With the two-color treatments, alternate jerseys, and quick call-ups, vertical arching would create migraines for the team seamstress. Even back in the day, mid-season acquisitions wouldn’t get the treatment. It’s a feature which has just fallen from favor for the time being.

    This may be a “fauxback”, but the Marlins should just pay Brent right now for this to be their everyday uniform. Just add button-down and a belt (assuming this fauxback would have sansabelt).

    Would look best having the aqua hat with white front panel and orange brim.

    The term isn’t “button-down”, button-down is a type of collar, the same way spread and straight are. You’re looking for button-front or button-up. Pullover jerseys and sansabelt pants should be the standard for the entire sport of baseball as the people observe the 47th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Pirates wearing the first real baseball uniform.

    this reminds me of those lists put out by Rolling Stone to rank albums.

    It’s art

    like what YOU like

    who gives a crap if my favorite album is 22 on your list and fave album isnt in my top 50?

    did the “winner” of this contest win anything?

    Eye of the beholder, people, #EyeOfTheBeholder.

    As is mentioned many times on the posts for these contests (including this post) the winner has their design made into a real garment by Garb Athletics (link) apologies for my ignorance on hotlinking in the comments.

    I’ve followed these contests, well for as long as they’ve put them on and THERE WERE voting irregularities this go round. Sorry, but the truth hurts. You CAN easily vote over and over for whoever you want by running a program that creates a false (or different) IP address for your computer each time you go to vote… and if you think uni-watchers are holier than thou and wouldn’t stoop to such tactics, well come on now. What world have you been living in???

    I raised an eyebrow at some of the UWFFL votes years ago; I wouldn’t doubt that there might be some now. But voting irregularities or not, that’s a snappy adaptation of the Dolphins design.

    iPhones create a new IP address each time they connect to Internet (unless wifi). You can toggle on/off airplane mode and vote 100,000+ times. IT 101.
    I do think, though, that the winning design got the most “real” votes. Look at comments. Look at prelims. I think this was undeniably, at minimum, one of the 3 designs favored by most. If not the #1. Not left field. I hate for this guys design/win to be cheapened by this BS. This was not the design w the voting…curiosities. This was awesome design.

    Look, the AVERAGE votes received by 10 of the 12 finalists in their opening round was 379.35 votes… yet I’m to believe two designs in group 2 were world’s better than all the other finalists? NO WAY! Especially when James Yaques design was nearly identical to the eventual winner’s design yet got 1/3 as many votes in the opening round. It’s simply not on the up and up. The numbers don’t lie.

    As a few others have pointed out and explained rather nicely, I’m having an issue with the Marlins faux-back design. I get that if they played in the 70’s, they may have “borrowed” their NFL team’s colors… Pittsburgh does this in particular with their teams.

    But the idea was to be original, and this borders on plagiarism. To imagine what a team would have looked like back then with their current nick-name and the uniforms they have worn in their short time in their respective leagues.

    I actually think as far as this contest goes and as nice as I admit the design is, it completely misses the mark.

    The thing that continues to annoy me the most regarding the Phillies throwback – and I know they can’t do anything about it – is the missing seam inside the chest “P.” Its absence is glaringly conspicuous.

    Thanks to those who voted for my design. A little explanation of why I went with the 1932 Iowa Barnstormers. .. so far the “have your jersey made” contests have been won by baseball jerseys. I went into this contest wanting to make a jersey that might very well be nearly impossible to make… striped sleeves, sewn on front patch logo, sewn numbers, and most of all leather patches on the sleeves like back in the day. Sure, a modern team wouldn’t throw back exactly like that, but I really wanted to see the company try and pull it off :)

    Really would have liked to have voted in this contest. Sadly, no one ever bothered to address the problem that the system wasn’t allowing people to vote for more than one design. I and others asked what was going on, and whether we should go ahead and vote, but no one answered or provided updated information in a later day’s entry. Now it appears that this was only true on some systems–it says mobile, but I had the same problem on my iPad. If I had known that it would have worked on my laptop, I would have voted.

    Usually Uni-Watch shows a lot more concern for its readership than this.

    Adidas had an entire product line a couple of years back all based on Native American imagery, so I’m sure it’s just more PR gimmickry.

    Thanks everyone that voted for my design! I appreciate all the feedback. I was honored just to get to the finals, yet alone win? For that I’m grateful. Just like you all I’m an avid lover of sports logos, uniforms, and design. I asked myself.. Can I see the Miami Marlins wearing this in a FAUXBACK game against the Rays one day? My answer was yes, so I went with it. I tinkered with all different ideas, the Marlins script outlined in Orange, a Palm tree instead of the Sun, no Sun, no Marlin on the front. The last switch I made was actually the Rising Sun above the “Li” and then switched the front Number to Orange to match and create contrast, without it, the design looked too plain. My intention was never to play off of the Miami Dolphins, rather I chose two different colors from the teams History, their current Orange, and the 90’s Aqua Teal. I hate black in any sports design, so I went without. Again I am just thankful for anyone who voted for my design and I am happy to finally win one of these contests! I’ll make sure to share pictures of the jersey once I receive it!

    I think there should be a designers vote that’s separate than the public vote but factored in somehow.

    So everyone who entered a design gets a vote for someone other than themselves.

    I don’t know if that would make any difference though.

    Designers only vote by e-mail to Phil would work well, show all the designs one weekend, then allow a week to reply with your vote for someone other than yourself. He could even publish how each designer voted for complete transparency… however, im sure they’d poo poo that saying it doesn’t include everyone or it would be too complicatef (really?) -or- they can continue to use the same, easily manipulated system. At least the Griffins will choose their winner from (we hope) legit finalists.

    Really wish the Brewers would go back to their old uniforms. Maybe modernized just a tad? But, that glove/baseball logo was one of the best in baseball. I originally liked their current set. But, just like the teal being over used in the late 90’s by a lot of sports teams, the changing of royal blue to a deeper shade of blue in the 2000’s has run it’s course. Go back to the royal blue/yellow and burn the dark blue/mustard colors once and for all.

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