[Editor’s Note: Today we have a guest entry by longtime reader/contributor Jerry Wolper, who’s going to fill us in on a previously untold story about the Dodgers. Enjoy. — PL]
By Jerry Wolper with Ross Yoshida
On July 20, 1999, the Dodgers were at Three Rivers Stadium for a Tuesday afternoon game. Kevin Brown, who had signed baseball’s first $100 million dollar contract, pitched for the Dodgers, and I was one of the 16,921 who came out to see him. The Dodgers won, 8-4, raising Brown’s record to 10-6.
What always stuck with me about that game was that the Dodgers wore blue jerseys with a grey “LA” chest logo [as shown at right]. I may have been unusual in that regard — neither The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette nor The Los Angeles Times mentioned the blue jerseys in their game recaps the next day. Over the years, it’s been mentioned occasionally on Uni Watch, but nobody’s ever documented the full significance of the occasion.
I recently did an email interview with Ross Yoshida, the Dodgers’ Director of Design Services (and an avid uni-watcher), to help shed some light on this event that has largely flown under everyone’s radar. Ross’s full answers are behind a paywall at this link, but here’s a summary:
The Dodgers had previously worn blue jerseys with a white script for Think Blue Week in 1998 and 1999 [although Bill Henderson’s guide says they were only worn in 1999 and were also produced but not worn for 2000 — PL]:
For the game in Pittsburgh, then-clubhouse manager Mitch Poole says the blue jerseys the Dodgers were wearing that day were actually their road batting practice jerseys, which they wore at Brown’s request (although it’s not clear why he made that request). They were mesh jerseys with a grey “LA” logo on the left chest.
This was historically significant on two levels. First, it was the only time the Dodgers wore blue tops on the road. More importantly, it’s the only time the club has worn jerseys without a script across the chest since 1938, when the Brooklyn Dodgers adopted the script insignia.
Ross passed along a couple of additional notes regarding Brown’s uniform quirks: “He used to throw his game cap in the dryer so it would have a slight tapered shape to it. He also had his jersey sleeves shortened by 2 inches and had blue stirrup loops sewn into the bottom hems of his pants.”
———
That’s some great stuff from Jerry. I’d argue that this game had an additional level of historical significance: It has to be one of the first instances of an MLB team wearing its BP jerseys for game. Is anyone aware of any earlier examples?
Click to enlarge
Lakers leak now complete: First we saw the shorts, then we saw the jersey, and now we’re finally seeing them together — the Lakers’ new Magic Johnson tribute jersey.
Not much of a tribute from a design standpoint, though, and I’m not saying that just because it’s purple. Piece o’.
(My thanks to Brian Booth for bringing this leak to my attention.)
Click to enlarge
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
The AL and NL Championship Series are underway, so we’re leading off this edition of Collector’s Corner with some Houston Astros Tequila Sunrise sneakers. These are a current release from Vans — an exception to our usual rule of covering vintage stuff — but the design is a timeless 1970s classic, so there ya go. Astros fans will want to lace these up and cheer for their team to go back to back.
Now for the rest of this week’s picks:
• One more Tequila Sunrise item here: this 1970s Astros insulated thermal cup, sponsored by your local Coca-Cola bottlers.
• Someone made up this bumper sticker that reads, “Wanted: Pitchers, Fenway Park, Boston.”
• This 1970s Milwaukee Brewers glass was brought to you by the International House of Pancakes.
• This item is also listed under “Brewers,” though it doesn’t have anything to do with the team per se. They used to use “Sportservice” as their stadium vendor and beer vendors wore this pin. Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati also used Sportservice, so I sure remember that logo!
• We don’t usually cover minor league stuff here (you’ve gotta make it to the Show before you qualify for CC!), but tell me that isn’t Rod Carew on this 1978 Albuquerque Dukes program cover, with the classic 1970s “Go Dukes” insignia splashed all over.
• Check out this 1960s Cubs bobblehead. This little Cubbie is in great shape!
• Speaking of bobbleheads, this bobble of San Francisco Giants mascot Lou Seal happens to be three feet tall!
• Franco Harris of the Steelers had his own fan club way back when, and this seat cushion proclaims the club’s name: “Franco’s Italian Army.”
• Got a few media guides here: This 1961 NFL guide is compliments of your Ford Dealers. The Rams went for a ho-hum plain look in 1974, while their upstate rivals in San Francisco featured local landmarks like cable cars and the Golden Gate Bridge, along with linebacker Dave Wilcox.
• The seller calls this a “1970s” Bengals Christmas ornament, but the uniforms and helmets indicate that it’s 1980s or later. Doesn’t look like official league merch, judging from the design.
• Anyone ever heard of an NFL Reading Kit? This website says it “was originally issued to promote reading within school classrooms. The large cards would be used to reward school children who correctly answered the questions relating to the biography on the cards.” Online research places this item in 1977.
Seen an item on eBay that would be good for Collector’s Corner? Send any submissions here.
Yesterday was awesome: Made my annual visit to the taping of the Puppy Bowl yesterday — always one of the best days of the year. As it turned out, there were no puppies on hand, but I got up close and personal with five other animal species (none of which I’m at liberty to name, sorry) and lost a good chunk of my heart to each of them. The puppies will be showcased today, so I’ll be going back to the studio for that.
Big ups to Animal Planet for inviting me back for another year. It’s a privilege to be part of the Puppy Bowl!
Yesterday sucked: When I got home from the Puppy Bowl, I found a letter in the mail informing me that my health insurance premiums will be increasing 19% next year. That will bring my monthly premium up to $949, which is fucking insane.
This means I will probably have to switch to a different plan for 2019 (just as I did for 2018, and 2017, and 2016, and…). That in turn means there’s a good chance I’ll have to find a new primary care doctor (just as I did in 2018, and 2017…), and will also have to go through the pre-approval process all over again for the specialty medication that I take (just as I did in 2018 and 2017…).
When I went freelance in 1996, I didn’t mind paying for my own health insurance, because I figured it was a fair trade-off for the autonomy and freedom I’d have as a work-at-home freelancer. In practice, though, the costs have become prohibitive and the resulting switch to a different plan each year has made it impossible to maintain any continuity or consistency in my health care. And I’ve come to resent how our country’s ridiculous system of providing health insurance primarily through employers effectively screws those of us who, like myself, have the gumption to be self-employed. It’s like we’re being penalized for showing some initiative.
I know some of you are young and/or healthy enough to think that you don’t need health insurance, or that you only need catastrophic coverage. Unfortunately, some of us, myself included, are not so lucky. Although I think of myself as healthy (good blood pressure, daily exerciser, non-smoker, more or less the same weight for 30 years, blah-blah-blah), the reality is that I have several chronic conditions that require regular medication, or regular doctor visits, or both. I’ve also had some other maladies that are dormant for now but could resurface.
Some people think those of us who require more medical care should simply pay more, just like someone who buys more stuff at a store should pay more. That seems like an argument against the very notion of insurance, the entire point of which is to average out costs by spreading risk over a large group. If you don’t require as much medical care as I do, it’s true that your premiums are essentially subsidizing my care — just like my premiums are subsidizing the guy who needs a stent, and that guy’s premiums are subsidizing the cancer patient, and so on up the ladder of care intensity. “Healthy” and “sick” are very relative concepts, and almost all of us give at least a little and take at least a little — usually plenty of both during the course of our lives. Personally, I think of that as a nice way of having each others’ backs, especially since so many medical conditions are nobody’s fault. They’re just things we’re born with (that’s the case with all of my chronic conditions), or things that resulted from an accident (like when I broke my right arm in 2012 and my left arm in 2015).
It’s embarrassing that most other countries have figured out how to deal with this, or at least made a better go of it than we have, while we’re still stuck with a health care system that everyone agrees is inefficient and overpriced. And whatever you think the solution is (I favor a single-payer approach, but that’s just one option among several), there’s gotta be a better way than a system that gives a middle-class freelancer like myself a $950 monthly bill. That’s just nuts.
The Ticker
By Alex Hider
Baseball News: Dodgers C Yamani Grandal wore eye blue during last’s NLCS game (from Kurt Rozek). … The Royals are among the teams that hold a “home run for free season ticket” promotion, and they’re using a retro logo to promote the event (from Ryan Atkinson). … MLB is currently auctioning off autographed gold baseball bats and donating the proceeds to Stand Up to Cancer. The auctions are open until Oct. 17.
Pro Football News: It looks like the Montreal Alouettes will have new uniforms next season. It’ll be their first complete redesign in about 20 years (from Noah Sidel and Wade Heidt). … Washington CB Josh Norman wore a cap without a brim during a postgame interview Sunday after picking off Panthers QB Cam Newton. The cap was referencing one of Newton’s more memorable press conference outfits (from @kleiny42). … Greg Kissler’s The Onion desk calendar came through with a Pinktober entry a few days ago. … Pardon The Interruption is still using an old Browns logo in graphics (from Yianni Varonis).
College and High School Football News: Nebraska will wear retro-inspired uniforms on Nov. 10. The jerseys honor the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, and the Nebraskans who died in the war for whom Nebraska’s memorial stadium is named (thanks to all who shared). … Speaking of Nebraska, Ohio State will reportedly wear BFBS alts against the Huskers on Nov. 3. They’ll be similar to the BFBS duds Ohio State wore in 2015 (from our own Yianni Varonis and Phil). … Also from Yianni, Fox used both old and current Ohio State logos during its broadcast on Saturday. … Are new alternate uniforms on the way for LSU? (From Phil.) … Ottawa University of Arizona wore GFGS jerseys on Saturday (from James Poovey). … Adidas is selling merch from the 1998 Adam Sandler flick The Waterboy for the movie’s 20th anniversary (thanks to all who shared). … Three of the eight Massachusetts high school football teams that will play at Fenway Park later this year use logos poached from other teams (from Peter Fahey).
Hockey News: Golden Knights G Marc-André Fleury was wearing metallic gold pads during practice yesterday. Let’s hope he wears them in a game soon (from Bryan Harper). … The Jets debuted their new light blue alternate jerseys Sunday night against the Hurricanes (from Adam Sampson). … Kenya has a hockey team, and they have some pretty awesome sweaters (from Gary Abbott).
NBA News: In case you didn’t want to go to LockerVision, the Timberwolves added a jersey icon to the official schedule on their website, so you can see what they’ll be wearing for every game (from Phil). … ESPN was using an old Nuggets logo on its website yesterday (from Brendan Ragan). Some Nike-sponsored NBA players are taking advantage of the league’s relaxed footwear rules and designed the colorways of their sneakers for opening weekend (from Phil).
College Hoops News: New court design for Ohio State. Here’s a time-lapse video of the court being installed (from Yianni Varonis). … San Diego’s new teal jerseys are sharp (from Zach Harris). … New GFGS uniforms for VCU (from Phil). … New kelly green uniforms for North Texas (from Garrett Gough). … New uniforms for Houston Baptist (from Phil).
Soccer News: Barcelona is set to unveil jerseys that incorporate designs from the last 20 seasons (from Phil). … Northern Ireland wore the white previous incarnation of their second kit (it’s currently sky blue and dark blue) with blue numbers instead of green and white first-choice shorts during a recent UEFA Nations League game against Bosnia (from our own Jamie Rathjen and Richard). … Lots of stuff from soccer fanatic Josh Hinton: Australian club Western Sydney Wanderers have released their 2018/19 home and away uniforms, Man City’s 2019 “pre-match shirt” has leaked, Serbian club Red Star Belgrade released its new home uniforms, South African club Bloemfontein Celtic released its new home uniforms, and a pair of new Adidas cleats has leaked.
Didn’t the Reds wear BP jerseys back in the early 80’s? I’m thinking 82. I just remember Eddie Milner running the bases in them.
Paul there’s plenty of office jobs in NYC. I’m sure you can get hired for something, mailroom, call center and go on the company health plan.
Yes, I have 40 free hours in my week, so I’ll do that. Problem solved!
What thoughtful advice!
the Animal Planet logo on your press pass looks new
Good logo-watching, Gregg!
I noticed that yesterday as well. Not sure how new it is, but I’ll ask them today.
Definitely not their current logo on their website/social. Methinks you just leaked a new logo!
well phooey. I liked the new and improved look, but I guess they weren’t ready for it to be out and about yet.
Thank goodness they changed it. That sideways M was the worst.
Paul,
Just wanted to say, as a chronic condition sufferer, I have empathy for the medical care disruptions you note and wish that our nation’s citizens cared more for one another. None of us self-select to have conditions that complicate our lives, yet we are financially penalized for randomness on top of the life penalties the conditions impose. Navigating the insurance and medical fields is a nightmare and likely takes years off of our lives. I wish you the smoothest waters possible as you do that navigating.
Navigating the insurance and medical fields is a nightmare and likely takes years off of our lives.
Indeed. I have spent countless hours on the phone dealing with assorted insurance mazes over the past several years. The psychic toll, in addition to the wasted time, is significant. Thanks for the kind words of support, Matt — appreciated.
I whole heartedly agree with you on our healthcare system. I too support the single payer option. Having people close to me who regularly have to make doctor visits and get medication, it’s sickening to see the financial cost they have to pay just to better their health.
$670 for a prescription B12 nasal spray is one example.
The Montreal Alouettes’ announcement is a tease for the unveiling, which will happen at the start of Feb 2019. Looks like a switch to navy blue as primary, lightening the red and a new logo?
link
link
Really looking forward to seeing this as the Alouettes’ uniforms have been quite the disaster for years.
So sorry about your insurance situation, it certainly is a mess and I totally agree with your points. I think so many people have such a misguided view of insurance (like only wanting to pay when they “need” it, don’t want to subsidize stuff like pregnancy), it’s like people can’t grasp the fundamental concept of risk pooling. It’s amazing the level of mediocrity in our system a lot of folks are willing to accept.
But, we should have the “freedom to not have insurance because I don’t get sick” (said with sarcasm). No, you have the freedom to get ill and pass on those costs to everyone else when you go to the ER.
And I agree with the later point that I’ve never understood why health insurance is tied to a job. I understand that it once was used as a benefit to entice people to work for certain employers, but that notion has long since passed. The insurance is almost as required as the actual care itself. FYI, I work in the insurance industry (not in health insurance though, so don’t yell at me, but I do know how it works. :) )
At some point (I think 2003) the BP jerseys were standardized to a single manufacturer, but each team still contracted individually for game uniforms. If that company also made your game uniforms, you were allowed to wear them during games. If you had a different contract, you weren’t.
Seems like that rule might have come from this Dodgers game and might explain the one-time situation. Maybe they upset their game uni manufacturer and were forbidden from doing it in the future.
BP jerseys were made of a lighter fabric at the time, so I can see why someone would want to wear them in the summer on Astroturf. Not sure I’d want to choose a darker color, but I’m sure Kevin Brown had his reasons.
The Los Angeles Times seems to agree with Ross about Think Blue jerseys in 1998: link
Jerry, Sports Illustrated did a story on the Dodgers after they wore those blue jerseys in June 1998 and called them “declasse batting practice jerseys,” if I recall.
Yes, the July 6, 1998 has the story, also referring to the blue jerseys as “bizarre” and apparently a decision to don them was dictated by new team owner Fox. Fortunately the Dodgers have pretty much stuck to white and gray in the years since, except for the ridiculous “players weekend” jerseys.
FYI before my wife got contracted by NYS. I was paying close to $2k/month for family health ins dr visits were $40, Rx’s were $20. Almost better off being poor.
Really? As a financially “poor” person who has ZERO health insurance for himself or his family I take offense to that. Trust me, I’d rather be rich and have the burden of paying more taxes and the other “stresses” persons of wealth are strapped with.
I can’t believe people actually think like this. incredibly insensitive and ignorant to actual problems in life if you would actually prefer being “poor”.
My mind is blown by how much regular Americans pay for healthcare. Being from the UK and having never lived abroad, the system I grew up with is ingrained in my psyche.
While I agree that the health insurance system in our country is broken and the situation you find yourself in is ridiculous, the insinuation that people who work for a company lack initiative is condescending and ignorant. You could have easily made your extremely valid point on the cost of healthcare without taking a shot at people who choose to work hard to provide for their families in a different way than you do.
Sigh. I did not say that the conventionally employed “lack initiative,” and I’m genuinely sorry if it came off that way.
Allow me to rephrase: I think it sucks that health insurance in our country is considered a “benefit” of conventional employment, and that those of us who strike out on our own are therefore left to fend for ourselves.
Health insurance should not be a “benefit.” It is a basic need, and access to it should not hinge on one’s employment status.
Also, tying health insurance to conventional employment creates material barriers against entrepreneurship, business formation, and economic risk-taking. To the extent that Paul’s language carried any implicit insinuation against people who are conventionally employed, his language merely repeated the nigh-universally accepted American rhetoric of valuing entrepreneurship. Trying health insurance to conventional employment means we have fewer business start-ups and less entrepreneurial risk-taking than we otherwise would. Saying that sort of implicitly rests on the assumption that entrepreneurship is a good thing, but if anyone has a problem with that assumption, they need to take it up with American society in general, not Paul.
Paul, this may be a silly question, but do you get your insurance through the state exchange (NY State of Health), a broker, or direct from the insurer?
Currently: Exchange.
In the past: All of the other ways you mentioned.
I can’t say for certain but I seem to remember reading somewhere (I would have thought it was on this site) that the Phillies wore their batting practice jersey for a game in the early 1980s. I seem to recall Pete Rose just never changed out of it the the rest of the team followed suit.
Ok I’m answering myself. I did a search (yeah I should have done it before posting) and my memory was half correct. It was at the 1979 All Star Game that Pete Rose wore his batting practice jersey as chronicled by Paul here: link
Ok I did some quick research (yes I should have done that before posting) and my memory was half correct. Pete Rose worn his batting practice jersey for the 1979 All Star Game, as chronicled by Paul here: link
So it was just one player in a nonregular season game … so I’m not sure if that counts.
Paul- Thanks for the shout out and for the post of a page from my MLB reference book. To clarify– I do list the 1998 “Think Blue” jersey on a separate page. These were re-purposed BP jerseys, and were the inspiration for the 1999 blue alternates. The link to that page from my book is pasted below.
Also, there are other examples in my book of teams wearing BP jerseys in games— there are a few; Brewers, Phillies, Padres.
link
Paul, have you looked into insurance co-ops? There are many good Christian ones that are not for profit (the for profit insurance industry being our biggest problem in my opinion), but also many secular ones as well.
I have the benefit of being a government employee and really never having to worry about healthcare, but I have a friend who is self employed and went with a co-op, she is very happy with it. Many of them also promote “alternate” medicines, and other fitness or wellness initiatives (who’d have thought that you’ll be healthier long term by being proactive about your health??!?!?!?).
We have a health savings account, which I generally like, but the one thing I really don’t like is that (for now) gym memberships aren’t covered. That would be a great preventive health measure. In the meantime I’ll keep running outside until the weather forces me indoors.
Health Savings Accounts should always have been tied to these new High-Deductible Plans that dominate the industry now. It’s been a god-send to me and it’s all tax-free savings.
The Mariners in a mid-90’s day game in Arlington wore their mesh, NNOB batting practice jerseys with the hope they would be cooler in the near-100 degree day. I have always wondered if any cooling benefit was offset by its color — navy blue!
I believe this was in 1997, they also began wearing the mesh BP tops at home in the Kingdome too.
Sadly Paul’s situation is becoming more and more common. Americans need to realize healthcare is a right, not an “entitlement” and vote accordingly. Western Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan have better forms of universal healthcare than the American system of for profit insurance companies and for profit hospitals. Their goal is to make as much money for their shareholders as possible. Look at France and Germany for a hybrid system where you can either pay for private insurance which gets you faster care or allow the government to take care of you as part of its tax system. As for those who say America can’t afford it – compare our defense spending to other countries.
I think our healthcare system is really messed up, but calling it a “right” is misleading. Is food a “right”? They are necessities which we access through a free market, but no private person (farmer, doctor) can be mandated to give you food or healthcare, it does not work in the same way free speech, etc are mandated.
However, you are correct that the problem is because our government refuses to take action to reign in the cost of healthcare. I think we need to view healthcare the same way we view utilities, which often exist as a monopoly and thus require regulation. If for profit health insurance companies are left unchecked then their only concern is increasing profit. We know that cannot be the case with necessities (see Flint, MI), so it only makes sense for there to be significant regulation and oversight on how health insurance companies are allowed to operate.
Indeed. Yet millions of Americans consider a certain other particular consumer product “which we access through a free market” and that “no private person can be mandated to give you” to be a “right”.
But let’s not go there….. ;)
Not to launch, also, into a dissertation about the difference between natural, constitutional and legal rights, I agree that it’s a little misleading to refer to health care as a “right” but it’s not wholly inaccurate, as it refers to the idea that society should provide it by covering its costs as opposed to compelling particular individuals to provide it at no cost. Bear in mind that the Constitution provides a right to counsel, viz., to the services of an attorney, in the event one is accused of a crime; an attorney can be compelled (viz., appointed by a court) to provide his or her services to a criminal defendant, but (s)he is compensated for it by the court, i.e., by the public.
A “right” to health care would work essentially the same way as the right to counsel; if you need it, but can’t afford it, it will be provided to you at public expense.
This sums up my opinion rather well.
If you can have a right to the services of an attorney then you can have a right to food and a right to medical care.
Well, bear in mind that a right to services is not equivalent to a right to goods, but that said, a right to food would work in a similar way, akin to SNAP (a/k/a “food stamps”).
Correct, and that right does exist, in the same sense as the right to an attorney, in that you have access to one, at no direct cost to you, in case of emergency. If you are homeless and have no money, and are in the emergency room, you will be treated to stabilize your condition. Similarly your right to an attorney does not mean you get a free lawyer to sue someone over say, a copyright claim. Fortunately, at the very least our country acknowledges that we are all well off enough to cover food and emergency medical treatment for everyone at the most basic level.
Of course I think what should be apparent to people is that if decent health insurance isn’t made available, people are unable to get proactive care, and just end up with all sorts of diseases which are more expensive to treat once they become a problem, and thus increase premiums for everyone. Now I could rant on about how this is really what the healthcare (pharma) industry wants, as they don’t really want anyone to be healthy, but rather everyone to have some sort of ailment, of which the cause will never be treated, but rather the symptoms managed through expensive drugs (which have side effects that will then require you to take more drugs).
Correct; the right applies only where you’ve been charged with a crime, putting your liberty at stake. A right to health care would be similarly limited, but not as limited as that and not nearly as limited as it is today with EMTALA mandating emergency treatment.
That said, an affirmative “right” to health care is not necessary to create (or for that matter justify) an efficient and affordable public health care system.
I seem to recall the Twins wearing their BP jerseys some time around that era, but I cannot recall if it was the ’90s or ’00s. Something tells me it was a game in Baltimore (I think it was a navy pullover with the modern “Twins” script).
I can confirm that, the Twins wore their navy “mesh” batting practice jerseys for a game in Baltimore in the early to mid 1990’s.
The game was at Camden Yards and Kirby Puckett was still with the Twins so it had to have been in 1992-1995 time frame.
They unveiled their blue “Minnesota” and red “Twins” alternate jerseys late 1996.
For reasons passing understanding, Americans would rather have an inefficient and overpriced health-care system than acknowledge or understand the fact that everyone has an economic interest in other people’s health, let alone act accordingly.
The question is not whether to shift, share and subsidize health care costs across the broad public; the question is how best to go about doing it. The rest of the world has long since moved on to the latter question while Americans still quibble over the former.
I honestly think our Capitalistic society will never allow socialized medicine across the board. Those companies are rolling in the dough and they pay to keep it status quo in Washington too… Whenever there is change (like the ACA) that threatens their cash cow, they generate smear & fear campaigns to kill it. It’s like what Chris Rock said: Money isn’t in the cure, it’s in the treatment. – So why cure expensive healthcare?
Laying aside the fact that the phrase “socialized medicine” has heretofore lost all meaning, you’re basically correct that the profitability of the insurance, hospital, biotech and pharmaceutical industries will, as a matter of public policy, always trump the physical health and well-being of natural persons — so long as Americans fail to realize and understand that everyone has an economic interest in the latter but only a few have an economic interest in the former.
Why cure expensive healthcare? To avoid living in a country rife with (and having your workforce and consumer base ravaged by) disease and disability.
There is an economic interest in the latter- insurance gives companies significant leverage over employees when it comes to things like wage and job negotiations. I think Paul mentioned this, but so many people report avoiding self-employment because health insurance depends so much on private employment.
Classic case of morality being trumped by financial interest.
What I mean is, most people don’t have an economic interest in the profitability of, e.g., Blue Cross, Pfizer or Amgen. If you’re an officer, director, shareholder, or are engaged in some negotiations or other relationship with one of them, sure, but most people aren’t.
To the contrary, everyone has an economic interest in the health and well-being of their neighbors and countrymen, viz., in living in a healthy society where people aren’t carrying communicable diseases and aren’t going broke from medical bills.
That’s the trouble with you Americans. You expect nothing bad to ever happen, while the rest of the world expects only bad to happen. And they’re not disappointed.
I lived in Hong Kong and China for several years. I loved both setting’s health care. I moved back to the United States a year ago to work on my master’s degree. One of the major factors of avoiding getting my degree was the fear of moving back to the USA’s health care (financial) system. (Don’t get me wrong. There is great medical care in the USA, but the cost is too expensive compared to the rest of the world. The medical insurance system is crazy.) I’m a little over 50% done with my degree. I live like a hermit because I fear that I will get into an accident that requires medical care.
I had a kidney stone surgery in Hong Kong with a hospital stay. The bill came to USD$12.00 for the whole thing due to public health system. If I would have chose to go to the private health system it would have been USD$5,000 for the same treatment without claiming any insurance. BOTH choices are significantly cheaper than any USA choice (aside from charity support).
I hope you can find something affordable soon.
Can not agree with you more on all your points about health insurance! I was a self-employed manufacturers rep and as I got older the same BS happened to me. I decided to go work for a big corporation not for business reasons but for health insurance reasons. My wife, who is a dental hygienist who gets no benefits, just informed me that I will need to work until I’m almost 67 since I’m almost 2 years older than she is and she will need my insurance. It’s crazy that employers provide health insurance.
Looks like the Dodgers are wearing navy blue instead of royal blue in this picture. Probably just the way it looks in the picture, but did the Dodgers have navy hats and jerseys for batting practice? Looks like the Cowboys when they wear their blue jerseys.
I think the issue of color is mainly because it’s just an older photo, but the Dodgers definitely use a darker blue than teams like the Mets and Royals. The Cubs had navy BP jerseys/hats for a bit there, so that may be what you’re thinking of.
(Also FWIW, the Cubs used to use the same darker shade of royal for their game hats that the Dodgers used until 2014, until they switched to the shade that the Mets use. The Dodgers still use the darker shade to this day, but it’s definitely still royal, not quite navy.)
Ross, who knows, describes the jerseys as Dodger blue.
The grass isn’t always greener with “employer supplemented” insurance. This past year, the premiums at my work rose so high, that (and I’m NOT exaggerating) I literally would be working for the insurance it was taking so much out of my check… so what does that mean? Well, my family and I are now uninsured because we like to eat and have a roof over our heads. We do have Accidental insurance, you know, should one of us break a leg or something – and were allotted ONE preventative health screen a year. With yearly deductibles so high that having “insurance” has pretty much become a joke. If you do have employment that supplements your health insurance enough to live comfortably on, well, hold onto that job like grim death because that is more valuable than you could possibly imagine.
Healthcare/Uniform question: I ask my wife this all the time, because she use to be an RN, (she doesn’t know) but when did nurses stop wearing the old fashioned white “nurses uniform” with the hat (like Nurse Ratched) and start wearing the “scrubs” we see everywhere today?
trend started in the 80s. I last remember nurses in whites when my mom was hospitalized in 86.
A nurse once told me the hats stopped because they could carry fomites – objects or materials that are likely to carry infection.
As someone who used to have a delivery job for a pharmacy, it would be nice if they at least had some colour conventions for scrubs.
For example having only nurses wearing a certain colour or colours in hospitals, nursing homes, etc.
Those Laker uniforms are hideous. I guess hideous uni designs seem to follow LeBron.
For sure.
Sure hope the photo is the only time I’ll see that uni next to the BFBS Celtics.
“tell me that isn’t Rod Carew on this 1978 Albuquerque Dukes program cover, with the classic 1970s “Go Dukes” insignia splashed all over.”
A glance at the roster in the program revealed some familiar names:
Rick Sutcliffe
Wayne Simpson
Terry Collins
Mickey Hatcher
Pedro Guerrero
Jeff Leonard (“One Flap Down”?)
Del Crandall (Manager)
San Diego’s new teal jerseys are sharp
That’s light blue (they call it Toreros blue). The lighting makes it look a little teal but if you see other photos on their Twitter feed it’s light blue.
Those NFL reading cards were one of the highlights of my 3rd grade year w/ Mrs. Irish circa 1983…my friend and I raced through that box to see who could finish first.
If memory serves there were several other sports-themed sets by same publisher??
Health insurance and healthcare makes me sick (no pun intended.) I have been on my own most of my life in terms of work.
I just wing life without insurance. Not much else I can do. I am not paying $400, much less $900 per month for it. Just not going to do it. If that ends up shortening my life somehow, so be it.
You are fortunate to have the luxury of that choice.
I take several maintenance medications on a daily/regular basis. They are simply unattainable without insurance.
Stay healthy.
Yeah, that sucks. Luckily my medications come out to be about $70 using something like GoodRX. But even then it is a game of roulette with which pharmacy to use every month.
(No I do not work for GoodRX)
Sadly Paul you hint on another major problem with our system beside direct healthcare/insurance, that being prescription drug cost. And this one is a much easier problem to solve then healthcare/insurance. Unfortunately our elected officials are often in the pocket of pharma companies, especially many in my home state of NJ. Such is the case with lots of the problems our country faces… You could probably get your medicine for a lot less, but it is more important to our legislators that they protect the bottom line of their donors than the health of their constituents.
I came across this in regard to the Dodgers BP jersey….here is link to the entire uni watch column from 2013
link
I don’t have exact dates unfortunately, but I remember the Padres wearing their BPs for a day game at Wrigley Field in, I believe, ’92 or ’93. The Union-Tribune had it a lead in their game story the next about Tony Gwynn walking around the clubhouse saying ‘We’re wearing the blues’ before the game.
Also, in 1983, the Angels wore their navy blue and red BPs for a Sunday home game.
“sacrfice everything!”…except a Nike logo…when they are the sponsors at an event for people who did sacrafice it all…
I think the Expos did wear their batting practice jersey in Colorado in a double-header. Was never mentioned anywhere since.
To be verified.
Don’t know when or where it was, but I, too, recall the Expos wearing blue BP jerseys at least once.
Many other examples have been cited, but I’ll also throw in that the Twins were wearing BP tops for David Wells’ perfecto in 1998 (I checked dressed to the nines and the solid blue BP top was not part of their uni set).
The Cubs wore their BP jerseys at home in 1994 to try to break a losing streak. They wore their home whites during BP. They lost the game and never did that again.
This was the game I was trying to remember, and years later I saw (in Bill Henderson’s guide, I think) a fully-knit blue alternate jersey from that year, which made me wonder if the team had actually made the alternate, in the exact same “Team Cuba” style as the BP jersey, for that game specifically.
A further wrinkle is that the knit alternates had NOBs and the BP jerseys (I have one; Rey Sanchez’ #11) did not, but my BP jersey does have a big gap ove rthe number, as if a NOB could go there…
‘And I’ve come to resent how our country’s ridiculous system of providing health insurance primarily through employers effectively screws those of us who, like myself, have the gumption to be self-employed. It’s like we’re being penalized for showing some initiative.’
So people who dont go out on their own are gumptionless because they want a stable guaranteed income at a steady job? Sometimes it’s like I wonder if you think before you speak Paul (and yes you did imply it…..and btw if your curious I’m working as basically an independent contractor and pay for my own insurance each month.
Already addressed this from someone else’s comment. No, I did not say that the conventionally employed are “gumptionless,” and I’m genuinely sorry if it came off that way.
Allow me to rephrase: I think it sucks that health insurance in our country is considered a “benefit” of conventional employment, and that those of us who strike out on our own are therefore left to fend for ourselves.
Health insurance should not be a “benefit.” It is a basic need, and access to it should not hinge on one’s employment status.
Paul, thanks for sharing your health care challenges. I’m lucky enough that my employer offers health care but I haven’t had a raise in two years (wage freeze) but my health care costs have gone way up. In addition, the company now charges employees a susbstantial fee for taking the company offered health care. My monthly insurance costs are greater than my mortgage & car payment combined. I’m petrified of what will happen to my oldest kid when he turns 26 in a few months & ages off my coverage. I too advocate for a single payer system but until the USA puts the health of its people above letting rich people and corporations out of paying taxes we’re hosed. Stay healthy man.
10pm, watching Celtic-Sixers. What the hell are the Celtics wearing on their feet? Rozier has, apparently, pink and yellow shoes; Brown is wearing one blue shoe and one red.
Players can wear any color(s) they want this year.
Can’t wait to get back to uniform coverage and drop the health insurance talk.
Actually, there was tons of uniform coverage today, Zane. The health insurance bit was just a small part of today’s entry. Maybe you missed all the other content..? Perhaps you should go back and look again.