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Would Any of These Guys Wear a Nats Cap?

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As some of you may be aware, on Monday afternoon the Nats announced that tahey’d be wearing Navy SEALs caps for Tuesday’s game against the Reds, in honor of the 30 SEALs who were recently killed in Afghanistan. But they ended up wearing their regular caps in that game. I figured the SEALs caps didn’t arrive at the stadium on time or something like that.

Here are two things I didn’t know until yesterday:

1) The Nats did wear the military caps, but only in pregame warm-ups.

2) They had planned to wear the caps during the game, but MLB said no.

According to that story (by the excellent Dan Steinberg, who’s always on top of the DC uni-verse), MLB’s stated position is that it prefers “specific causes” to be saluted with patches or BP showcases. “We reserve [game] hats for national tributes, where every club is wearing them on the same day,” said an MLB spokesman quoted in the story.

That, of course, is complete nonsense. The Nats themselves acknowledged the Virginia Tech shootings by wearing VT caps a few years back. Other teams have worn Earth Day caps, first responder caps, military appreciation caps, and so on.

Personally, I’d rather not see a team wearing military-related caps, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, every military (and civilian) death in Afghanistan (or wherever) is tragic, not just the 30 that happened in the recent helicopter crash. For another, as I have said several times, nearly 30% of MLB players are foreign-born, and I think it’s unseemly to make foreigners wear American military accessories. If a team really thinks it’s necessary to intermingle baseball and the military, I continue to advocate for the use of military baseball team throwbacks, like the ones worn by Bob Feller and others. That way, you’re telling a baseball story, not just a military story. So, all in all, I’m happy the Nats didn’t go with the Navy caps.

All of that said, however, MLB’s party line here smells fishy. Let’s get real: This probably had to do with not ruffling any feathers over at New Era, not some alleged rule about restricting special caps to MLB-wide promotions.

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Uni Watch Stirrups Club Update

By Comrade Robert Marshall

Greetings, Stirrup Comrades ”¦

The good news is that the late-June order has finally arrived, and I have turned it around, so everyone should finally have their stirrups in the next few days. Unfortunately, while the stirrup revolution had its usual grand designs, the reality is that the engine of hosiery change is built on my brain-pan’s rusted surplus parts, and backed by old-fashioned American manufacturing “pride.” In an effort to make things up to revolutionaries, I’ve decided to revive a bunch of old designs that people have asked about. These are offerings that I don’t plan to keep in stock, and can’t afford to keep in stock, so there will be very few extras.

It may not be December yet, but even so, let’s begin by singing fa-la-la-la la, la la-la Oaks. Don’t like singing? Perhaps I can fly you to the moon, or at least to Seattle. What’s that you say — you want another crack at the swinging Friars? And hey, ruptender, forget the old rotgut — instead, set me up with another *hic* round of tequila rup-guts. Or maybe you want to catch this little dish?

As always, these new offerings are shown at the top of this page, with full ordering instructions here. The deadline for new orders will be next Wednesday, Aug. 24, at midnight.

From each according his stirrvp,
to each according his strype,

~ Comrade 91200

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Me, me, it’s all about me: In case you missed it yesterday, my latest ESPN column, about uni-related myths, can be found here. And there’s still more new content over on Permanent Record.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Several readers noted that Michael Vick had some interesting stitching on his jersey shoulders last night. Wonder what that’s all about. … Meanwhile, right on cue, I received several e-mails from people wondering why the Steelers weren’t wearing their helmet numbers. As most of you probably know, that’s an annual preseason ritual — they don’t add the numbers until the after the final roster cut. … If you thought Joe D. looked weird in an A’s uniform, that’s nothing compared to this, which is apparently from some sort of celebrity game (great find by Mako Mameli). ”¦ Also from Mako: Bill Walsh with a hat featuring a seldom-seen 49ers script, a partial glimpse of Browns lineman Tony Jones with FNOB. ”¦ The Winnipeg Goldeyes wore really nice throwbacks the other night (thanks, Teebz). ”¦ Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Tons of cool stuff on display from Bill Simmons’s visit to the National Sports Collectors Convention. ”¦ Michael Plunkett says he’s never seen football pants cut off like this, and neither have I. That’s Pitt punter Matt Yoklic. ”¦ The Sacramento River Cats wore their zebra-striped jerseys the other day (with thanks to Chris Chaussee). ”¦ Ashton Kutcher bought pink uniforms for his high school football team (from David Teigland). ”¦ If you wear your shorts like this, you risk getting reprimanded by the WNBA (from Kevin Brown). ”¦ Here’s the first real-life view we’ve had of the Notre Dame retro uni for the game against Michigan (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ Did you know there’s a Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame? It’s in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Mike Wissman recently stumbled upon it and took these photos. ”¦ New football uniforms for Greenville College (from RK Covert). ”¦ Scroll down to see the explanation for this unusual spelling. And a uni number on the thigh to boot (great find by Cort McMurray). … Did Dolphins lineman Don Reese really play with an eyepatch? Bill Kellick spotted that while watching a 1975 game on Hulu.

Pinch-hitting: Phil’s busy, so I’ll be handling the weekend. See you tomorrow, yes? Yes!

 
  
 
Comments (133)

    gotta say…i never expected to see seal, a seal or bobby seale in a UW splash

    Nice pose on that ND throwback mannequin. Maybe it should sporting the cutoff football pants next (and a mesh half-shirt too?) Fabulous!!!!

    Notre Dame Throwback uni

    Nice pose on the mannequin, but the uniform looks like CRAP on stilts.

    Horrible trucated “UCLA” stripes, perhaps the worst ever seen – they are horrible seven didfferent ways….

    Vegas Gold on a “throwback” – should really be darker Old Gold – pitiful corporate douchebaggery due to laziness on the part of the uni company ….

    I swear I’ve seen that type of stitching before that Vick has… I just wish I could remember where.

    It reminds me of when the Bears started wearing textured shoulder pads a few years back – but I thought that was the defense, essentially wearing a cloth version of stickem.

    Chicago Bears, starting in 1980-ish? It has something to do with reinforcing the double fabric on the shoulders, or maybe it keeps the pads from slipping out. I’m talking out of my ass, I bet other readers of this site are stronger on the particulars.

    I have seen this on many different players on many different teams over the past 15-20 years – and it is never the entire team, only certain players- and I’ve usually seen it with lineman, never a QB.

    Curious ….

    I also seem to remember that stitching described in Uni Watch a few years ago, when various players on the Eagles were spotted with them.

    Last night, various offensive linemen had that stitching too, I think.

    I have seen this stitching on eagles jerseys before. Last year it was only used on O-line and D-line guys but this year so far i see it on everyone’s jersey.

    So what would the MLB do if a team decides to wear a special hat without asking first?

    I recently saw something that stated for 9-11 teams will be wearing their regular caps, but with flag patches.

    Wait a second, “BP showcases”?

    So MLB’s basically saying “yeah you can wear a cap to honor X, but only before about 85% of the fans get into the stadium”.

    What the crap is that?

    85 percent? Try closer to 100 percent. Unless they’ve changed their policy in 2011, the Nats typically do hitting rehearsal before the gates open to any fans. Get to Nationals Park early enough, and you get to watch the visiting team take BP.

    Anyway, if pleasing New Era is the issue here, then the problem is not Bud Selig, it’s the Nats. The helo crash was on August 6. That’s plenty of time for the Nats to have arranged to have New Era make up SEAL logo caps. (Esp since the SEAL logo, as US gov’t intellectual property, is effectively in the public domain.) All the Nats needed to do was plan like three days in advance to get it done. Guess the Nats front office was too busy working on that trade-deadline deal for a leadoff hitter.

    Oh, wait, the Nats didn’t get that done either? Your Washington Nationals at work. Anyway, don’t blame MLB for turning the Nats down on account of the Nats failing to do their homework.

    I believe ALL teams do this. I know I’ve never been able to get in to see White Sox home BP. The visiting team is always going when the gates open.

    Nationals Park centerfield gates (providing access to the LF bleachers) open 2.5 hrs before game time: link

    Do the Nats really finish their BP more than 2.5 hrs prior to first pitch???

    Regarding Mike Vick’s stitching…it is to protect the shoulder area fabric…if a tear occurs, the extra stitching will “prevent” the tear from growing. Other teams in the NFL have done this in the past, most notably the Cowboys (but this was 8-10 years ago; I have not noticed if they have done it recently).

    Some of Nike’s Pro Combat jerseys that various college teams have been wearing in one-off situations have extra stitching (although in patterns instead of a simple grid like design) in the same area.

    I remember seeing the Bucs in the late 80s or early 90s with something similar. Almost looked like a diamond stitch pattern. Can’t find any pics yet, though.

    The Buccaneers used “waffle stiching” on their 1996 jerseys. Here’s a link to a Sapp jersey on eBay. I own gamers from Kenny Gant (DB) and Tyji Armstrong (TE), so, it seems, the stiching was used by the team at any position.
    Here’s the link,
    link

    What’s this? A column praising the Nats for a uni-related move? Be still my beating heart!

    Yes, it’s bullshit that adidas had to put a big logo on the front of those ND jerseys, blah blah blah, but at least it’s an old school trefoil and not that new triangle garbage.

    With a rash of are they or aren’t they home run calls in the last few days, I can’t help but ask – what happened to the days of yellow lines running along outfield fences to signify what is or is not a home run?

    And that was in the age of cookie-cutter stadia, when fences were of symmetrical shape and uniform height, and fans were too distant, for the most part, to interfere.

    Actually, I think controversy enlivens the game. Gimme the quirks. Bermuda triangles, embankments, weird caroms, in-play flagpoles. I’d like to see a big tree overhang an outfield wall. A 480-foot center field marker; hit the ball and run all day. Excitement.

    All this and more, when I’m commissioner.

    The quirks were great when they were a result of ballpark sites. I’m much less fond of the quirkiness for quirkiness’ sake (QFQS) that we see in current “retro” design.

    We can still try George Carlin’s idea of a series of randomly-placed landmines in the outfield.

    Far less support for that one since Barry Bonds retired.

    That Goldeneyes’ uniform knocked my socks off! The piping detail on the belt loops was the detail that really scrolled my nurd. And it propelled me on a very Uni Watch-ish project: Rank & file baseball uniforms are made with plain belt tunnels on the pants, right?
    Which major-league teams tried to broaden the palette? I’m not referring to the sansabelt look, and I’d probably omit the flannel era (just to stick with uniforms that I have an actual recollection) Obviously, the prime example would be the Tigers, who use individual belt loops, and have for as long as I can remember. It would look odd if Detroit took the field
    using tunnelled trousers. Thoughts?

    They looked phenomenal on the field all night. If the Goldeyes were going to stick with an alternate, I’d highly recommend those uniforms.

    I even said to the respectable young lady that accompanied me, “This is the best that the Goldeyes have looked in a long time.”

    Her response? “I like their socks.”

    From the Department of OCD Knotheadedness (get it done and out of the way, a premptive comment)…

    “How can they be the Goldeyes and not have any gold on their uniforms?”

    I’m sure this will be common knowledge to you and I, Rick, but the fish found in Manitoba has gold-coloured eyes. It is not a golden fish. If you link, they have the fish correct, albeit cartoony. Therefore, if the fish isn’t golden, why should the uniforms be?

    My bad for getting the name of the team wrong. But it’s hard to blame people who read “gold” wanting to- you know- see some friggin’ gold.

    And why don’t the Grizzlies wear brown?
    Jeez, they don’t know what a damned bear looks like?

    C’mon, people, since where are team colors about biological (or icthyolocial, for that matter) correctness?

    If thye were, everyone we bitching about all the brown and/or tan uniforms.

    Good ole Don Reese. He of the infamous SI cover…link

    On another note:

    “nearly 30% of MLB players are foreign-born, and I think it’s unseemly to make foreigners wear American military accessories.”

    I really don’t think this argument is unseemly. These players came to America to work for American companies. Should the company choose to require a specific uniform accessory that is patriotic to the country for which it is established, a country that has provided the opportunity for this company to thrive, if they want to play and be compensated they should have no problem with complying. Not that any are refusing. I would feel the same obligation if I worked for a company established in another country, giving me a compensatory opportunity. I just don’t consider a patriotic gesture such as the wearing of a military hat unseemly. Just my thought. Now, the other arguments I tend to agree completely with and for those reasons I think it is a bad idea. Just not the foreign player reason.

    I agree that they should wear whatever uniform is hung in their locker — and I have always said that.

    But I think it’s basically rude — not impermissible, but rude — to tell foreigners to wear our flag or honor our military. If you were playing ball in Venezuela (or just working in an office there), would you really feel good about wearing something that honored Hugo Chavez, even implicitly? I doubt it, Ben.

    About this:

    I just don’t consider a patriotic gesture such as the wearing of a military hat unseemly.

    It’s only patriotic if you’re a citizen of the country being honored! That’s what patriotism means!!

    I understand and respect your position but don’t necessarily agree with it. If I had a real problem with a country I wouldn’t be there on their soil profiting from a company of theirs in the first place. That is when I would have made my decision. But if I did choose to go to a calculated location abroad, for lots of cash, I’d have no problem following their rules. I just don’t get offended that easily. It is their company, their affair – one that they may feel very strongly and personal about, and I’d be a representative of theirs. I just don’t have a problem with it. Nor do I have a problem with the idea of having a foreign person wear American garb (not singled out of course) if they are representing my company.

    trax, the fact that you bring the amount of cash (“lots”) into it should be a red flag that you’re not actually arguing from first principles. If we take your argument seriously, you are in fact saying that whether you would honor another country is not a matter of actual allegiance, but a matter of price. Now, maybe that’s true, and your fundamental loyalty is for sale. But I doubt it. Mine certainly isn’t. If I had the chance to play pro ball in Venezuela, I’d absolutely do it, but the day they tell me to take the field in a Hugo Chavez tribute cap is the day I bench myself. Paul is absolutely right that putting a player in that position is rude. Not illegal, not evil, but rude.

    Unlike, say, WalMart requiring its employees to smile even when they’re grumpy, the Hugo Chavez cap (or the SEALs cap) has no roots in or bearing on the job at hand. Nobody signed up to play for the Nats expecting to be coerced into making political statements. There are things that are just rude for an employer to require of its employees, and the amount of money exchanging hands does not make a wrong thing right.

    I wouldn’t go to Venezuela to play baseball in the first place. If I had marginal talent there would be opportunities so that I wouldn’t have to put myself in that position. Or I’d choose to not play baseball. If I felt coming to the US was a terrible thing due to it’s military history, I wouldn’t do it. I’d find somewhere else to go. Now, as the owner of my own US registered MO based company (that doesn’t wear uniforms), If someone were to tell me how I should feel about my own patriotic act (I’m not saying anyone is doing that here) played out in my company, I think that would be more rude than it would be for me to have my employees, regardless of their nationality, wear a US accessory. They are a representative of my company. I am proud of my country. Again, no disrespect to anyone, I have no problem with it.

    All that being said, Paul’s argument of “every military (and civilian) death in Afghanistan (or wherever) is tragic, not just the 30 that happened in the recent helicopter crash” is plenty enough for me to be against the Nationals wearing of the hats in the first place. Now, if the owner of the team’s son, godforbid, were killed while serving military duty, and he wanted an accessory (not hats, blech) to be worn, I wouldn’t have a problem. I’d probably prefer a moment of silence or something like that, but jersey litter would be at least acceptable to me.

    Let’s ask ourselves, what would we be having this discussion if the subject were marching bands?

    You wanna play in the band? Get paid by the band? Today the marching band will wear this uniform.

    Just sayin’…are we applying different standards because it’s a team? Pushing everything else aside…it’s a job where employees in a certain department of the company wear a uniform.

    Flags, military tributes, etc., on the band uniforms? Would we hear anyone saying, “I’m from the Dominican. It’s bad enough I have to play ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’…I shouldn’t have to do it WEARING the stars n’ stripes.”

    @Ricko: Then why don’t they all wear the same style of socks and length of pants? Tolerance of variations in the “uniform” appear to be well establsihed. There’s a line somewhere between “furriners” being respectful and expecting them to be excessively indulgent of self-indulgent excess. I think the line was crossed around about the time the Yankees kicked a guy out of the Stadium for trying to hit the head during the playing of “God Bless America.”

    For those who have been asleep for the past 50+ years, MLB has allowed tremendous latitude for individual players in terms of inviduual preference in the styling of sleeves, pants and stirrups during that time…with virtually no standards for same. Pretty much “whatever they choose”.

    That there is like, oh, I dunno…a fact.

    So, a discussion of jersey patches or particular hats is relevant to jerseys and hats, over which Major League Baseball HAS maintained far more stringent paramaters for standardization. Introducing pajama bottoms to the exchange really is apples and oranges.

    Perhaps a better analogy for me to use would have been stadium vendors. Some wear shorts, some long pants, some long sleeves. But the attire that defines them as vendors (hat, shirts; whatever that is determined to be) is standard…with team-specified trim for one being specified for all.

    As to Delgado…Well, to be perfectly blunt, nobody really gives a shit about his opinion on politics. But, he’s a ballplayer, so I suppose that means we should. He’s welcome to give a speech at the postgame press conference if it’s really that important to him, and that also will reveal how learned he is on the subject and establish his credibility. Cuz, y’know, hitting HR’s doesn’t do that.

    “would we be having this discussion if the subject were marching bands?”

    ~~~

    no, because we’d be on marchingbandwatch.com

    and do you know a lot of venezuelans who have the will, talent and desire to play in u.s. marching bands? and get paid zillions to do it?

    no…baseball is an unique occupation, one in which the best ALWAYS (or almost always — I’m sure there were some cubans or japanese or what have you) come to the US to play … there were undoubtedly a few who either wouldn’t or couldn’t come here, but for the most part, you can’t make the kind of bank or get the recognition anywhere else for playing a kids game that you can in the states…

    not saying you’re wrong, just saying you can’t compare band unis to baseball…

    as far as the SEALs tribute? tragic, and sad but like others have said, how are their deaths any more important or tribute-worthy than any of the others who’ve been KIA in not just afghanistan or iraq, but in the US or abroad while serving?

    fort hood? va tach? 9/11? kathy giffords? where does it end? should the packers refuse to play in sympathy for the (formerly) striking (or terminated) wisconsin employees? if colin ferguson were to pull an LIRR stunt today, and one of his deaths was a cop, should the mets/yankees wear NYPD caps? or would he have to shoot 20 cops?

    “not saying you’re wrong, just saying you can’t compare band unis to baseball…”

    The point was, it’s a job. Where you wear a certain uni. If UPS decides to add a US Flag to one sleeve during wartime, a driver who disagrees can either quit or realize HE DOESN’T SET COMPANY POLICY. Or, I suppose he can whine that somehow his freedom of expression is being restricted. Guess what, gang, that means the GOVERNMENT can’t restrict your right to express yourself. Rules are different in the workplace.

    Oh, wait, that’s right. Ballplayers are, like, celebrities. They’re special. And obviously extremely sensitive….artists. Or whatever.

    I feel as though–with how lax the MLB uniform regulations are–if a player was offended with the military appreciation, or any special uni event, he could “forget” his cap/jersey and wear the wrong one.

    They’re pretty stringent. If players are caught wearing the wrong jersey (accidentally wearing the BP instead of the gamer and such), the player usually gets the correct jersey the next half inning. And MLB has gone into the dugout during games to enforce the “Wear the Jersey” rule (ie the Terry Francona Rule).
    The umps could always pull the player off for being out of regs too, so there is a lot of ways that MLB could keep it from happening. The question is what would have happened if all the Nats had blown off MLB and worn the cap. How far would the umps have gone? The Nats probably get a substantial fine, but not a forfeit.

    I always respected Carlos Delgado for refusing to stand for “God Bless America” wherever it was played during the 7th-inning stretch. He had a legitimate beef with the US military’s ab/use of Puerto Rico for target practice. Similarly, I cannot express enough my contempt for former Blue Jays president Paul (I found our GM by thumbing through the Oakland A’s media guide) Godfrey for jamming that song down our throat at home games at (I’m just calling it) SkyDome.

    Good for Carlos. I boycott GBA myself, but for different reasons. Far as I’m concerned, it’s not a patriotic song. For one thing, it’s not a song, it’s a prayer, and it’s not even a good prayer. The lyrics consist entirely of a list of ways God has already blessed America, plus a request that God bless America, as if the singer had not just listed the blessings God has already bestowed! And whether it’s a song or not, it’s not patriotic. The lyrics include not one word either praising America, or saying that America is in any way praiseworthy.

    You could swap out “America” and sing, say, “Soviet Union,” and the song would lose no meaning whatsoever. It would make exactly as much sense if thusly sung. This is not true of most American patriotic songs; they say something specific about America’s particular virtues or ideals, such that the song would become nonsensical if you sang it about North Korea.

    If any club wants to play an actual patriotic song, any time, I’ll stand and remove my hat and sing along, because I love me a patriotic song. “America the Beautiful,” or the “Star Spangled Banner” (what? they already play that at ballgames? every one? then why are we playing other songs?), or “America,” or “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” or “Marching Through Georgia,” or “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” or the other “America,” I’m there. But please, don’t ask me to stand and sing a childish prayer that doesn’t have anything good to say about my country. Name-checking is not praise; “God Bless America” is no more patriotic than Mark Knopfler’s “Do America.”

    GBA > TLIYL…but neither one needs to be played at a ballpark. How about a moment of silence just before “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”? If there’s one thing Americans could use, it’s a little more silence.

    Although I love this country, I could do without half of the patriotic songs, including Stars and Stripes Forever and even our anthem. I say we take O Canada and make it our own. Just substitute “America” wherever “O Canada” is sung, and “our country” in place of “the true north.” Our polite neighbors wouldn’t mind, right?

    Re: “O Canada.” I always find it remarkable when Americans express fondness for it. I find it a bit dreary myself. I like the melody of “The Maple Leaf Forever,” but the lyrics are a bit too “up the Empire” for my taste.

    I never heard anything about foreign players being upset over tributes to the US military during games. Similarly they also don’t seem to have a problem wearing uniforms with team names printed in English on them (well, most of the time) despite the fact that they may come from a non-English speaking country and that some people might construe that as culturally insensitive. Even more surprisingly they have no issue being paid in little green slips of paper jingoistically plastered with pictures of imperialist American slaveowners all over them. Crazy, I know.

    Apparently, the “Hall” is composed of walls at a handful of MiLB parks. But they haven’t bothered with a full-blown website, link. Kinda makes it hard when all you want is a simple list of inductees and locations…

    Love the Sports Bog, Steinberg is great. I follow the Baltimore and DC scenes from afar because I have family and friends in the beltway. He’s as good as anyone out there, a lot of Pittsburgh journalists could learn a lot from him.

    Kudos to Paul for that shoutout….I know I gave you crap for ripping Darren Rovell not too long ago so in fairness I have to point out that I agree with your praise, amateur ombudsman that I am!

    Comrade Robert, nice to see you offering those stirrups again! I will say, I have received more complements on those Astros stirrups than any other pair I own! I got tons from Cubs fans at Wrigley when I was there earlier this season.

    Additionally, I finally scored one of my grails: Tampa Smoker Stirrups!

    link

    At $5 a pair for an opening bid, I was tempted to snag several pair…till I saw that it was $15 PER ITEM to ship. I’ll stick to buying them from or dear comrade, and the occasional eBay auction with reasonable shipping. :-)

    Teebz, I’m glad I noticed that little fact about the shipping before I bid on any more of the stirrups! $15 for something that typically costs $2 to send 1st Class through the USPS must be the Rays way of recoving some cost. I really hope that what they send me is something I can wear…which is the only reason I bid on them.

    When they arive, I will show off my $5 stirrups that cost $15 ship.

    At those insane prices, wear them until they are so foul that plants wilt when you walk by. Or, alternatively, until they are nothing more than elastics just below the knee. Either way, James, get your money’s worth out of them!

    HA! Don’t worry about that. They will be worn every time I wear my Tampa Smokers jersey…or at least every time i can get away with wearing them. Stirrups don’t go well with shorts…

    Stirrups don’t go well with anything other than baseball pants. But don’t let that get in the way of the revolution or whatever.

    If I lived closer to the border, I’d have a PO box in Buffalo for just such an emergency.

    I had the opposite experience buying a couple of books from U. of Nebraska Press at the SABR convention in L.A. They were offering free shipping on all orders. I thought surely that couldn’t include to Canada. It did!

    Heck, I got shipping refunded on a soccer jersey from England this year because apparently Man United switched from free UK shipping to free worldwide shipping on their new jersey before mine shipped out.

    Pretty crazy.

    I’m utterly amused that Simmons ended his gallery with a picture of Robin Ventura using his face to bruise Nolan Ryan’s knuckles. “Don’t Mess With Texas”, indeed!

    After looking closely at the Joe D photo, I realized, Fisher Stevens has been working for a looooong time

    think that’s a Japanese game- note the photogs in the bg, the old style Mizuno shoes, and MIZ on the sleeve.

    Just saw on the EPSN ticker that New Meadowlands Stadium will be renamed MetLife Stadium. Has it been around long enough to warrant its own “naming wrongs” t-shirt? Obviously its more unique if a stadium doesn’t have a corporate name, so this is certainly a negative change, but has New Meadowlands been around long enough to warrant it permanently being called New Meadowlands?

    link

    I can see the shirts now…

    I’M STILL CALLING IT
    ___GIANTS STADIUM___
    __(Screw the Jets)__

    …so I stick in the underscores to align the text and of course it’s spaced differently on the actual comment and looks stupid. Damn this comment page!

    As an active duty Marine Corps infantryman, I must say thank you SO very much to the creator of the article regarding military themes in baseball.

    I’ve lost more friends, many of which I was present to witness, than I care to discuss here, and it’s downright depressing to read about how America seemingly only cares about the sacrifice of their military when it involves a high profile unit such as DEVGRU (the appropriate name for SEAL Team 6.)

    The IRONIC thing about DEVGRU getting all this press coverage is that the operators that I know HATE IT! It’s THEIR JOB to stay in the shadows, and they are some of the most humble warriors I know.

    But back to the point, thank you for your frank assessment at how inappropriate it seems to combine baseball with overt military themes.

    I am a HUGE Mets fan, and I watch every game I can to ESCAPE my reality whenever I can (haha, perhaps I chose the wrong team to escape stress though eh?), and it ALWAYS bothers my friends and I whenever I see someone at the Park who is shamelessly wearing his or her uniform in the hopes of getting a few drinks, or seeing a “veteran” throw out the first pitch despite him or her never having actually deployed.

    On an aside note, say what you will about the Nationals, but on any given home game, the men and women behind home plate in the best seats are typically wounded warriors from Bethesda and Walter Reed, and I’ve had many friends from around the Country become Nationals fans because of the way they were treated and hosted.

    Sorry for the long comment, and again, good article, love the website.

    Good to hear from an active duty military man on the subject. Thank you for your insight and Thank You for your service.

    Yes, it’s interesting to get your perspective on the issue…and I agree that sports ideally should be an escape from pressure and stress, not a reminder of it.

    Speaking of Ocho, this picture is a great example of trying to cram too much crap onto the modern football jersey, with it’s extremely limited real estate…

    link

    Here’s what they should do: move the tv numbers to where Pat is, remove Pat entirely, eliminate the red piping, make the silver sleeve inserts white to mimic the shoulder straps of a Revolutionary war soldier’s kit, make the collar solid white (again inspired by a Revolutionary war uniform), remove the silver in the numbers, and remove the wordmark below the collar.

    That empty space above the “8” simply is uacceptable.

    That’s space that could be identifying someone or some thing.

    It could be telling us what we should care about. Or celebrate. Of make us feel sad.

    Or, of course, it also could be revenue-producing.

    I trust this intolerable situation will be rectified soon.

    Simmons wants people to e-mail him players with full names on their backs like the Rams’ Youngbloods. I’m surprised he didn’t just search this blog.

    The Notre Dame throwback looks great, with the caveat that THERE ARE NO FREAKIN’ SLEEVES ON IT!!! Can’t the NFL and the NCAA mandate some rules on sleeve length? Will the cost for additional material put Nike, Reebok and Under Armor out of business? Do the Thai kids making the jerseys have no idea how a football jersey is supposed to look?

    There’s little doubt that sleeves look great, but there’s also little doubt that sleeves create extra fabric to grab that leave the wearer at a disadvantage. If it were as easy to add sleeves as it is to snip them off, it would then be feasible to measure and mandate sleeve length between opponents. As it is, I have a feeling such a rule would hopelessly bog down the action and make the ref’s job untenable. Don’t get me wrong- I’d put NFL players in burqas if it meant they wouldn’t look like Chris Hovan. I just have a hard time seeing how you’d put such a rule in place in the NCAA.

    There has to be a way to preserve the integrity of sleeves while still making the jersey efficient sportswear. I hate the recent proliferation of man tit-revealing jerseys in the NFL more than I do the idiotic pink trend. At least the latter only lasts a month.

    A lot of y’all may know that UGA is unveiling the NPC uniform tomorrow at Picture Day, but for clarification, they will release a teaser on Facebook at noon and then fully release the images at 1pm on Facebook.

    Link: link

    Emily Deitz, UGA Director of Promotions with 680 The Fan:

    Deitz:
    “The theme of the day is ‘spread the red.’ Fans can go online tomorrow on facebook.com at noon and get a sneak peak of some special items that the Bulldogs may or may not have on. Nike Pro Combat uniforms. So our fans can go online tomorrow at noon on facebook and get a sneak preview. And then at one o’clock the uniform will be completely unveiled. So you can go to facebook.com/georgiabulldogs and take a look at that.”

    Dowdle:
    “And fans who come to Picture Day will get a chance to see it in person?”

    Deitz:
    They’ll get a chance to see it in person, take their photos with it, get one-on-one with the Nike Pro Combat uniform.”

    Dowdle:
    “And I’m just wondering since the theme for September 3 is ‘Spread the Red’ if that’s any kind of a little hint as to what those uniforms are going to look like?”

    Deitz:
    “I would definitely plan on wearing a lot of red that day (September 3). A lot of red.”

    It’s been rumored that it will be silver helmet with a red stripe, red jersey and pants.

    Has anyone performed “hat surgery” on the new material 5950’s. I received one as gift and I’d like to reduce the ridiculously tall crown. I’ve used the soak in warm water and wear it trick with my Ebbett’s and wool New Era’s but I’m afraid doing that with the new material might produce disastrous results.

    Funny you bring that up; I just bought my first polyester 5950 and I want to break it in to look and fit the way my old wool 5950s do. I’m not sure how to go about it either; although there are some cap forums out there none of them have definitive answers as they did for the wool caps.

    A while ago I sent in this pic of MSU kicker wearing short pants or cut off pants in the 1960s. The guy has no numbers on his helmet either.

    link

    Yeah, cutline says they’re his varsity soccer team shorts.

    Socks and knee sleeves are, too, I’d wager.

    Also might one of the early appearances of adidas on the field in an NCAA football game…depending on the year.

    Looked up and caught a replay from Chiefs-Ravens.
    People express dislike for the white socks with white jersey and pants, but I’ll tell you something, you sure know instantly it’s the Chiefs.

    And isn’t that one of the things a uni should do?

    lol, that wasn’t supposed to be here.
    But on a Friday night, I probably could have typed it backwards and no one would read it, anyway.

    Seeing Seal reminds me of a moment at a Braves game at Turner Field in 1999. In between innings they had on the video board that fans would vote by applause for their favorite “Crazy” song. First was Queen, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and everyone cheered. Then was Aerosmith “Crazy” and again everyone cheered. Then Seal “Crazy” (“We’re never gonna survive/unless/we get a little/crazy”) Quiet. No one cheered.

    Just turned on the Falcons-Jaguars game and those unis on Jacksonville look awful. Not just the design though. I don’t care how comfortable for the players they are the cut o those jerseys is just awful. Who in their right minds at Adidas-lite thinks those are good idea? They should be fired. Thank goodness Nike is going to fix the problem next year according to their equipment manager.

    Wow, that’s funny. So I went on a road trip with three buddies the summer after we graduated high school. We went all over the western US and into Canada. We had a tire that was low. When we went to fill it up, it blew up on us. It was like a shotgun blast. So stinking loud and I could smell rubber for like two days. The town that this occured in, Winnemucca, Nevada. We had to pull all of our stuff out of the trunk of the Saturn we were driving to get to the spare. One of the guys and myself had to wait at the gas station with all of our stuff in 100+ degree heat while waiting for them to puut on a new tire at the local tire shop. We hadn’t named the vehicle up until then, but after our debacle in Winnemucca we named her Winnie.

    Apologize if this has been mentioned previously but someone is looking to cash in on the Logan Morrison demotion

    link

    Carrasco’s pitching for mets and wearing stirrups … when did the NY start appearing on them?

    Anyone other than a SEAL wearing the SEAL insignia would be the same as a Catholic Priest wearing a ballcap with the word GOD on it.

    Paul, you’re against military hats worn on the ball field because 30% of MLB players come from abroad? They’re bringing in millions of dollars being an MLB player in America. Appreciating what our military does overseas shouldn’t be viewed as a sacrifice.

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