[Editor’s Note: Today we have an outstanding guest column from Kenn Tomasch, who’s taking a look back at little-noted chapter in baseball history. Enjoy. — PL]
By Kenn Tomasch
For a time 20 years ago, baseball season went into extra innings, and the boys of summer played deep into the winter.
In November of 1989, just days after the Giants and A’s completed the earthquake-delayed World Series, the Senior Professional Baseball Association took to fields at spring training complexes throughout Florida, ushering in what was pitched as a new era in the long history of the game.
Former University of Arizona ballplayer and Colorado real estate man Jim Morley envisioned the SPBA as a circuit for ex-major leaguers age 35 and over (32 and over for catchers) that would attract snowbirds and other baseball fans needing an offseason fix. While the league did feature Curt Flood as commissioner and a playing roster that included future Hall of Famer players and managers, former 20-game winners, batting champs and Cy Young winners, it never caught the fancy of the fan base. The eight teams — the Bradenton Explorers, Fort Myers Sun Sox, Gold Coast Suns, Orlando Juice, St. Lucie Legends, St. Petersburg Pelicans, West Palm Beach Tropics and Winter Haven Super Sox — averaged just 921 fans per game, about half of what Morley projected.
| Senior Professional Baseball Attendance 1989-90 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Dates | Total | Average |
| West Palm Beach Tropics | 35 | 56,012 | 1,600 |
| Fort Myers Sun Sox | 37 | 49,153 | 1,328 |
| St. Petersburg Pelicans | 35 | 39,611 | 1,132 |
| Gold Coast Suns | 36 | 35,457 | 985 |
| Bradenton Explorers | 35 | 27,349 | 781 |
| St. Lucie Legends | 36 | 21,849 | 607 |
| Winter Haven Super Sox | 36 | 19,033 | 529 |
| Orlando Juice | 35 | 14,016 | 400 |
| SPBA TOTAL | 285 | 262,480 | 921 |
While Dick Williams‘s Topics were far and away the best team in the league during the 72-game regular season, St. Pete won the compressed “stepladder” tournament to become the SPBA’s only champion. (Midway through its second season, in December 1990, the league sank in a sea of red ink.)
| Northern Division | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| St. Petersburg Pelicans | 42 | 30 | .583 | 0.0 |
| Bradenton Explorers | 38 | 34 | .527 | 4.0 |
| Orlando Juice | 37 | 35 | .514 | 5.0 |
| Winter Haven Super Sox | 29 | 43 | .403 | 13.0 |
| Southern Division | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| West Palm Beach Tropics | 52 | 20 | .722 | 0.0 |
| Fort Myers Sun Sox | 37 | 35 | .514 | 15.0 |
| Gold Coast Suns | 32 | 39 | .451 | 19.5 |
| St. Lucie Legends | 20 | 51 | .278 | 31.5 |
The SPBA’s uniforms reflected the time period. The pullovers and bright colors of the 1970s and early 1980s were trending out in the majors, and the senior teams went largely with button-down jerseys and traditional home whites and road grays. The elastic waistbands survived in Fort Myers and West Palm Beach, but most clubs went with belts. The late 1980s were stirrups’ last stand, with the faux-stirruped socks beginning to make inroads. Most SPBA players, like MLB players of the time, wore their pant cuffs high — including, ironically enough, George Hendrick, the trend-setter in long pants. Most teams had just the two jerseys and one hat (alts having not yet come into vogue), though some teams did wear their (fairly generic league-wide) batting practice jerseys in games occasionally and West Palm Beach had home and road caps to complete their garish ensemble.
Here’s a rundown of each SPBA team’s uniform look:
Bradenton Explorers: White with blue pinstripes at home and “EXPLORERS” on the chest. Grays on the road with “BRADENTON” on the chest. One hat (blue with team logo). Their BP jersey had the city and nickname screened on it. SPBA home run champ (with 17) Jim Morrison played for the Explos, who made the playoffs and beat Fort Myers on the first night of the tournament before falling to the Pelicans. Pitcher Danny Boone was one of the few SPBA players to make it back to the majors on the basis of his Senior League play, as the Orioles signed him and he played 4 games for them in 1990 at age 36.
Fort Myers Sun Sox: Probably the best-looking SPBA team, with home whites with green pinstripes and green-and-gold trim, a dandy wordmark on the front and secondary logo on the green cap with gold brim. The Sox had a solid green pullover for road games. They also did have the SPBA standard BP jersey with (sewn-on, not screened) wordmark on the front. As a bonus: yellow sanitaries! The Sun Sox had the league’s leading hitter in shortstop Tim Ireland (who had had a cup of coffee with the Royals). Ireland hit .374 and pulled off the hidden ball trick twice. Their average attendance — 1,328 — was second-best in the league.
Gold Coast Suns: Earl Weaver‘s team was originally to split its games between Miami and Pompano Beach, but couldn’t draw flies in Miami and eventually finished its season in Pompano. Either they didn’t have anything other than their BP jerseys or they hadn’t come in yet by the time all the photos were taken for the trading cards (this one had to have been taken on Opening Day — that’s the since-demolished grandstand at Terry Park in Fort Myers). I can’t recall seeing them in anything other than the blue jerseys, though they did have white and gray pants and two different hats. In an attempt to appeal to South Florida’s considerable Hispanic population, the Suns featured recognizable Latinos like Rafael Landestoy and Luis Tiant, but finished 32-39 and out of the playoffs.
Orlando Juice: A good-looking team that no one saw (they averaged just 400 fans a game despite finishing 37-35), the Juice had nice home whites with blue pinstripes and road grays, both with “JUICE” across the fronts and both with belts and a blue hat with “OJ” on it (oddly enough, the first appearance of that hat didn’t have the baseball “splat” on it). Bright spots included pitchers Bob Galasso (9-2, 2.67 ERA) and Pete Falcone (10-3) and shortstop U.L. Washington (who hit .338 while, yes, chomping on his trademark toothpick). Their owner — a Detroit mortgage banker named Philip Breen — disappeared in January 1990, allegedly with $10 million in embezzled funds from his company and has never been found. So, yeah, there were dark spots, too.
St. Lucie Legends: Former sluggers Bobby Bonds and George Foster played for the Legends, who had grays that they wore most of the time when they weren’t sporting their blue BP jerseys. they did have two black hats – one with initials arranged a la the St. Louis Cardinals’ hats and one with a stylish “SL.” The Legends were the league’s worst team, going just 20-51 and drawing 607 fans per game. They opened the year with Graig Nettles as player-manager (and his brother, Jim, in the outfield, leading to the inevitable FIOB), but he was eventually traded to Bradenton.
St. Petersburg Pelicans: The league champs had former All-Star Steve Kemp, former felon Ron LeFlore and former acid-dropper Dock Ellis (who doubled as the team’s pitching coach and had a 1.95 ERA with 6 saves). They also had home whites with maroon pinstripes and road grays, both with the logo/wordmark on the front, and maroon hats with St.P on the front.
West Palm Beach Tropics: The usual home whites with the orange undershirts and hats, as well as the road grays with similar accents, were fine. But when they went with the orange BP jerseys, the result was technicolor ugliness (Paul Mirabella made it worse with the blue undershirt). Despite the garish get-ups, the Trops were the class of the league, going 52-20, hitting .319 as a team and sporting the league MVP (current Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington).
Winter Haven Super Sox: The idea was to put some of the old Red Sox (including the still-strange Bill Lee) together at the Bosox’ training ground. The idea didn’t work, as the Super Sox, owned by Broadway producer Mitchell Maxwell, went 29-43 and drew 529 fans per game. They had a pretty traditional look, evocative of the Red Sox, with home whites (no pinstripes, of course) and road grays. Their hats said, simply, “Sox.” There were rumors that Jim Rice would join the SPBA, but he didn’t until season two, so the Sox had to make do with Leon Roberts, whose eight home runs led the team.
| 1989-90 SPBA ALL-STARS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Player | Team |
| 1B | Dan Driessen | FTM |
| 2B | Tim Ireland | FTM |
| 3B | Jim Morrison | BRA |
| SS | Ron Washington | WPB |
| OF | Steve Henderson | STP |
| OF | Mickey Rivers | WPB |
| OF | Jose Cruz | ORL |
| DH | Amos Otis | FTM |
| C | Stan Cliburn | BRA |
| SP | Juan Eichelberger | WPB |
| RP | Rick Lysander | BRA |
| MGR | Dick Williams | WPB |
| MVP | Ron Washington | WPB |
In its second season, the SPBA was down to just six teams, including new clubs in Sun City, Arizona and San Bernardino, California. The ownerless Tropics became a traveling team, playing all of their games away from home. Bradenton moved to Daytona Beach. Only Fort Myers and St. Petersburg remained in their original locations for 1990-91. And when the Sun Sox’ owner pulled out the day after Christmas 1990 (midway through what was to be a reduced 56-game schedule), that was the end of the SPBA.
Why did it fail? First off, the league and the teams thought that the players themselves would be enough of a draw to bring plenty of fans in. The clubs didn’t have robust sales and marketing efforts and didn’t have a century of tradition to promote. Secondly, as it turned out, the players who could actually perform the best (for the most part) were the youngest ones and the ones who hadn’t been Major League stars. And the really big names, for the most part, didn’t want to either jeopardize how fans remembered them or didn’t want to ride the bus for less-than-major-league wages again (an entire team’s salary cap was less than $600,000). The snowbirds flocked to Florida, as they always have, but they didn’t flock to Senior League games. Perhaps 7:00 pm starts were too late for many of them.
As for the SPBA’s legacy? Not too surprisingly, there’s almost none to speak of. The league spawned a pair of books (of the two, Peter Golenbock‘s The Forever Boys is the better read) and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays wore Pelicans throwbacks — albeit with pajama pants — for a game in 2008. I am the proud owner of Rich Gale’s Sun Sox hat and Amos Otis’s bat, but little memorabilia, and fewer who remember the league, remain from a time when baseball season never ended.
Paul here. Outstanding job by Kenn, no? When I asked him how he knew all this stuff, here’s what he told me:
I was a TV sportscaster who covered the league — and the Fort Myers Sun Sox, specifically — during the SPBA’s lifespan. I am also a packrat and kept EVERYTHING I picked up during that time — media guides, press passes, the hat and bat, stats, you name it. And I have several things on tape with highlights from the league. Just never had an outlet to do anything with it. Thanks for giving me one.
De nada, Kenn, and back atcha.
Giveaway results: The winner of the Soul Power DVD + T-shirt is Craig McKean. For those of you who didn’t win, you can get a 10% discount on the DVD/tee combo by going here and using the discount code INZAIRE74.
Last-call contest reminder: Today’s the last day to submit your entry for the Cooperstown Hawkeyes logo contest. Details here.
Deep Freeze article update: My ESPN column, which was supposed to run yesterday, got bumped to today — look here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: As if guest-writing today’s main entry weren’t enough, Kenn Tomasch has also written a tale of two Tampa Bay soccer logos. ”¦ Lots of rumors about a possible Redskins black jersey. ”¦ The Andre Dawson controversy prompted The Chicago Tribune to print an amusing look at the Expos’ logo (with thanks to John Waller). ”¦ Jeremy Brahm sent along this Japanese batting helmet photo. Anyone know what the holes on the flap would be for? ”¦ New addition to the roster of catchers who’ve worn brimless helmets: Dave Valle. But who’s the catcher in this shot? (Both of these courtesy of Andy Chalifour.) ”¦ Nathan Haas points that that I’ve neglected to showcase this weekend’s Pro Bowl jerseys, which are actually the same crummy design as last year. ”¦ Want to buy grass seed from your favorite ballpark? Now you can (with thanks to Tom Konecny). ”¦ An Iowa football helmet has somehow ended up in a Korean pop music video (as reported by Chris Williams). ”¦ New inaugural-season arena patch for Red Bull New York (with thanks to Michael Orr). ”¦ Several interesting old White Sox spring training photo finds by Larry Wiederecht, including a sock design that I don’t think was ever used in the regular season (if anyone can confirm or refute, please speak up), Thad Bosley brandishing a aluminum bat, and Tony LaRussa doubling up on his collar points. ”¦ Flyers between-the-benches broadcaster Steve Coates is now wearing a helmet (with thanks to Mario Carr). ”¦ Adam Hainsfurther notes that some CMU shooting shirts have NOBs and some don’t. ”¦ Lots of cool vintage pennants available on this page. I recommend exploring the rest of that site, which includes excellent pins, board games, scrapbooks, and a lot more (excellent find by Dave Hembree). ”¦ The Canadiens have scrapped their final two centennial throwback promotions. Anyone know why? Jeff Barak wonders if it might have something to do with the new ownership group that just took over. ”¦ Some sort of controversy involving X Games attire, but who really gives a shit? … Oooh, check out these awesome mini helmet buggies (kudos to Brinke Guthrie). ”¦ Check out the caption on this Joe Morgan photo — interesting (good find by Dwayne White). ”¦ I very distinctly remember watching the 1991 AFC Championship Game between the Raiders and Bills. What I didn’t remember is that some of the Raiders wore a helmet decal in honor of Steve Wisniewski’s brother, who was a fighter pilot in Desert Storm (awesome contribution by Dan Lee). ”¦ Just when you thought Oregon couldn’t look any worse, they did the breast cancer thing by wearing a pink-trimmed version of their whiteout uniform, complete with upside-down pink ribbons (big thanks to Don Dexter and Ben Teaford, respectively). ”¦ RIP, JDS.
Kenn, outstanding, just outstanding work! Thanks for sharing. I remember this league, I had the baseball card set and used to look at them a lot. I wish I knew where those were, or if I still have them.
that picture of Al Hrabosky looks exactly like Will Ferrell if he decided to do a 1970’s baseball movie!!
link
wow…great job kenn!
Does the fort myers sun logo look familar???
link
Pinch-inch-inch Hitting-itting-itting for Pedro-dro-dro Borbon-on-on, Manny-anny-anny Mota-ota-ota…
(sorry — couldn’t resist after seeing the “Pedro Bordon” card)
Great post today. I remember reading about the league in Sports Illustrated (I was a teenager at the time), and actually thinking that some of the names were pretty good. Although I hardly think a team would go by ‘The Juice’ these days…
Arizona St. & Cal went
linklast night:
“Flyers between-the-benches broadcaster Steve Coates is now wearing a helmet (with thanks to Mario Carr).”
It was all a prank played on him by his fellow broadcasters, the Flyers top brass and even the league was involved too.
Nice throwbacks for Xavier last night.
link
OK Paul, I can comprehend, and agree with, your apparent disdain for the X-Games (essentially corporate advertising with a bit of sports creep), but even you have to applaud the participants for trying to protect and maintain the aesthetic traditions of their sports
I think the catcher in the Glenn Davis card is Tom Prince. looking up the 1987 Pirates roster (it’s an 1988 card, and the Pirates switched to a black helmet in 1987), there’s 4 options: Mike Lavalliere (too skinny), Juinior Ortiz (not black), Mackey Sasser (see Lavalliere), and Tom Prince, who wore #46 per Wikiepdia. That looks like the edge of a 4 on the jersey. Feel free to fault my reasoning.
Scratch that. It looks like an S on the nameplate, so Sasser’s in play as well. Good Post-Traumatic stress for us Met fans here.
Don Slaught?
The upside down pink ribbons on Oregon’s uniforms are not upside down pink ribbons. It is the logo for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Kay Yow died from breast cancer just over a year ago. If you remember, she was the long time coach of the NC State women’s basketball team and one-time Olympic coach.
link
[quote comment=”374731″]Scratch that. It looks like an S on the nameplate, so Sasser’s in play as well. Good Post-Traumatic stress for us Met fans here.[/quote]
Fuck man, Sasser would drive me nuts. I have to say my two worst experiences as a long time Mets fan has to be watching Sasser catch a game, or, watching Mo Vaughn play first base
[quote comment=”374722″]that picture of Al Hrabosky looks exactly like Will Ferrell if he decided to do a 1970’s baseball movie!!
link
I think he looks like Billy Bob Thornton
OMG a link on the ‘bay!!
[quote comment=”374733″]The upside down pink ribbons on Oregon’s uniforms are not upside down pink ribbons. It is the logo for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Kay Yow died from breast cancer just over a year ago. If you remember, she was the long time coach of the NC State women’s basketball team and one-time Olympic coach.
link
Well, at least we now know Oregon’s equipment manager and the folks at Nike, aren’t complete idiots
[quote comment=”374736″]OMG a link on the ‘bay!![/quote]
those stripe aren’t complete, if you enlarge the pic you can see where they stop.
Outstanding topic today. I was so excited when the Senior League was created, and equally bummed when it flamed out so quickly. It seemed like such a cool opportunity for fans to see their old heroes and for the players to stay active and in the spotlight.
I own one of the Juice jerseys, worn by Sal Butera, having found it on ebay many years ago.
On the Japanese helmet, the holes were either for a chin strap or for some form of face shield. But because there are three holes i’m going to assume it was for a mouth or cheek guard.
notice…three holes. link
[quote comment=”374722″]that picture of Al Hrabosky looks exactly like Will Ferrell if he decided to do a 1970’s baseball movie!!
link
why ever would you think that? LOL
link
[quote comment=”374738″][quote comment=”374736″]OMG a link on the ‘bay!![/quote]
those stripe aren’t complete, if you enlarge the pic you can see where they stop.[/quote]
Colts have never worn complete shoulder loops (look at photos of Unitas, for example). Most of the teams that wore loops didn’t, either. There are a some exceptions, of course, but most manufacturers stopped the loops a few inches short of meeting under the armpit. The full loops (as worn by the Toronto Argonauts, for one) tended to either a) bunch up in the armpit or b) restrict movement.
Terry Proctor probably can tell us a lot more about who made which versions, and who wore them.
Early in Manning’s career, the Colts’ jerseys were more of the old school variety.
link
—Ricko
great stuff kenn, really fun post!!!
that St. Lucie Legends wordmark is pretty cool…
The Rays should make wearing the St. Petersburg Pelicans jersey an annual event. It’s a good-looking uniform.
Humorous article about the meaning of the Expos logo.
Had the team not begun in 1969, you could say the “b” in the logo was inspired by this… or vice versa:
link
[quote comment=”374742″][quote comment=”374738″][quote comment=”374736″]OMG a link on the ‘bay!![/quote]
those stripe aren’t complete, if you enlarge the pic you can see where they stop.[/quote]
I actually watched the Jets/Colts SB the other night and noticed the Colts incomplete loops while the Jets green and white stripes(more like sleeve segments back then though) completed their circuit
Colts have never worn complete shoulder loops (look at photos of Unitas, for example). Most of the teams that wore loops didn’t, either. There are a some exceptions, of course, but most manufacturers stopped the loops a few inches short of meeting under the armpit. The full loops (as worn by the Toronto Argonauts, for one) tended to either a) bunch up in the armpit or b) restrict movement.
Terry Proctor probably can tell us a lot more about who made which versions, and who wore them.
Early in Manning’s career, the Colts’ jerseys were more of the old school variety.
link
—Ricko[/quote]
those White Sox blue on blue uniforms were their road uniforms from 1976-1980; when Jerry Reinsdorf bought the team in 1981 they went to blue tops and white pants on the road, and white on white at home
[quote comment=”374742″][quote comment=”374738″][quote comment=”374736″]OMG a link on the ‘bay!![/quote]
those stripe aren’t complete, if you enlarge the pic you can see where they stop.[/quote]
Colts have never worn complete shoulder loops (look at photos of Unitas, for example). Most of the teams that wore loops didn’t, either. There are a some exceptions, of course, but most manufacturers stopped the loops a few inches short of meeting under the armpit. The full loops (as worn by the Toronto Argonauts, for one) tended to either a) bunch up in the armpit or b) restrict movement.
Terry Proctor probably can tell us a lot more about who made which versions, and who wore them.
Early in Manning’s career, the Colts’ jerseys were more of the old school variety.
link
—Ricko[/quote]
which looks 1,000 times better than what is worn today. I’d consider that acceptable. Current garb? Not.
Ricko,
OK, I butchered that reply.
I actually watched the Jets/Colts SB the other night and noticed the Colts incomplete loops while the Jets green and white stripes(more like sleeve segments back then though) completed their circuit
I think that is Tony Pena in that brimless catcher picture beside Glen Davis
Great piece today, good job, Kenn.
I, too, loved watching that Senior League. Was fun to see familiar players in interesting new unis, and watch live baseball from warm places during the winter.
Partial to the Pelicans unis, and still wish someone in MLB worn that color combination. Or virtually that uniform, for that matter.
link
D-Backs would be a good candidate (those colors being reasonably evocative of the colors of a rattler), but likely wouldn’t want to appear to be choosing Arizona State’s colors over Arizona’s .
And pretty sure the Legends hats were navy, not black.
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374747″]those White Sox blue on blue uniforms were their road uniforms from 1976-1980; when Jerry Reinsdorf bought the team in 1981 they went to blue tops and white pants on the road, and white on white at home[/quote]
Yes, there was a time when the navy pants went bye-bye.
Which almost no one ever notes.
Thank you for doing so.
On the subject of the White Sox, this remains about my favorite throwback uni ever. Also the first…
link
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374751″]Great piece today, good job, Kenn.
I, too, loved watching that Senior League. Was fun to see familiar players in interesting new unis, and watch live baseball from warm places during the winter.
Partial to the Pelicans unis, and still wish someone in MLB worn that color combination. Or virtually that uniform, for that matter.
link
D-Backs would be a good candidate (those colors being reasonably evocative of the colors of a rattler), but likely wouldn’t want to appear to be choosing Arizona State’s colors over Arizona’s .
And pretty sure the Legends hats were navy, not black.
—Ricko[/quote]
The Astros could be a good candidate too, their brick red is close, and the already wear pins (black), just replace the sand with yellow
That isn’t an upside down ribbon Oregon is wearing. It is the Kay Yow logo.
link
[quote comment=”374740″]On the Japanese helmet, the holes were either for a chin strap or for some form of face shield. But because there are three holes i’m going to assume it was for a mouth or cheek guard.
notice…three holes.
link
The weird thing is that this was a player worn helmet in a senior league. And we know that professional players do not wear chinstraps. The angle of the three holes seems to me odd. If it had the faceguard, it would be higher.
[quote comment=”374744″]The Rays should make wearing the St. Petersburg Pelicans jersey an annual event. It’s a good-looking uniform.[/quote]
i agree!!!
[quote comment=”374751″]Great piece today, good job, Kenn.
I, too, loved watching that Senior League. Was fun to see familiar players in interesting new unis, and watch live baseball from warm places during the winter.
Partial to the Pelicans unis, and still wish someone in MLB worn that color combination. Or virtually that uniform, for that matter.
link
D-Backs would be a good candidate (those colors being reasonably evocative of the colors of a rattler), but likely wouldn’t want to appear to be choosing Arizona State’s colors over Arizona’s .
And pretty sure the Legends hats were navy, not black.
—Ricko[/quote]
Eff Ewe Of Ay.
Although I don’t really think rattler/dback when I see those colors, I don’t when I look at any of the Dbacks current or former logos either.
c’est la vie, I suppose
[quote comment=”374757″][quote comment=”374751″]Great piece today, good job, Kenn.
I, too, loved watching that Senior League. Was fun to see familiar players in interesting new unis, and watch live baseball from warm places during the winter.
Partial to the Pelicans unis, and still wish someone in MLB worn that color combination. Or virtually that uniform, for that matter.
link
D-Backs would be a good candidate (those colors being reasonably evocative of the colors of a rattler), but likely wouldn’t want to appear to be choosing Arizona State’s colors over Arizona’s .
And pretty sure the Legends hats were navy, not black.
—Ricko[/quote]
Eff Ewe Of Ay.
Although I don’t really think rattler/dback when I see those colors, I don’t when I look at any of the Dbacks current or former logos either.
c’est la vie, I suppose[/quote]
I did say “reasonably” evocative. LOL
—Ricko
Question about this picture (link): is that an extra button on the top of Foster’s jersey? or did he just button it wrong (which doesn’t seem to be the case)? none of the other Legends pics have an extra button on top ( i think the Felix Milan pic is an unbuttoned top button) – any idea why?
“Lots of rumors about a possible Redskins black jersey. … ”
NOOOOooooo!!
[quote comment=”374732″]Don Slaught?[/quote]
I was thinking Don Slaught as well. Slaught didn’t arrive in Pittsburgh until 1990. So I think it might be Sasser, because that is definately and “S”
Hmmm…about 15 years ago I scored—and still have–a bunch of MLB hat lettermark transfers at a garage sale (got those mess for $2, I think), including about 60 of the Cardinals white “StL” edged in navy. Would be a snap to DIY this hat, wouldn’t it…
link
I might have to DIY this one, too. Always thought it was great looking hat lettermark…
link
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374755″][quote comment=”374740″]On the Japanese helmet, the holes were either for a chin strap or for some form of face shield. But because there are three holes i’m going to assume it was for a mouth or cheek guard.
notice…three holes.
link
The weird thing is that this was a player worn helmet in a senior league. And we know that professional players do not wear chinstraps. The angle of the three holes seems to me odd. If it had the faceguard, it would be higher.[/quote]
Looks like the location for the snaps that would hold the ear pad in place. They might have been removed, which would have caused the markings on the outside of the holes.
Wilmington Blue Rocks released their new logos and branding identity yesterday.
link
[quote comment=”374760″]”Lots of rumors about a possible Redskins black jersey. … ”
NOOOOooooo!![/quote]
The Redskins in BFBS?
Oh, great.
Considering the ongoing debate about the team nickname…
Uni-wise, someone might be kinda sorta tempted to tag them “The NFL’s Minstrel Show,” mightn’t they.
—Ricko
To Paul’s question about Richard Dotson’s link, I believe these were the White Sox standard issue socks for the most of the 1980 season, just worn lower than normal. These 1981 Donruss cards link and link show the same sock pattern. Note that on Ross Baumgarten’s card the four thin stripes are clearly visible.
So what of the thick stripe at the top of the sock? I distinctly recall some old pics in yearbooks or similar publications where it’s visible, but I don’t have any of those with me. I was able to find a link, former QB of the Bears amongst others, link for his tryout as a pitcher. Here the thick stripe at the top is clearly visible. What I just noticed is that these socks sport only three thin stripes, whereas the ones from 1980 feature four!!! News to even this life-long Sox fan!
To add further intrigue, toward the end of the 1980 season, the Sox switched to a link. Another detail I had forgotten about!
This is an interesting facet of the White Sox “pajama top” uniforms they wore from 1976 – 1981. Although the uniform design itself remained essentially the same, the socks changed almost yearly. They wore the same socks in link, changed to link, wore the ones described above in 1979 and 1980, then wore link.
[quote comment=”374764″]Wilmington Blue Rocks released their new logos and branding identity yesterday.
link[/quote]
it’s not working…
IT IS CALLED A C-FLAP.
link
link
Kudos to Kenn! I loved, loved, loved the Senior League! To see all these 70s guys coming to life again was a joy. In those pre-internet days, I used to call down the league’s office every week for the stats.
You did a great job covering all the teams’ uniforms, and also mentioning the Tampa Bay Rays’ wonderful throwback day in Pelicans’ uniforms.
An interesting note is that the league’s umpires wore caps that said “SL”, not “SPBA”. Even though the league’s official name was “Senior Professional Basball Association”, it freely used “Senior League” as well.
The league’s only championship game between West Palm and eventual champs St. Pete was held in early 1990, and it was carried by MSG Network.
I invited two guys who were also crazy about 70s baseball over to my place to watch this game. We turned on MSG Network at the listed time, 5pm, to find…a Rangers old-timers’ game! The Senior League game was eventually shown at midnight; the people I had invited had long left.
Still, the sight of the champion Pelicans celebrating on the field while Lenny Randle shouted “Bring on the A’s!” was priceless.
When I read Orlando once had a team named “Juice” I thought that was one of the worst team name ideas I’d ever heard of. Until I got to the part about the “OJ” on the hat, which then made it one of the more humorous original ideas I’d heard of. Well played SPBA!
The “upside down ribbon” is the symbol for the Kay Yow Foundation.
[quote comment=”374766″]To Paul’s question about Richard Dotson’s link, I believe these were the White Sox standard issue socks for the most of the 1980 season, just worn lower than normal. These 1981 Donruss cards link and link show the same sock pattern. Note that on Ross Baumgarten’s card the four thin stripes are clearly visible.
So what of the thick stripe at the top of the sock? I distinctly recall some old pics in yearbooks or similar publications where it’s visible, but I don’t have any of those with me. I was able to find a link, former QB of the Bears amongst others, link for his tryout as a pitcher. Here the thick stripe at the top is clearly visible. What I just noticed is that these socks sport only three thin stripes, whereas the ones from 1980 feature four!!! News to even this life-long Sox fan!
To add further intrigue, toward the end of the 1980 season, the Sox switched to a link. Another detail I had forgotten about!
This is an interesting facet of the White Sox “pajama top” uniforms they wore from 1976 – 1981. Although the uniform design itself remained essentially the same, the socks changed almost yearly. They wore the same socks in link, changed to link, wore the ones described above in 1979 and 1980, then wore link.[/quote]
“To Paul’s question about Richard Dotson’s Sox socks,”
Yes, they wore that sock in regular season. If the issue is the white at the top, they’re just falling down, revealing the sanitary sock underneath them. Spring training photo, so probably socks from previous season and elastic was shot. Pretty simple.
They wore, I believe, that pattern with differing numbers of stripes.
If you go way, way back…in one of the “Ricko Files” that Paul featured, I included an “album” of photos of all the different socks I could find that the White Sox wore with that set of unis (and there were plenty).
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374729″]OK Paul, I can comprehend, and agree with, your apparent disdain for the X-Games (essentially corporate advertising with a bit of sports creep), but even you have to applaud the participants for trying to protect and maintain the aesthetic traditions of their sports[/quote]
Agree 100%.
Amazing! I’d forgotten about this league. The “Favorite Suns” shot of Luis Tiant and George Hendrick is priceless for the way their logos align based on each man’s height. How often do you see logos in such perfect alignment across players’ jerseys?
“Still, the sight of the champion Pelicans celebrating on the field while Lenny Randle shouted “Bring on the A’s!” was priceless.”
Are you sure he wasn’t shouting, “Bring on Frank Luchessi”?
As a former long-suffering Expos fan (now moved on to be a long-suffering Mets fan — when will I ever learn?) I find it troubling that the only 2 Expos players who will ever make the HOF both expressed a desire to be inducted under another team’s colors. I know the Expos were a difficult organization to play for but I would have hoped that with the passage of time some of those hard feelings would have been replaced by an understanding of what they accomplished while in the Expos uniform.
As for the Tribune piece, who knew they could be so petty?
Illinois will be wearing the pink trimmed uni’s on Saturday.
link
More on the Senior League: here is an article from the St. Pete Times of December 22, 1989, in which league founder Jim Morely expresses optimism about the league’s future, even while acknowledging the losses from the first season:
link
From the same edition, here is the AP wire story and boxscore of the previous day’s Bradenton-St. Pete game:
link
[quote comment=”374764″]Wilmington Blue Rocks released their new logos and branding identity yesterday.
link[/quote]
A big thumbs down to the new logos. Centering the team’s identity on Rocky Bluewinkle is a major downgrade from the previous logo. The Carolina blue color is OK, but a team named Blue Rocks should really just use regular blue. I do like the new “BR” logo, with the state outline inside the B.
[quote comment=”374777″]As a former long-suffering Expos fan (now moved on to be a long-suffering Mets fan — when will I ever learn?) I find it troubling that the only 2 Expos players who will ever make the HOF both expressed a desire to be inducted under another team’s colors. I know the Expos were a difficult organization to play for but I would have hoped that with the passage of time some of those hard feelings would have been replaced by an understanding of what they accomplished while in the Expos uniform.
[/quote]
Tim Raines should make the Hall some day (he got on base more times than Tony Gwynn!), and Rock will have an Expos cap on his plaque. :)
[quote comment=”374770″]The league’s only championship game between West Palm and eventual champs St. Pete was held in early 1990, and it was carried by MSG Network.[/quote]
That would have actually been 20 years ago this Sunday, if memory serves. It was carried on Prime Networks, which syndicated it to several cable outlets. I didn’t record it (I don’t believe it was carried where I lived or I didn’t get whatever channel it was on, one) else I’d have YouTubed it, but it wasn’t much of a game (St. Pete won 12-4 or something).
Another anecdote: the second year they tried to get a title sponsor for the league and one possible name bandied about (I actually saw a wordmark prototype for it) was Mennen Masters Baseball. The Mennen people never bit.
Also, link another look at the Sun Sox’ BP jersey. They hadn’t gotten their game hats at the time of this players vs. media game (that’s a much-thinner me in the Cubs’ regalia). Champ Summers (at left) struck me out in my only at bat. Yes, he pitched. Long story.
The circus is in town.
link
[quote comment=”374779″]More on the Senior League: here is an article from the St. Pete Times of December 22, 1989, in which league founder Jim Morely expresses optimism about the league’s future, even while acknowledging the losses from the first season:
link
From the same edition, here is the AP wire story and boxscore of the previous day’s Bradenton-St. Pete game:
link
Excellent finds Ferdinand. I hadn’t read that story before.
But here’s really the deal as to why they couldn’t draw: the teams had almost nobody actively selling tickets. If you want, say, 3,000 people to show up for a game, you need to pre-sell a couple thousand or more tickets. You can’t depend on hoping that people will walk up because they saw your flier or heard your radio ad.
You need to have people working the phones, putting together group nights, and actively asking people for the sale, the way anybody who sells anything else that people don’t absolutely need has to do.
The Senior League didn’t do that, for the most part. They thought if they said “Appearing tonight, George Foster and the St. Lucie Legends,” that people would just walk up. No. Relying on the walk-up customer will get you killed. And it did.
Plus, startup costs are tough, they didn’t get the huge names they hoped for, it DOES get chilly in Florida in the winter, all of those things contributed. But the big thing – as I saw it – was that they just were amazed that tickets didn’t fly off the shelves by themselves and they made little effort to actually close the sale before the ticket windows opened an hour before the game.
Wow, a DH in a senior league. Something like arthritis or gout would have to be a prerequisite. Maybe the bat doubles as a cane. I could see how watching games in this league would gut-wrenching… slow-pace, brittle old players, aforementioned watching players past their glory. I suppose if they did the same concept today, it’d have its own reality show. And Jose Canseco would be the biggest draw. And yeah, I’d watch it if nothing else was on / Jay Leno was on.
Shame on the Chicago Tribune for picking on the Expos, their logo and history. At least fans of the Cubs still have a team to cheer for. I have to settle for old memories and a couple of hall of fame plaques. Want to trade.
[quote comment=”374785″]Wow, a DH in a senior league. Something like arthritis or gout would have to be a prerequisite. Maybe the bat doubles as a cane. I could see how watching games in this league would gut-wrenching… slow-pace, brittle old players, aforementioned watching players past their glory. [/quote]
It wasn’t quite that bad, but it wasn’t always that great. Like I said, the younger (35, 36, 37) players and those who had been less-than-star players were actually the best players, but you can’t exactly get people excited about coming to see Tim Ireland, now, can you? (And I loved Tim Ireland, great guy.)
Did anyone else forget or never realize that the Panthers wore light blue socks with black jerseys their first year of existence?
Then: link
Now: link
Today’s ESPN column is up, and I don’t mind saying it turned out pretty damn nicely:
link
[quote comment=”374777″]
As for the Tribune piece, who knew they could be so petty?[/quote]
Are you really surprised? (I wasn’t as I read in the paper this morning). The Tribune’s sportswriters have a very high opinion of themselves, and an undeserved sense of accomplishment, and thinking they’re the pulse of the sports town when they’re really not. They’re clowns, each and every one of them. The writer of that piece is Steve Rosenbloom, one of the biggest no-talent ass-clowns to ever disgrace a newspaper. The guy seriously is immature and childish, is old enough to know better than to say “What’s an Expo?” and the fact that the Tribune uses online comments to fill up page space should tell you about the sorry state of talent at the Trib. The Tribune is also loaded with Cubs fans who want to put a boatload of players in the Hall, and even a Cubs loss will usually take precedence over a Sox win. Whenever a piece of writer is quoted by a user, it’s usually met with criticism, disbelief or anger. This is the same paper who let a bitter fired Mike Downey print a resentful last piece in ’08. It was a disgrace & an equivalent to a Jay Mariotti column.
[quote comment=”374777″]As for the Tribune piece, who knew they could be so petty?[/quote]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[quote comment=”374786″]Shame on the Chicago Tribune for picking on the Expos, their logo and history.[/quote]
I’m no Trib apologist, but you guys do realize that whole thing was done tongue-in-cheek, right?
I mean, the Packers are on that list of worst current logos.
Looks like I should have waited a minute to post that.
Paul, the espn article is a treat.
And this is sublime…
link
[quote comment=”374791″][quote comment=”374777″]As for the Tribune piece, who knew they could be so petty?[/quote]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[quote comment=”374786″]Shame on the Chicago Tribune for picking on the Expos, their logo and history.[/quote]
I’m no Trib apologist, but you guys do realize that whole thing was done tongue-in-cheek, right?
I mean, the Packers are on that list of worst current logos.[/quote]
With Rosenbloom, it probably wasn’t. His column ran front page 3 days a week in the 1990s, and no writer drew more criticism and complaints than him. You ever see him on “Chicago Tonight” on WTTW? Just as big of a childish ass as well. The Tribune isn’t smart enough to have people write tongue-in-cheek… they just let them be themselves. And why even mention the Trailblazers logo? There’s a reason why he was demoted to writing about poker until the recent Page 2 filler: he sucks. Rosenbloom’s work is kindling for playground fights. He’s a waste of ink.
“RIP, JDS”
I Died?
just kidding of course, Salinger was one for the ages
I’m a huge baseball fan. I was 21 in 1989. While on a family vacation in FL, I went to a SunSox game. I still have a t-shirt with their logo in my closet – long out of the rotation, but saved for posterity. I also have the SPBA baseball card set and the scorecard somewhere in my mom’s attic. Thanks for digging up those memories!
Concealed 78 said…
“The Tribune’s sportswriters have a very high opinion of themselves, and an undeserved sense of accomplishment,..”
Thirty-five years ago, when I was working in pro sports PR, I said many times (off the record and to friends) that sportswriters were the “most under-informed and over-opinionated bunch of people I’ve ever worked with.” It took me getting to work on the inside to realize how little they oftentimes knew before they went running off at the mouth (or the keyboard).
Nothing that has happened since has done anything to change that belief.
They seem to operate under the assumption that “I cover the big leagues, therefore I am big league…in thought, word, deed, intelligence and status.”
Wrong.
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374761″][quote comment=”374732″]Don Slaught?[/quote]
I was thinking Don Slaught as well. Slaught didn’t arrive in Pittsburgh until 1990. So I think it might be Sasser, because that is definately and “S”[/quote]
Slaught always wore perfect stirrups: link
Killed me that they were usually hidden behind his shinguards.
A few more sets featuring Harmon Killebrew are up in the Life archives.
link
link
link
link (Again, how big were those pockets?)
link
link
[quote comment=”374797″]Concealed 78 said…
“The Tribune’s sportswriters have a very high opinion of themselves, and an undeserved sense of accomplishment,..”
Thirty-five years ago, when I was working in pro sports PR, I said many times (off the record and to friends) that sportswriters were the “most under-informed and over-opinionated bunch of people I’ve ever worked with.” It took me getting to work on the inside to realize how little they oftentimes knew before they went running off at the mouth (or the keyboard).
Nothing that has happened since has done anything to change that belief.
They seem to operate under the assumption that “I cover the big leagues, therefore I am big league…in thought, word, deed, intelligence and status.”
Wrong.
—Ricko[/quote]
And a columnist is usually worse.
[quote comment=”374727″]”Flyers between-the-benches broadcaster Steve Coates is now wearing a helmet (with thanks to Mario Carr).”
It was all a prank played on him by his fellow broadcasters, the Flyers top brass and even the league was involved too.[/quote]
It was funny listening to him gripe about it every chance he had during the first period. When management is behind the prank, Coatesy got punk’d BIG TIME.
Too bad the Canadiens are throwing in the towel on their throwbacks. I was looking forward to seeing them against the Flyers. C’est la vie.
[quote comment=”374794″][quote comment=”374791″][quote comment=”374777″]As for the Tribune piece, who knew they could be so petty?[/quote]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[quote comment=”374786″]Shame on the Chicago Tribune for picking on the Expos, their logo and history.[/quote]
I’m no Trib apologist, but you guys do realize that whole thing was done tongue-in-cheek, right?
I mean, the Packers are on that list of worst current logos.[/quote]
With Rosenbloom, it probably wasn’t. His column ran front page 3 days a week in the 1990s, and no writer drew more criticism and complaints than him. You ever see him on “Chicago Tonight” on WTTW? Just as big of a childish ass as well. The Tribune isn’t smart enough to have people write tongue-in-cheek… they just let them be themselves. And why even mention the Trailblazers logo? There’s a reason why he was demoted to writing about poker until the recent Page 2 filler: he sucks. Rosenbloom’s work is kindling for playground fights. He’s a waste of ink.[/quote]
I’m not saying that he (or his paper) is any good. I just think you guys are getting entirely too worked up about something that is not intended to be taken seriously.
I mean, here’s what he wrote link about the Dawson/Expos cap situation:
I like Andre Dawson too much to tell him to just shut up over the whole Cubs cap/Expos cap-in-the-Hall-of-Fame thing. There should’ve been no debate anyway because he played more years and produced more with Montreal, which the way the keepers in Cooperstown saw it. Besides, he still gets to put HOF after his name at the autograph shows no matter what, OK?
Besides, the guy gave up trying to be a “serious” journalist years ago. Everything he writes is loaded with sarcasm and that logo analysis is no exception.
Awesome work on the SPBA, KT! I had posted a similar rundown over at Chris Creamer’s site in 1998, and it appears the Explorers wore a third jersey you may have overlooked. If anyone wants to check it out, it’s here: link
Again, great presentation!!!
Dammit. Looks like my comment got sucked up by the spam filter. Anyway, I am certain that Rosenbloom wasn’t serious. He wrote in his blog yesterday that he feels Dawson SHOULD be wearing an Expos cap on his plaque without question.
[quote comment=”374789″]Today’s ESPN column is up, and I don’t mind saying it turned out pretty damn nicely:
link
seconded
guess you had to be there to appreciate it ;)
well done sir
[quote comment=”374805″]Dammit. Looks like my comment got sucked up by the spam filter.[/quote]
wow…six comments in there i just freed (sorry, work is getting in the way of UW today — hate when that happens)
That “Expos Logo” article is clearly biased. The Minnesota Wild logo is one of the best logos in sport.
[quote comment=”374797″]Concealed 78 said…
“The Tribune’s sportswriters have a very high opinion of themselves, and an undeserved sense of accomplishment,..”
Thirty-five years ago, when I was working in pro sports PR, I said many times (off the record and to friends) that sportswriters were the “most under-informed and over-opinionated bunch of people I’ve ever worked with.” It took me getting to work on the inside to realize how little they oftentimes knew before they went running off at the mouth (or the keyboard).
Nothing that has happened since has done anything to change that belief.
They seem to operate under the assumption that “I cover the big leagues, therefore I am big league…in thought, word, deed, intelligence and status.”
Wrong.
—Ricko[/quote]
RyCo I know you’re here, so remember our twitter convo about Tebow yesterday? Godfather Pearson has made my point!
I moved back to FL in 1989, and heard a lot about the Senior league. I remember the local St. Lucie Legends and the WPB Tropics the most, but never got to see either play. I tried to look for other pics in my newspaper’s archives, but that would be too logical.
This recap was a great reminder of that short-term league and their uniforms. I think the Pelicans had the best unis, and could certainly work today in the MLB or MiLB, just like the Rays used for a game.
[quote comment=”374806″][quote comment=”374789″]Today’s ESPN column is up, and I don’t mind saying it turned out pretty damn nicely:
link
seconded
guess you had to be there to appreciate it ;)
well done sir[/quote]
Agreed, just finished reading/watching it. Love those pond hockey uniforms, especially the orange and yellow ones.
A few guys from my Fantasy baseball league actually had a Senior Rotisserie League (I was out of town for the draft so I didn’t have a team). I remember that Amos Otis was the No. 1 overall pick.
Long live the Pelicans and their FSU-inspired uniforms.
[quote comment=”374804″]Awesome work on the SPBA, KT! I had posted a similar rundown over at Chris Creamer’s site in 1998, and it appears the Explorers wore a third jersey you may have overlooked. If anyone wants to check it out, it’s here: link
Again, great presentation!!![/quote]
Thank you.
You’re right, I never saw that other Explos uni and had no evidence of it.
I never ever saw that Gold Coast white uniform. Good stuff. The white pinstripe Legends, that’s quality, too. I’ll have to amend things on my site. Thank you!
Also, I never knew they created a second year’s SPBA card set. I actually have two sets of the first year and would gladly trade one of them for someone’s spare of the second season, if someone has such a thing.
Anyone else think it’s funny that Curt Flood ended up as the commissioner of a baseball league after launching what may be the most famous lawsuit against a league commissioner in the history of sports? I mean, American Needle is the only case that even comes close to the importance of Flood v Kuhn in the last fifty years of player-management relations.
Just looked through all of the Olympic hockey jerseys for the upcoming Vancouver games and noticed one thing right away. Every team in the field (at least the men’s field) is being outfitted by Nike this year. I don’t know if that has been the case in the past or not, because I’ve never payed that much attention to it, but it jumped out at me right away this year.
In last nights Gonzaga – Santa Clara game, Gonzaga point guard Meech Goodson ripped his #3 jersey in the first half and switched to a back-up #35 jersey for the rest of the game.
[quote comment=”374815″]Anyone else think it’s funny that Curt Flood ended up as the commissioner of a baseball league after launching what may be the most famous lawsuit against a league commissioner in the history of sports? I mean, American Needle is the only case that even comes close to the importance of Flood v Kuhn in the last fifty years of player-management relations.[/quote]
Irony and a bit sad. Curt (God rest his soul) was just not cut out to be an actual working commissioner. He was more of a figurehead, and a guy named Rick Horrow (who’s still in South Florida, I believe, and pops up as a sports business expert from time to time) did the actual work and was the actual commish (or president) the second year. So it went under on his watch.
And wouldn’t you say the Messersmith decision was as important or moreso than Flood vs. Kuhn? Remember, Flood lost his case. Maybe that set the scene for Messersmith and was, therefore, as or more important.
[quote comment=”374789″]Today’s ESPN column is up, and I don’t mind saying it turned out pretty damn nicely:
link
GREAT read Mr. Lukas.
link
Why doesn’t Oregon just abolish the school colors now? That uniform makes a mockery of the game. And UCLA’s absurdly long shorts ruin what is otherwise the best uniform in college basketball.
The Colts used the wrong helmet in this picture link
[quote comment=”374821″]The Colts used the wrong helmet in this picture link
It’s art.
[quote comment=”374809″][quote comment=”374797″]Concealed 78 said…
“The Tribune’s sportswriters have a very high opinion of themselves, and an undeserved sense of accomplishment,..”
Thirty-five years ago, when I was working in pro sports PR, I said many times (off the record and to friends) that sportswriters were the “most under-informed and over-opinionated bunch of people I’ve ever worked with.” It took me getting to work on the inside to realize how little they oftentimes knew before they went running off at the mouth (or the keyboard).
Nothing that has happened since has done anything to change that belief.
They seem to operate under the assumption that “I cover the big leagues, therefore I am big league…in thought, word, deed, intelligence and status.”
Wrong.
—Ricko[/quote]
RyCo I know you’re here, so remember our twitter convo about Tebow yesterday? Godfather Pearson has made my point![/quote]
yeah! great timing!!! lol
[quote comment=”374823″][quote comment=”374809″][quote comment=”374797″]Concealed 78 said…
“The Tribune’s sportswriters have a very high opinion of themselves, and an undeserved sense of accomplishment,..”
Thirty-five years ago, when I was working in pro sports PR, I said many times (off the record and to friends) that sportswriters were the “most under-informed and over-opinionated bunch of people I’ve ever worked with.” It took me getting to work on the inside to realize how little they oftentimes knew before they went running off at the mouth (or the keyboard).
Nothing that has happened since has done anything to change that belief.
They seem to operate under the assumption that “I cover the big leagues, therefore I am big league…in thought, word, deed, intelligence and status.”
Wrong.
—Ricko[/quote]
RyCo I know you’re here, so remember our twitter convo about Tebow yesterday? Godfather Pearson has made my point![/quote]
yeah! great timing!!! lol[/quote]
Well, whatever I did, and whoever’s case I supported…
glad I could be of service.
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374789″]Today’s ESPN column is up, and I don’t mind saying it turned out pretty damn nicely:
link
Fantastic read Paul. I love how your writing really makes you feel part of what you are covering. Even if someone has no connection to hockey, or Minnesota in general, you feel that connection from the article.
All of this coming from a Wisconsinite. The Mid West in general is full of the nicest people in the world. I love living here.
[quote comment=”374816″]Just looked through all of the Olympic hockey jerseys for the upcoming Vancouver games and noticed one thing right away. Every team in the field (at least the men’s field) is being outfitted by Nike this year. I don’t know if that has been the case in the past or not, because I’ve never payed that much attention to it, but it jumped out at me right away this year.[/quote]
Nike is a sponsor of all IIHF-endorsed tournaments. The Olympic hockey tournament is supported and managed by the IIHF.
Couple notes from the ticker:
– wow, the Bradenton Explorers use of the compass rose in their logo pre-dates the Mariners use by a couple seasons
– poking around that vintagesportsshoppe.com site (excellent and time-consuming suggestion Paul), there’s a photo under the ‘Baseball Pins/Pinbacks’ section of a Willie McGee button with McGee wearing a navy St. Louis practice/BP jersey — never knew the any team had non-game jerseys of any kind at that time
Speaking of Wisconsin… things are coming along nicely at Camp Randall Stadium for the Hockey Classic:
link
Ryan Miller Team USA goalie mask:
link
Speaking of Wisconsin, the men’s and women’s hockey jersey being worn in the Feb. 6 outdoor games at Camp Randall Stadium will be auctioned off. Bidding starts Friday morning, runs through Feb. 15. Info here: link
[quote comment=”374825″]All of this coming from a Wisconsinite. The Mid West in general is full of the nicest people in the world. I love living here.[/quote]
Are you including Chicago in that statement? Because I read that and now I just want to drive up to Janesville so I can punch you.
I KID! I KID!
I sure as hell don’t feel like fighting Friday evening traffic back into the city on the return trip.
[quote comment=”374822″][quote comment=”374821″]The Colts used the wrong helmet in this picture link
It’s art.[/quote]
isn’t that jim?
;)
On the ESPN page 2, Bill Simmons talks about the most tortured teams – obviously Cubs #1.
link
On the college side I’d have to be bias for my K State Wildcats. I won’t go into why but this one just twisted the knife a little more. We finally get a good season going and they start calling Bramlage Coliseum the “Octogon of Doom”.
link
It sits 50 yards from the “Bill Snyder Family Stadium”. Should be Octogon of Dumb.
[quote comment=”374824″][quote comment=”374823″][quote comment=”374809″][quote comment=”374797″]Concealed 78 said…
“The Tribune’s sportswriters have a very high opinion of themselves, and an undeserved sense of accomplishment,..”
Thirty-five years ago, when I was working in pro sports PR, I said many times (off the record and to friends) that sportswriters were the “most under-informed and over-opinionated bunch of people I’ve ever worked with.” It took me getting to work on the inside to realize how little they oftentimes knew before they went running off at the mouth (or the keyboard).
Nothing that has happened since has done anything to change that belief.
They seem to operate under the assumption that “I cover the big leagues, therefore I am big league…in thought, word, deed, intelligence and status.”
Wrong.
—Ricko[/quote]
RyCo I know you’re here, so remember our twitter convo about Tebow yesterday? Godfather Pearson has made my point![/quote]
yeah! great timing!!! lol[/quote]
Well, whatever I did, and whoever’s case I supported…
glad I could be of service.
—Ricko[/quote]
I was saying that with his size and leadership, I think Tebow would make a great middle line backer (defensive qb), and that hey if sports writers can say crazy things just to get their story read, why not me.
Now I have no idea if the man can tackle, but your talk about empty headed sports writers was exactly what i was illustrating.
(re-reading that, I am not intending to portray myself as an emptyhead, but that’s the best as I can describe it)
i just found a GREAT DIY for you O’s fans!!! (hilseberg & marshall, i’m looking in your direction!) i’m sure you’ve guys have seen this detail, but note the little logo on the hat:
link
simple little orange bird head. someone should definitely make that happen!!!
[quote comment=”374816″]Just looked through all of the Olympic hockey jerseys for the upcoming Vancouver games and noticed one thing right away. Every team in the field (at least the men’s field) is being outfitted by Nike this year. I don’t know if that has been the case in the past or not, because I’ve never payed that much attention to it, but it jumped out at me right away this year.[/quote]
Nike has been outfitting all IIHF A Level tournaments since about 1995. Bauer had been used for Canada, Sweden and the Czech Republic for a couple of years when they were owned by Nike, but then were all changed over to Nike for 1997-98.
[quote comment=”374752″][quote comment=”374747″]those White Sox blue on blue uniforms were their road uniforms from 1976-1980; when Jerry Reinsdorf bought the team in 1981 they went to blue tops and white pants on the road, and white on white at home[/quote]
Yes, there was a time when the navy pants went bye-bye.
Which almost no one ever notes.
Thank you for doing so.
On the subject of the White Sox, this remains about my favorite throwback uni ever. Also the first…
link
—Ricko[/quote]
nice….. but these are my personal faves: link
especially the White sox written in the ‘swoosh’
Steve Coates gets ‘punked’
link
[quote comment=”374832″][quote comment=”374822″][quote comment=”374821″]The Colts used the wrong helmet in this picture link
It’s art.[/quote]
isn’t that jim?
;)[/quote]
w/mike
:)
Davidson College Men’s basketball team wore black uniforms last night vs. College of Charleston. I’m not sure if these are new but it is the first time I have ever seen them. I remember last year they had a “black out” game vs. the same team, yet the team wore their normal uniforms.
Redskins black jersey = dumb idea
From the ticker
For the Oregon \”special\” jerseys, Paul, your forgot to mention the silver camo down the left side with the pink stripes down the shorts! Should have done pink on the sides with silver stripes.
Also, I wish I took a picture, but there were specialized basketballs made for the game as well. It had the Oregon O and the upside-down cancer ribbon on the ball.
Looking at Chris Creamer’s board, I had NEVER seen a MLB logo other than the one we now associate with the game. Interesting that they would go from a logo so dated to one so timeless!
link
[quote comment=”374837″][quote comment=”374752″][quote comment=”374747″]those White Sox blue on blue uniforms were their road uniforms from 1976-1980; when Jerry Reinsdorf bought the team in 1981 they went to blue tops and white pants on the road, and white on white at home[/quote]
Yes, there was a time when the navy pants went bye-bye.
Which almost no one ever notes.
Thank you for doing so.
On the subject of the White Sox, this remains about my favorite throwback uni ever. Also the first…
link
—Ricko[/quote]
nice….. but these are my personal faves: link
especially the White sox written in the ‘swoosh'[/quote]
agreed. Those are my favorite White Sox uniforms as well.
“Redskins black jersey = dumb idea”
(Sigh): If only that were a deterrent to this regime.
[quote comment=”374827″]
– poking around that vintagesportsshoppe.com site (excellent and time-consuming suggestion Paul), there’s a photo under the ‘Baseball Pins/Pinbacks’ section of a Willie McGee button with McGee wearing a navy St. Louis practice/BP jersey — never knew the any team had non-game jerseys of any kind at that time[/quote]
From what I’ve read, the first BP jersey was the 1972 White Sox. For such a cash-strapped team, research found that they also have a white home & a navy road mesh BP jersey from 1976-81 on top of the regular home whites & navy roads poly double knits.
Wow, great stuff by Kenn and Paul! I’m exhausted after all that great reading.
I vaguely remember the Senior League – just saw some photos somewhere, but never got to see a game. Nice unis.
As for the Minnesota piece, I love it that there is still room for friendliness and fair play in sports. I’m as competitive as the next guy, but the boorishness in most sports really grates on me. This was a nice change of pace for me.
I forgot to mention how great today’s post about the Senior League was. I enjoyed seeing pictures of the players I grew up with. Tiant, Nettles, Cuellar just to mention a few. Enjoyed the uniforms as well, great job.
[quote comment=”374845″][quote comment=”374827″]
From what I’ve read, the first BP jersey was the 1972 White Sox. For such a cash-strapped team, research found that they also have a white home & a navy road mesh BP jersey from 1976-81 on top of the regular home whites & navy roads poly double knits.[/quote]
IIRC, the mesh tops were sometimes worn in games as well on hot days. Not sure if I can scare up a photo. In the 1980 season, they rolled out a separate BP jersey</a? that they also wore the next year.
[quote comment=”374752″][quote comment=”374747″]those White Sox blue on blue uniforms were their road uniforms from 1976-1980; when Jerry Reinsdorf bought the team in 1981 they went to blue tops and white pants on the road, and white on white at home[/quote]
Yes, there was a time when the navy pants went bye-bye.
Which almost no one ever notes.
Thank you for doing so.
—Ricko[/quote]
Sweet! That little tidbit is going into my research project notes. Another little error to fix from the Okkonen collection. I kinda had a hunch because I’ve never seen Fisk wearing navy pants.
[quote comment=”374843″][quote comment=”374837″][quote comment=”374752″][quote comment=”374747″]those White Sox blue on blue uniforms were their road uniforms from 1976-1980; when Jerry Reinsdorf bought the team in 1981 they went to blue tops and white pants on the road, and white on white at home[/quote]
Yes, there was a time when the navy pants went bye-bye.
Which almost no one ever notes.
Thank you for doing so.
On the subject of the White Sox, this remains about my favorite throwback uni ever. Also the first…
link
—Ricko[/quote]
nice….. but these are my personal faves: link
especially the White sox written in the ‘swoosh'[/quote]
agreed. Those are my favorite White Sox uniforms as well.[/quote]
Allen-era homes one of my favorite Sox, too. But I was talkin’ ’bout my favorite “throwback” uni. Although always kinda hoped they’d go to it full-time; certainly distinctive, and it DOES have white socks.
I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and then issued everyone white socks…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374840″]Davidson College Men’s basketball team wore black uniforms last night vs. College of Charleston. I’m not sure if these are new but it is the first time I have ever seen them. I remember last year they had a “black out” game vs. the same team, yet the team wore their normal uniforms.
Redskins black jersey = dumb idea[/quote]
They’ve had black uniforms for years, sometimes as an alternate and sometimes as the primary. Grew up going to all the DC games and when the trainer showed me the black alternates one year when I was attending basketball camp back in the late 70s. A few years later the blacks were the regular and the reds the alternates. School colors are red and black.
[quote comment=”374850″][quote comment=”374843″][quote comment=”374837″][quote comment=”374752″][quote comment=”374747″]those White Sox blue on blue uniforms were their road uniforms from 1976-1980; when Jerry Reinsdorf bought the team in 1981 they went to blue tops and white pants on the road, and white on white at home[/quote]
Yes, there was a time when the navy pants went bye-bye.
Which almost no one ever notes.
Thank you for doing so.
On the subject of the White Sox, this remains about my favorite throwback uni ever. Also the first…
link
—Ricko[/quote]
nice….. but these are my personal faves: link
especially the White sox written in the ‘swoosh'[/quote]
agreed. Those are my favorite White Sox uniforms as well.[/quote]
Allen-era homes one of my favorite Sox, too. But I was talkin’ ’bout my favorite “throwback” uni. Although always kinda hoped they’d go to it full-time; certainly distinctive, and it DOES have white socks.
I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and then issued everyone white socks…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
—Ricko[/quote]
I really like them. You could say the same things about the Yankees’ uniforms, but I really like those too.
[quote comment=”374772″]The “upside down ribbon” is the symbol for the Kay Yow Foundation.[/quote]
Here’s the link from the WBCA.
[quote comment=”374851″][quote comment=”374840″]Davidson College Men’s basketball team wore black uniforms last night vs. College of Charleston. I’m not sure if these are new but it is the first time I have ever seen them. I remember last year they had a “black out” game vs. the same team, yet the team wore their normal uniforms.
Redskins black jersey = dumb idea[/quote]
They’ve had black uniforms for years, sometimes as an alternate and sometimes as the primary. Grew up going to all the DC games and when the trainer showed me the black alternates one year when I was attending basketball camp back in the late 70s. A few years later the blacks were the regular and the reds the alternates. School colors are red and black.[/quote]
If I recall, when they won the Southern Conference championship in 1986, they wore black uniforms on the road.
[quote comment=”374773″][quote comment=”374766″]
If you go way, way back…in one of the “Ricko Files” that Paul featured, I included an “album” of photos of all the different socks I could find that the White Sox wore with that set of unis (and there were plenty).
—Ricko[/quote]
Here’s link, which in the second to last pic clearly shows the socks in question being worn by Rusty Torres.
Paul-
Deleware Blue Rocks in Stirrups for 2010!!!!!!!!
link
And here’s Mr. Celery link
link
If anyone is interested, Kurt Warner has just retired.
Hopefully Brett Favre is taking notes.
[quote comment=”374844″]”Redskins black jersey = dumb idea”
(Sigh): If only that were a deterrent to this regime.[/quote]
LOL!
[quote comment=”374847″]I forgot to mention how great today’s post about the Senior League was. I enjoyed seeing pictures of the players I grew up with. Tiant, Nettles, Cuellar just to mention a few. Enjoyed the uniforms as well, great job.[/quote]
Never mind those ‘scrubs’…. hehehehe.. what about the immortal Felix ‘choking up’ Millan????
:)
I am the proud owner of a signed 8×10 color glossy photo of Rollie Fingers in his West Palm Beach Tropics regalia. thanks for bringing back the memories.
[quote comment=”374857″]If anyone is interested, Kurt Warner has just retired.
Hopefully Brett Favre is taking notes.[/quote]
He should be in this
link
into the hall of fame.
Ok, I never knew that they had used black previously. Granted I have only been following the cats since 7th-8th grad (95-96) and in that time I had never noticed them. I even wonder at a few times why they didn’t have one since I knew it was a school color.
Can I post anything? Anything at all?
[quote comment=”374857″]If anyone is interested, Kurt Warner has just retired.
Hopefully Brett Favre is taking notes.[/quote]
Oh, he is.
He’ll undoubtedly incorporate what he learned into one of his future retirement press conferences.
[quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
OK … guess that worked. Try this a third time …
link
[quote comment=”374789″]Today’s ESPN column is up, and I don’t mind saying it turned out pretty damn nicely:
link
Nice job. You really captured the spirit of the place and the slight bent most of us have mentally, you betcha.
By the way, the pond hockey resumes this Saturday only without the creature comforts of the giant tent/changing room/beer garden and people will still show up en masse.
[quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
Fine. Be that way. I saw something interesting on Chris Creamer’s board, the old MLB logo. Don’t recall seeing it before. It’s under MLB, then Major League Baseball League-Related Logos, then click on the current MLB logo.
Yeah, it’d be easier to post a link, one would think … but I’m not trying it a 5th time.
[quote comment=”374869″][quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
Fine. Be that way. I saw something interesting on Chris Creamer’s board, the old MLB logo. Don’t recall seeing it before. It’s under MLB, then Major League Baseball League-Related Logos, then click on the current MLB logo.
Yeah, it’d be easier to post a link, one would think … but I’m not trying it a 5th time.[/quote]
This logo?
link
That’s the logo MLB used before the batterman.
[quote comment=”374869″][quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
Fine. Be that way. I saw something interesting on Chris Creamer’s board, the old MLB logo. Don’t recall seeing it before. It’s under MLB, then Major League Baseball League-Related Logos, then click on the current MLB logo.
Yeah, it’d be easier to post a link, one would think … but I’m not trying it a 5th time.[/quote]
Didn’t work for me, either.
Was it link?
Really hoping that Lawrence Tech University will wear their “Classic Style” jerseys one of the two games we play this weekend. They are apparently an off-white to creamish color with tie downs and simple striping. If they do I’ll get some pics.
[quote comment=”374871″][quote comment=”374869″][quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
Fine. Be that way. I saw something interesting on Chris Creamer’s board, the old MLB logo. Don’t recall seeing it before. It’s under MLB, then Major League Baseball League-Related Logos, then click on the current MLB logo.
Yeah, it’d be easier to post a link, one would think … but I’m not trying it a 5th time.[/quote]
Didn’t work for me, either.
Was it link?[/quote]
That appears to be the logo, but interestingly, Chris Creamer says that the current logo was put into use in 1969-70…that trophy is from 1975…
link
[quote comment=”374871″][quote comment=”374869″][quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
Fine. Be that way. I saw something interesting on Chris Creamer’s board, the old MLB logo. Don’t recall seeing it before. It’s under MLB, then Major League Baseball League-Related Logos, then click on the current MLB logo.
Yeah, it’d be easier to post a link, one would think … but I’m not trying it a 5th time.[/quote]
Didn’t work for me, either.
Was it link?[/quote]
Yes, thank you! That’s the one, but on the board it had a HORRIBLE “baseball” in child-written letters:
link
(hope this site is allowed)
[quote comment=”374874″][quote comment=”374871″][quote comment=”374869″][quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
Fine. Be that way. I saw something interesting on Chris Creamer’s board, the old MLB logo. Don’t recall seeing it before. It’s under MLB, then Major League Baseball League-Related Logos, then click on the current MLB logo.
Yeah, it’d be easier to post a link, one would think … but I’m not trying it a 5th time.[/quote]
Didn’t work for me, either.
Was it link?[/quote]
Yes, thank you! That’s the one, but on the board it had a HORRIBLE “baseball” in child-written letters:
link
(hope this site is allowed)[/quote]
You’re batting 1.000, Jim.
link (maybe).
[quote comment=”374839″][quote comment=”374832″][quote comment=”374822″][quote comment=”374821″]The Colts used the wrong helmet in this picture link
It’s art.[/quote]
isn’t that jim?
;)[/quote]
w/mike
:)[/quote]
Phil’s was good. Leon’s was better.
Sure this will get eaten to, but here’s some uni-news affecting the game itself …
link
[quote comment=”374850″]
I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and then issued everyone white socks…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
World Series win or not, as a fan I personally have no ties to the current uni’s, and I don’t care for them for the same reason they mimic the Raiders & pop culture of the early 1990s. The silver needs to go. Unfortunately I don’t think they’re going to change for a very long time, if ever. And I’d perfer them in navy & red, or at the very least, kelly green.
[quote comment=”374808″]That “Expos Logo” article is clearly biased. The Minnesota Wild logo is one of the best logos in sport.[/quote]
I’m not too fond of the Wild logo, but I also dont hate it. What I really hate is the name Wild. I’m wondering how you feel about the team name itself. Also, what else could they have been called and still use that logo? I really do hate singular names like Wild, Heat, Magic, Thunder, etc.
[quote comment=”374879″][quote comment=”374808″]That “Expos Logo” article is clearly biased. The Minnesota Wild logo is one of the best logos in sport.[/quote]
I’m not too fond of the Wild logo, but I also dont hate it. What I really hate is the name Wild. I’m wondering how you feel about the team name itself. Also, what else could they have been called and still use that logo? I really do hate singular names like Wild, Heat, Magic, Thunder, etc.[/quote]
I really like the Wild logo because of the double images in it: wild animal and wilderness scene. The name also fits both ideas, and works for me. The Heat and Lightning relate to Florida, and Magic works for Orlando. They are unconventional, but so are the Red and White Sox.
[quote comment=”374866″][quote comment=”374857″]If anyone is interested, Kurt Warner has just retired.
Hopefully Brett Favre is taking notes.[/quote]
Oh, he is.
He’ll undoubtedly incorporate what he learned into one of his future retirement press conferences.[/quote]
What am I missing? Did Favre have a lousy season or something?
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374880″][quote comment=”374879″][quote comment=”374808″]That “Expos Logo” article is clearly biased. The Minnesota Wild logo is one of the best logos in sport.[/quote]
I’m not too fond of the Wild logo, but I also dont hate it. What I really hate is the name Wild. I’m wondering how you feel about the team name itself. Also, what else could they have been called and still use that logo? I really do hate singular names like Wild, Heat, Magic, Thunder, etc.[/quote]
I really like the Wild logo because of the double images in it: wild animal and wilderness scene. The name also fits both ideas, and works for me. The Heat and Lightning relate to Florida, and Magic works for Orlando. They are unconventional, but so are the Red and White Sox.[/quote]
The difference between the teams with abstract nouns as names and for example the Red and White Sox, is that the Red and White Sox were named after articles of the uniform that identified the teams.
[quote comment=”374878″][quote comment=”374850″]
I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and then issued everyone white socks…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
World Series win or not, as a fan I personally have no ties to the current uni’s, and I don’t care for them for the same reason they mimic the Raiders & pop culture of the early 1990s. The silver needs to go. Unfortunately I don’t think they’re going to change for a very long time, if ever. And I’d perfer them in navy & red, or at the very least, kelly green.[/quote]
Would a return to the black & red of the 50s have been better? Yeah, of course, but it could be so much worse. As trendy colors from the early 90s go, they probably picked the best one when they went with the silver. They could have gone purple or teal or god knows what else. Also, the duller sliver-gray they picked was a good move, as opposed to the Rockies and Marlins who opted for the chrome/sparkly variety.
Plus, black & red looks a lot like navy & red and there are enough navy & red teams in baseball right now.
[quote comment=”374875″][quote comment=”374874″][quote comment=”374871″][quote comment=”374869″][quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
Fine. Be that way. I saw something interesting on Chris Creamer’s board, the old MLB logo. Don’t recall seeing it before. It’s under MLB, then Major League Baseball League-Related Logos, then click on the current MLB logo.
Yeah, it’d be easier to post a link, one would think … but I’m not trying it a 5th time.[/quote]
Didn’t work for me, either.
Was it link?[/quote]
Yes, thank you! That’s the one, but on the board it had a HORRIBLE “baseball” in child-written letters:
link
(hope this site is allowed)[/quote]
You’re batting 1.000, Jim.
link (maybe).[/quote]
That’s just somebody’s bad trace of the Baseball logo. Sometimes Creamer posts those when he doesn’t have a clearer version.
[quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.
[quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
And maddeningly, hardly any of the players would ever let you see that detail.
[quote comment=”374886″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
And maddeningly, hardly any of the players would ever let you see that detail.[/quote]
Ah, but the first part of my “daydream” was a White Sox team rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf”.
I know for a fact that in the somewhat recent past (the last 20 years or so) the Reds, Giants and Twins have had rules about such things. Maybe the current CBA forbids such things, though.
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374887″][quote comment=”374886″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
And maddeningly, hardly any of the players would ever let you see that detail.[/quote]
Ah, but the first part of my “daydream” was a White Sox team rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf”.
I know for a fact that in the somewhat recent past (the last 20 years or so) the Reds, Giants and Twins have had rules about such things. Maybe the current CBA forbids such things, though.
—Ricko[/quote]
Ha. Yeah, wouldn’t want to trample on the players’ rights by forcing them to look like professionals.
And come to think of it, rules like that for lots of teams (with the appropriate sock colors) would turn their unis from bland and uninspired to distinctive, sharp and quite possibly perfect.
[quote comment=”374888″][quote comment=”374887″][quote comment=”374886″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
And maddeningly, hardly any of the players would ever let you see that detail.[/quote]
Ah, but the first part of my “daydream” was a White Sox team rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf”.
I know for a fact that in the somewhat recent past (the last 20 years or so) the Reds, Giants and Twins have had rules about such things. Maybe the current CBA forbids such things, though.
—Ricko[/quote]
Ha. Yeah, wouldn’t want to trample on the players’ rights by forcing them to look like professionals.
And come to think of it, rules like that for lots of teams (with the appropriate sock colors) would turn their unis from bland and uninspired to distinctive, sharp and quite possibly perfect.[/quote]
I would love to see that but my fear is that it would turn into a a scene similar to the NFL where there are fines for missing the length by 1/2 inch or such.
[quote comment=”374879″]I’m not too fond of the Wild logo, but I also dont hate it. What I really hate is the name Wild. I’m wondering how you feel about the team name itself. Also, what else could they have been called and still use that logo? I really do hate singular names like Wild, Heat, Magic, Thunder, etc.[/quote]
I used to think I didn’t like singular team names, until I did the math and realized how many there were. It isn’t singular names that I dislike, it’s bad singular names.
The Wild isn’t one of my favorites, but it could be worse – they could have gone really minor-league-ish by calling them the Wild Boyzz, for example.
Maybe it’s because I grew up with indoor soccer, where 14 of the 32 teams in the original MISL had singular names. One of my favorites, and one of my least favorites, came from the same city. I liked the name Cleveland Force, but not the Cleveland Crunch. Since the team wasn’t owned by Nestle, the Crunch just sounded like a forced name chosen for the sake of alliteration (does anyone besides a headline writer really like alliteration anyway?).
If the name fits the city, then singular or plural doesn’t matter. The Jazz? Sounded great in N’Orleans, not so much in Utah. They should switch names with the Lakers or the Hornets.
[quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
I’m assuming it’s either black stirrups with white socks, or changing silver to red, or both.
[quote comment=”374889″][quote comment=”374888″][quote comment=”374887″][quote comment=”374886″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
And maddeningly, hardly any of the players would ever let you see that detail.[/quote]
Ah, but the first part of my “daydream” was a White Sox team rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf”.
I know for a fact that in the somewhat recent past (the last 20 years or so) the Reds, Giants and Twins have had rules about such things. Maybe the current CBA forbids such things, though.
—Ricko[/quote]
Ha. Yeah, wouldn’t want to trample on the players’ rights by forcing them to look like professionals.
And come to think of it, rules like that for lots of teams (with the appropriate sock colors) would turn their unis from bland and uninspired to distinctive, sharp and quite possibly perfect.[/quote]
I would love to see that but my fear is that it would turn into a a scene similar to the NFL where there are fines for missing the length by 1/2 inch or such.[/quote]
Rule:
“All players shall wear un-modified team-issue stirrup socks and sanitary undersocks with undersocks clearly visible. Pants shall be worn below the knee but so that any and all striping on stirrups socks is visible.”
(No measuring. No nothing. Can we see the sanis? Can we see all the stripes? We can? You’re okay.)
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374891″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
I’m assuming it’s either black stirrups with white socks, or changing silver to red, or both.[/quote]
Nope. We’re talking just plain white socks. Like, y’know, the logo, perhaps? The Joe Jackson look. In this day and age, no need for stirrups.
Socks Like this (with the current uni)…
link
Most noticeable thing about the uni would be–by golly–the white socks. What a concept.
—Ricko
[quote comment=”374889″]I would love to see that but my fear is that it would turn into a a scene similar to the NFL where there are fines for missing the length by 1/2 inch or such.[/quote]
And yet…every Sunday I see lots of NFL players with their pants above their knees and superlong monochromatic socks/stockings underneath.
It looks like ass, IMHO.
So if they’re fining guys, guys are apparently altering their behavior and not their pant length.
so i am in the supermercado next to the chicken feet and cow hearts when some little 8 year olde girl looks up at me and laughs hysterically, then her little sister turns around and screams bloody murder and starts crying as she grabs her mother. i just twirled the stache and headed for the tortilla isle.
anyone interested in stopping by for the super next week, i am making homemade deep dishes etc. just so you know, the others in attendance will be a painter who owns no tv and roots for favre because they share the same birthday, a musician who likes don knotts movies, and a cat that fetches nerf footballs, and whatever other freaks show up. should be a gas.
[quote comment=”374893″][quote comment=”374891″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
I’m assuming it’s either black stirrups with white socks, or changing silver to red, or both.[/quote]
Nope. We’re talking just plain white socks. Like, y’know, the logo, perhaps? The Joe Jackson look. In this day and age, no need for stirrups.
Socks Like this (with the current uni)…
link
Most noticeable thing about the uni would be–by golly–the white socks. What a concept.
—Ricko[/quote]
but your previously posted rule required teams to wear stirrups, make up your damn mind already.
That man-crush you have for Favre is affecting you
[quote comment=”374895″]so i am in the supermercado next to the chicken feet and cow hearts when some little 8 year olde girl looks up at me and laughs hysterically, then her little sister turns around and screams bloody murder and starts crying as she grabs her mother. i just twirled the stache and headed for the tortilla isle.
anyone interested in stopping by for the super next week, i am making homemade deep dishes etc. just so you know, the others in attendance will be a painter who owns no tv and roots for favre because they share the same birthday, a musician who likes don knotts movies, and a cat that fetches nerf footballs, and whatever other freaks show up. should be a gas.[/quote]
Is it safe to assume that the homemade deep dishes will have the chicken beaks and cow hooves you just purchased on them?
[quote comment=”374895″]so i am in the supermercado next to the chicken feet and cow hearts when some little 8 year olde girl looks up at me and laughs hysterically, then her little sister turns around and screams bloody murder and starts crying as she grabs her mother. i just twirled the stache and headed for the tortilla isle.
anyone interested in stopping by for the super next week, i am making homemade deep dishes etc. just so you know, the others in attendance will be a painter who owns no tv and roots for favre because they share the same birthday, a musician who likes don knotts movies, and a cat that fetches nerf footballs, and whatever other freaks show up. should be a gas.[/quote]
Don Knotts is a stud.
link
[quote comment=”374890″][quote comment=”374879″]I’m not too fond of the Wild logo, but I also dont hate it. What I really hate is the name Wild. I’m wondering how you feel about the team name itself. Also, what else could they have been called and still use that logo? I really do hate singular names like Wild, Heat, Magic, Thunder, etc.[/quote]
I used to think I didn’t like singular team names, until I did the math and realized how many there were. It isn’t singular names that I dislike, it’s bad singular names.
The Wild isn’t one of my favorites, but it could be worse – they could have gone really minor-league-ish by calling them the Wild Boyzz, for example.
Maybe it’s because I grew up with indoor soccer, where 14 of the 32 teams in the original MISL had singular names. One of my favorites, and one of my least favorites, came from the same city. I liked the name Cleveland Force, but not the Cleveland Crunch. Since the team wasn’t owned by Nestle, the Crunch just sounded like a forced name chosen for the sake of alliteration (does anyone besides a headline writer really like alliteration anyway?).
If the name fits the city, then singular or plural doesn’t matter. The Jazz? Sounded great in N’Orleans, not so much in Utah. They should switch names with the Lakers or the Hornets.[/quote]
The Arena Football League had a few
Tampa Bay Storm
Utah Blaze
Chicago Rush
New Orleans Voodoo
Georgia Force
Detroit Drive
Detroit Fury
Kansas City Brigade
Denver Dynamite
New Orleans Night
Sacramento Attack
San Antonio Force
Charlotte Rage
Fort Worth Calvary
Las Vegas Sting
St. Louis Stampede
Minnesota Fighting Pike
Texas Terror
Grand Rapids Rampage
Colorado Crush
Philadelphia Soul
trax, that’s from the love god
jth, i was just walk through that isle, they were buying the random parts.
link
“… for the sake of alliteration (does anyone besides a headline writer really like alliteration anyway?).”
Literally, let’s let a little alliteration into all literature lest the art be belittled. (Now, hyperbole, that is a horse of another color:
wait, that’s a simile).
Technically, Minnesota Fighting Pike can construed as singular or plural, as can any fish references. (Despite Luca Brazzi).
As for the others, blech. These are teams, not collectives, comrade.
:)
And was Fort Worth really “Calvary” or “Cavalry”?
[quote comment=”374904″]And was Fort Worth really “Calvary” or “Cavalry”?[/quote]
cavalry. Damn fat fingers
[quote comment=”374895″]just so you know, the others in attendance will be a painter who owns no tv and roots for favre because they share the same birthday, a musician who likes don knotts movies, and a cat that fetches nerf footballs, and whatever other freaks show up. should be a gas.[/quote]
your cat fetches footballs and freaks?
now that i’d pay to see
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
fuck work…that’s all imo say
[quote comment=”374884″][quote comment=”374875″][quote comment=”374874″][quote comment=”374871″][quote comment=”374869″][quote comment=”374865″]Can I post anything? Anything at all?[/quote]
Fine. Be that way. I saw something interesting on Chris Creamer’s board, the old MLB logo. Don’t recall seeing it before. It’s under MLB, then Major League Baseball League-Related Logos, then click on the current MLB logo.
Yeah, it’d be easier to post a link, one would think … but I’m not trying it a 5th time.[/quote]
Didn’t work for me, either.
Was it link?[/quote]
Yes, thank you! That’s the one, but on the board it had a HORRIBLE “baseball” in child-written letters:
link
(hope this site is allowed)[/quote]
You’re batting 1.000, Jim.
link (maybe).[/quote]
That’s just somebody’s bad trace of the Baseball logo. Sometimes Creamer posts those when he doesn’t have a clearer version.[/quote]
Well here’s the only clean image I have of that old logo:
link
[quote comment=”374906″][quote comment=”374895″]just so you know, the others in attendance will be a painter who owns no tv and roots for favre because they share the same birthday, a musician who likes don knotts movies, and a cat that fetches nerf footballs, and whatever other freaks show up. should be a gas.[/quote]
your cat fetches footballs and freaks?
now that i’d pay to see
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
fuck work…that’s all imo say[/quote]
chowderhead does fetch nerf footballs. i should have written that gooder, but whatever.
To the one known as Hemogoblin:
link
[quote comment=”374896″][quote comment=”374893″][quote comment=”374891″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
I’m assuming it’s either black stirrups with white socks, or changing silver to red, or both.[/quote]
Nope. We’re talking just plain white socks. Like, y’know, the logo, perhaps? The Joe Jackson look. In this day and age, no need for stirrups.
Socks Like this (with the current uni)…
link
Most noticeable thing about the uni would be–by golly–the white socks. What a concept.
—Ricko[/quote]
but your previously posted rule required teams to wear stirrups, make up your damn mind already.
[/quote]
And wouldn’t what some Red Sox players are doing is considered the right red socked way instead of navy or red stirrups with white socks? Perhaps the two Sox teams would be except from the stirrup rule. (and I would impose much harsher penalties for not complying with the sock or stirrup rule – something like 50 game suspension for 1st offense, second 100 games, 3rd one year, 4th two years, 5th lifetime banishment.)
NFL claims they own “Who Dat”.
link
[quote comment=”374910″][quote comment=”374896″][quote comment=”374893″][quote comment=”374891″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
I’m assuming it’s either black stirrups with white socks, or changing silver to red, or both.[/quote]
Nope. We’re talking just plain white socks. Like, y’know, the logo, perhaps? The Joe Jackson look. In this day and age, no need for stirrups.
Socks Like this (with the current uni)…
link
Most noticeable thing about the uni would be–by golly–the white socks. What a concept.
—Ricko[/quote]
but your previously posted rule required teams to wear stirrups, make up your damn mind already.
[/quote]
And wouldn’t what some Red Sox players are doing is considered the right red socked way instead of navy or red stirrups with white socks? Perhaps the two Sox teams would be except from the stirrup rule. (and I would impose much harsher penalties for not complying with the sock or stirrup rule – something like 50 game suspension for 1st offense, second 100 games, 3rd one year, 4th two years, 5th lifetime banishment.)[/quote]
a stirrup is a sock, the stirrup is just the loop, the sock part is still a sock, so no matter if they wear what you call a stirrup or a sock, they are wearing sox.
The Wisconsin Badgers men’s and women’s hockey teams are auctioning off their Winter Classic uniforms already. I gotta say I don’t really like the men’s version (especially with the logo patch on each shoulder):
link
On the other side of the coin, I LOVE the women’s jersey/sweater:
link
It’s so clean, and just one patch on the upper left chest. Just love it. They should wear this all the time. Instead they wear this:
link
[quote comment=”374896″][quote comment=”374893″][quote comment=”374891″][quote comment=”374885″][quote comment=”374850″]I understand Sox’ fans affection for the current unis…having won a W-S in them and all…but the truth is, other than something of a unique baseball color combination (the Raiders of MLB), the unis are pretty much off-the-rack. There really is no “signature design element” to them…other than the color combo.
Now, if the club had a rule: “No pants longer than mid-calf” and [b]then issued everyone white socks[/b]…they’d have something…something actually owing to the team name…and harking to the logo.
I know. I’m dreaming. Why would the White Sox actually wear white socks. Silly me.
—Ricko
[/quote]
One small detail.
One small detail, which would change the White Sox uniforms from bland and uninspiring to distinctive, sharp and perfect.[/quote]
I’m assuming it’s either black stirrups with white socks, or changing silver to red, or both.[/quote]
Nope. We’re talking just plain white socks. Like, y’know, the logo, perhaps? The Joe Jackson look. In this day and age, no need for stirrups.
Socks Like this (with the current uni)…
link
Most noticeable thing about the uni would be–by golly–the white socks. What a concept.
—Ricko[/quote]
but your previously posted rule required teams to wear stirrups, make up your damn mind already.
That man-crush you have for Favre is affecting you[/quote]
Two separate discussions. The “rule” was in the context of how to state such a rule.
The White Sox socks description was in the environment of unis as they are today.
Just happened to converge.
No “man crush” on Favre. Can tell a helluva year by a QB when I see one—40 years old or otherwise—that’s all. Especially when I watched it all season long.
And I’m also pretty sure he was one of only four starting quarterbacks still playing last weekend. 26 others couldn’t say that. Right?
I mean, Romo wasn’t playing. Or Warner. Or Big Ben. Or Rodgers. Or McNabb. Or Rivers. Or Eli. Or Brady. Or…
You get the point.
—Ricko
I’m very much a fan of the Rays’ rebrand a couple years back, but I would have definitely been okay with them switching to the Pelicans design full time. That is just simply gorgeous, and “Pelicans” is arguably a more professional-sounding name than “Rays,” but oh well. I’m still a fan.
Side note: Does anyone know where I could find a Pelicans New Era throwback cap? I know they sold them around the time the Rays wore them, but I never picked one up and greatly regret it.
Surprised this hasn’t made it on yet (unless it was on here some other day and I just missed it), but…
link
I tried applying the good/stupid test and bits of my brain started liquefying and pouring out of my ears. Poor shame I’ll have to buy the blue ones in 10 days…
^^^
the good/stupid test for the hats, that is. the shirts are par-for-the-course with Super Bowl shirts. I really liked the design for the conference champion hats, and was hoping these would mirror that…apparently not.
[quote comment=”374899″][quote comment=”374890″]I used to think I didn’t like singular team names, until I did the math and realized how many there were. It isn’t singular names that I dislike, it’s bad singular names.[/quote]
The Arena Football League had a few
Tampa Bay Storm
Utah Blaze
Chicago Rush
New Orleans Voodoo
Georgia Force
Detroit Drive
Detroit Fury
Kansas City Brigade
Denver Dynamite
New Orleans Night
Sacramento Attack
San Antonio Force
Charlotte Rage
Fort Worth Calvary
Las Vegas Sting
St. Louis Stampede
Minnesota Fighting Pike
Texas Terror
Grand Rapids Rampage
Colorado Crush
Philadelphia Soul[/quote]
Now I remember why I thought I didn’t like singular names…
Storm – Like.
Blaze – REALLY don’t like.
Rush – Meh.
Voodoo? Doo doo.
Force – Like.
Drive – Like (only ’cause it fit the city).
Fury – Don’t like.
Brigade – Don’t like.
Dyanmite – Annoying alliteration.
Night – Don’t like.
Attack – Don’t like.
Force – Like.
Rage – Blah.
Calvary – I like Cavalry better. ;)
Sting – Like.
Stampede – Okay.
Fighting Pike – Gotta love that one!
Terror – Turrible, as Sir Charles says.
Rampage – Meh.
Crush – Meh.
Soul – better than Rap.
Worst thing to happen to the PGA Tour since Tiger-gate…:
link
[quote comment=”374911″]NFL claims they own “Who Dat”.
link
Yet another reason I hope the new USFL starts next year.
[quote comment=”374920″][quote comment=”374911″]NFL claims they own “Who Dat”.
link
Yet another reason I hope the new USFL starts next year.[/quote]
( a) Because, by all means, THAT’S a reason to quit following the NFL
( b) Don’t hold your breath. They’ve got no shot.
[quote comment=”374921″][quote comment=”374920″][quote comment=”374911″]NFL claims they own “Who Dat”.
link
Yet another reason I hope the new USFL starts next year.[/quote]
( a) Because, by all means, THAT’S a reason to quit following the NFL
( b) Don’t hold your breath. They’ve got no shot.[/quote]
a) Not so much a reason, it’s just a reflection of their overall arrogance. The upcoming lockout is my bigger reason.
b) If the new USFL knows its place and doesn’t try to take on the NFL, they have a shot. If they hang on for 20 years the way arena football did, I’d be happy.
[quote comment=”374818″][quote comment=”374815″]Anyone else think it’s funny that Curt Flood ended up as the commissioner of a baseball league after launching what may be the most famous lawsuit against a league commissioner in the history of sports? I mean, American Needle is the only case that even comes close to the importance of Flood v Kuhn in the last fifty years of player-management relations.[/quote]
Irony and a bit sad. Curt (God rest his soul) was just not cut out to be an actual working commissioner. He was more of a figurehead, and a guy named Rick Horrow (who’s still in South Florida, I believe, and pops up as a sports business expert from time to time) did the actual work and was the actual commish (or president) the second year. So it went under on his watch.
And wouldn’t you say the Messersmith decision was as important or moreso than Flood vs. Kuhn? Remember, Flood lost his case. Maybe that set the scene for Messersmith and was, therefore, as or more important.[/quote]
Since he lost, the importance of Curt Flood’s case wasn’t the outcome, so much as the publicity it garnered and the way the decision laid the groundwork for the Seitz Decision 3 years later.
The public at large didn’t question the legitimacy of the reserve clause until Flood v Kuhn became highly publicized. The decision was torn apart in the media and by both legal and baseball scholars for its ambivalence, fanboyism, and unyielding dependence on stare decisis while at the same time undermining the case it used as precedent.
The Seitz decision, which allowed Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally to become free agents, was considered almost an afterthought, the logical conclusion of a path that Flood v Kuhn opened.
For the catcher, I arrived at Dann Bilardello.
1) The batter is definitely Glenn Davis, who played for Houston from 84-90.
2) The Pirate shoulder patch changed in 87, so that narrows it to 87-90.
3) I thought the number looked like the bottom of a #2, and it’s wide enough that it’s probably part of a double-number instead of a single digit.
3) Major catchers during that time were:
– Mike LaValliere (wore #12, also just physically wrong)
– Junior Ortiz (#26 for a while, then switched to 0 — unlikely. Skin color, no beard at edge of mask, hair at back of helmet would be a little bushier)
– Tom Prince (46, then 14) – could be if the number was a 4 instead of a 2
– Mackey Sasser (2) — turns out he didn’t really play much catcher for the Pirates, only 5 games
– Dann Bilardello — (22) Was mostly the 3rd catcher, but LaValliere missed time in both 89 and 90 — Bilardello played 33 and 19 games, respectively.
— Don Slaught (11)
Mr. Celery? Can anyone explain the connection of Mr. Celery to Wilmington, DE? It’s not exactly what you would call an ‘agricultural hotbed.’