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Fifty Since Sixty

Eagles Throwback Hed

By Phil Hecken

As you are all aware, or should be by now, last week the Philadelphia Eagles became the third team to unveil a “throwback alternate.” Paul already covered the unveiling, so today I’ll take you back to the original.

With so many great possibilities (worn in the 1940s) to choose from (early 1970s) for a possible throwback (1969), including their Super Bowl XV (1981) or their crazy silver/green/white loops or even the similar mid-1960s northwestern striped uniform, why would the 2010 Eagles choose the 1960 uniform for a throwback? Two very easy answers: they won their last NFL championship in 1960, and 2010 just happens to represent the 50th Anniversary of that championship.

Throwbacks are, obviously, nothing new to the NFL. In fact, thus far the Green Bay Packers (throwing back to 1919) and the Chicago Bears (“mid-1940’s” but very close to their 1947 uniform) have announced their own throwbacks for the 2010 season. So, sensing both a need to jump on the alternate merchandising bandwagon and celebrate their past, the Eagles will be wearing a striking kelly green jersey with white pants hosting two green stipes, period correct socks, and green helmet with silver wings that faithfully recreates the one worn during the 1960 championship season. Obviously, we’ll need to see the uniforms on the field, but at first glance, they look like they nailed it.

There is more symbolism in the first (and only?) wearing of the new alternate/throwbacks as well: the Eagles have announced they will wear them in their home opener against the Green Bay Packers, whom they defeated to win their third and final NFL championship on December 26, 1960. Played at Franklin Field, the 1960 Championship Game pitted the 10-2 Eagles (who had not been to the final game since 1949) against the 8-4 Packers (who themselves had not been to the big game since 1944). The game was actually played on a Monday, since the NFL did not want to hold the game on Christmas Day, and began at noon, since Franklin Field did not have lights at the time.

The 1960 Eagles roster was loaded with talent, including four future NFL Hall of Famers. Players like Billy Ray Barnes, Pete Retzlaff, Joe Rob, and Tom Brookshier were stalwarts, while HOF backup QB Sonny Jurgensen provided leadership. But the biggest stars of 1960 were Hall of Fame wide receiver Tommy McDonald, (who was later honored with a SI cover), and Hall of Fame Quarterback Norm Van Brocklin (shown against the Giants in 1962).

But no one individual more personifies the 1960 Championship team than the last “60 minute man” himself, Chuck Bednarik. After an opening day spanking at the hands the Cleveland Browns, 41-24, Bednarik and the Eagles would go on a tear, terrorizing the rest of the league and winning their next nine games. In one of the most famous tackles in NFL history, Bednark famously knocked Giants poster-boy Frank Gifford out of football for 18 months with a crushing tackle during their November 20th matchup. Bednarik, the last man in the NFL to “play 60,” was both a center on offense and linebacker on defense. Nicknamed “Concrete Charlie,” he was inducted into the HOF in his first year of eligibility (1967), and had previously feuded with current Eagles owner Jeff Lurie. However, the two patched things up and Bednarik was recently invited back to Franklin Field to help the Eagles announce the throwbacks. Always a tough guy, even years after his playing career were over he still looked and sounded “mean.” A fantastic interview/retrospective of his career can be seen in this video. The best five minutes you’ll spend today.

Interesting was the decision by the Eagles, and particularly their owner, Jeffrey Lurie, to return (even for one game) to the kelly green. Almost as soon as Lurie assumed ownership of the Eagles in the mid-1990’s he sought to change their uniforms to the midnight green they have worn since 1996, replacing the kelly they had worn for almost their entire history, dating back to 1933. Whether that decision was because Lurie had a personal preference for that shade, whether he changed the uniforms “because he could,” or whether he changed them, as some have opined, because they bore too much resemblance to the Jets have all been proffered as reasons for the change. More likely was a desire to make the Eagles look “tougher” (adding heavy black accents, socks and sleeves, as well as making the logo appear more menacing, replacing various versions of this). Lurie added a black alternate jersey to the mix, and his coach Andy Reid, wears almost exclusively black outfits on the sidelines.

Even more interestingly, when Lurie introduced the only other throwback the Eagles have worn during his ownership, it was this gold and powder blue gem which many have called the ugliest uniform in sports, although not everyone who sported that look actually looked bad. They wore that uniform in 2007 to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of their first (1933) uniform. It’s easy to see why the Eagles quickly abandoned that look (the colors of which were chose to represent the flag of Philadephia). Perhaps, shockingly, because the 75th Anniversary throwbacks didn’t sell so well, the Eagles saw a new opportunity by bringing back the kelly.

Anyway you slice it, the return to kelly green is welcome for most Philly fans, who have been longing for it (for the most part) since Lurie bought the team. And so far, the Eagles are doing it right, not only holding the unveiling at Franklin Field (where they even sought to play their home opener), but inviting back many of their old greats for the new uniform reveal. In addition to the throwback, there will be a halftime ceremony during the home opener and various celebrations throughout that week to honor the last Philadelphia team to bring home a championship. Still, one must think the return to kelly was due in no small part to Lurie’s love of a different shade of green.

Lurie was asked if honoring the 1960 team was just a painful reminder that his team hasn’t won a title in 50 years and during his nearly two-decade long tenure. “It’s all self-inflicted,” Lurie said.

Indeed. But having your current team wear the uniform of your last championship team, at least for one game, is really a win-win for everyone, no?

~~~~~~~~~~

Benchies Header

Since Paul took yesterday’s post, the regular Sunday Benchies has been moved to today. So, here’s Ricko:

Baseball, softball…it’s all “ball” and it unites us. It connects the generations, young to old, old to young. Always those two hoops—young and old—rolling seamlessly through time. At different places, to be sure, but moving in the same undeniable direction. And as surely as there will be differences and disputes and divergent paths, there will always be the common ground of “ball,” times when the hoops entwine, rolling together for awhile, and we find precious, lasting moments of oneness. Well, most of the time, anyway.

Now then, is a special Monday Benchies.

And now here’s Paul with today’s Ticker.

~~~~~~~~~~

Uni Watch News Ticker: Thanks, Phil, and thanks also to the many of you who sent me notes regarding yesterday’s entry. I truly appreciate all the kind words. … Now then: As you know, there were lots of pink accessories on MLB diamonds yesterday. No biggie — we’ve all seen that before. But pink was a bigger and more problematic part of the storyline in Australia, where the Aussie rules football club Melbourne FC wore pink and so did the refs, causing a visual similarity that led to a major gaffe. Additional details here (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). ”¦ If pink is the anti-breast cancer color, green is apparently the anti-doping color, at least when applied to a hockey puck (with thanks to Bill Curran). ”¦ Great example of how hard it can be to judge colors from black-and-white photos, courtesy of Ricko: “Over the years I’ve seen several b+w photos of the early-’40s Minneapolis Millers jersey, and I figured all the striping/piping was red. Not so — turns out the verticals on the shoulders and sides were royal. Who knew.” ”¦ It’s not unusual for a catcher to use a special mitt when a knuckleballer is on the mound. But was Victor Martinez using his first baseman’s mitt to catch Tim Wakefield the other night? (Screen shot courtesy of Grant Goldman)”¦ On Saturday Phil posted a really grainy screen shot of DJ Carrasco’s new Pirates logo stirrups. I wanted a better view, so I went back to the video and got some clearer shots. And while doing that, I also noticed that the letterspacing is way off on Ryan Doumit’s NOCPC (that’s name on chest protector collar). ”¦ In a horrifying development that may indicate the existence of a heretofore unknown law of physics, Andre Ethier’s missing undershirt collar swoosh has turned up on Scott Schoeneweis (tremendous spot by Matt Shevin). ”¦ In a related item, we may start seeing a lot more collar modification now that Dallas Braden has tossed a perfecto. ”¦ Players in college football all-star games often trade helmet logo decals. But what if you play for one of the schools that don’t have helmet logos? Penn State’s equipment manager addresses that point in this very interesting piece (big thanks to Chris Flinn). ”¦ Interesting uni number placement for this high school bowling team. That’s Warren G. Harding High, from Ohio (first-ever Ticker contribution from Jimi Milburn). ”¦ Pearl Jam often uses baseball-inspired imagery for its T-shirts and other concert graphics. Here’s what they used for a recent show in St. Looey. Not bad, although it’s too bad they felt the need to hop on the “angry animal” bandwagon. Enough teams are doing that on their own without a rock band validating the trend. ”¦ The numerals on Ronny Cedeno’s back look badly mismatched, no? The 1 looks like it’s significantly smaller than the 3. ”¦ Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Tampa Bay Rowdies have come up with the mascot of my dreams — an anthropomorphized green/gold striped sock. Is this the first time a mascot has been based on a uniform element? ”¦ Never a dull moment in Philly. ”¦ Major development in Cleveland, as Brownie the Elf has been added to the Browns’ visor tabs. Here’s a closer view (great spot by Brendon Yarian). ”¦ I recently won this batch of 122 vintage clothing tags/labels, and they’re even more spectacular than the auction listing suggests. Details forthcoming in a future entry. ”¦ According to the third entry on this Q&A page, the Jazz will unveil their new uniforms in mid-August. ”¦ Always good to get new pin-up illos stuff from Rob Ullman: Here are his second-round NHL playoff picks for the East and West (“all of which are now hopelessly wrong,” he notes), along with a bunch of new commissions. ”¦ Ferrari has agreed to scrap the bar code F1 logo that had been seen by some as a stealth ad for Marlboro cigarettes (with thanks to Chad Todd). ”¦ The sight of Jeff Francoeur going high-cuffed with new shoes prompted a brief uni-centric discussion between Mets broadcasters Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez on Saturday. At one point Cohen mentioned the White Sox’s infamous shorts, to which Hernandez replied, “Oh gosh, I remember Greg Luzinski in those.” No question, the Bull in shorts would have been quite a sight — especially since he didn’t join the Chisox until 1981, five full years after they wore the short pants. … In case you missed it over the weekend, here’s the memorial patch the Phillies are wearing for Robin Roberts. ”¦ A video game screen shot indicates that Clemson may be ditching the bib piping this fall. ”¦ Jeff McClendon sent along a bunch of pics of Auburn’s new basketball arena, which will be the school’s home court starting this fall. “It’s not quite finished, but almost,” he says. ”¦ RIP, Lena.

giants.jpg

Oh, and by the way”¦: In case you missed it over the weekend, the full slate of this year’s stars/stripes caps has been released. Frankly, this strikes me as the worst batch yet, since there’s no rhyme or reason to the brim colors. Why put the Cubs in red? Or the Nats in blue? Or the Rockies in red? Of course, those questions are secondary to the larger question of why stars/stripes caps are needed in the first place, but MLB has already swung and missed at that one.

One additional thought: I was struck by how the Cards’ cap is similar to a cap from their past. And that’s when it really hit me that these white-crowned stars/stripes caps — and, really all caps with white crowns — would probably look a lot better with piping on the seams. It would break up that field of solid white, cut down on the Good Humor Man effect, etc.

 
  
 
Comments (157)

    The Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA affiliate of the Rox) had Socko the Sock, but the only images I can find are illos/patches and the link implies that the Sox couldn’t figure out a way to make Socko into “an interactive mascot”. They’ve had a link since then, changing colors and adding a glowering mountain as their new logo.

    When was the last time a major league team regularly wore a cap with piping on the seams? The Reds a few years ago did have white caps with pinstripes, but that’s a bit different.

    [quote comment=”389492″]The Red Sox introduced Lefty and Righty a few years back

    link

    Good to see they have four fingers, as all good cartoon characters (and real-life versions thereof) should. I’ve always wondered which two real fingers have to share a glove finger in these situations…

    this link

    link

    cannot be accurate, as there is a “G” logo on the Packers helmet, which is not present in any other shots of the 1960 title game

    correct?

    I never knew that PSU players had to earn their helmet stripe. What do they have to do to earn it? Also, does anyone have pictures of some players with stripes and some without?

    this can’t be accurate either (says 1962)

    link

    I’m 99% sure Dutch retired after the Eagles won the title in 1960

    link

    a case of the Monday’s?

    The Reds’ stars and stripes hat is even more similar to one of their historical hats than the Cards’.

    Stars and stripes: link

    1957 Reds: link

    Wow, MLB is just pedaling all sorts of crap. These stars/stripes caps are really an abortion this year… I think MLB is saying, Hey, lets have all the teams look like the 1997 GOOD HUMOR Mess hats. What a joke… MLB needs to find better ways to draw fans than wastes of time and money like this. Hey BUD, maybe if you had the World Series and or All Star Games in the DAY TIME people would watch and care more than some STUPID hat

    -You got my vote for use of piping on the S&S caps. Makes sense too.

    – Bednarik was a hard nose/dirty @#%&*! player – I saw that hit.

    – Hernandez had probably hallucinated Luzinski in those ChiSox pedal pushers. If you know what I mean. . ..

    I’m not an Iggles fan but the 1960 throwbacks are what they should switch back to permanently. As to conflicting with the Jets-the Eagles were wearing Kelly Green long before Sonny Werblin changed the NY Titans’ name in ’63. If any team should change it should be the Jets.

    If the video game screen shot is to be believed, it looks like the stripes on Clemson’s pants might be getting an upgrade as well.

    so glad they included a urinal shot

    link

    A question for male fans from other locales, Is there anywhere else that uses the barbaric “urine trough” in a NEW stadium as Pittsburgh did at Heinz field? Something tells me it’s a yinzer thing.

    It’s bad enough that the teams without red, white, or blue in their uniforms have to have these silly stars and stripes caps, but what’s with the color selections? A red brim for the Cubs!? Some of these have the potential to look really good even without piping — imagine how awesome the Cubs would look with a white hat, blue brim, and link! They could have worn this hat with the link that they used the year before last, and it would have looked amazing.

    Also, regarding the Eagles and kelly green, am I the only one who thinks green is underused in baseball and football because there’s already so much green grass on the field? I think you ened some contrast, which is why the forest greens and midnight greens don’t bother me. Nostalgia is fun, but the Eagles look better in the shade they normally use now. Maybe we could take one of the numbers’ three layers out, and dump that black alternate (if they haven’t already).

    Eagles’ throwbacks are spot-on accurate, visually. The socks, as I’ve mentioned before, are one piece, and while I can appreciate what they were trying to do in showing the one stripe peeking out above the white ‘sanitary,’ I still would have preferred both stripes to show. It’s an interesting idea, but two-in-ones are bad in baseball, and they’re not so great in football, either. They just feel artificial to me.

    Paul,

    I think you mean the NHL Playoff picks not the NFL playoff picks in the ticker.

    In the close-up shot of the Browns’ visor tabs, the NFL Equipment shield on the jersey is the old version.

    Regarding the Stars and stripes hats. Is there a correlation between what brim is choose for the team? I know it is not American League with blue and National with red but has anyone looked into whether the homoe team is a certain color and the visiting team is a certain color? Or any other reason?

    Is it completely arbitrary?

    [quote comment=”389510″]Regarding the Stars and stripes hats. Is there a correlation between what brim is choose for the team? I know it is not American League with blue and National with red but has anyone looked into whether the homoe team is a certain color and the visiting team is a certain color? Or any other reason?

    Is it completely arbitrary?[/quote]

    one possible reason is their desire to make them as ugly as possible, which they have excelled at

    [quote comment=”389496″]this can’t be accurate either (says 1962)

    link

    I’m 99% sure Dutch retired after the Eagles won the title in 1960

    link

    a case of the Monday’s?[/quote]

    my bad for not double-checking it, but the corbis photo indicated “1962” — not the first time their dateline hasn’t matched up with the photo in question; it’s a little tough to place photos from this era when they are improperly labled, especially since the eagles wore that uniform (or something very close to it) between 1957 and 1962

    /good catch

    I can understand giving the Astros the red brim, but the red outline on the logo makes it look a little too bright! Hell, all of the red brims look to be neon red.

    I know the Jay’s are red because of Canada Day, but does that not look like the worst of the hats?

    I wonder if someone could photoshop some of these hats to switch the brim color to better fit the team, look better…

    here’s the “photo id”: ca. 1962 — Philadelphia Eagles’ Norm Van Brocklin passing the football. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

    again, my bad for not double checking; “ca. 1962” should have been my first clue they had no idea

    [quote comment=”389511″][quote comment=”389510″]Regarding the Stars and stripes hats. Is there a correlation between what brim is choose for the team? I know it is not American League with blue and National with red but has anyone looked into whether the homoe team is a certain color and the visiting team is a certain color? Or any other reason?

    Is it completely arbitrary?[/quote]

    one possible reason is their desire to make them as ugly as possible, which they have excelled at[/quote]

    That would be too easy. Counting the red brims shows that there are only 13 teams sporting them.

    [quote comment=”389511″][quote comment=”389510″]Regarding the Stars and stripes hats. Is there a correlation between what brim is choose for the team? I know it is not American League with blue and National with red but has anyone looked into whether the homoe team is a certain color and the visiting team is a certain color? Or any other reason?

    Is it completely arbitrary?[/quote]

    one possible reason is their desire to make them as ugly as possible, which they have excelled at[/quote]

    I don’t know what the criteria is, but a quick check of the Pirates’ (red brim) schedule indicates that on the two dates when I assume they’ll be wearing them, they’ll be playing the Cubs (red brim) on Memorial Day, and the Phillies (red brim) on the Fourth of July, so they clearly aren’t concerned with contrast.

    Kudos to Phil on the Birds’ throwback item. A big damper on the celebration will be the absence of Tom Brookshier (RIP).

    Long Live the Kelly Green.

    [quote comment=”389514″]here’s the “photo id”: ca. 1962 — Philadelphia Eagles’ Norm Van Brocklin passing the football. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

    again, my bad for not double checking; “ca. 1962” should have been my first clue they had no idea[/quote]

    no worries, I know that if there is one thing that Uni-Watch values, it is accuracy…

    Re-reading my post, the strangest thing that I wrote was “Eagles won the title”

    so frustrating as a lifelong fan and season-ticket holder

    Re.:Norm Van Brocklin vs the Giants photos.

    Those photos of Norm Van Brocklin playing against the Giants at Yankee Stadium were either from 1959 or 1960. In 1962,Van Brocklin was already
    in his second season as Minnesota Vikings head coach.

    [quote comment=”389494″]this link

    link

    cannot be accurate, as there is a “G” logo on the Packers helmet, which is not present in any other shots of the 1960 title game

    correct?[/quote]

    Photo link is not from the ’60 Title Game. Here is a shot of Concrete Charlie, Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor after the game and note that Bednarick’s face mask has the bullring at top.

    link

    I can’t agree with the piping on the hat. Makes it look like there ought to be a propeller on top. Same with a pinstriped hat. Although it would be acceptable if worn with a Canadians barber pole jersey and Indiana Hoosier pants.

    [quote comment=”389490″]When was the last time a major league team regularly wore a cap with piping on the seams? The Reds a few years ago did have white caps with pinstripes, but that’s a bit different.[/quote]

    Senators, middle ’60s. Navy hat, red piping.
    Indians coaching staff, mid ’70s. Navy hat, white piping.

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”389502″]If the video game screen shot is to be believed, it looks like the stripes on Clemson’s pants might be getting an upgrade as well.[/quote]

    Clemson is supposed to be getting new jerseys to match the more classic look of the pants we unveiled last year. Coach Swinney wanted to change the entire uniform last year, but was told he couldn’t do away with the jersey until this year because Nike had already printed all the replicas in the bib-stripe design. I had heard that we were going to have some sleeve stripes to match the pants, but even if the jersey is just a solid one-color, I think it’s an upgrade.

    [quote comment=”389499″]Hey BUD, maybe if you had the World Series and or All Star Games in the DAY TIME people would watch and care more than some STUPID hat[/quote]

    Not disagreeing about the starz-n-stripez hats being rather stupid… but there’s a pretty good reason for the World Series being night games. The average Joe can’t take the day off work to watch a baseball game on TV on a Tuesday afternoon. A far greater amount of people are capable of watching the game if it’s at night.

    [quote comment=”389524″][quote comment=”389499″]Hey BUD, maybe if you had the World Series and or All Star Games in the DAY TIME people would watch and care more than some STUPID hat[/quote]

    Not disagreeing about the starz-n-stripez hats being rather stupid… but there’s a pretty good reason for the World Series being night games. The average Joe can’t take the day off work to watch a baseball game on TV on a Tuesday afternoon. A far greater amount of people are capable of watching the game if it’s at night.[/quote]

    Also remember that an 8 p.m. game on the East Coast is a 5 p.m. game on the West Coast — starting pitch is thrown during rush hour.

    [quote comment=”389499″]These stars/stripes caps are really an abortion this year…[/quote]

    and this was necessary because?

    not disagreeing that the hats are awful, but i thought john mcenroe owned the rights to that colorful metaphor

    ~~~

    [quote comment=”389499″]I think MLB is saying, Hey, lets have all the teams look like the 1997 GOOD HUMOR Mess hats. What a joke…[/quote]

    yes, that’s exactly what they’re saying, since they wore those caps what — 6 or 7 (maybe less) times in toto?

    actually, their grand evil scheme hatched in their desire to have all teams look like the 1912 yankees

    [quote comment=”389526″][quote comment=”389499″]These stars/stripes caps are really an abortion this year…[/quote]

    and this was necessary because?

    not disagreeing that the hats are awful, but i thought john mcenroe owned the rights to that colorful metaphor

    ~~~

    [quote comment=”389499″]I think MLB is saying, Hey, lets have all the teams look like the 1997 GOOD HUMOR Mess hats. What a joke…[/quote]

    yes, that’s exactly what they’re saying, since they wore those caps what — 6 or 7 (maybe less) times in toto?

    actually, their grand evil scheme hatched in their desire to have all teams look like the link[/quote]

    Personally, I agree, it IS a plot. Just haven’ quite figured it out.
    Let’s see…
    First, they did blue.
    Next, Red.
    And now White.

    Clearly a pattern there. Some kind of theme.

    Can’t quite put my finger on it, though.

    Maybe if we scramble the order a bit.

    Blue, White and… No, nothing there.

    White, Red and… Still nothing.

    Damn, WHAT could it be?

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”389499″]What a joke… MLB needs to find better ways to draw fans than wastes of time and money like this. [/quote]

    I thought these caps were, in part, a fundraiser for some MLB charity. Is that no longer the case? I doubt it has anything much to do with drawing fans.

    [quote comment=\”389525\”][quote comment=\”389524\”][quote comment=\”389499\”]Hey BUD, maybe if you had the World Series and or All Star Games in the DAY TIME people would watch and care more than some STUPID hat[/quote]

    Not disagreeing about the starz-n-stripez hats being rather stupid… but there\’s a pretty good reason for the World Series being night games. The average Joe can\’t take the day off work to watch a baseball game on TV on a Tuesday afternoon. A far greater amount of people are capable of watching the game if it\’s at night.[/quote]

    Also remember that an 8 p.m. game on the East Coast is a 5 p.m. game on the West Coast — starting pitch is thrown during rush hour.[/quote]

    Maybe so, and you guys are right about the average joe not being able to watch during the day, but I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so

    Thinking back, they (New Era?) did once make a series of white caps with the team logo adjusted so as to contrast with the white, and then with a bill using one of the team’s colors.

    I had a Cubs hat with a white body, blue brim, and blue C with a red border for the logo. It looked a little bit better than what’s here now.

    I can’t find any images of it on Google, but it was aroun 1992 or so. Right before they started putting the stupid MLB logo on the backs of all the fitted hats; this series of hats was adjustable and had the logo near the right temple. It was an eyesore, but the rest of the hat was great.

    Anyone else have one of these?

    [quote comment=”389527″][quote comment=”389526″][quote comment=”389499″]These stars/stripes caps are really an abortion this year…[/quote]

    and this was necessary because?

    not disagreeing that the hats are awful, but i thought john mcenroe owned the rights to that colorful metaphor

    ~~~

    [quote comment=”389499″]I think MLB is saying, Hey, lets have all the teams look like the 1997 GOOD HUMOR Mess hats. What a joke…[/quote]

    yes, that’s exactly what they’re saying, since they wore those caps what — 6 or 7 (maybe less) times in toto?

    actually, their grand evil scheme hatched in their desire to have all teams look like the link[/quote]

    Personally, I agree, it IS a plot. Just haven’ quite figured it out.
    Let’s see…
    First, they did blue.
    Next, Red.
    And now White.

    Clearly a pattern there. Some kind of theme.

    Can’t quite put my finger on it, though.

    Maybe if we scramble the order a bit.

    Blue, White and… No, nothing there.

    White, Red and… Still nothing.

    Damn, WHAT could it be?

    —Ricko[/quote]

    Funny…

    That doesn’t really excuse the seemingly random red or blue bills though. The previous red hats and blue hats didn’t have white bills did they?

    [quote comment=”389530″][quote comment=\”389525\”][quote comment=\”389524\”][quote comment=\”389499\”]Hey BUD, maybe if you had the World Series and or All Star Games in the DAY TIME people would watch and care more than some STUPID hat[/quote]

    Not disagreeing about the starz-n-stripez hats being rather stupid… but there\’s a pretty good reason for the World Series being night games. The average Joe can\’t take the day off work to watch a baseball game on TV on a Tuesday afternoon. A far greater amount of people are capable of watching the game if it\’s at night.[/quote]

    Also remember that an 8 p.m. game on the East Coast is a 5 p.m. game on the West Coast — starting pitch is thrown during rush hour.[/quote]

    Maybe so, and you guys are right about the average joe not being able to watch during the day, but I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so[/quote]

    I hate it too, and won’t stay up late unless it’s an exceptional game. But a lot of people live in the West. If you have a day game, they will completely miss it.

    [quote comment=”389530″][quote comment=\”389525\”][quote comment=\”389524\”][quote comment=\”389499\”]Hey BUD, maybe if you had the World Series and or All Star Games in the DAY TIME people would watch and care more than some STUPID hat[/quote]

    Not disagreeing about the starz-n-stripez hats being rather stupid… but there\’s a pretty good reason for the World Series being night games. The average Joe can\’t take the day off work to watch a baseball game on TV on a Tuesday afternoon. A far greater amount of people are capable of watching the game if it\’s at night.[/quote]

    Also remember that an 8 p.m. game on the East Coast is a 5 p.m. game on the West Coast — starting pitch is thrown during rush hour.[/quote]

    Maybe so, and you guys are right about the average joe not being able to watch during the day, but I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so[/quote]

    Bottom line. When can debate the snot out of it, stir in time zone differences, work schedules and anything else we want, but if TV numbers were better for World Series games in the daytime, they’d be playing them in that daytime.

    That Charlie Finley, what a maverick moron for suggesting the World Series be played at night. Nobody’d ever think THAT was a good idea, huh.

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”389534″]I cringe looking at Chuck Bednarik’s fingers. That is one tough mofo.

    -Jet[/quote]

    Speaking of such things, c’mon, Anthony Munoz, get that pinkie finger fixed. It looks like an old shadow-puppet injury.

    Plus, it’s gotta be hell getting a golf glove on.

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”389530″] I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so[/quote]

    it’s good to know you have your priorites straight

    [quote comment=”389532″][quote comment=”389527″][quote comment=”389526″][quote comment=”389499″]These stars/stripes caps are really an abortion this year…[/quote]

    and this was necessary because?

    not disagreeing that the hats are awful, but i thought john mcenroe owned the rights to that colorful metaphor

    ~~~

    [quote comment=”389499″]I think MLB is saying, Hey, lets have all the teams look like the 1997 GOOD HUMOR Mess hats. What a joke…[/quote]

    yes, that’s exactly what they’re saying, since they wore those caps what — 6 or 7 (maybe less) times in toto?

    actually, their grand evil scheme hatched in their desire to have all teams look like the link[/quote]

    Personally, I agree, it IS a plot. Just haven’ quite figured it out.
    Let’s see…
    First, they did blue.
    Next, Red.
    And now White.

    Clearly a pattern there. Some kind of theme.

    Can’t quite put my finger on it, though.

    Maybe if we scramble the order a bit.

    Blue, White and… No, nothing there.

    White, Red and… Still nothing.

    Damn, WHAT could it be?

    —Ricko[/quote]

    Funny…

    That doesn’t really excuse the seemingly random red or blue bills though. The previous red hats and blue hats didn’t have white bills did they?[/quote]

    Not what I meant. Just don’t know that we should be looking for the second patriotic hat on the Grassy Knoll in all this. ;)

    It’s simply the third color on a short list, and they rightly had to do something other than white visors because visors get dirty relatively quickly, especially during a baseball game (something purchasers likely would consider, too: “White visor? Damn, they get dirty fast.”

    In other words, it’s marketing. This should not come as a thunderbolt to us here.

    Neither should the realization that they’ve cocked it up. Again.

    —Ricko

    I watched the Jays/White Sox game yesterday on Sportsnet, and kept getting distracted by something on the catcher’s chest protector in the centre field shots.

    A close-up showed The Swoosh has grown in size. I don’t understand why the thing should be visible from the centre field camera!

    [quote comment=”389532″]

    Funny…

    That doesn’t really excuse the seemingly random red or blue bills though. The previous red hats and blue hats didn’t have white bills did they?[/quote]

    I wonder what next years will be. Maybe navy crown with red brims & buttons, then in ’12 red crowns with navy brims & buttons, then a random color sequence of trucker or pinwheel-style in ’13. In any case, these caps are all a logo-clutter abomination & are ugly. I don’t think I’ve seen a single fan wearing one of these caps yet.

    [quote comment=”389539″]I watched the Jays/White Sox game yesterday on Sportsnet, and kept getting distracted by something on the catcher’s chest protector in the centre field shots.

    A close-up showed The Swoosh has grown in size. I don’t understand why the thing should be visible from the centre field camera![/quote]

    For the same reason we can read the rotating ads behind the hitter.

    [quote comment=”389512″][quote comment=”389496″]this can’t be accurate either (says 1962)

    link

    I’m 99% sure Dutch retired after the Eagles won the title in 1960

    link

    a case of the Monday’s?[/quote]

    my bad for not double-checking it, but the corbis photo indicated “1962” — not the first time their dateline hasn’t matched up with the photo in question; it’s a little tough to place photos from this era when they are improperly labled, especially since the eagles wore that uniform (or something very close to it) between 1957 and 1962

    /good catch[/quote]

    I know teams have to run new uniforms by the league and so we’d already know if the Packers were wearing anything special against the Eagles, but could they just remove the helmet decals for that game? I doubt the league would be amused by that, but how cool would that be? The sock and sleeve striping is a bit different now, but other than that, the game would look almost exactly the same.

    [quote comment=”389537″][quote comment=”389530″] I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so[/quote]

    it’s good to know you have your priorites straight[/quote]

    I’m wondering if starting the World Series at 7pm Eastern & putting it on tape delay for Mountain & West Coast is a good idea… probably not.

    [quote comment=”389540″][quote comment=”389532″]

    Funny…

    That doesn’t really excuse the seemingly random red or blue bills though. The previous red hats and blue hats didn’t have white bills did they?[/quote]

    I wonder what next years will be. Maybe navy crown with red brims & buttons, then in ’12 red crowns with navy brims & buttons, then a random color sequence of trucker or pinwheel-style in ’13. In any case, these caps are all a logo-clutter abomination & are ugly. I don’t think I’ve seen a single fan wearing one of these caps yet.[/quote]

    There you go. That hints at the serious marketing misstep in this for MLB. How do they ever STOP doing this “hat thing,” when it has run its course and the hats stop selling, without people asking…”What, MLB doesn’t support our troops anymore?”

    Very, very, VERY shortsighted, from a PR/Marketing standpoint.

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”389543″][quote comment=”389537″][quote comment=”389530″] I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so[/quote]

    it’s good to know you have your priorites straight[/quote]

    I’m wondering if starting the World Series at 7pm Eastern & putting it on tape delay for Mountain & West Coast is a good idea… probably not.[/quote]

    I am one of those people that CANNOT stand to watch sports on DVR. I have friends that do it and are ok with it, but I’d rather check scores on my phone or listen to radio (basically anything other than DVR). If its that important to me, then I gotta know whats going on ASAP.

    I know I’m late to this party, because I hadn’t bought a 59/50 in about 10 years until yesterday, but how terrible is the sizing and quality consistency of these $35.00 hats? Insane. I tried on some 7s and some 7.125s. Found some 7s bigger than the 7.125s! Off center or crooked logos all over the joint. You’ve got to look through 20 before you can find one with decent, acceptable combination of attributes.

    I know it’s nice to buy Made in the U.S.A. apparel that’s produced by people who make a (comparatively) living wage (in fact, I only buy Made in the U.S.A.), but more and more I feel that the majority of people who work in American factories have no idea how to stitch fabric together with any sort of competence, and it’s not just hats that are the problem.

    News flash: New Era could be taking your job overseas, but they’re not. They’re keeping it right here where it belongs, so have some pride in your work, cut the fabric to the correct length and stitch the damn thing together right.

    Would I be the only one who’d dig the S&S caps if only the front crest was white, like the Blue Jays’ throwback cap?

    [quote comment=”389544″][quote comment=”389540″][quote comment=”389532″]

    Funny…

    That doesn’t really excuse the seemingly random red or blue bills though. The previous red hats and blue hats didn’t have white bills did they?[/quote]

    I wonder what next years will be. Maybe navy crown with red brims & buttons, then in ’12 red crowns with navy brims & buttons, then a random color sequence of trucker or pinwheel-style in ’13. In any case, these caps are all a logo-clutter abomination & are ugly. I don’t think I’ve seen a single fan wearing one of these caps yet.[/quote]

    There you go. That hints at the serious marketing misstep in this for MLB. How do they ever STOP doing this “hat thing,” when it has run its course and the hats stop selling, without people asking…”What, MLB doesn’t support our troops anymore?”

    Very, very, VERY shortsighted, from a PR/Marketing standpoint.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    Interesting marketing position, though.
    “We’re MLB. We don’t have an exit strategy, either.”

    ok…first of all…the stars and stripes caps are (or were) part of the “welcome back veterans” campaign, begun in 2008…not sure if it was supposed to be a one-time thing then or not, but i guess MLB made some coin (which i don’t think they’ve ever released a public accounting for — all i believe they’ve EVER said is “a portion” of the proceeds go to WBV)…

    but the whole thing was the brainchild of fred wilpon, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that it’s been a complete clusterfuck since its inception

    [quote comment=”389548″][quote comment=”389544″][quote comment=”389540″][quote comment=”389532″]

    Funny…

    That doesn’t really excuse the seemingly random red or blue bills though. The previous red hats and blue hats didn’t have white bills did they?[/quote]

    I wonder what next years will be. Maybe navy crown with red brims & buttons, then in ’12 red crowns with navy brims & buttons, then a random color sequence of trucker or pinwheel-style in ’13. In any case, these caps are all a logo-clutter abomination & are ugly. I don’t think I’ve seen a single fan wearing one of these caps yet.[/quote]

    There you go. That hints at the serious marketing misstep in this for MLB. How do they ever STOP doing this “hat thing,” when it has run its course and the hats stop selling, without people asking…”What, MLB doesn’t support our troops anymore?”

    Very, very, VERY shortsighted, from a PR/Marketing standpoint.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    Interesting marketing position, though.
    “We’re MLB. We don’t have an exit strategy, either.”[/quote]
    Unfortunately, I have seen people wearing these. Not a lot of them, but I’ve definitely seen them.

    My son’s soccer/flag football coach wears his 2008 White Sox one all the time.

    [quote comment=”389547″]Would I be the only one who’d dig the S&S caps if only the front crest was white, like the Blue Jays’ throwback cap?[/quote]
    Don’t give them any ideas.
    (Crap, the cat’s out of the bag!)

    [quote comment=”389521″]I can’t agree with the piping on the hat. Makes it look like there ought to be a propeller on top. Same with a pinstriped hat. Although it would be acceptable if worn with a Canadians barber pole jersey and Indiana Hoosier pants.[/quote]
    Yep. You just can’t beat those classic looks.

    First they took over the arena ads during conference basketball tournaments. Now Reese’s is likely taking over the Orange Bowl sponsorship too.

    link

    Iggles throwbacks look nice. Hopefully the fans will throwback as well by staying in the stands and not wearing offensive t-shirts…

    Of course the best Philly throwback is this:
    link

    Now, for something in a different part of PA…
    I love the socks and the glasses, but the logo doesn’t seem to be in the best of posotions:
    link

    Finally, Oh say can you see!
    link
    God bless America.

    I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.

    [quote comment=”389550″][quote comment=”389548″][quote comment=”389544″][quote comment=”389540″][quote comment=”389532″]

    Funny…

    That doesn’t really excuse the seemingly random red or blue bills though. The previous red hats and blue hats didn’t have white bills did they?[/quote]

    I wonder what next years will be. Maybe navy crown with red brims & buttons, then in ’12 red crowns with navy brims & buttons, then a random color sequence of trucker or pinwheel-style in ’13. In any case, these caps are all a logo-clutter abomination & are ugly. I don’t think I’ve seen a single fan wearing one of these caps yet.[/quote]

    There you go. That hints at the serious marketing misstep in this for MLB. How do they ever STOP doing this “hat thing,” when it has run its course and the hats stop selling, without people asking…”What, MLB doesn’t support our troops anymore?”

    Very, very, VERY shortsighted, from a PR/Marketing standpoint.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    Interesting marketing position, though.
    “We’re MLB. We don’t have an exit strategy, either.”[/quote]
    Unfortunately, I have seen people wearing these. Not a lot of them, but I’ve definitely seen them.

    My son’s soccer/flag football coach wears his 2008 White Sox one all the time.[/quote]

    Based on it being a S&S White Sox cap, I’m gonna take a stab and say its a flat bill.

    every single year they get the logo on the padres stars & stripes cap wrong. since 2004 the interlocking SD has had serifs and the D doesn’t quite connect. these hats always use the pre-2004 interlocking SD.

    Haven’t even begun to read all comments, but were the colors of the hats decided by who is playing each other…i.e. will a red brimmed team be playing a blue brimmed team for every matchup?

    [quote comment=”389554″]

    Now, for something in a different part of PA…
    I love the socks and the glasses, but the logo doesn’t seem to be in the best of posotions:
    link

    [/quote]

    What logo? (j/k)

    I am sorta wondering why her socks have pink stripes though.

    [quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]

    i shouldn’t give you the satisfaction of responding will explain, since you felt compelled to post

    the original BFBS post was a joint piece, and my able partner, james huening was asked to select his choices for BFBS, and if you scroll down to the MLB section, you’ll notice he chose the white sox…

    i actually disagreed with his decision, but since i asked him to come up with the teams (and the corresponding pictures), we included it (you’ll note the picture of buehrle in that section) … and i actually used many of the choices he came up with to make the ORIGINAL collage…

    since you skip my weekend posts and find them boring and long winded, i guess you missed that

    as the BFBS morphed into parts II & III (both planned), i simply used (and tweaked) the original collage for the heder pics for parts II & III, which is why mr. buerhle’s picture appears on saturday’s post

    do i, personally, feel the white sox fall into the BFBS category? no, but james and i were seeking to stimulate conversation and request from the readers who they felt fell into the category

    i hope this explains it

    Advertising Age’s Cable Preview Edition is out. Very extensive, gives all the major players each a full page, discussing popular shows returning, new shoes being added, etc. Even includes full pages on the Fox Soccer Channel for the World Cup coverage.

    “Versus” isn’t there. No page for them. The alphabetically arranged pages go right from “USA” to “We/TV”.

    Guess that says something about the status of the cable home of the NHL and UFL. I honestly expected Versus to be there, wanted to look over their programming re: those two leagues.

    So definitely not taking any position, honest, just passing something along.

    —Ricko

    So howcum no one’s looked at today’s lead graphic and said…”I dunno…those ’60 Eagles jerseys look pretty olive green to me”?

    [quote comment=”389545″][quote comment=”389543″][quote comment=”389537″][quote comment=”389530″] I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so[/quote]

    it’s good to know you have your priorites straight[/quote]

    I’m wondering if starting the World Series at 7pm Eastern & putting it on tape delay for Mountain & West Coast is a good idea… probably not.[/quote]

    I am one of those people that CANNOT stand to watch sports on DVR. I have friends that do it and are ok with it, but I’d rather check scores on my phone or listen to radio (basically anything other than DVR). If its that important to me, then I gotta know whats going on ASAP.[/quote]

    For me, it depends on the sport, I wouldn’t be able to watch a “normal” stick and ball sport, like football, baseball, or hockey on DVR, but I do catch up on the Auto Races that I miss, do to work, because I can check for the winner at work, but it doesn’t give me any info on what happened other than “Driver X wins”.

    [quote comment=”389562″]Advertising Age’s Cable Preview Edition is out. Very extensive, gives all the major players each a full page, discussing popular shows returning, new shoes being added, etc. Even includes full pages on the Fox Soccer Channel for the World Cup coverage.

    “Versus” isn’t there. No page for them. The alphabetically arranged pages go right from “USA” to “We/TV”.

    Guess that says something about the status of the cable home of the NHL and UFL. I honestly expected Versus to be there, wanted to look over their programming re: those two leagues.

    So definitely not taking any position, honest, just passing something along.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    I’d expect VS to start getting some respect soon, since Comcast has bought out NBC…
    There are some rumors of the IndyCar series having some of their VS races actually on NBC. (There is also a lot of hope, and premature rumors of NBC getting the Indy 500, once the current ESPN/ABC contract runs out. Since the ABC/ESPN race coverage is about as good as the Mets uniforms.)

    [quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]
    [quote comment=”389561″][quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]

    i shouldn’t give you the satisfaction of responding will explain, since you felt compelled to post

    the link was a joint piece, and my able partner, james huening was asked to select his choices for BFBS, and if you scroll down to the MLB section, you’ll notice he chose the white sox…

    i actually disagreed with his decision, but since i asked him to come up with the teams (and the corresponding pictures), we included it (you’ll note the picture of buehrle in that section) … and i actually used many of the choices he came up with to make the ORIGINAL collage…

    since you skip my weekend posts and find them boring and long winded, i guess you missed that

    as the BFBS morphed into parts II & III (both planned), i simply used (and tweaked) the original collage for the heder pics for parts II & III, which is why mr. buerhle’s picture appears on saturday’s post

    do i, personally, feel the white sox fall into the BFBS category? no, but james and i were seeking to stimulate conversation and request from the readers who they felt fell into the category

    i hope this explains it[/quote]

    I usually ignore posts that start with rudeness like yours, Charles, but did you ever consider that maybe the White Sox were included because they started BFBS? After all, their colors were blue and red for years, and then suddenly they were black. Coincidentally, their hats looked like the Malcom X hats that were so the rage at that time, and that might have made them even more popular.

    [quote comment=”389535″][quote comment=”389530″][quote comment=\”389525\”][quote comment=\”389524\”][quote comment=\”389499\”]Hey BUD, maybe if you had the World Series and or All Star Games in the DAY TIME people would watch and care more than some STUPID hat[/quote]

    Not disagreeing about the starz-n-stripez hats being rather stupid… but there\’s a pretty good reason for the World Series being night games. The average Joe can\’t take the day off work to watch a baseball game on TV on a Tuesday afternoon. A far greater amount of people are capable of watching the game if it\’s at night.[/quote]

    Also remember that an 8 p.m. game on the East Coast is a 5 p.m. game on the West Coast — starting pitch is thrown during rush hour.[/quote]

    Maybe so, and you guys are right about the average joe not being able to watch during the day, but I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so[/quote]

    Bottom line. When can debate the snot out of it, stir in time zone differences, work schedules and anything else we want, but if TV numbers were better for World Series games in the daytime, they’d be playing them in that daytime.

    That Charlie Finley, what a maverick moron for suggesting the World Series be played at night. Nobody’d ever think THAT was a good idea, huh.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    I think the TV numbers are better precisely because they are played at 8 p.m. That gets a lot more of the West Coast crwod. More people live in California than in any other state.

    The yearly Stars and Stripes cap always annoys me. What do special caps represent that a big, old American flag patch couldn’t represent better? Why not allow teams to retain their hat colors but stick a flag in place of the logo? Or maybe MLB should do something really over the top and make all the brims look like our flag billowing in the breeze. At least this year’s beer-league softball edition allows the logos to stand out.

    It’s funny that the Blue Jays have to play along. I’d be even more annoyed by this tradition if I were Canadian.

    [quote comment=”389567″][quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]
    [quote comment=”389561″][quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]

    i shouldn’t give you the satisfaction of responding will explain, since you felt compelled to post

    the link was a joint piece, and my able partner, james huening was asked to select his choices for BFBS, and if you scroll down to the MLB section, you’ll notice he chose the white sox…

    i actually disagreed with his decision, but since i asked him to come up with the teams (and the corresponding pictures), we included it (you’ll note the picture of buehrle in that section) … and i actually used many of the choices he came up with to make the ORIGINAL collage…

    since you skip my weekend posts and find them boring and long winded, i guess you missed that

    as the BFBS morphed into parts II & III (both planned), i simply used (and tweaked) the original collage for the heder pics for parts II & III, which is why mr. buerhle’s picture appears on saturday’s post

    do i, personally, feel the white sox fall into the BFBS category? no, but james and i were seeking to stimulate conversation and request from the readers who they felt fell into the category

    i hope this explains it[/quote]

    I usually ignore posts that start with rudeness like yours, Charles, but did you ever consider that maybe the White Sox were included because they started BFBS? After all, their colors were blue and red for years, and then suddenly they were black. Coincidentally, their hats looked like the Malcom X hats that were so the rage at that time, and that might have made them even more popular.[/quote]
    I wouldn’t go so far as to say they started it. The LA Kings, maybe? So to say that 1990 was way before the whole black trend became popular? Uh, not quite. Switching from navy & red to black & silver was a straight-up BFBS move. But is that necessarily a bad thing?

    Well, if Charles had bothered to actually read the original post — wait. No. He didn’t even need to do that. He could have SKIMMED IT to find that out.

    I guess Charles felt it was better to go the BFBS route instead (bitching for bitching’s sake).

    [quote comment=”389551″][quote comment=”389547″]Would I be the only one who’d dig the S&S caps if only the front crest was white, like the Blue Jays’ throwback cap?[/quote]
    Don’t give them any ideas.
    (Crap, the cat’s out of the bag!)[/quote]

    How about the N.L. 2076 Stars & Stripes caps will be pillbox style?

    [quote comment=”389569″It’s funny that the Blue Jays have to play along. I’d be even more annoyed by this tradition if I were Canadian.[/quote]
    You do realize that they go with a link rather than stars & stripes for the Jays, right?

    What the hell happened there?

    Attempt #2:
    [quote comment=”389569″]It’s funny that the Blue Jays have to play along. I’d be even more annoyed by this tradition if I were Canadian.[/quote]

    You do realize that they go with a link rather than stars & stripes for the Jays, right?

    [quote comment=”389554″]Iggles throwbacks look nice. Hopefully the fans will throwback as well by staying in the stands and not wearing offensive t-shirts…

    Of course the best Philly throwback is this:
    link

    [/quote]

    Ah yes, the Stars. Interestingly enough, making that stellar post season run, in 1984, via Franklin Field. Cuz they had a conflict with the Phillies at the Vet.

    [quote comment=”389568″][quote comment=”389535″][quote comment=”389530″][quote comment=\”389525\”][quote comment=\”389524\”][quote comment=\”389499\”]Hey BUD, maybe if you had the World Series and or All Star Games in the DAY TIME people would watch and care more than some STUPID hat[/quote]

    Not disagreeing about the starz-n-stripez hats being rather stupid… but there\’s a pretty good reason for the World Series being night games. The average Joe can\’t take the day off work to watch a baseball game on TV on a Tuesday afternoon. A far greater amount of people are capable of watching the game if it\’s at night.[/quote]

    Also remember that an 8 p.m. game on the East Coast is a 5 p.m. game on the West Coast — starting pitch is thrown during rush hour.[/quote]

    Maybe so, and you guys are right about the average joe not being able to watch during the day, but I WAS up until 1 am last NOVEMBER watching the Yankees every night… 1 am? AND I HAVE TO BE UP AT 530 the next morning? I dont think so[/quote]

    Bottom line. When can debate the snot out of it, stir in time zone differences, work schedules and anything else we want, but if TV numbers were better for World Series games in the daytime, they’d be playing them in that daytime.

    That Charlie Finley, what a maverick moron for suggesting the World Series be played at night. Nobody’d ever think THAT was a good idea, huh.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    I think the TV numbers are better precisely because they are played at 8 p.m. That gets a lot more of the West Coast crwod. More people live in California than in any other state.[/quote]

    More than just targeting California, it’s the time that makes things readily available to the most people across the board, considering a whole mess of the population lives east of the Mississippi, too.

    A top-of-the-hour start time that goes 8, 7, 6, 5 east to west across the time zones is pretty tough to beat (9, 8, 7, 6 being a distant second, as the NFL has, for the most part, learned).

    Slide an hour either way and both the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones become problematic. One way the games likely end far too late in the east, the other starts them far too early in the west.

    —Ricko

    With the pink trend for Mothers’ Day continuing to grow, which I think is pretty cool, do you think a team will ever have the balls to design a pink uni for the day? For the sake of Moms and for shock value I’d love to see a red-based team with confident, colorful players like the Phillies or Cardinals work pink into their uniform for next year’s game. The Palermo soccer team looks surprisingly good in their pink jerseys:

    link

    [quote comment=”389569″]The yearly Stars and Stripes cap always annoys me. What do special caps represent that a big, old American flag patch couldn’t represent better? Why not allow teams to retain their hat colors but stick a flag in place of the logo? [/quote]

    Aside from the details & reasons behind the S&S caps and the “there’s money to be made here!”, the whole post-9/11 – 2007, the temporary small flag cap patches either were crooked, falling off, or some players putting them on upside down. I’d presume it’s the same reason why the underbrims are now black instead of the nicer gray or green, to make it one less things the players could muck up. And as Ricko brought up, how in the hell are they going to end this promotion?

    [quote comment=”389571″][quote comment=”389567″][quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]
    [quote comment=”389561″][quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]

    i shouldn’t give you the satisfaction of responding will explain, since you felt compelled to post

    the link was a joint piece, and my able partner, james huening was asked to select his choices for BFBS, and if you scroll down to the MLB section, you’ll notice he chose the white sox…

    i actually disagreed with his decision, but since i asked him to come up with the teams (and the corresponding pictures), we included it (you’ll note the picture of buehrle in that section) … and i actually used many of the choices he came up with to make the ORIGINAL collage…

    since you skip my weekend posts and find them boring and long winded, i guess you missed that

    as the BFBS morphed into parts II & III (both planned), i simply used (and tweaked) the original collage for the heder pics for parts II & III, which is why mr. buerhle’s picture appears on saturday’s post

    do i, personally, feel the white sox fall into the BFBS category? no, but james and i were seeking to stimulate conversation and request from the readers who they felt fell into the category

    i hope this explains it[/quote]

    I usually ignore posts that start with rudeness like yours, Charles, but did you ever consider that maybe the White Sox were included because they started BFBS? After all, their colors were blue and red for years, and then suddenly they were black. Coincidentally, their hats looked like the Malcom X hats that were so the rage at that time, and that might have made them even more popular.[/quote]
    I wouldn’t go so far as to say they started it. The LA Kings, maybe? So to say that 1990 was way before the whole black trend became popular? Uh, not quite. Switching from navy & red to black & silver was a straight-up BFBS move. But is that necessarily a bad thing?

    Well, if Charles had bothered to actually read the original post — wait. No. He didn’t even need to do that. He could have SKIMMED IT to find that out.

    I guess Charles felt it was better to go the BFBS route instead (bitching for bitching’s sake).[/quote]

    True, the Kings probably started it. If the Sox were second, that makes them even more BFBS. Not to say it isn’t a good uniform — I like it. But when your colors are either red, blue, or both for many years prior, it’s close to BFBS. At least they built on tradition (the current set at home mimics the red version from the early 1970s) and held study over the years.

    Nationals will be wearing Senators throwbacks 26 June in Baltimore. Orioles will be “celebrating” 40 yr anniversary of WS championship, both teams in throwbacks.

    [quote comment=”389573″][quote comment=”389569″It’s funny that the Blue Jays have to play along. I’d be even more annoyed by this tradition if I were Canadian.[/quote]
    You do realize that they go with a link rather than stars & stripes for the Jays, right?[/quote]
    Yes, I realize that, but the fact that it’s presented as “stars and stripes” day makes it feel like the Canadians are being pulled into our national celebration. No disrespect is meant toward veterans in my opinions, but I wish MLB would let more personal displays of support, like pre-game ceremonies and veterans singing the anthem, which I often find goosebump inducing, do the commemorating. I believe sales of the hats are meant to benefit the troops, so that’s good, but the mixture of nationalism and half-baked marketing initiatives rubs me the wrong way.

    [quote comment=”389534″]I cringe looking at Chuck Bednarik’s fingers. That is one tough mofo.

    -Jet[/quote]

    And seeing is believing. link

    [quote comment=”389571″][quote comment=”389567″][quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]
    [quote comment=”389561″][quote comment=”389556″]I usually just ignore Phil’s weekend posts, finding them boring and long on nerdy nitpicking, but after scrolling past a post from this weekend, “BFBS” part whatever, I have to say something.
    Phil, why the hell would you choose to include a picture of Mark Buehrle of the White Sox in your cute little collage?
    The White Sox are the one team that should have a legitimate stake to black-they changed their primary colors to black and silver in 1990, WAY before the whole black trend became popular, and have stayed the course, as a result having one of the most consistent and recognizable (if not severely under-appreciated) identities in MLB.

    They have since been copied by the likes of the Marlins and Rockies, so I’d suggest including one of those bandwagon jumpers in your conversation, and not a team that’s been wearing black as a primary color for 20 years.[/quote]

    i shouldn’t give you the satisfaction of responding will explain, since you felt compelled to post

    the link was a joint piece, and my able partner, james huening was asked to select his choices for BFBS, and if you scroll down to the MLB section, you’ll notice he chose the white sox…

    i actually disagreed with his decision, but since i asked him to come up with the teams (and the corresponding pictures), we included it (you’ll note the picture of buehrle in that section) … and i actually used many of the choices he came up with to make the ORIGINAL collage…

    since you skip my weekend posts and find them boring and long winded, i guess you missed that

    as the BFBS morphed into parts II & III (both planned), i simply used (and tweaked) the original collage for the heder pics for parts II & III, which is why mr. buerhle’s picture appears on saturday’s post

    do i, personally, feel the white sox fall into the BFBS category? no, but james and i were seeking to stimulate conversation and request from the readers who they felt fell into the category

    i hope this explains it[/quote]

    I usually ignore posts that start with rudeness like yours, Charles, but did you ever consider that maybe the White Sox were included because they started BFBS? After all, their colors were blue and red for years, and then suddenly they were black. Coincidentally, their hats looked like the Malcom X hats that were so the rage at that time, and that might have made them even more popular.[/quote]
    I wouldn’t go so far as to say they started it. The LA Kings, maybe? So to say that 1990 was way before the whole black trend became popular? Uh, not quite. Switching from navy & red to black & silver was a straight-up BFBS move. But is that necessarily a bad thing?

    Well, if Charles had bothered to actually read the original post — wait. No. He didn’t even need to do that. He could have SKIMMED IT to find that out.

    I guess Charles felt it was better to go the BFBS route instead (bitching for bitching’s sake).[/quote]

    White Sox changing to their current unis was, at the time, virtually a dead-solid throwback to the ’59 World Series look.

    With the exception that…

    …they did not incorporate the red of those teams and used silver instead, following the lead of the Kings. I remember thinking, “Oh, crap here we go, another in the “Let’s all look the Raiders’ movement.”

    Splitting hairs, I suppose, but it really was more like “Silver for Silver’s Sake.” They HAD a legitimate connection to black, having worn it from ’49 or so until the mid-60s, as well as way back in the EIGHT MEN OUT era). Lotta memorable players had worn black hats and pins for the White Sox. Minoso, Fox, Aparicio. Pierce, Lollar, Landis…

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”389503″]so glad they included a urinal shot

    link

    A question for male fans from other locales, Is there anywhere else that uses the barbaric “urine trough” in a NEW stadium as Pittsburgh did at Heinz field? Something tells me it’s a yinzer thing.[/quote]

    Pitt Stadium had urine troughs just like Heniz Field so it might just be a yinzer thing…Regarding the MLB caps I agree it would be awesome if teams like the Cubs or the Pirates wore throwbacks. I would love it if the Pirates wore these unis link or these link or these link for Memorial Day and the 4th or as an alternate instead of those black alternates they wear now. Friday night home games might be tolerable to watch if they did.

    [quote comment=”389585″][quote comment=”389503″]so glad they included a urinal shot

    link

    A question for male fans from other locales, Is there anywhere else that uses the barbaric “urine trough” in a NEW stadium as Pittsburgh did at Heinz field? Something tells me it’s a yinzer thing.[/quote]

    Pitt Stadium had urine troughs just like Heniz Field so it might just be a yinzer thing…Regarding the MLB caps I agree it would be awesome if teams like the Cubs or the Pirates wore throwbacks. I would love it if the Pirates wore these unis link or these link or these link for Memorial Day and the 4th or as an alternate instead of those black alternates they wear now. Friday night home games might be tolerable to watch if they did.[/quote]

    The Kingdome had those horrible urine troughs. Thankfully, Qwest Field didn’t follow suit.

    [quote comment=”389586″][quote comment=”389585″][quote comment=”389503″]so glad they included a urinal shot

    link

    A question for male fans from other locales, Is there anywhere else that uses the barbaric “urine trough” in a NEW stadium as Pittsburgh did at Heinz field? Something tells me it’s a yinzer thing.[/quote]

    Pitt Stadium had urine troughs just like Heniz Field so it might just be a yinzer thing…Regarding the MLB caps I agree it would be awesome if teams like the Cubs or the Pirates wore throwbacks. I would love it if the Pirates wore these unis link or these link or these link for Memorial Day and the 4th or as an alternate instead of those black alternates they wear now. Friday night home games might be tolerable to watch if they did.[/quote]

    The Kingdome had those horrible urine troughs. Thankfully, Qwest Field didn’t follow suit.[/quote]

    Metrodome has troughs. Figured it was some kind of Testosterone reassurance thing.

    “Jeez, I’m a ‘hearty Minnesotan’ watching a ball game indoors? But, hey, wait, I AM still peein’ in a trough, though.”

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”389577″]With the pink trend for Mothers’ Day continuing to grow, which I think is pretty cool, do you think a team will ever have the balls to design a pink uni for the day? For the sake of Moms and for shock value I’d love to see a red-based team with confident, colorful players like the Phillies or Cardinals work pink into their uniform for next year’s game. The Palermo soccer team looks surprisingly good in their pink jerseys:

    link

    A lot of minor league baseball teams wear pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness. I’d hope major league teams wouldn’t follow suit. There are enough alt jerseys already. The pink wristbands, ribbons and bats are enough.

    Well, shoot, missed this over the weekend.
    Guy was a helluva lot better player than he usually gets credit for being.
    link

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”389589″][quote comment=”389577″]With the pink trend for Mothers’ Day continuing to grow, which I think is pretty cool, do you think a team will ever have the balls to design a pink uni for the day? For the sake of Moms and for shock value I’d love to see a red-based team with confident, colorful players like the Phillies or Cardinals work pink into their uniform for next year’s game. The Palermo soccer team looks surprisingly good in their pink jerseys:

    link

    A lot of minor league baseball teams wear pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness. I’d hope major league teams wouldn’t follow suit. There are enough alt jerseys already. The pink wristbands, ribbons and bats are enough.[/quote]

    A wise man once suggested “powder red”:

    link

    Though the concept had its share of detractors, I really kinda like the idea. Would probably work for a few teams, at least.

    [quote comment=”389592″][quote comment=”389589″][quote comment=”389577″]With the pink trend for Mothers’ Day continuing to grow, which I think is pretty cool, do you think a team will ever have the balls to design a pink uni for the day? For the sake of Moms and for shock value I’d love to see a red-based team with confident, colorful players like the Phillies or Cardinals work pink into their uniform for next year’s game. The Palermo soccer team looks surprisingly good in their pink jerseys:

    link

    A lot of minor league baseball teams wear pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness. I’d hope major league teams wouldn’t follow suit. There are enough alt jerseys already. The pink wristbands, ribbons and bats are enough.[/quote]

    A wise man once suggested “powder red”:

    link

    Though the concept had its share of detractors, I really kinda like the idea. Would probably work for a few teams, at least.[/quote]

    My bad – it was actually Phil. ;)

    [quote comment=\”389590\”]Well, shoot, missed this over the weekend.
    Guy was a helluva lot better player than he usually gets credit for being.
    link

    —Ricko[/quote]
    He died last year.

    [quote comment=”389591″]The Sox clearly built on tradition.

    link

    And the decade-plus before that was entirely black hats, virtually all with pins at home, and included the White Sox’ only World Series appearance in the second half of the century.
    link

    Black (with a bit of red) definitely was in their uni genes.

    —Ricko

    I’m not a huge fan of these stars & stripes cap, but I do have to say they are a little more creative than the past two versions. I feel the hats with the red brim look a lot better than the ones with the blue. I’d think the hats with the blue brims would look better if they were the same shade of blue of the American flag on the logos

    [quote comment=”389594″][quote comment=\”389590\”]Well, shoot, missed this over the weekend.
    Guy was a helluva lot better player than he usually gets credit for being.
    link

    —Ricko[/quote]
    He died last year.[/quote]
    [quote comment=”389594″][quote comment=\”389590\”]Well, shoot, missed this over the weekend.
    Guy was a helluva lot better player than he usually gets credit for being.
    link

    —Ricko[/quote]
    He died last year.[/quote]

    Y’know I kinda thought that, but the item stopped popped as if it were current news on a website and I was like, “Guess I was wrong.”

    My bad.

    —Ricko

    clemson is supposed to get piping-free jerseys this year. coach swinney wanted them last season, but didn’t get the request in on time (at least thats how it was explained here in s.c.)…no matter what, they are a massive upgrade over what they’ve been wearing the past few years

    [quote comment=”389594″][quote comment=\”389590\”]Well, shoot, missed this over the weekend.
    Guy was a helluva lot better player than he usually gets credit for being.
    link

    —Ricko[/quote]
    He died last year.[/quote]

    Y’know I kinda thought that, but the item stopped popped as if it were current news on a website and I was like, “Guess I was wrong.”

    My bad.

    —Ricko[/quote]
    I wish the Red Sox had worn a black armband or something, other than just having a night in honor of him.

    [quote comment=”389568″]
    I think the TV numbers are better precisely because they are played at 8 p.m. That gets a lot more of the West Coast crwod. [b]More people live in California than in any other state.[/b][/quote]

    Amalgamate New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and DC into one big state, and you’ll have a bigger population in a smaller land area.

    California should hardly get credit for being a “big state” population-wise when it has so much land area to work with. It should really be broken into several states.

    And the real culprit in the length of World Series night games is the commercials! Shorten those, get the games done in 2 1/2 hours, and the kids on the east coast could probably stay up to see them. There’s no excuse for an 8 PM start to not be finished until midnight.

    I, too, think its unfair to include the White Sox in the BFBS argument. The White Sox never had traditional colors, they’ve been all over the place in their long history. And they did use black before many BFBS teams even existed.

    HOWEVER. With their overuse of the black alternate, maybe they should now be included in the conversation.

    [quote comment=”389601″]I, too, think its unfair to include the White Sox in the BFBS argument. The White Sox never had traditional colors, they’ve been all over the place in their long history. And they did use black before many BFBS teams even existed.

    HOWEVER. With their overuse of the black alternate, maybe they should now be included in the conversation.[/quote]

    which, in a roundabout way, was part of the reason for the first BFBS post —

    i even said it in the introduction, that not everyone agrees with what exactly constitutes “BFBS”…

    i wouldn’t put the chisox in that category (for a number of reasons, not the least of which is they actually changed their entire uni-scheme to include black — that’s like saying the pirates or orioles are BFBS)…

    but i think JTH’s point in originally including them was perhaps because they changed to black and now wear the “alternate” far more often than the “official”

    to some, that in and of itself is BFBS…not to me, but to some

    and that’s part of why the BFBS column(s) came about in the first place — to maybe arrive at some consensus of what BFBS is…instead, i think we’re now further apart, but that’s ok too

    I can barely LOOK at those stars n’ stripes caps, let alone debate the fine details of their design.

    -Jet

    [quote comment=”389600″]And the real culprit in the length of World Series night games is the commercials! Shorten those, get the games done in 2 1/2 hours, and the kids on the east coast could probably stay up to see them. There’s no excuse for an 8 PM start to not be finished until midnight.[/quote]

    Exactly!

    [quote comment=”389604″][quote comment=”389600″]And the real culprit in the length of World Series night games is the commercials! Shorten those, get the games done in 2 1/2 hours, and the kids on the east coast could probably stay up to see them. There’s no excuse for an 8 PM start to not be finished until midnight.[/quote]

    Exactly![/quote]

    Grinder in that is…

    Sure, we can shorten or limit the commercials, and if want to watch tonight’s World Series Game at home, just hit “Order World Series” while watching our free broadcast channel—which is re-running “American Idol” out takes—and $19.95 will be added to your next cable invoice.

    —Ricko

    As I proposed last year:

    The RIGHT way to the whole Stars And Stripes promotion would be keep the same colors of the correct hats and just use the American (or Canadian) inside the logo.

    Like so:
    link

    Looks 1000% better to me.

    [quote comment=”389552″][quote comment=”389521″]I can’t agree with the piping on the hat. Makes it look like there ought to be a propeller on top. Same with a pinstriped hat. Although it would be acceptable if worn with a Canadians barber pole jersey and Indiana Hoosier pants.[/quote]
    Yep. You just can’t beat those classic looks.[/quote]

    is that with or without propeller?

    but i agree with the post today, white hats need some soutache. actually, as long as it runs all six seems from the squatchee, no matter the colour of the chapeau, i would love to see a revival of that look.

    haven’t had the time to post in the last week,then i read today’s comments, and i know why it is easy to stay away from the comments section…really charles? you had to frame your comment like that?

    [quote comment=”389606″]As I proposed last year:

    The RIGHT way to the whole Stars And Stripes promotion would be keep the same colors of the correct hats and just use the American (or Canadian) inside the logo.

    Like so:
    link

    Looks 1000% better to me.[/quote]

    No argument here.

    [quote comment=”389605″][quote comment=”389604″][quote comment=”389600″]And the real culprit in the length of World Series night games is the commercials! Shorten those, get the games done in 2 1/2 hours, and the kids on the east coast could probably stay up to see them. There’s no excuse for an 8 PM start to not be finished until midnight.[/quote]

    Exactly![/quote]

    Grinder in that is…

    Sure, we can shorten or limit the commercials, and if want to watch tonight’s World Series Game at home, just hit “Order World Series” while watching our free broadcast channel—which is re-running “American Idol” out takes—and $19.95 will be added to your next cable invoice.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    Or, they could get inventive – run split-screen ads during the obligatory seven replays of the same groundout, scroll some ads across the bottom like a news ticker, etc. Not saying it wouldn’t be annoying, but it beats fifteen 3-minute commercial breaks or having to pay a subscription fee.

    [quote comment=”389564″]So howcum no one’s looked at today’s lead graphic and said…”I dunno…those ’60 Eagles jerseys look pretty olive green to me”?[/quote]

    I was thinking fern green…

    [quote comment=”389609″][quote comment=”389605″][quote comment=”389604″][quote comment=”389600″]And the real culprit in the length of World Series night games is the commercials! Shorten those, get the games done in 2 1/2 hours, and the kids on the east coast could probably stay up to see them. There’s no excuse for an 8 PM start to not be finished until midnight.[/quote]

    Exactly![/quote]

    Grinder in that is…

    Sure, we can shorten or limit the commercials, and if want to watch tonight’s World Series Game at home, just hit “Order World Series” while watching our free broadcast channel—which is re-running “American Idol” out takes—and $19.95 will be added to your next cable invoice.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    Or, they could get inventive – run split-screen ads during the obligatory seven replays of the same groundout, scroll some ads across the bottom like a news ticker, etc. Not saying it wouldn’t be annoying, but it beats fifteen 3-minute commercial breaks or having to pay a subscription fee.[/quote]

    Besides, they may need to do something to keep the players and announcers from nodding off:

    link

    link

    Did anyone else notice that the Philly throwbacks are way lighter (and seemingly more metallic looking) than their old kelly green?

    I’d love to see the kelly back but to me this:
    link

    is not this:
    link

    [quote comment=”389608″][quote comment=”389606″]As I proposed last year:

    The RIGHT way to the whole Stars And Stripes promotion would be keep the same colors of the correct hats and just use the American (or Canadian) inside the logo.

    Like so:
    link

    Looks 1000% better to me.[/quote]

    No argument here.[/quote]
    Big time improvement. You obviously are not employed by MLB.

    [quote comment=”389612″]Did anyone else notice that the Philly throwbacks are way lighter (and seemingly more metallic looking) than their old kelly green?

    I’d love to see the kelly back but to me this:
    link

    is not this:
    link

    In all fairness, it’s impossible to compare the color from a film photo taken in the 1960s (then scanned) to a digital one taken last week. I believe the Eagles did use a lighter kelly green color from the mid-50s until the end of the 60s. The kelly green was darkened in 1970, I believe.

    Sure, the dazzle material has different reflective properties than the old jerseys, but the helmets do look to be of a similar color, and the jersey in the photo you posted may be soaked in sweat, making it appear darker. There are a lot of variables at play. Too many to be able to say yay or nay to the color without comparing actual specimens from then and now. It looks a little light in the press photos, but give it a chance on the field before judgment is passed.

    [quote comment=”389545″]I am one of those people that CANNOT stand to watch sports on DVR. I have friends that do it and are ok with it, but I’d rather check scores on my phone or listen to radio (basically anything other than DVR). If its that important to me, then I gotta know whats going on ASAP.[/quote]

    Ditto.

    [quote comment=”389612″]Did anyone else notice that the Philly throwbacks are way lighter (and seemingly more metallic looking) than their old kelly green?

    I’d love to see the kelly back but to me this:
    link

    is not this:
    link

    ANYTHING is better than black

    i was looking through some fantasy football message boards (yes already) and i came across this website

    link

    seems this guy has created iterations of numerous football helmets, as well as some from other leagues. the usage of brand logos on the helmets, as well as the often unused alternates on many of the nba and mlb helmets is interesting. also there are some custom ones, and some pretty cool looking concepts for pro football helmets.

    Dallas Braden: “I’m just happy to be putting on the costume a year later.”

    link

    Is it common for professional athletes to refer to their uniform as a “costume”? I’d expect it from professional wrestlers, but…

    [quote comment=”389607″][quote comment=”389552″][quote comment=”389521″]I can’t agree with the piping on the hat. Makes it look like there ought to be a propeller on top. Same with a pinstriped hat. Although it would be acceptable if worn with a Canadians barber pole jersey and Indiana Hoosier pants.[/quote]
    Yep. You just can’t beat those classic looks.[/quote]

    is that with or without propeller?

    but i agree with the post today, white hats need some soutache. actually, as long as it runs all six seems from the squatchee, no matter the colour of the chapeau, i would love to see a revival of that look.

    haven’t had the time to post in the last week,then i read today’s comments, and i know why it is easy to stay away from the comments section…really charles? you had to frame your comment like that?[/quote]
    With propeller, of course. But alas, my dog has link.

    [quote comment=”389611″]Besides, they may need to do something to keep the players and announcers from nodding off:

    link

    link
    Keith was, of course, dreaming of Greg Luzinski in hotpants.

    [quote comment=”389602″][quote comment=”389601″]I, too, think its unfair to include the White Sox in the BFBS argument. The White Sox never had traditional colors, they’ve been all over the place in their long history. And they did use black before many BFBS teams even existed.

    HOWEVER. With their overuse of the black alternate, maybe they should now be included in the conversation.[/quote]

    which, in a roundabout way, was part of the reason for the first BFBS post —

    i even said it in the introduction, that not everyone agrees with what exactly constitutes “BFBS”…

    i wouldn’t put the chisox in that category (for a number of reasons, not the least of which is they actually changed their entire uni-scheme to include black — that’s like saying the pirates or orioles are BFBS)…

    but i think JTH’s point in originally including them was perhaps because they changed to black and now wear the “alternate” far more often than the “official”

    to some, that in and of itself is BFBS…not to me, but to some

    and that’s part of why the BFBS column(s) came about in the first place — to maybe arrive at some consensus of what BFBS is…instead, i think we’re now further apart, but that’s ok too[/quote]
    Shit, I threw the Penguins into the BFBS basket. But I also said that their version of BFBS is a GOOD thing. I said the same thing about the Sox.

    I was trying to say that (to me) just because it’s BFBS doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing.

    Not to pick a catscratch into a bleeding hole or anything, but when the A’s used to do 4th of July uni promotions, they’d do a hat and a matching uni.

    Part of why the S&S business looks so bad is because it mismatches – badly – more than half the participating teams. Fix it and its fine.

    [quote comment=”389574″]What the hell happened there?

    Attempt #2:
    [quote comment=”389569″]It’s funny that the Blue Jays have to play along. I’d be even more annoyed by this tradition if I were Canadian.[/quote]

    You do realize that they go with a link rather than stars & stripes for the Jays, right?[/quote]

    I’d like to see that hat paired with the Canada jersey they use at home on July 1. That is about it.

    [quote comment=”389617″]i was looking through some fantasy football message boards (yes already) and i came across this website

    link

    seems this guy has created iterations of numerous football helmets, as well as some from other leagues. the usage of brand logos on the helmets, as well as the often unused alternates on many of the nba and mlb helmets is interesting. also there are some custom ones, and some pretty cool looking concepts for pro football helmets.[/quote]

    Wow… it’s still not a GOOD thing, but it’s amazing to me how much better the Buffaslug looks on a football helmet than on a hockey sweater. Almost… works. The Red Wings football helmet is pretty boss.

    I have always liked the white crown/burnt orange bill of Texas.
    I am not a fan of white cleats. However, the shoes work with that hat.

    I always thought the Pirates looked really stupid with their gray hats from the mid-nineties. Those definitely needed stripes to match the uni. I would have liked to have seen what that particular hat would have looked like with a solid gray uniform.
    I actually own that hat.
    It looked stupid on them, but it looks really swell on me.

    [quote comment=”389546″]I know I’m late to this party, because I hadn’t bought a 59/50 in about 10 years until yesterday, but how terrible is the sizing and quality consistency of these $35.00 hats? Insane. I tried on some 7s and some 7.125s. Found some 7s bigger than the 7.125s! Off center or crooked logos all over the joint. You’ve got to look through 20 before you can find one with decent, acceptable combination of attributes.

    I know it’s nice to buy Made in the U.S.A. apparel that’s produced by people who make a (comparatively) living wage (in fact, I only buy Made in the U.S.A.), but more and more I feel that the majority of people who work in American factories have no idea how to stitch fabric together with any sort of competence, and it’s not just hats that are the problem.

    News flash: New Era could be taking your job overseas, but they’re not. They’re keeping it right here where it belongs, so have some pride in your work, cut the fabric to the correct length and stitch the damn thing together right.[/quote]

    Yes, the quality is getting worse on the 59-50’s. I have run into the same problem as you with them being sewn crooked and the logo’s being off-centered. Its really annoying.

    As far as the sizes go, I have read somewhere else, that New Era makes the hats in 2 sizes, small and large. They then use a hat stretcher to stretch them to the desired size. I have also read that at the New Era Flagship stores, they have these hat stretchers and for example, will stretch a 7 1/8 to a 7 1/4 or 7 3/8.

    Not all of the New Era hats are made in the USA anymore. Some are made in China. Which is funny since I read on New Era’s website that they were closing 2 of their 3 US factories so they could continue to make the hats in the USA. The Chinese hats definitely fit differently than the US hats. Its hard to describe, but there seems to be more room in the crown on the Chinese hats.

    I have 11 MLB on-field 59-50’s and 6 MiLB on-field 59-50’s. All of the Milb hats are made in the USA, so I am not sure if they are making those in China. Of my MLB hats, 4 are made in China. Its strange, but the Chinese hats seem to have better quality when it comes to the hat size and being sewn straight.

    [quote comment=”389626″][quote comment=”389546″]I know I’m late to this party, because I hadn’t bought a 59/50 in about 10 years until yesterday, but how terrible is the sizing and quality consistency of these $35.00 hats? Insane. I tried on some 7s and some 7.125s. Found some 7s bigger than the 7.125s! Off center or crooked logos all over the joint. You’ve got to look through 20 before you can find one with decent, acceptable combination of attributes.

    I know it’s nice to buy Made in the U.S.A. apparel that’s produced by people who make a (comparatively) living wage (in fact, I only buy Made in the U.S.A.), but more and more I feel that the majority of people who work in American factories have no idea how to stitch fabric together with any sort of competence, and it’s not just hats that are the problem.

    News flash: New Era could be taking your job overseas, but they’re not. They’re keeping it right here where it belongs, so have some pride in your work, cut the fabric to the correct length and stitch the damn thing together right.[/quote]

    Yes, the quality is getting worse on the 59-50’s. I have run into the same problem as you with them being sewn crooked and the logo’s being off-centered. Its really annoying.

    As far as the sizes go, I have read somewhere else, that New Era makes the hats in 2 sizes, small and large. They then use a hat stretcher to stretch them to the desired size. I have also read that at the New Era Flagship stores, they have these hat stretchers and for example, will stretch a 7 1/8 to a 7 1/4 or 7 3/8.

    Not all of the New Era hats are made in the USA anymore. Some are made in China. Which is funny since I read on New Era’s website that they were closing 2 of their 3 US factories so they could continue to make the hats in the USA. The Chinese hats definitely fit differently than the US hats. Its hard to describe, but there seems to be more room in the crown on the Chinese hats.

    I have 11 MLB on-field 59-50’s and 6 MiLB on-field 59-50’s. All of the Milb hats are made in the USA, so I am not sure if they are making those in China. Of my MLB hats, 4 are made in China. Its strange, but the Chinese hats seem to have better quality when it comes to the hat size and being sewn straight.[/quote]
    The 59/50’s are so inconsistent, I can’t buy one. Don’t even get me started on the black under bills.

    [quote comment=”389606″]As I proposed last year:

    The RIGHT way to the whole Stars And Stripes promotion would be keep the same colors of the correct hats and just use the American (or Canadian) inside the logo.

    Like so:
    link

    Looks 1000% better to me.[/quote]
    I agree – that’s MUCH better! Seriously.

    I think the reason some brims are red and some are blue has to do with which is closer to the team colors. All of the teams with blue as a main team color have blue brims, and likewise for red. Of the teams that have different colors, such as the Orioles orange or Athletics green, they went with which of the two, red or blue, was closer to that color.

    [quote comment=”389625″]I always thought the Pirates looked really stupid with their gray hats from the mid-nineties. Those definitely needed stripes to match the uni. I would have liked to have seen what that particular hat would have looked like with a solid gray uniform.
    I actually own that hat.
    It looked stupid on them, but it looks really swell on me.[/quote]

    My dad has one of those, and it looks good on him as well. He also has a white hat with black pinstripes and bill and a yellow P. That looks okay, too.

    I agree – if you mixed those two hats, or if you had a solid gray hat with a solid gray uni, it would look better than this:
    link

    i still don’t get the cubs

    shouldn’t they be blue?

    or because they have an alt that has a red brim, they justify it that way

    any way you slice it, these suck…and i hope MLB takes a bath on them — why they can’t just GIVE the money to welcome home vets escapes me…unless they’re taking a nice chunk of change off the top first

    of course, if they didn’t have a “look at us” gesture, we wouldn’t know the good they’re doing

    [quote comment=”389631″]i still don’t get link

    shouldn’t they link?

    or because they have an alt that has a link, they justify it that way

    any way you slice it, these suck…and i hope MLB takes a bath on them — why they can’t just GIVE the money to welcome home vets escapes me…unless they’re taking a nice chunk of change off the top first

    of course, if they didn’t have a “look at us” gesture, we wouldn’t know the good they’re doing[/quote]
    They could give a portion of the gate receipts from those days to the charity, but then they’d lose money…so that’s off the table.

    [quote comment=”389593″][quote comment=”389592″]

    A wise man once suggested “powder red”:

    link

    Though the concept had its share of detractors, I really kinda like the idea. Would probably work for a few teams, at least.[/quote]

    My bad – it was actually Phil. ;)[/quote]

    actually…i think it was vilk who suggested it, jason

    i just “attempted” it graphically

    and that was a really shitty attempt — because it needs WAY more gray to actually approach ‘heather red’ or ‘powder red’

    red, it seems, is the new black in baseball tho…

    I’ve been reading (and loving) this blog for a couple of years now. Great stuff.

    Is there a good forum anywhere for jersey/uniform collectors? I’ve looked around a bit, but haven’t found much.

    [quote comment=”389631″]i still don’t get link

    shouldn’t they link?

    or because they have an alt that has a link, they justify it that way

    any way you slice it, these suck…and i hope MLB takes a bath on them — why they can’t just GIVE the money to welcome home vets escapes me…unless they’re taking a nice chunk of change off the top first

    of course, if they didn’t have a “look at us” gesture, we wouldn’t know the good they’re doing[/quote]
    I think the red actually pairs better with the Cubs because red is one of their colors. Navy blue kind of clashes with royal blue. Or whatever that Cub blue is.

    [quote comment=”389629″]I think the reason some brims are red and some are blue has to do with which is closer to the team colors. All of the teams with blue as a main team color have blue brims, and likewise for red. Of the teams that have different colors, such as the Orioles orange or Athletics green, they went with which of the two, red or blue, was closer to that color.[/quote]

    Nope. I can’t see any link to the colors. Nothing is league or division dominated, the Rockies purple is closer to navy than red, the Cubs eliminated the red brim road caps last year, the Red Sox could have been navy & the Orioles could had been red instead of navy. There just doesn’t seem to be any real pattern behind it. 17 navy / 13 red.

    [quote comment=”389634″]I’ve been reading (and loving) this blog for a couple of years now. Great stuff.

    Is there a good forum anywhere for jersey/uniform collectors? I’ve looked around a bit, but haven’t found much.[/quote]

    Retail? Game-used? If the latter, try these guys:
    link

    [quote comment=”389633″][quote comment=”389593″][quote comment=”389592″]

    A wise man once suggested “powder red”:

    link

    Though the concept had its share of detractors, I really kinda like the idea. Would probably work for a few teams, at least.[/quote]

    My bad – it was actually Phil. ;)[/quote]

    actually…i think it was vilk who suggested it, jason

    i just “attempted” it graphically

    and that was a really shitty attempt — because it needs WAY more gray to actually approach ‘heather red’ or ‘powder red’

    red, it seems, is the new black in baseball tho…[/quote]

    I didn’t realize it was Jim’s idea (sorry Jim), but like I said, I kinda like the look. The post that I took that pic from had another version of yours (more gray), which would probably be easier for people to swallow in general. Without looking back, I think the post I reacted to originally was about bringing the pink, so that’s why I chose that one.

    Ultimately, though, I really like the idea of heather or powder red, and totally meant it when I said I thought it could work. Like Oakland’s heather greens (or whatever).

    I know this was yesterday, but Prince Fielder was wearing four of those Phiten necklaces. Three pink, and one blue it seems from this pic.

    link

    Weird thing, is that it seems that pics from earlier in the week (and year) he has not been wearing these necklaces.

    link

    link

    I believe tonight he has dropped the number of necklaces to three. Still doesn’t answer why he started wearing them on Mother’s Day in the first place.

    [quote comment=”389630″][quote comment=”389625″]I always thought the Pirates looked really stupid with their gray hats from the mid-nineties. Those definitely needed stripes to match the uni. I would have liked to have seen what that particular hat would have looked like with a solid gray uniform.
    I actually own that hat.
    It looked stupid on them, but it looks really swell on me.[/quote]

    My dad has one of those, and it looks good on him as well. He also has a white hat with black pinstripes and bill and a yellow P. That looks okay, too.

    I agree – if you mixed those two hats, or if you had a solid gray hat with a solid gray uni, it would look better than this:
    link
    I’ve got a gray O’s cap from that same era. Bought it in Baltimore before the baseball season had started. I had no idea if they’d actually be wearing them on the field and the clerk at the store was equally clueless.

    The gray lids looked better on them with the solid gray unis than the Pirates’ did with their gray pins. Overall, I actually thought they would have worked better with the softball tops than with the traditional grays.

    There was at least one other team that tried the gray caps in the mid-90s. Was it the Royals?

    Hmmm… Come to think of it, if the Royals paired their powder caps with powder pants and the royal blue jerseys, that might be a better look for them than their current powder/powder/white combo.

    [quote comment=”389641″]
    There was at least one other team that tried the gray caps in the mid-90s. Was it the Royals?[/quote]

    yup

    having difficulty actually finding game photos of that cap in action — so im not 100% sure that repro was what they actually wore…but it was the royals who had it…maybe bill henderson has a pic

    [quote comment=\”389609\”]

    Or, they could get inventive – run split-screen ads during the obligatory seven replays of the same groundout, scroll some ads across the bottom like a news ticker, etc. Not saying it wouldn\’t be annoying, but it beats fifteen 3-minute commercial breaks or having to pay a subscription fee.[/quote]

    The split screen wouldn’t be that hard to do, ABC started it with their IndyCar coverage, TNT uses it when they have Nascar Cup races, and Vs does it with their IndyCar coverage.
    Also, if done right, commercial free doesn’t have to mean PPV… Soccer games are broadcast commercial free..

    link?

    Yeah, I know. Spring training, but still…

    White cap with Royals wordmark over blue jersey with interlocking KC over gray pants?

    [quote comment=”389644″]link?

    Yeah, I know. Spring training, but still…

    White cap with Royals wordmark over blue jersey with interlocking KC over gray pants?[/quote]
    Like they way the organization has been run for the last 20 years, getting worse year after year, the Royals are the best at taking something good and screwing it up. Hence the term Royaly Screwed.

    [quote comment=”389642″]having difficulty actually finding game photos of that cap in action…[/quote]

    Here you go:
    link

    Those are all from 1995.

    Don’t forget that the Pirates also wore a gray cap through much of the late 1990s:
    link

    Phil,
    I apologize for coming off as overly harsh, I respect what you do. I guess I have somewhat of an inferiority complex when it comes to my Sox, having played second fiddle to that 40,000 seat excuse to get drunk and their bad team up north. And I’ll give you that not bothering to read your post weakened my argument.
    Anyway, perhaps it’s true that the Sox piggybacked with the Kings/popularity of the Raiders, but teams copy each others’ color schemes every time they get new uniforms. Every team to come into existence or get a revamp in the mid-90’s have purple and teal in their scheme, and now red is the new craze, and the D-backs straight up stole the Astros identity.

    So to try to answer the question, I think BFBS should include an exception if black is your primary color, and you’ve been wearing it at least X many years.
    Also, many teams that switched to black more recently, like the Rockies or Marlins, had previous primary colors that made MORE sense for that team to be wearing, like purple (mountains’ majesty) or teal (the main color of a marlin’s back). To me this makes BFBS worse, when you have a more viable option you ignore.

    Lastly, I do agree the Sox wear their alternate entirely too much-they used to just ride it if they were winning, but now they just keep trotting it out no matter the outcome. This definitely is a category of its own though, maybe AFAS. But many many teams are guilty of this-the Rangers, Marlins, Padres and Brewers are a few that come to mind.

    Any idea whether one can buy one of those 1994 Phillies bright blue home-day-game-only caps, whether authentic or a replica?

    I’m fairly certain that Victor Martinez has been using the first baseman’s mitt to catch Tim Wakefield since their first outing together last year.

    Late to the boat here, but that elf logo on the Browns visor tab has been there for years.

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