Paul here, helping out while Phil deals with some family-related stuff. During the All-Star Game, I got a note from reader Eric Stroker, who said, “The Texas flag patch on Adrian Beltre’s left sleeve is missing a part of the white stripe in the flag (not sewn in).” He didn’t have a screen shot, but I went back through the game video the following day and saw what he meant. As you can see in the shot shown above, the left-most portion of the white stripe, before the flag furls, looks gray instead of white.
But then I did some further checking and realized that the little gray section of the stripe is always part of the Rangers’ flag patch. It’s also part of how the patch is depicted in the MLB Style Guide.
I’d never noticed this before. And now that I have, it annoys me. The gray section looks drab, dull, wrong. It’s closer to the viewer, and presumably closer to the light source, so it should be brighter than the rest of the white stripe (or at least the same brightness), not darker. Wouldn’t this be better? Even if you couldn’t make out the dark vertical line, so what? There’s no visible line on the fold for the red stripe, so why does the white stripe need one?
Grrrr, now this is really bugging me. Thanks to Eric for messing with my head. (And for good measure, several commenters this morning have pointed out that the underside of the furled portion of the flag should be red, not blue.)
Meanwhile: New ESPN column today — a very in-depth look at a very small MLB detail that we’ve barely touched upon before. I think you’ll like.
Benchies from the Beginning
By Rick Pearson
For nearly three years, “Benchies” has been appearing most weekends at Uni Watch. While Bench Coach Phil fills in for Paul Monday through Friday during August, we present a retrospective. New strips will continue to appear on weekends. For further background, here’s the “Benchies” backstory and bios on the regular Boys of “Benchies.” Enjoy.
And here is the full-size version.
Uni Watch News Ticker: (compiled by John Ekdahl) The University of North Dakota is caught between a rock (the NCAA) and a hard place (a new state law) regarding the Fighting Sioux nickname. … Andrew Hoenig sends along these umpire uniforms from the Mid-Atlantic Classic between the Valley (Virginia) Baseball League and the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. … We’d already seen the Preds’ new road jersey, and now they’ve unveiled the home version as well. … Take a look at the new Nashville Predators head (thanks to John Muir). … Check out this shot of Hope Solo’s socks (Jason Greening). … Andrew Shain sends along more details about the new South Carolina uniforms. … Prosecutors announced they will not be filing charges against Deshon Marman regarding the “saggy pants on the airplane” incident. … Warren Humphrey noticed this 1965 NC State logo seems to resemble a certain well-known character. … The Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League have worn 1911 Wausau Stars throwbacks for a few games this season. Video available here. (thanks to Jeff Ash). … Dylan Buell put together a gallery of all the patches featured in the new NCAA 12 game that was just released. … Craig Snyder notes a new skirmish has erupted in the ”˜war’ between the NRL (National Rugby League) and the AFL (Australian Football League) with the announcement of a proposed new NRL team for Brisbane to be called the Brisbane Bombers. In AFL one of the established teams is the Essendon Bombers. “As you will see from the news report,” says Craig, “there are a number of teams with the same nickname in both codes but the two codes are increasingly competing as they seek to build their national profile and expand into each other’s traditional territory. There will be no clash of colours or jumpers.”
“If Atlanta uses ATL on their third jersey shouldn’t they be either legally or morally obligated to change it to ALT?” — “Too Tall” Paul Deaver
I like the Pred’s new gold jersey. I just don’t like the piano keys in the neck or the “guitar strings” on the numbers. It looks stupid on the number 5.
i like the guitar strings on the numbers a lot, especially on the helmet stickers. i’m totally indifferent on the piano keys though, as i don’t give a shite whats inside their jerseys. LOL
That’s kind of the point though, right? It’s on the inside collar which isn’t seen. Which makes it a marketing gimmick. Which makes it unnecessarily stupid.
The piano keys will only be on the authentic jerseys.
“It’s on the inside collar which isn’t seen. Which makes it a marketing gimmick”
it just makes it “no big deal” to me. almost the same way i really don’t care/mind that there’s a cross above polamalu’s nameplate. nobody will see it during the game, so no biggie.
Agreed on the Preds jerseys for the most part. The piano keys and strings I’m OK with, though; the things that bother me the most are the stupid arching vertical white stripes (the only team that can kind of get away with that IMO is St. Louis, because you can pretend it’s got to do with the Gateway Arch), the tiny strip of blue on the back under the white strips (get rid of the stripe and make a full blue shoulder yoke, and it’d be fantastic), and the little blue horns on the front, also under the white arch (same solution.)
If those could be fixed, the Preds’ new uniforms would be among the best in the league. Sadly, they’re just good, when they could be great.
Agreed. I think it’s cool that a team has gold as its colored jersey……most teams go w/ the darker color. It’ll be interesting how long they stay in Nashville, though…..
The University of North Dakota is caught between a rock (the NCAA) and a hard place (a new state law) regarding the Fighting Sioux nickname.
_____
…what the hell? A state law to stop a university from changing the name of it’s mascot? Really?
Yeah, the NCAA ban is stupid, but you can’t tell me the state doesn’t have more important issues to worry about.
I’m from ND, and word is that the actual “tribe members” support and endorse the use of the name and likeness, but the the “tribal elders” so to speak don’t feel they have been properly compensated – but the elders won’t let the members vote or voice opinion, so what they say goes.
Regardless of where you stand – it is one of, if not THE best looking logos in any sport for any team.
Regardless of where you stand — it is one of, if not THE best looking logos in any sport for any team.
See, this is what I’ve least understood about the controversy. It’s a crappy logo. It only dates from 1999 and was already dated then. It’s way too busy, and combines abstract angularity with more organic lines in a way that ruins both. The profile is too soft for the whole thing to work as a sort of stained-glass or etching form, and all the other lines and shapes are too linear to work as a representational profile. It looks like something a high school student who read too many John Byrne comics would enter into a design-a-logo competition circa 1987.
Complete bullshit. link
This is a great logo. Dating from 1999 has nothing to do with good or bad. Dated then? Huh? It is busy but that’s part of its good design (in this instance). Not templated crap and all details are well thought out. The mix of the abstract and organic is combined incredibly well and I don’t see any attempt at a stained-glass form. Your connection to John Byrne is purely your own. If you don’t like having Indian mascots don’t take it out on a quality design piece.
While I disagree with R. S. point about the Sioux logo, I wholeheartedly agree with his criticism of John Byrne.
i will stay out of the debate today because neither side will convince the other. but the logo in and of itself ben, it rots. unless of course you like things totally 80’s. i always knew you were a link fan ben.
Sioux just wanna have fun
heeeey-ooo
ba-dum–bump
booooo-oy-oy-ing
let’s hear it for marty. marty hick everyone. he will be here at giggles all week, henny youngman is up next.
henny youngman…
ROBBER: “Gimme all the money; this is a fuck up.”
TELLER: “Don’t you mean it’s a stick up?”
ROBBER: “Uh-uh, it’s a fuck up; I forgot my gun.”
There was some good in the 80’s. Guessing Jimvilker’s with me there. I’d say the logo in question is more Ant link than Lauper though. Breathe Right should give that freak an endorsement. It’s still a really good logo. And like me or not, it is getting bashed based on something else and not it’s design merit.
oh ben, i am not bashing it on anything but the design merit. i made it clear that i wasn’t going to get into the debate about the mascot’s existence today. i was not saying it is a sambo, but i was saying it has nowhere near the design strength of say the chicago blackhawk as a noble bust. the design is like totally bad for sure, barf me out the door. the design, weather it looks like adam ant or cyndi lauper is a totally a grody boner. the design sucks. i didn’t want to debate the sioux name with you today, but when you tell me that i am secretly bashing the logo because i don’t like the name, you are flat out wrong. i guess i can’t win, so what the hell, i will bash the name too. i found this lost cyndi lauper lyric…
“sioux just want to have fun”
I see the jersey in the hockey rink light
white father says it’s an honour when he cheers fight-fight
Oh father dear your mouth has the runs
And sioux they want to have fun
Oh sioux just want to have fun
Goodie Sioux shoes?
Just kidding.
nothing like a grammar error, i guess it is is raining adam ant and cyndi lauper.
Ant > Lauper. By far.
As for the logo, I don’t have much of an opinion.
Looks like a cheap Blackhawks rip off to me
Goddamn NCAA (National Communist Athletic Association). I hope North Dakota nails the PC bastards with a successful antitrust suit. North Dakota’s nickname and logo are totally respectful of its native brethren. Leave them to hell alone! Who is the NCAA to arbitrarily rule down on high from their glass throne in INDIANapolis? Hypocritical asswipes!
Yep. Yepyepyepyepyepyep.
I beginning to think John Calipari has a great idea. link And not just to pay players though there’s something to that too.
RPMoose, I think we’ll just have to fist fight to end this once and for all. No more talking. Just straight to the death violence. Or alcohol. Luv ya dude.
you know i love you too ben, which is why i didn’t want to even get into the issue of the name, just the logo as good or bad, because we both think each other ignorent on that native issue, and that won’t change. but i had zero agenda in that until you put words in my mouth.
Oh, and the BCS sucks. And bowls suck. Playoff all the way, baby. -rpm
I never wrote words in your mouth….until just now. But I may have meant to……or did I? Know way for you to know for sure, ya Baltocolumbchiclevekangermanian. (I’m sure I left out a few dozen stops)
Well, for one, they call themselves the Lakota, not the Sioux. Sioux was the name other native tribes used. And the Dakotas were stolen from them after we said it could be their land forever. Then to add insult to injury we built Mt. Rushmore. Really, any team from the Dakotas could be more accurately called the Fighting Whites since we sort of kicked the Sioux’s ass.
As a Badger hockey fan. “Sioux a girls name”
Not to pick nits or anything, but the TX flag patch is also “wrong” cuz the back part of the flag (where it is furl upon itsself) should be RED not Blue.
Also, the “certain well-known charactre” link doesn’t open.
????
HELL. YES. That is easily the most distracting and infuriating thing with the Rangers’ flag patch. It’s physically inaccurate. That little area on the “back side” of the flag that is depicted by the waving is in the red area, not the blue. It’s like they didn’t bother to look at how a flag works, much less a TX flag, before designing it.
I agree with you both. And until this morning, I don’t think I ever looked closely enough at the logo in question to notice either of these annoyances. Strange.
Excellent point. I’m gonna add that to the text.
Well, geez, the Texas flag also doesn’t have any gray in the star, yet the flag on the Rangers uniform does have gray on there. Another inaccuracy.
I’m not buying any of the criticisms of the Texas flag patch. First, Paul’s about distance and brightness – the left side of the flag is closer to the viewer and thus should be brighter – makes no sense. That’s not how brightness works, at least not at the scale of a flag, where the various surfaces would differ no more than a few inches in distance from the viewer. And it’s particularly not how shading works, and it seems pretty darn obvious that the gray represents shading. And as shading, the gray is absolutely correct. Not mandatory, but to the extent one decides to apply shading to that image, the gray is exactly where it should be. That part of the flag is a surface angled away from the viewer. The rest of the white stripe, except for the very far right edge, represents something much closer to a plane aligned perpendicular to the viewer. Those surfaces require different light/dark values if one is applying shading at all.
As to the blue, I have the same reaction, but I also recognize that this reaction comes from the ridiculously over-literal part of my brain. That blue doesn’t represent the color blue; it represents even darker shading, without which the “front” red stripe would be indistinguishable from the “rear” red stripe, and the flag would not longer be readable as a three-dimensional representation of a flapping flag at all. The blue is a feature, not a bug.
As to removing the gray, that probably is an improvement. Not because the gray is wrong – it’s not! – but because the principle that justifies it is not applied to the red stripe. The flag either needs a darker red below the gray, or the white stripe should be all one color as the red is. Since the red stripe reads just fine in one color, so would the white, and it would work without adding the tiny gray line Paul adds. (Which must also be added to the red stripe if added at all.)
What I hadn’t noticed about that flag patch is that the star has gray bevels. Which as a detail is either invisible or way too busy. Either way, the bevels don’t belong. And that speaks to an overly busy application of gray to the image in general, so in the end I’m all for Paul’s solution of eliminating the gray stripe too, even if I get there via a different line of reasoning.
If it’s supposed to be shading for the flag curving away from the viewer then the far right edge of the flag should have it too.
It just ain’t right.
Here’s what I find confusing: If the flag patch is meant to represent the flag with the attachment end forward, i.e., with the flag moving forward or toward the viewer, shouldn’t that gray section be brighter and the white section less bright?
This would of course be a easy thing to fix in directions given to the embroiderers. Now if someone would only direct the franchise to put the nickname “Rangers” back on the home jersey…
I didn’t realize until you said it that the home jersey didn’t say “Rangers”.
What am I doing here…
*bumps into door jamb on his way out*
Texas’ flag logo is probably an embroidery issue. Were the top part white, you wouldn’t be able to discern the wave in the flag. Same issue if the bottom part was red instead of blue. Having a single-thread border to discern the back from the front (in the case of the red) or the hoist from the fly (in the case of the white) wouldn’t be discernible on TV or bleacher seats in the stadium.
Speaking of, have you ever considered the rules of heraldry in the use of sports iconography? In particular, the rule of tincture, that lights must not touch lights, nor darks touch darks, for ease of viewing from great distances? It’s used from family crests to highway signs as well as most flags.
It’s a flag rendered in, essentially, four colors: red, royal, white and gray. The shadow of the “furl”, pretty much by default, ends up royal (and, yes, when you look at, that’s more distracting than the big of gray. Looks like the flag has a goiter.
The two areas of the white, since the design is “screenprint” style with no “outlining” and because they adjoin, sorta need to be different colors for the sake of definition. As Scott pointed out, it’s likely correct that the rear one might be catching more light and be brighter. Plus, the way it’s done keeps the larger of the the two areas white. Flip them and the patch gets really dull looking, and even more wrong.
As to the stars being inaccurate…well, one can argue that the whole thing is a graphic to begin with…because the Texas state flag is navy, not royal.
In other words, it ain’t that big a deal, considering the style of the artwork.
THIS.
As usual, that franchise can’t do anything right.
It’s silly to even have a Texas flag in the first place. They just feel the need to over-Texas everything.
What a joke.
Son, as a former Dallas resident, I am here to tell yew that’s that’s the way things are done in the Lone Star State. Don’t y’all mess with Texas.
Yep, Texas is rather full of itself, isn’t it?
“They just feel the need to over-Texas everything.”
Isn’t that the state motto?
If you’re going to have a flag patch, why does it have to furl at all? It seems all other flag patches do just fine (as far as function of a patch is concerned, anyway) without it. I’d buy that the patch is unnecessary, as they’ve already got “Texas” across their chest, but might as well do it right if you’re going to do it.
Because…
a) It’s more visually interesting than a rectangle
b) The original Colt .45s already had worn one of those more rectangular versions on their road jerseys…
link
Also, I have never seen that “H” hat before.
Most likely from their first spring training.
Paul? Anyone?
Paul just informed me that’s the hat they wore in spring training the year the team changed nicknames.
Makes sense, Larsen was in spring training with the newly-christened “Astros” in 1965, but moved on to Baltimore very early in what would be his final season in MLB.
Larsen last pitched for the Cubs in ’67. Not well, but he showed up.
Erp. You’re right. Forgot about that. Pitched in, what, maybe 2 or 3 games for the Cubs?
That’s a sharp Leafs t-shirt on link This was in the “you might also like” box at the bottom of today’s post! I suppose it’s uni-related, if only in the most hilariously ridiculous of ways.
I have no idea who Brooke Mueller is or why I should care about what she inhales. Something tells me I am better off that way. But yes, that is a nice looking shirt.
Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife. And yes, I’m embarrassed that I know that.
I had to google her, because I didn’t know who she was, now that I do, I am embarrassed as well.
Good bet she’s like Denise Richards, Sheen’s first wife, who once said she liked,
“bad boys with big c—s.”
And they’re surprised that, when they apply those criteria, the men they choose turn out to jerks and/or knotheads?
“Women. Can’t live with ’em…pass the beer nuts.”
—Norm Petersen
The “well-known character” link of the NC Wolfpack story circles back to the blog instead of the picture.
I’m not even sure I understood what I just wrote. I shouldn’t do this when half awake.
The 1965 Wolf looks not so much like that “well-known character” as he looks to have stolen the Demon Deacon’s link
Betcha a nickel that, being 1965, it has nothing to do with either Dr. Seuss or the Deacons.
It’s much more likely derivative of the Big Bad Wolf from Disney’s “Three Little Pigs” (y’know, them being the Wolfpack n’ all)…
link
Could well be. Guess I was thinking of the tweak at WF as well as UNC and DU in the ‘pack’s fight song:
We’re the Red and White from State,
And we know we are the best.
A hand behind our back,
We can take on all the rest.
Come over the hill, Caroline.
Devils and Deacs stand in line.
The Red and White from N.C. State,
Go State!
Disclaimer: not an NCSU alum but lived close enough to watch Lou Holtz’s and Bo Rein’s show on Sundays and hear the song.
Exactly.
And I meant that, if the the logo is from 1965 and possibly before, the Disney image of what a cartoon “Big Bad Wolf” looks like remained front-and-center in pop culture, and likely was the artist’s source of inspiration, but giving it his own spin, of course. In that era the classic short-subject still was airing probably once a season on the weekly Disney TV show.
Yes. The big, bad wolf. Not just a good guess, I think you’re exactly right…
anybody else recognize the coach? he’s Press Maravich, the Pistol’s dad
Am I missing something on Hope Solo’s socks here?
Any picture of Hope Solo should not be missed regardless of the sock choice….IMHO, of course.
Oh believe me, not just you. I was at the Manchester United – Revolution last night and she’s all that was being discussed.
Color, dude. They’re The Color That Shall Not Be Named.
Even more Potter references!
Thats ok… I went and read Deathly Hallows last week to see what all of the fuss was about.
On a serious note, why was she wearing purple socks yesterday anyway?
In all three group matches (when the team wore white/white/white) she wore purple/purple/purple.
In the Brazil match (when the team wore black/black/black she wore gray/gray/gray.
So, if the officials/FIFA considered the gray shirt and shorts enough of a contrast with the white uniforms of the outfield players, shouldn’t the gray socks have been ok too?
It certainly wasn’t a concern of clashing with the France socks, since if anything the purple was closer to France’s red than the gray socks would have been on Solo.
I don’t know…superstition? Soccer goalies, like placekickers, are known to be somewhat of an eccentric bunch…
She did go to the University of Washington so maybe it’s just a shout out.
i ain’t looking at her socks, my eyes are locked onto another part of her
Hello all…check out the awesome on the Beard’s feet the other night:
link
Those are sweet. As soon as Beltran gets trded to SF they are becoming my new favorite team.
link
What’s better – the uni or the dancing?
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a new logo, see links below.
old:
link
new:
link
Personally, I think the update itself is fine, but what bothers me is that the flags appear to be blowing in the opposite direction fo where the tire is heading. Maybe I’m just being really anal, but it stuck out to me immediately.
LOL maybe the tire is headed away from the viewer?
“burn some dust here, eat my rubber”
“dad, i think what you mean is…”
Love the “Christmas Vacation” quote. That movie is never out of season.
pittsburgh penguins
check out the weight room, weight lifting penguin logo:
link
check out the weights:
link
Ry Co, do you remember that scene in 24/7…one of the players, I think it was Cookie, was wearing a t-shirt with the weightlifting penguin logo on it. Love to get my paws on one of those…
alas, i’ve watched but 1 episode of 24/7 sober, and 1 pretty drunk. i don’t get HBO, so i’m waiting for the DVD. i also never get to use the word “alas” in a sentence, but that’s neither here nor there. ;-)
i remember the pirates used to have a weight lifting/workout logo… and probably still do. it’s a bent barbell behind their stupid cartoony logo they currently use
but rob, as i’m surprised they don’t sell those shirts, i LOVE team exclusive shirts! kinda like the “punisher” shirts they were wearing during their cup run. remember those beauts?
I don’t, actually…but I just looked it up. SHARP!
i have to agree ryan, i like the team only shirts too, makes them special.
I’m no fan of the Penguins, but that weight lifting Penguin logo is fantastic. It’s nice that they have a redeeming factor over there besides their now retired powder blues and similarly retired 66.
Not sure if it’s been mentioned by anyone, but, “Dressed to the Nines” is back up.
link
Whats at the bottom of the 1 on her jersey? Is it a star or something?
here… i believe it’s a graphic representation of this crest
A little logo on each digit. Authentication purposes. No logo on the digit = the customization job is phony. It’s a common practice in soccer.
Thanks!
From the San Diego Union-Tribune:
The Padres will wear the club’s 1983 uniform tonight when they open the second half of the season at Petco Park against the San Francisco Giants.
The uniforms will be part of a tribute the Padres will be paying to former manager Dick Williams. The Hall of Fame manager died last week at age 82. Also in honor of Williams, the team will wear a commemorative patch of his initials. Tonight’s pregame ceremony will include a moment of silence and a special video tribute to Williams.
Williams was the Padres’ manager from 1982-85 and led the Padres to their first National League pennant in 1984. Williams’ Padres teams had a 337-311 record for a .520 winning percentage over four years, finishing at .500 or better each season.
link
I’m rather surprised no other team has mentioned any plans to uni-memorialize Williams. Oakland? Boston? There aren’t many Hall of Fame managers out there. (Okay, so there aren’t many managers who pleaded no contest to indecent exposure either, but still…)
Well, good. It would be a shame if someone had to go a ballgame and not be reminded they should feel sad about something. Y’know, since evidently we’ve decided (or MLB has decided) we’re incapable of doing it without being told to.
I’m trying to imagine MLB from 1942-1945 with a banner on every scoreboard reading, “WE’RE AT WAR, DID YOU HEAR?”
I think those banners actually read “BUY WAR BONDS”
Indeed. But it wasn’t an orchestrated session of group angst.
Also, back then it wasn’t a job being done by small group of people who made a career choice, as if they were cops and firefighters and EMTs. Those doing the fighting and the dying were…all of us. There was, potentially, an empty space at every family’s breakfast table.
Not the largely external effort it is now.
I don’t see anything depressing about paying homage to the man who skippered the Pads to their first (of only 2) World Series. Especially since they get to wear those cool unis.
My team can out-memorialize yours. Eat that, commemorative patch.
Never mind. Just another ever-expanding “policy” with no viable exit strategy. Patches for everyone who ever managed or ever played or ever broadcast a game. Every untoward thing that even remotely touches baseball is patch-worthy.
I still commend the Cardinals. For whatever reason they chose not to honor a player as signficant as Marty Marion, it plays well. We can remember people without, literally, wearing it on our sleeve.
As to your other point about the unis. Helluvan idea. Wear ’em and let’s all salute the skipper who took us to that World Series. And if the patch is just for tonight, even better. Hoist a beer and toast him tonight. But you don’t have to do it until September.
links that got lost somewhere in the uni-verse. (williams just noted.) And look at Wilson’s shoes.
link
link
and, uh, speaking of Bri…
link
Wouldn’t it be nice we fans could have access to the MLB Style Guide?
not sure a wolf in a top hat looks like a cat in whatever kind of hatthat is. but i did always think that the nc state wolf looked a lot like the tex avery wolf>/a href>
There you go. That being a descendant, visually speaking, of the earlier breakthrough Disney film (see above).
i see that now rick, my bad. i was doing a quick search for 40’s-50’s wolfs, i was looking for one in particular that i never found. but it generally looks like all the disney, hana-barbera(droopy), tex avery, yada-yada wolfs from that era. for sure if this site was around in the day we would have blasted nc-state
Ah-ha! (look out, Soap Box time)
I just realized what bugs me about all this Ballpark Patriotism.
Pro Athletes: “Let’s hear it for duty, honor, trust, teamwork and loyalty! Me? Oh, I’m only here this season; next year I’m playing for whoever offers me the most money. btw, thanks for serving so I don’t get stuck being in some Army Reserve unit or something that would screw with my earning power. Or my dating.”
When I first started following major league baseball (1969, Padres, I was nine years old), I remember the radio announcers mentioning from time to time that a player would be inactive for a couple of weeks during the summer to meet reserve obligations. Can you imagine that today?
And on a related note, the only remaining armed forces member who was drafted (1972) has announced he will be retiring after 39 years. Wow…
link
I remember that very specifically in the case of link who missed a chunk of the ’68 season in the uniform of the DC Army National Guard, ironically. I’ve been thinking of Brinkman often this season as I watch the Nationals’ offense.
White Sox fans will recall that Carlos May blew off the end of his thumb in the service. And Cub fans will recall that Kenny Holtzman ran up a gaudy won-loss record pitching only on weekends due to military service in 1967.
Phillies minor leaguers dream of wearing pajamas:
link
I guess it’s Phillies Phasion Day as we await the return of the regular season. Here’s another bit I saw written by a non-sports columnist:
link
“Phillies minor leaguers dream of wearing pajamas:”
This is a surprise?
Today’s ESPN column is up:
link
“The look of baseball is always changing. But for generations, one thing about the game has stayed the same: Players have had their uniform numbers written on the knobs of their bats.”
Unless your name is Billy Ripken…
Someone didn’t read all the way to the end of the column.
Aw, man, you’re right. I think I got distracted, because after you mentioned R.A. Dickey (I’m a big knuckleballer fan), I started looking for stuff related to him. Silly of me to think you’d leave out that reference…
wonder if they make a fuck face decal.
I’ve always loved this No Mas shirt:
link
I miss the Native American logos each with a single tear t-shirts.
That’s a great mothership column. And the rare instance of the Mets doing everything right: From the just-custom-enough-but-still-simple bat-sticker treatment, to permitting Dickey to do his own thing. (Plus, I’m thrilled to learn I’m not the only person crazy enough to name my bats.)
But most of those minor-league bat stickers are failures. The point is the number; any other elements must be secondary. A giant Hickory Crawdads logo with a tiny little number probably makes the bats harder to recognize than they would have been with a hand-sharpied number. The Round Rock version is about as far as you can go with adding other elements and still have the thing serve its basic purpose.
I don’t completely disagree (referring to your 2nd graf, altho I don’t disagree with your 1st sentence either), but they specifically wanted the minor league versions to be more logo-based than number-based, because the minor league teams don’t have strong visual identities. They try to reinforce those brands where they can.
That doesn’t mean this is the right way to go about it, natch. I’m not defending them; just explaining the thinking behind it.
Oh, sure, absolutely. I maybe shouldn’t have picked on the Crawdads, who don’t have a lot to work with. (Though could they take the two claws that wrap the H, and wrap them around a much bigger black number, and call that a win? Yes, they could.) A better example is the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, who have a deep set of very strong marks in their portfolio. Off the top of my head, take the “Pelicans” wordmark off that primary logo, put the number into the left side of the circle in white, and you can double the size of the number while retaining the very strong brand identity.
Slapping a tiny number below their full primary logo doesn’t achieve the utilitarian purpose of the exercise, and it’s also a poor effort at branding. The whole point of developing simplified secondary and tertiary marks, as the Pelicans have already done, is to use them in settings like this, where size and scale make a simpler mark more effective than the complete logo.
Say, the one question I had that wasn’t answered, or if it was answered I missed it, has to do with the stickers themselves. How thick are they? More papery or like vinyl, or more like thicker plasticky stuff like you see on some car emblems? What kind of adhesive? Also, how do they deal with the fact that bat bottoms are often slightly convex, not flat? Back in the link of the very early 1980s, it was a briefly thing among my third-grade friends to stick the round stickers to our baseball bats. Typically, the grossest-smelling stickers you could find, like fart or gasoline or smoke. Anyway, the stickers always got those little radial creases in them from being flat circles stuck to a domed shape. Doesn’t look like that’s a problem for the bat stickers, and they see to be holding on and not falling off. How?
The decals are the same as helmet decals — 3-mil thick, I believe, slightly plasticky. I actually asked about the convex/concave issue and didn’t get a real response. I think, basically, even if it isn’t a 100%-perfect fit, the bat will likely break before any slight imperfection in the seal becomes problematic.
Remember, football helmets are curved surfaces, too.
Paul,
thanks for picking up on this, just one more oddity of the Rangers unis. Maybe if they ever go back to having ‘Rangers’ on the front of their home unis instead of ‘Texas’, they can fix the funky way the flag looks too. (uh, i figured this country was over its bizarre love of ‘texas’ on everything from two-steps to toast)
and just for the record, it’s Stroker not Stoker – a lot of people get this one wrong, and I’m sure if I had gone pro – my misspelled NOB would have been picked up by the guys here at Uni Watch
Apologies. Will fix right now.
Say, with all this fuss about the ND logo and the NCAA coming down on UND, what about Florida State? If this is an NCAA ruling, don’t the Seminoles have to comply as well? They still have Native American iconography on their logos, unlike other schools that have complied but not changed the name such as the Illini and the Chippewas (but what about the new PAC-12 member Utah?). Basically, is UND being singled out?
As far as the Texas flag issue, since the team is named after the state, I think using the Texas flag is warranted. I have no issue with any other team supporting their state as well. The Angels used to have a California patch logo. I am not sure if any other MLB team has used a flag logo though.
The Orioles have their Maryland state flag patch but it’s a portion of the flag in a circle, not the entire state flag.
FSU famously obtained written permission to keep the Seminole identity. They are an approved exception to the NCAA’s “no Native American imagery” rule.
And the NCAA has repeatedly offered ND the same deal: Get permission in writing from two Sioux tribes, and you can keep the name. It’s revealing, the degree to which the “ask nicely and negotiate” option isn’t even acknowledged by most white ND diehards.
I was thinking the exact same thing. Now that the Seminoles question was cleared up for me, did the Illini, Utes and Chippewas all get these signed documents as well? What about the Warriors in Hawaii is that ambiguous enough that it doesn’t count? Considering that their graphics and identity are very native tribal laden iconography.
The Chips got the same permission, since the tribe basically built a casino on campus.
The Illinois Indian confederation is, sadly, virtually extinct.
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The University was able to demonstrate to the NCAA that the nickname “Fighting Illini” was not a reference to the confederation, but merely a reference to the people of Illinois, predating the existence of Chief Illinewek.
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The University could not convince the NCAA to permit the continued use of Chief Illiniwek as the logo of the University’s teams, nor the use of Chief Illiniwek as part of the halftime show by the Illinois band. Accordingly, Illinois now uses the Block “I” as its athletic logo.
I don’t know for sure but my guess would be that Utah does have permission considering that they still have the feather as part of their logo then.
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How about this. Tenn-Chat switched from the Mocs to the Mocs. The Moccasins to the Mocking Birds. I guess because a river bend named after footware is so damn evil. Absolute Nausea.
Here is my “fix” to the problems seen with the Texas flag patch…
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That’s perfect.
No doubt. But it violates the “four-colors only” parameters of the apparent original concept.
Just sayin’, try making it work in four colors with no outlining for definition, only color meeting color…silk-screen (or “cut paper”) style.
In that construct, there’s gonna be some oddities.
Why do we need to insist on the 4 color limitation? If the flag would look better with 6 colors, then use 6 colors. It’s not like there’s a technological reason for it. They *can* make patches with that kind of detail.
Jeez, I simply meant if we try to deal with it in its original format we hit a wall here and there. Therein lies the challenge, and let’s see what we can do within those constraints. Y’know, as if were an art class assignment.
Easy to fix something if we can change the basic format. Duh. That’s no-brainer country.
Welcome to the world of design. Sometimes a particular style is limiting. And confounding.
….and silly of the team to insist on a style that doesn’t work. I suppose it’s a good thing that I’m not involved with the world of design beyond the occasional screwing around in photoshop with my own rules.
Sure, as a 4 color logo it’s about as good as it can be… but why even do it that way?
I made it work in 4 colors, however I needed to go to a darker gray for the outline because it was too light to effectively become the “back” of the flag. In other words, the blue and red were darker than the light gray which has to represent not only the outline but the reverse side of the flag.
So I used a darker gray, and a thinner line of it to separate the two portions of the “furled” flag.
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There you go. The one on the left is inside the constraints of the original. Hey, they all look better. That wasn’t my point. Point was to see how to make it work under those limitations.
*That’s* perfect.
I think trying to solve the problem with only 5 colors (the original has 5, not 4) is just a more interesting challenge. Here’s what I would do:
Dark gray outline. Either eliminate the bevels from the star, or use a white Rangers T logo with red shadows. Eliminate the light gray entirely. Replace the blue “rear” of the flag on the bottom with dark red.
Both of the stripes work just fine without shading, but that little bit of the rear of the red stripe that’s visible in the furl has to contrast somehow.
Yes, there are five colors. I didn’t count the darker gray because it wasn’t endemic to the design, used only to outline the entire design.
I often forget that stating the painfully obvious is often necessary here.
And gradients are, technically, additional colors…in the “you only have four ink colors (okay, three and white) to use in the design” paradigm). No combining of them. Just solid areas of each color at 100%…because that IS/WAS the design platform.
God, you guys’d be a pain in the ass following an instructor’s assignment, wouldn’t you. I’m not saying there aren’t better ways to attack and render that logo. I’m saying what can you do with IN THE ORIGINAL “BOX”?
Ricko, not everything is an attack on you. I specified 5 because in explaining how I’d tackle the problem, I was going to name 5 colors. (“My four-color approach uses red, white, blue, gray, and dark red. My five-color approach uses red, white, blue, gray, dark red, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope. My six-color approach …”) And in doing so, I was specifically exploring options for what one could do to improve it within the original “box”. Which means that I’m agreeing with you.
Put the piece away, Walter!
Sorry about that, Scott. I meant I should have mentioned it originally so that someone didn’t cry “foul”. So I wasnt skewering you, either.
mea culpa.
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Yup, you and Steve Cook on the same page.
Just noticed something, and here is a real problem with the flag patch: The proportions are all wrong. Texas law calls for the state flag to have a 2:3 aspect ratio, but the flag depicted in the patch is more like 2:5 or even 2:6. The red and white stripes are just waaaay too long. (Or, alternately, the whole thing needs to be about doubled in height.)
Sleeve patch fixed.
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Now that wouldn’t surprise any of us would it?
When I read about US Regulations against “wearing” the flag – those umpire unis are what I think of. I’m not bothered so much by a flag patch (and I understand how others are), but those umps’ unis are truly atrocious.
We ought to rename the ‘Reebox’ on NHL jerseys the ‘Reebar’
Has Michael Irvin’s outfit in “OUT” magazine been mentioned?
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South Carolina officially debuted the new unis today (taking full advantage of the fact that there is nothing else for anybody to report on).
This gallery is supposed to be free, apologies if it gets change to pay content.
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Winnipeg Jets lack of uniform delays Upper Deck Hockey cards for the next year.
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jets making final “tweaks” on new logo:
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New indoor soccer team in Syracuse revealed its name and logo today:
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The Silver Knights join the league along with the Rochester Lancers? Hmmm, are they going to start calling it the Medieval Indoor Soccer League?
Looking forward to seeing them in the league. And both names are much better than Norfolk’s. The SharX? Really? That name wouldn’t have been good even in the 90s.
Paul, Big article in the Philadelphia Daily News about the Phillies uniform policy in the minors. I don’t think you can access it online, without being a subscriber. I can send you a copy if you prefer. Even mentions of bullpen buggies in the article!!
Are the pinstripes on the 1932 Cubs jersey red?
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I don’t think so but I see where you are coming from. Probably just faded from the cutout paper doll image they use on DTTN. One of you grafix people ought to waste about six solid months and put together some nice replacements for those guys. I’m sure you won’t regret the no pay and lost family time and we’d sure appreciate it.
Anothr article with video of the new South Carolina uniforms. The last video, with the Associate AD is fairly interesting (meaning he forgot to read from the Under Armour BS directory about how great the new look is)
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Saw this a few minutes ago. I don’t agree with most of them. link
Yeah that’s a crappy list.
I’d wear them all except Hawaii’s. They need to go back to the rainbow helmet. OK, I wouldn’t wear the Buckeyes or Hurricanes helmets either, but that’s only because I don’t like those teams.
What’s your list?
Here’s mine:
20. WYO (the one without the stripes)
19. Auburn
18. Syracuse
17. Colorado
16. La. Tech
15. Nebraska
14. Colorado State
13. Florida
12. UNC
11. Oklahoma
10. Tulane
9. UCLA
8. FSU
7. Virginia
6. Alabama
5. Temple
4. Penn State
3. SMU
2. Michigan
1. Texas
Some of those may move up or down the list, but that’s pretty much it.
By the way, homies, tonight starts another week of free baseball on DirecTV…and probably your cable company, too.
July 14th through the 20th is the MLB TV Extra Innings preview. Digging the Royals at Twins right now, and waiting for the Rangers at Mariners. Safeco Field is on my short list of parks I want to visit, along with Camden Yards.
Speaking of Camden, my only problem with this preview: I have to endure the Tribe announcers all season long – why can’t I watch the Orioles feed instead?
I live 2 and half hours south of Seattle and have been to a couple of Mariners games. I’m not the biggest baseball fan but I will say that the park is gorgeous. When you go, the Seattle ballgame staple whether it be Seahawks, Sounders or Mariners is garlic fries. Not saying they’re my favorite but they’re pretty good and a nice way to have an authentic Seattle ballgame experience. Don’t know how often you’ve visited Seattle, but when in town skip the Space Needle. Check it out from the outside and if you go up to the observation deck it’s a gorgeous but overpriced view. The Experience Music Project is worth it if you’re in to that sort of thing. Also Pikes Place Market is at least good for a walk through even if you don’t buy anything.
Been to Pike Place, the Needle and the Seattle Center Coliseum. That last one tells you it’s been a while since I’ve been there.
Garlic fries? I’d eat that! Mmmm. Can you get gravy with them?
Beautiful night there right now – cloudy and 61 degrees. THAT’s baseball weather.
the garlic fries at AT&T are too potent for me. They smelled good this past Sunday tho.
“the garlic fries at AT&T are too potent for me.”
That’s why you need gravy.
Don’t know if anyone else has been watching the Rockies/Brewers game, but Prince Fielder dealing with sunshine glare issues in the 4th inning, wearing sunglasses given from a fan right beside the dugout(Brewers equipment manager couldn’t get his glasses out in time, apparently).
Ever get one of those feelings? Just saw a great play by the Rangers 2nd baseman to salvage a no-hitter in the 4th inning. I’m thinking it’s destiny. Since you most likely have a free preview on your TV, tune in to the Rangers and Mariners. I’d bet you a soda that Derek Holland throws a no-hitter.
Well, we never shook on it, so never mind…
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