There’s No Service Like Wire Service, Vol. 33

Ah, my first batch of old wire photos since returning from blogcation. This bunch was contributed by Mike Hersh, Mako Mameli, and Bruce Menard.

• If I’m understanding this photo’s caption properly, it sounds like Roosevelt Brown was planning to protect his injured cheek by wearing a worse helmet.

• I had no idea that Purdue had worn sleeved basketball jerseys as recently as 1965. And man, look at how narrow those OSU shoulder straps are — almost spaghetti straps!

• Judging by this photo, you might think the Pittsburgh Pipes had a minimalist jersey design with just a basketball patch. But the ball was actually part of a Bullets-like treatment.

• Kinda cool to see that the Tigers used to name their spring training fields after their former greats. Additional examples here and here.

• Here’s a rarity: Connie Mack in a baseball cap. The cap logo stands for Little League Baseball, natch.

• Interesting logo for the 1971 Flint Generals. I like how they threw the car wheel in there, just because they could.

• Check out the sequined shamrock cap logo on this great All American Girls Baseball League uni.

• Here’s Jackie Robinson and some of his Montreal Royals teammates in the spring of 1946. Non-matching caps, non-matching stirrups, plus it almost looks like those uniforms might be satin hand-me-downs from Brooklyn.

• Always interesting to see a double-decker chest insignia. Love the sleeve patch, natch. And dig those crazy belts and belt loops!

• Not positive what was going on here, but I think they were presenting that boat to Branch Rickey.

•  Speaking of the Dodgers, check out Roy Campanella using what appears to be a leather winter glove as a batting glove.

•  And speaking of Campy, he had one beauty of a liquor store up in Harlem.

• Here’s the very definition of “does not compute”: Teddy Ballgame and Joe D. in very different uniforms than the ones we usually associate with them.

•  Last fall we discussed the kerfuffle that ensued when Tigers ownership saw a photo of Hank Greenberg in a Yankees uniform. It was from a wartime benefit event (no other uni could be found to fit him), but the Tigers were upset nonetheless, and it ended up being a prime reason the team sold Greenberg to the Pirates at the end of his career. Here’s another photo of Hank as a Yank, and here’s an additional shot whose caption references the controversy that ensued.

•  In 1932, the White Sox experimented with an alternate home uniform that featured an “S” made out of two horseshoe shapes. I’d never seen a photo of it — until now. That shot is actually from March of 1933, so they recycled those uniforms for spring training that year, even though they didn’t use them for regular games.

•  Very unusual striping for both teams in this 1940s hockey shot.

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ESPN reminder: In case you missed it yesterday, my latest ESPN column — the surprisingly nuanced story behind the use of a Confederate flag patch by a Yankees farm team during the height of the 1960s civil rights movement — is available here. I’ve gotten a lot of response to it, much of it very thoughtful and interesting. My thanks to everyone for their feedback.

A few follow-up items have come my way since the column was first posted yesterday:

• The Columbus Yankees only existed for three seasons, beginning in 1964. I knew they had worn the rebel flag patch in ’64 and ’65, but I wasn’t sure about ’66 — until now (Truelock only played for Columbus in 1966). Big thanks to Pat Blandford for providing that scan.

• I got a remarkable note from Michael Curley, as follows:

What a weird coincidence that ESPN posted this today. You see, my girlfriend’s father played for the Columbus Yankees in 1964. His name is Robert Cerone, and he was a promising pitching prospect for them. He got hurt in 1965, ironically while in the Army Reserve. ”¦

He doesn’t often talk about his time in Columbus. But he and my girlfriend had lunch today, and they talked about some of the very things that you wrote about in your article. About how Roy White had to stay in different hotels and eat in different restaurants. Odd stuff for a kid from Mineola, New York.

It’s so weird that he brought the topic up on the same day ESPN posted your article. I forwarded it to him, along with the photos. He loved seeing them, but he didn’t remember the flag on the uniform either. But he certainly remembered the segregation.

• Did you know there was a 1970s minor league hockey team in Virginia that also wore the Confederate flag? Neither did I, until Mike Raymer filled me in. Guess they didn’t have to worry too much about any black players being offended. And wait, it gets better: Rob Pait wrote in to say that he actually did radio play-by-play for that team back in the 1970s — as a college intern! “I remember doing the radio call for a game full of bench-clearers, heading for the locker room for an interview or two, following the guys to a local tavern, and having the fights start all over again. Good times.”

• And one important note: This photo, which was essential to my research, was provided by reader Bruce Menard. My apologies for not having credited him in the ESPN column.

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Also, there’s a new post up on the Permanent Record blog.

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Membership update: A few new designs have been added to the membership card gallery, including Scott Beaton’s card, shown at right, which is based on USA soccer’s “denim” jersey from 1994. Just the latest example of how the ugliest jerseys often make the best membership cards.

As always, you can sign up for the membership program here.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: One preseason game in, and we have our first jersey typo of the NFL season. That’s Darrell Stuckey — it should have an e — of the Chargers (great work by Eric Stangel). ”¦ A disgruntled Astros fan has a clever idea (from Gordon Blau). ”¦ Here’s the oldest baseball uni catalog I’ve ever seen. Note the mix of high and low cuffery, and dig the amazing captains’ belts (awesome find by Mike Hersh). ”¦ Also from Mike: a site devoted to vintage baseball gloves. ” Takes some digging around, but worth it,” he says. ”¦ What do Stan the Man and the Babe have in common in these pics? They’re both wax models (great stuff from Bruce Menard). ”¦ It’s a little hard to see in this photo, but Jeff Brand notes that the Blues are now wearing a PNC ad patch on their practice jerseys. ”¦ Funny scene at the annual PGA champions’ dinner, as John Daly didn’t quite get the memo regarding the dress code. Interesting to see that Tiger Woods was the only other one without a tie. Maybe he had trouble with his Onassis knot? (With thanks to Nick Orban.) ”¦ If you absolutely have to have a jersey sponsor, it’s nice to make it a charitable organization (from George Chilvers). ”¦ Remember the photo of Deion Sanders holding an NFL football with NCAA striping? Colin Feeney says he has the explanation: “Many NCAA teams used the exact NFL game ball for a time, in order for their quarterbacks to get used to the ball, since those teams used a pro-style offensive scheme. It used the two stripes, as mandated by NCAA rules, but kept the NFL markings (for the record, the NFL game ball is a bit rounder than a high school or regular college game ball). In the mid=’90s, the NCAA banned pro makings on all game balls, so Wilson — the maker of the NFL game ball — simply changed the name of it to the 1001 to bring it in line with the rules. In a nutshell, it was the NFL game ball under a different name. I don’t know how much it’s still in use, due to Nike supplying game balls for its schools, etc.” ”¦ Looks like Duke placekicker Will Snyderwine removed the front spikes from his shoes (good spot by Kyle Ostendorf). ”¦ Alex Smith has a new facemask. “Hopefully this is reason he has been terrible,” says Matt Paver. ”¦ Attention New Englanders: If you spot anyone wearing or selling this jersey, then John Kimmerlein wants to hear from you. “It belonged to my Dad and was inadvertantly donated to a local church back in Rhode Island (along with the rest of his clothes) after he died in March,” says John. “I know it’s a huge long shot, but it has great sentimental value.” If anyone has any info, contact me and I’ll pass the word along to John. ”¦ Michigan and Ohio State will play an outdoor hockey game at the Jake in January (from G. R. Brackle). ”¦ Do NASA’s space suits just pop out of a mold or something like that? Nope — they’re sewn, just like any other uniform (thanks, Kirsten). ”¦ Hey, all you Nike employees who are reading this: You might wanna send your legal team after this Fresno window-washing firm (from Chris Chaussee). ”¦ Also from Chris: The Sacramento River Cats will be wearing zerba-striped jerseys tonight. No, not like football referees — real zebra stripes. ”¦ The South Carolina football Twitter feed had an interesting series of posts yesterday. First came this: “[Under Armour’s] idea is to have a cleat that is a shoe and an ankle brace in one. They don’t want players to spat their shoes like they’ve been doing.” Sounds good so far, right? Then, a few minutes later this: “Spatting is when players tape over their cleats for ankle support, which in turn covers up the Under Armour logo.” So form follows function, as long as the function is corporate douchebaggery. Anyway, here’s the result (all courtesy of Joel Mathwig). ”¦ David Wright has been wearing some bright orange shoelaces lately. Keith Hernandez referred to them as “very ugly” on the air yesterday (big thanks to Matty Eggen). ”¦ Tommy Stafford recently designed the graphics and uniforms for a California high school. ”¦ There’s a new web site devoted to the renovation of the U. of Washington stadium (from Rob Weber). ”¦ Nike has some funny ideas about my city (Kirsten again). ”¦ “I was watching a Manchester United/Blackpool game in the spring, and Man U’s right back, Patrice Evra, had to wear a jersey with no name or number because his shirt had ripped,” writes Pierce Byron). ”¦ We all know about mini-helmets. But what the hell are mini-caps? (As noted by Ryan Mandel.) … No photo, but Garrett Schabb says Justin Boren of the Ravens wasn’t wearing full-length socks last night — just white crew socks, like college players wear. “It’s not like his stockings fell down — they just aren’t there,” he says.

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Roster moves: I’ll be spending most of today out on Long Island with my Mom, so everyone play nice while I’m gone. And Phil’s gonna be busy this weekend, so Johnny Ek will be filling in for him. See you on Monday, yes? Yes!