By Phil Hecken
Most of those who submit uniforms or tweaks for the “Concepts” section usually only send in one (or two, or five) concepts — but occasionally I’ll receive an entire set of uniforms for a league. That’s what happened with what you’re about to see today.
I got an e-mail recently from Greg Seher, which read as follows:
Hi Phil,
If you’re still looking for some fan made concepts here is a link to an updated version my entire MLB set (you previously shared them back when people we speculating on the Astros rebrand a few years ago).
Anyway, I’ve rendered them in more detail now, and changed a few of them, included some hypothetical expansion teams, as well as some more major changes for teams like Miami, Tampa, and Cleveland.
Thanks for all the good work,
Greg
Greg sent me an entire set, which I will link to at the end of this article — but since a good number of them don’t have any *major* changes, I’m just going to show off those that do. What’s most interesting (to me anyway) are the “new” teams he has created for the major leagues — he’s expanded the number of teams to 36, so those are highlighted below as well. Sit back and enjoy (all images can be enlarged by clicking on them). Descriptions of each uniform follow:
Thanks for the look at those concepts, plus the new teams. If you would like to see the full set, you can click here.
Classic Ballpark Scoreboards
I’m pleased to continue with a favorite weekend feature here at Uni Watch, “Classic Ballpark Scoreboards,” which are created by Gary Chanko. You probably know Gary best for his wonderful colorizations, but he has been a solid contributor for many years, and this is his new project. This segment will appear every Saturday on Uni Watch.
Here’s Gary (click on image to enlarge):
Classic Ballpark Scoreboards – Series II
by Gary Chanko
Classic Scoreboards journeys to the Bay Area for a look at the Giants initial west coast home ballpark, Seals Stadium.
Seals Stadium
Home of: San Francisco Seals (1931-57), Mission Reds (1931-37), San Francisco Giants (1958-59)
First MLB Game Played: April 15, 1958
Last MLB Game Played: September 20, 1959
Demolished and Almost Forgotten: 1959
Located in San Francisco’s Mission District, Seals Stadium was rated among the finest of minor league ballparks of its era. The ballpark was initially home to two minor league teams, San Francisco Seals and the Mission Reds. Oddly it was constructed with three team room facilities, one for each of the minor league teams plus the visiting team.
The ballpark was the home of the San Francisco Giants during their first two seasons after relocation to the west coast in 1958. Original plans called for the Giants to play only one year in Seals Stadium.
Because the Giants occupancy was so temporary, no major renovations were made to Seals Stadium. An estimated $75,000 was spent to add left field bleachers, repaint, move in the outfield fences, and increase the lighting output. The lack of upgrades was particularly the case for the 30-feet high, manual scoreboard in centerfield. The display was limited to the game line scores for the National League. The only electronics appear to be ball-strike-out indicators.
Looking back at what happened with Candlestick Park, some say the Giants would have been better off staying downtown or simply improving Seals Stadium. There were plans prepared for a downtown ballpark, but lacked the necessary political support. A good overview of previous San Francisco failed stadium concepts can be read here.
This scoreboard graphic depicts the Giants first game in Seals Stadium played on April 15, 1958, an 8-0 shutout of their new west coast rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
A Few Things to Know
• Seals Stadium never had an outfield warning track!
• 1946 ballpark improvements included a Plexiglas backstop – a baseball first! It didn’t last. Noise of balls clanking off the solid material and glare caused the return of traditional netting.
• The highest game attendance, 23,192 occurred during the Giants first game in Seals Stadium. If you were there, you would have seen Orlando Cepeda hit his first Major League career home run.
If anyone is interested in purchasing a digital copy of these posters, Gary is working on an online purchase option. In the interim you can contact him directly at Classicscoreboards@gmail.com.
Colorize This!
Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.
Just one today.
A couple of days ago, Paul ran this photo gallery of Steelers football in the ticker. Intrepid reader Brian Forosisky decided to try his hand at colorizing this photo from that set.
Hey Paul & Phil,
Big fan. Thought I’d take a stab at colorizing one of those sweet Steelers training camp images. This one was screaming for it.
Brian Forosisky
That’s it for today — but hey colorizers — there are some great shots in that gallery, if anyone wants to take a stab at some of the others.
Uni Watch News Ticker:
Baseball News: Star Wars night tops for the Clinton Lumberkings June 20th (h/t Evan Kenney). … Here’s a look at the new road uniforms for the Brooklyn Cyclones for the ’15 season. Brooklyn opens the 2015 season one week from yesterday at SI (via MiLB Promos). … Here’s a look at some bat knob decals for Notre Dame (thanks to Warren Junium). … Paul had a great lede yesterday with the MLB 4th of July unis, and a Minnesota paper has penned an article entitled “Making a buck on the flag” which echoes Paul’s thoughts. Also weighing in on the flag-themed unis is the Washington Post (thanks to Tommy Turner). … Has adidas invented a better baseball bat? adidas thinks so. … Check out the jerseys to be worn by the Potomac Nationals for their Star Wars game tomorrow (h/t MiLB Promos). More from MiLB: what if the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders were still the SWB Yanks? They were, last night. … Next Friday (6/19) – Ugly Sweater Jerseys as the Lakewood BlueClaws celebrate Halfway to the Holidays! Plus post-game fireworks too! (via Lakewood BlueClaws). … Speaking of ugly sweaters, check out what the South Maryland Blue Crabs wore last night (h/t Greg Jensen. … More from MiLB Promos: The Daytona Tortugas wore some terrapin jerseys last night, which they’re auctioning off for charity. … Yesterday marked the 45th Anniversary of the no hitter Dock Ellis pitched on acid (h/t Marty Hick). If you haven’t seen this No-mas video commemorating the event, do yourself a favor and watch it now (h/t TRiCKETT). … Here’s the uniform patch that will be worn by all teams in the College World Series (h/t The Emblem Source). … There are a few things wrong with this jersey, spotted at the SD County Fair yesterday. “78 Winfield” “85 style” “red & black”. Wow. (h/t RJ’s Fro). … Oooohhh, check out this 1977 This Week In Baseball video (from 06-14-77). Says submitter Kevin Clark, “Go to the 13:27 mark to see the Giants in orange jerseys and sanitaries with white spikes. Go to the 17:30 mark to see the Royals playing in Milwaukee wearing blue Brewers jerseys.” … This 2015 College World Series Preview includes “Weird Uniforms.” … “(Yester)day’s Uni-watch on the upcoming July 4 uniforms for the A’s reminded me that this year looks like a version of what the A’s uniforms wore from 1998-2001 on July 4 home games (Before all teams did it),” writes Richard Palmoa. “NOTE: In 2001, they had Oakland on the home white in navy with red outline. I also recall the A’s asked MLB if they could wear the jerseys for home games after 9/11 but were rejected.” … The Cedar Rapids Kernels will wear these jerseys you can bid on at the game (via MiLB Promos). … If you thought Clark the Cub is a bad mascot, wait till you see the mascot from 1988 Iowa Cubs (thanks to Arrin Williams). … Fansided has decided to do a Major League Baseball uniform power rankings. Hmmmm, I wonder where they ever got that idea. Even the title sounds eerily similar. … Got two neat old photos from Phil Lawson: Carlton Fisk with the Waterloo Hawks and an old one of the Tri City Triplets or Leeks outta NC near Greensboro. Also from Phil, here’s a real old Tri City Triplets photo. You can see even more photos here.
NFL/Football News: The Jacksonville Jaguars have done some crazy shit with their stadium over the past couple of years, so now they’re building a house on their stadium grounds. … Looks like the Denver Broncos have lots of hats they can wear at training camp. … Crossover? A DIY Red Sox helmet? Sure, why not (h/t Mike Davis). … Do we need to add another acronym to the UW lexicon? Check out this POB jersey (“Pronounciation On Back”), a great spot by Mr. Nurfsen). Or perhaps there’s more to the story (thanks to RJ’s Fro). … You know those awesome socks the Stillers wear with their “bumblebee” throwbacks? Turns out they aren’t really socks at all (thanks Ryan Connelly). … NFL punter Andy Lee is changing his number to 8 to honor his daughter, who lived just 8 days. … Check out this great Sticker Album: 1984-85 Jeno’s Pizza NFL Helmets (h/t PressRoomGFS). … Look at this awesome uni matchup between the Rams & Falcons (h/t RN’s Funhouse). … New matte helmets for SUNY Buffalo? (via Andrew Schmitt).
NBA News: If you’re into the Celtics, then Phil Lawson has a bunch of cool photos for you: here’s a shot of Larry Bird and Dave Cowens; also from Phil: a comparison of Celtics uniforms from different eras. Finally, here’s a photo of Cox Falcons VA Beach 1965 unis.
Soccer News: Whoops. It seems as though the nation of Chad had arrived in Nigeria without jerseys, ahead of this weekend’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Super Eagles, because their training kits and equipment was left behind by the airline in France. … “Italy and Croatia played in an empty stadium,” says Erik Bogh. “We were shocked when this happened in Baltimore, but apparently this happens 3-4 times a year in Europe. Usually not in such a high profile game though.” … If you’re going to paint yourself in a USA “bomb pop” jersey, you better make sure you include the fucking swoosh (via US Soccer WNT).
Grab Bag: “As I was reading (yester)day’s ”˜Skins Watch entry it occurred to me that I don’t recall ever seeing anything about the Iroquois Nationals on Uni Watch,” writes Kevin Mueller. “As you know lacrosse has deep Native Americans roots, with many of the top players coming from the Six Nations. The Iroquois Nationals is the only internationally sanctioned Native American team ”“ they have played under the sanction of the Federation of International Lacrosse since 1987, and have competed in the World Championships since 1990. (interesting side note ”“ they were refused entry to the 2010 Worlds in Great Britain, which refused to accept their Iroquois Confederacy passports). They took 3rd in the 2014 tournament.” … Here’s a look at the 10 Year anniversary logo for the DC Circulator, or as John Muir says, “Or, this underwhelming image that could assumed to be a logo.” … Golfer Rory McIlroy just increased his jersey collection by three (thanks to Alex Bauer), who adds, “Interesting to see a golfer get football and basketball jerseys. They also have the new Bucks jersey.” … Reader Rick Deemer noticed this Bauer logo on a pizza place while driving in Buffalo yesterday. … “Just wanted to give you a heads up about Phoenix International Raceway’s track renaming for Jeff Gordon,” writes Aimee Dulebohn. “The official logo is attached.” Here’s a more on that. … “I noticed that Ryan Smith of the Chicago Wildfire (of the AUDL) wears his first initial after his last name (Smith R instead of the more common R Smith),” says Alex Rubin. “Thought you might find that interesting.”
And that’s all for today. Everyone have a great Saturday and I’ll catch you guys tomorrow. Thanks to Greg and Gary and Brian, and everyone who submitted for the ticker via e-mail or Twitter.
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.
Peace.
“Why is there blue on the Giants (4th of July) jersey? This is totally wrong. Blue is the color of the bad guys. I’m super mad. Why does MLB hate America? Why is MLB letting the terrorists win?”
— GiantSteps
NOB snippet from the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada – Cameroon defender Cathy Bou Ndjouh has “Cathy” as her NOB – the only Cameroon player to use their first name as their NOB.
Amen, brother…..1000% this!
oops – wrong post!
Paul Lukas took another pounding this week in the Uni-Watch comment sections, hitting the lowest point since the blog’s inception in 2006 . Paul’s been hit especially hard since his creation of the “Pandering” shirt and accusations of selling out, and this Uni-watcher thinks it’s time to speak up for Lukas as the most generous, and possibly the least-appreciated, blogger in all the world.
As long as six years ago, when I first started to read Uni-watch, I read of corporate douchebaggery instilled in pro and college uniforms by Nike and Adidas. Well who rushed in with articles to bring it to our attention? Paul Lukas did, that’s who.
He has helped bring awareness to outfits worn by Curlers and Bowlers around the world. Today, a pro football team is being racially insensitive to Native Americans and the league’s own commissioner stands by with his thumb up his ass while Uni-Watch shares the pulse of the common man and woman on this issue with articles from around the USA where a stance is being taken against the term “Redskin”. Germany, Japan, and to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, have had their Olympic and World Cup Uniform ideas shared by Lukas who poured in hours of time and effort on their projects. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on their debt to Uni-watch for the free publicity provided.
When the Jerry Dior was in danger of not being credited with the creation of Major League Baseball’s distinctive silhouetted batter logo, it was the Lukas who propped him up, and his reward was to be insulted and swindled on his own blog when he sold Uni-Watch smartphone cases. And I was there — I saw that. When the Uni-Curious want free content to read and a free place to post their drivel , it’s Uni-Watch that provides the content and the safe haven of the comment section. So far this spring, the comment section has averaged more than 100 comments a day. How many have said thanks?
The Membership Cards, the Jackie Robinson Uni-watch tee, the Uni-watch decals, and even all the Zazzle merch all pumped thousands upon thousands of dollars into the economy. And now, the purchasers of these items as well as those who suck on the teet of free content are writing about the decadent, money-grubbing hayseed Paul Lukas.
Now, I’d like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the Paul’s sould build their own website/blog. Come on now, you, let’s hear it. Do any of you have the writing ability equal to PermaRec, “Inconspicuous Consumption: An Obsessive Look at the Stuff We Take for Granted”, or the Forewords? If so, why don’t you share them? Why do all Uniform leaks make their way to Uni-Watch? Why does no other uniform blogger on earth even consider banning the color purple?
You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about Uni-watch technocracy and you find fully functional stamps, not just one, but a sheet of 20 for sale right here ( link ) . You talk about scandals and Paul puts his right in the store window for everybody to look at (link ) .
When the Uni-Watch gets out of this bind — and it will — who could blame Paul if he said “the hell with the rest of the world. Let somebody else post free content. Let somebody else argue about flag desecration, BFBS, or try to teach soccer fans why soccer doesn’t matter.”
When stirrups were being worn incorrectly and MLBers were wearing their pants like pajama bottoms, it was Uni-Watch who showed them the error of their ways. When Uni-Watch tried that insane format where the page was split in half, it was Paul who listened to our feedback and returned the website to the proper format.
Paul, Phil and Mike have faced it alone, and I’m one Uni-Watcher who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They’ll come out of this thing with their stirrups worn high. And when they do, they’re entitled to thumb their noses at the trolls that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope you are not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Uni-Watchers on this blog.
Good to see my Mom has finally learned how to use the computer.
Mom would never plagiarize Gordon Sinclair though, would she?
(Very clever post by Mookie)
good catch, Phil. Gordon’s original is classic.
i wish I could edit this:
“Now, I’d like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the Paul’s sould build their own website/blog.”
into this
“Now, I’d like to see just one of those hypocrites that is gloating over the erosion of the Paul’s soul build their own website/blog.”
I did the whole rewrite on my phone so proofreading was not as solid as it deserved.
I, for one, am quite grateful. Without Uni Watch, I’d have no venue for my gloating, smugness or self-righteousness.
Well, besides maybe SportsLogos.net
Amen brother – 1000% this!
right post this time! ;)
From the Seher concepts: The Tampa Bay original wordmark, which I don’t miss at all, looks nice when rendered in only two colors, and skewed from from near-rectangular to much more of a parallelogram.
The Seher concepts are okay, when viewed as a group. I think it breaks down when you try to apply common principles across the entire project. Plus, I think baseball especially demands more appreciation to the respective teams’ histories. A script “White Sox” doesn’t have the historical cache that the “Sox” monogram does. An orange Orioles cap???
Yeah, these designs are kinda hit-and-miss.
Anyone else think that the capital ‘K’ on the New York Knights white jersey looks like a big jagged ‘X’?
I kinda like the Portland Pioneers, though. Good name, nice uniform, and a cool mascot.
The Chaparrals would be better with the primary logo on the sleeve over that secondary.
Agree with the hit or miss.
In general, I noticed too many logos that are round or diamond shaped.
Not specifically a comment on Seher’s concepts since many major league and other sports do this to some extent – some as much as he has, but it brought this to mind:
Is it my hockey upbringing or just my own personal quirk that has me wondering what is the point of a primary logo and just how ‘primary’ is it if it doesn’t appear anywhere on the players’ uniforms? In my mind the uniform is the primary spot – not what’s used around the venue, not the fan merchandise, not the team letterhead.
Stillers?
It’s a ‘Burgh thing – you wouldn’t understand.
link
Yeah, the Stillers. They play in the same state as the Iggles. It’s a Pennsylvania thing. Don’t try to understand it, just accept that those people are strange.
Nothing to do with Ben Stiller, eh?
Don’t know where Phil Lawson got ‘Leeks’ from. That link shows the tri-cities of Leaksville-Spray-Draper, now Eden, NC (check your Miller label).
Of interest to me were the nods to tobacco in the Danville Leafs and Reidsville Luckies. Reidsville was the longtime home of American Tobacco, makers of Lucky Strikes. #LSMFT
After seeing this years disaster of July 4th uniforms, the A’s unis look really good.
I could definitely get behind July 4th unis if what the A’s did were “standard”, though gray for the visiting team would be a must.
How do the A’s look really good if the rest are a “disaster”? Every team basically looks the same.
Jeff
All of the 2015 July 4th unis look awful including this years version of the A’s unis.
The A’s uniforms I was referring to that I liked and weren’t pandering were the 98 – 2001 uniforms.
Simple red white and blue. No “how can we jam the flag in people’s faces”. It’s simple slightly understated and most folks would get it
I would much rather see what the A’s did than what MKB is doing this year.
Fair enough… I guess I skimmed through the ticker a little bit too quickly and didn’t notice that. I still think even that was unnecessary, but it does look better than the “stars-n-stripes” stuff we’ve had to endure.
Those old A’s Forth of July uniforms reminded me of the script jerseys they wore link Here’s a Topps card with the colors off so they appearlink
Italiy and Croatia played a closed-door match yesterday due to past incidents of fan misbehavior.
All well and good yesterday, except for the fact someone mowed a swastika into the pitch.
All well and good yesterday, except for the fact someone mowed a swastika into the pitch.
They were just wishing all the players good luck.
#takingitback
#amidoingthisright?
Yeah, maybe it was a manji.
link
Always enjoy the Classic Ballpark Scoreboards. If die-hard SF fans really want to find a piece of Seals Stadium that the can see and touch, they need to make a pilgrimage to Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, Washington. The funky erector set-like light standards were shipped up when Seals Stadium was demolished, and are still in use.
JohnK
Apparently, they used some old seats, as well.
link
I (10 years old) was at the Dock Ellis no-hit game against the Padres; I also was at the game 5 days later when Bob Gibson came within four outs of no-hitting them again.
If it hasn’t been mentioned before: be sure to watch the Doc-umentary about the legendary LSD game (it’s about a lot more than that, of course). Very entertaining guy and very entertaining documentary.
When I look at the photo of Dave Cowens and Kevin Garnett in the Celtics uniforms, all I can think is how sloppy today’s players look.
WOW…I completely forgot Dave Cowens played for the Bucks.
NOT new helmets for Buffalo (or SUNY Buffalo, or whatever they think we should call them). Had matte in black and blue last season.
link