Hooray for the Red & White Blue Jays

By Phil Hecken

Yesterday morning the Toronto BLUE Jays (named for the bird of the same color) introduced a new alternate jersey, to be worn on home Sundays, as well as a new alternate cap. As you can see from today’s splash, the jersey (and cap) are red. Let’s take a look at some photos (you can click to enlarge):

Here’s the jersey:

And here’s the cap (note how the New Era logo really stands out — get used to that:

And the obligatory hype video:

We are excited to unveil our new alternate red and white uniform 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 #WT2017 pic.twitter.com/1RnkKSpS3g

— Blue Jays (@BlueJays) January 20, 2017

As I said above, the jersey and cap are a new alternate (they’ll still have their blue alternate), and but the red combo will only be worn on Sunday home games (although it’s likely the Jays will be forced to break out different unis for Mother’s and Father’s day — which are both home dates for the Jays). Whether or not they’ll deviate from this schedule (or wear them say, the Saturday before either Mother’s or Father’s day) remains to be seen. But the plan is for home Sundays.

One of the reasons given for the new alternate is to coincide with Canada’s 150th anniversary, which is a year-long celebration in 2017. One of the reasons not given for the new alternate is to sell more jerseys and caps.

Let’s take a closer look:

Here is the full uniform, front and back. As you can see, the red cap and jersey will be paired with (for players who choose to show them) red socks. They’ll also wear red shoes.

The front of the jersey features “BLUE JAYS” in their classic script, paired with a RED blue jay logo

This is basically the exact same design as the alternate blue jersey, with all the blue elements swapped out. The red maple leaf remains red, but the blue jay, rather than remaining blue, also turns red.

However, the red cap, instead of having the blue jay logo (like the blue cap does), simply has a red maple leaf, set off by a white outline:

The new cap more closely resembles the navy cap the Blue Jays wore in spring training last year.

The red blue jay on the red jersey is (like the cap logo) set off by a white outline:

So, with the addition of the red set (and the team will presumably add red helmets, although I haven’t seen any photos of one yet), the team is up to a total of four jerseys (white, gray, blue and red). Here’s the logo slick jersey/cap and uni sets for 2017:

As you can see from the second graphic above, the red jersey also contains a red maple leaf on the left sleeve (the only jersey to have this).

If this jersey looks vaguely “familiar” to you — it should. It’s VERY similar to the Canada Day jersey the team broke out last year. If you read that article (or at least scroll through the photos), you’ll note some subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences. The cap was red with a red maple leaf (no New Era logo), but the left sleeve of that jersey featured the Canadian flag rather than the maple leaf. Also, the blue jay logo on the uniform was blue, not red. Finally, the 2016 Canada Day jersey featured a headspoon and single stripes on the sleeves. This one is spoon-free and has two stripes on the sleeve. This new jersey actually looks more like the Canada Day jersey they wore in 2012-13. You’ll also note some members of the team wore blue undershirts/sleeves, and all had the blue helmet. They also had blue shoes. This set apparently completely ditches any blue elements.

The red jersey, while new as a regular jersey, has been as a primary or secondary color on many Blue Jays Canada Day jerseys in years past, but it’s the first time they’ve ever had a red jersey as a full-time alternate. Whether it remains beyond this one season (remember, in theory it’s to help celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary) is still to be seen.

As a pure jersey — I like it. But there are a couple things I don’t like: one, they don’t need another alternate. I realize the blue alternate isn’t going anywhere, so it’s not like they could just swap this one in. Two: blue jays are, ya know, BLUE, so I’m not sure if I like a Blue Jays uni with NO BLUE at all. I think the 2016 Canada Day uni (and combo with blue helmets, sleeves and shoes) was a good look (even though it killed my OCD). It broke up the red nicely and retained the signature element of the unis. Even if they eschew the red sleeves and shoes, they could have at least kept the blue jay logo blue. Three, I think we have enough teams in baseball with a red alternate (even if that’s a bit out of date now, you get the idea) that we don’t need another. Still, if it really is ONLY worn on Home Sundays, and they’re doing it to celebrate the 150th anny, I can live with it. Canada’s team, celebrating Canada — they can’t get much more Canadian than this.

What do you guys think? The floor is yours…

.

.

Leo’s World
“Leo’s World” is a new, semi-recurring feature here on Uni Watch weekends, featuring some excellent uni-related finds from Leo Strawn, Jr.. Each installment will feature a new, unique or just very cool collection of related uniform observations and research. You can click most of the images below to enlarge. — PH

It’s been a while since we heard from Leo — who’s on a sort of “sabbatical” from the blog for personal reasons. But I did receive an e-mail from him the other day which is, as always, great. It’s more odds and ends than your typical “Leo’s World” fare, but it’s classic LW, nonetheless. After some quick back and forths, it’s also got a sad ending (unfortunately), as Leo had to bid adieu to a beloved pet; his thoughts on that are included as well.

+ + + + + + + + + +

Odds & Ends
By Leo Strawn, Jr.

Hey Phil,

Got a few ticker items you might like. 😊

. . .

Baseball: I don’t ever recall seeing Wahoo head on.

Apparently, this was the logo for the ’48 season, however. Oddly, the uniforms featured the more familiar 3-quarter view on the jersey sleeve:

and front of the team jacket:

. . .

NFL: Great color shot of the 1959 Pro Bowl.

Looks like Tittle carrying the rock for the west.

. . .

NCAA Gridiron: Chuck Hartwig made All-American for the Pitt Panthers in ’34 and was featured on a 1935 Wheaties box:

Placement of the logo on the jersey reminds me a bit of the ’33 Pittsburgh Pirates (Steelers), but I’m wondering if it is a special jersey made for All-Americans. Doesn’t match the College All Stars jerseys from that year, though. Anyone?

. . .

A couple of College hoops items: Symmetry isn’t always the best look as St. Bonaventure showed in 1975-76.

Two seasons before that, Houston Baptist rocked some unusual uniforms from top-to-bottom, as well as (what I assume are) the cheer squad unis. After seeing that media guide cover, I googled to see what the jersey logo was and discovered they recently (2015) threw back to those unis. No word on whether the cheerleaders also wore throwbacks.

. . .

Cheers!

— Leo

+ + + + + + + + + +

That wonderful bunch of uni-goodness was, unfortunately, followed by a bit of sadness. I’ll let Leo tell the story:

. . .

OBIT: Had a really bad day (not related to everything else I’m dealing with) on Tuesday. Longtime pet, Chompers the Ferret went into horrible seizures early in the morning and I had to take her to the vet and have her put to sleep. She is buried with her favorite toy, Ephelant the elephant (pictured). She had a couple of minor episodes over the past couple of years as she reached her golden years, but nothing like this one and I was always hopeful she would just pass one day peacefully in her sleep, but sadly that was not the way it worked out for her. It was heartbreaking seeing her in that much pain and not being able to do anything else to ease her suffering. She lived a long, full and happy life and I know she’s out there somewhere, jumping around and playing again like she did when she was young. R.I.P. Chompers.

+ + + + + + + + + +

Thanks, Leo!

Great to hear from you again, and please accept my condolences on the loss of your beloved pet. Paul wrote a very nice epitaph for my Jack Russell Bizkit (scroll down) back in 2013, so believe me, I can empathize with how Leo is feeling now. Feel free to remember Chompers in the comments below.

.

.

ICYMI…

…on Friday, Paul announced he was running a new design contest to fix Major League Baseball’s “Hall of Fame” inductee jersey (all the deets are in that post).

In one of those cases where “great minds…” (lol) collide, I had enlisted the aid of a friend a couple years back to do just that — but as Paul says, I think you guys can do even better!

So … you know what to do. Get crackin’!

.

.

Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Those new Memphis Redbirds unis are not only great, the new “M” music note screams “Home of the Blues” & “Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll!” (Memphis). Plus a hat-tip to the 1960s/70s Memphis Blues! … Whoa, check out this photograph of the 1895 Washington Base Ball team — how awesome are those sweaters??? (from Bruce Menard, of course). … Our own Mike Chamernik saw this tweet and asked, “Have we seen Roman numerals in MLB?” … Interesting — in the bottom right of this photograph, it appears a protester is wearing a Hillary Clinton “45” jersey. Robert Hayes wonders if these were actually sold (I’m thinking it might be a custom job). … Speaking of Prexy-related “45” jerseys — there was a custom NY Yankees Trump Jersey spotted in DC yesterday. Aside from the obvious faux-pas of the NOB, it looks like it was signed (from Christopher Leopardi). … “The list of AL East teams has expanded according to ESPN’s website & Orioles logo seems to be a popular choice,” notes Sons of J. LeMaster. Looks like it fixed pretty quickly however (from Toph). … According to this tweet from Hotel Commonworth, JackieBradleyJr stopped by to sign our elevator today & shared that he’ll be debuting a new number this season! #19 (thanks to Shane Bua). … The KBO “Dinos” look to new Spring Training uniforms (from Dan Kurtz). … “Detroit Tigers winter caravan tour stopped at Univ of Michigan,” writes Jason Axel Bowman. “Interesting way to arch the lettering.” … “I grew up in Hawaii and Denver, which means I was exposed to a lot of AAA baseball with the Hawaii Islanders and Denver Bears (then Zephyrs),” says Eric Bangeman. “One of the players I remember seeing play as a kid was Tim Raines, and the Denver Post has some nice pics from his season in Denver.” … “Rockies have a new shade of purple, and I can’t find any mention of it,” says R P 3 (and which it must have killed Paul to retweet). … According to this article.The Only Consistency to Padres’ Uniforms Is Inconsistency. Of course, the simple solution is simply to #BringBackTheBrown. … “Not sure if its to save inventory or if all new MLB hats will have a stick-on NE patch instead of being sewn on,” writes Matt Cable. Comparison pic.”

NFL News: The Woodman’s Market grocery store in Janesville, WI, continues its tradition of some impressive soda can display art (from Johnny Okray). … Tweeter Tyler Brooke thinks Donald Trump spokesperson Kellyanne Conway looks like Pat Patriot (as seen as yesterday’s inaugural festivities). … Tyler was apparently not alone in this sentiment. … Not NFL per se, but from an “NFL Movie” (Any Given Sunday): interesting facemask change by Beaman once he lands starting job (from Slaw and Order). … Tweeter John Follett toured Lucas Oil Stadium last weekend and noticed the NFL Uniform Rules poster. “Caught these posted outside locker room.” … “Not sure if this is that big of a deal, but I found this (Super Bowl XX painters’ cap) packed away in some old sports stuff,” writes Peter L. Fredrickson. “Still in really nice shape. Bears/Patriots Superbowl XX cap. Always thought that this was a great logo.” … Smiley says Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron “Rodgers is wearing a hat I’ve never seen before.…wonder what it represents?” — He’s apparently worn this cap before. Tis the cap of Pleasant Valley High in Chico, CA.

College Football News: Tweeter notColeSmith was in a thrift store recently and noticed this cap with an interesting colorway for the Colorado Buffaloes. Welp. At least the gold looks correct. … Tweeter Geoff seems to think he may have an answer for the CU color discrepancy.

Hockey News: An NHL goaltender’s mask is not only the one thing standing between a man’s head and a 160-kilometre slapshot ”” it is also Sylvie Marsolais’ canvas. The Montreal-area airbrush artist is one of a small group who paint masks for the league’s top goalies (from Ted Arnold). … Yesterday was apparently something called, “Penguin Awareness Day” (who knew?). Well, of course these guys did. … Remember that “Redesign the Griffins” contest I hosted this summer? Well, Dan Kennedy won and here’s the design the team will wear tonight. Great job Dan & Griffins! I should have a nice follow up with live action pics (and hopefully more) from Dan tomorrow. … This may have been in the ticker before (I distinctly remember it but…), so apologies in advance: Iowa State hockey is going camo (from Phillip Santos). … “There’s an older bubble hockey game in my office that features some NHL logos I’ve not seen used except as shoulder pathches in the early 2000’s, I think ”“ The leaping coyote I’ve never seem used by Arizona/Phoenix, nor the blues note overlaid over the St. Louis Arch,” says Steve Kuchka. “The Oilers & Flames’ text based ones I’m sure are not used on the uniforms, thus making this an odd collection of trademarked images on this game.” … Michigan State has numbers on the front of their jerseys instead of the back. Submitter Will Shima thinks they look “weird” and “like lacrosse jerseys.” If you’re wondering what’s on the back — here ya go. … Sergei Bobrovsky has “Bobs” on both this helmet *and* his gloves (from Lori Schmidt). … “This year the Hurricanes don’t have a Captain and 2 Alternates, they’ve had three Alternate captains,” notes Jon Chichwak. “Justin Faulk and Jordan Staal are the first two, but here’s the interesting part: Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask have switched being captain.” The key quote comes from this article: “You’ve probably noticed that Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask — the two players that rotate the third alternate captaincy — have flipped where they wear the “A.” In the first half of the season, Rask wore it on the road and Skinner wore it at home. Now, Skinner is wearing it on the road while Rask is wearing it at home, a midseason switch that gives the two equal representation.”

NBA/College/Hoops News: The University of Pittsburgh football team has already graced us with a gorgeous throwback uniform in royal and gold, and now it looks like the Pitt hoops team will also be wearing a beautiful royal version of their uniform, with the glorious “Pitt” script across the chest (nice find from Rich Donahue and Stallings is). … Here’s a bit more on those Pitt throwbacks (from Yancy Yeater). … UNC coach Roy Williams (who has tremendous fashion sense) wears a “strong jacket” that was designed by Alexander Julian (who also designed the infamous argyle patterned UNC basketball uniforms some years ago). He likes to bust out that strong jacket for big occasions (from James Gilbert). … “How about those Paris Tiger warmups?” writes Ryan Kraemer. “It’s opening night of the LIC Tourney and the Tigers were waiting to take the court.” … Here’s a video detailing all the “swag” that Villanova Basketball enjoys (h/t Catherine Ryan). … Couple interesting graphics here, the first depicts the Milwaukee Bucks records by uniform and also their winning percentage by court (from Bucks Uniforms).

Soccer News: Acronym time: the LAFC (The Los Angeles Football Club) has a USL (United Soccer League) affiliate, OCSC (Orange County Soccer Club). Phew. Well, they have a new logo (submitter Ryan thinks it’s “awkwardly long and skinny”).

Grab Bag: Hey golfers out there: ever use Kirkland balls? It seems as though Costco worked out a deal to bring high quality balls to the market at a fraction of the cost of their equally-good, much higher-priced competitors and the public loved them. You can probably guess what happened next. … Interesting (and well written) piece here on the connection in the US between sports and the military. … “Do NASCAR paint schemes count at unis?” asks David Dearing. “Regardless, NASCAR getting rid of names on windshield, adding Monster logos.” … These delightful ads revisit “The History Of The Helmet”. … Last evening, North Carolina gymnastics wore these “Unity” leotards (from James Gilbert). … New Era Cap has opened a “design lab” inside Staples Center (from Tommythecpa).

.

.

And that’s it for today. Thanks to Leo (and welcome back, even if it’s just for a quickie…).

You guys have a great Saturday, and I’ll catch you next tomorrow but until then…

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

.. … ..

“Those Hall of Fame jerseys look like a sloppy DIY iron-on job with flat script cut into three pieces and rotated.”

— Rex Henry

.

.