Good morning! Hope everyone had a good weekend, as I did (more on that in a minute).
Now then: Sometimes a single photo is just loaded with uni-notable details. That’s the case with the shot shown above, which I first saw when Twitter-er @waynetm41 recently tweeted it at me. “I feel like @UniWatch would approve [of] these stirrups,” he wrote.
And yes, the stirrups are nice. But there’s a whole lot more going on than just the ’rups. How much more? This much:
- The uniforms are essentially black at the top (the caps) and the bottom (the lower part of the stirrups), and red in between.
- In addition to the stirrups, everyone has very nice blousing.
- Well, almost everyone — someone on the far side of the mound is going with lower cuffs and no blousing.
- Instead of NOBs, the team is wearing BVOB — Bible verse on back: “Colossians 3:17.”
- The back of No. 14’s cap appears to have a cross.
- The front-cap logo, which is visible only on the far-left player, appears to have been poached from the Atlanta Falcons.
- The back of No. 14’s pants has two loops and a tunnel.
- White belts!
- Everyone is wearing Adidas footwear.
That’s a lot of uni mileage from one photo!
The team is St. Thomas Aquinas High School, a Catholic school in Hammond, La. The photo is from 2016. The team is indeed called the Falcons, and they did indeed use the NFL Falcons’ logo (although I don’t think they’re still using it today). Here’s a better look at that, also from 2016:
The infielder in that photo was cheating a bit with his stirrups. Here’s that same play a few seconds later — look at the bottom of his stirrups:
Here’s another look at that weird loops-and-tunnel treatment on the pants:
Here’s the kid who doesn’t like to blouse:
And here you can see that they did indeed wear a cross on the back of their caps:
While looking for more photos, I came across this one, which shows an Aquinas coach with a different cap logo, a different uni manufacturer (Nike instead of Russell), and a cross instead of a front jersey number (not sure I’ve ever seen that before, but I don’t see much high school baseball, so maybe it’s common among Christian schools):
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Okay, so that’s not really a thousand words, but it’s still a pretty fun rabbit hole based on a single seven-year-old high school baseball photo that someone tweeted at me. A fun start to our week!
While I don’t know about any apparel arrangements with Christian schools, during my travels on sidelines, benches and dugouts, it’s not at all unusual for coaches to wear team apparel from one manufacturer while the players’ uniforms are from another. Sometimes, the coaches are wearing stuff that is years old, while the uniforms are brand new.
I’ve seen some decent stirrups in the last couple of weeks and, funny enough, a team that also used the Atlanta Falcons’ logo as essentially its own. And I’m not exactly in Florida.
The guy in the STA Nike jersey sure looks older than a high school player.
Clint Frazier is attempting a comeback.
More like Rusty Staub.
The ghost of Red Schoendienst.
I’m going with Rip Torn.
I’ve changed “player” to “coach.”
Pretty sure that’s a coach with the cross on his jersey.
Neat rabbit hole! I like the verse on the backs of the jerseys.
The STA logo makes great use of the cross in there.
Odd that a school from Louisiana would poach the logo from the Saints biggest rival.
St Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia made great use of the cross within their monogram when I was of high school age but that was 30 years ago. My dad’s old high school (North Catholic (Philadelphia), since closed) ripped off the Atlanta Falcons (original logo) and UNC (block NC monogram). Is there a link between Catholic schools and falcons? The Catholic schools near me in South Jersey are Crusaders (x2), Eagles, Hermits, Lancers, Spartans, Irish (not Fighting?!) and Rams. But no Falcons.
Judge Guy here…you are giving way too much credit to The Prep ; )
link
Speaking for my NC brothers…for football, North did poach the Atlanta Falcons logo for a while but I’d say their monogram logos were generic/unique enough to call them original…meaning, they didn’t resemble anything the Tar Heels used.
I remember them best when they used this:
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They chose the falcon since (according to Wikipedia) it’s “a bird of prey that never lets go of what it has captured(reflective of the the school’s motto Tenui Nec Dimittam -“I have taken hold, and I will not let go”) it is completely faithful to its trainer; and it is the fastest of God’s creatures”. Perhaps other Catholic schools used similar rationale?
Good insight and I am St Joe’s neutral beyond a couple friends who went there.
For a while, North used the angular NC monogram that UNC has used, mostly unofficially, and not the rounded monogram they’ve used for decades. When they started making hats in fashion/non-team colors, I could swear I saw their baseball team wearing red hats like that.
HSHS Spartan alumn here. Always found it funny that the school poached Mich State’s logo and originally got the name because of Mich State, but did all it could to emulate Notre Dame, such that even though we were blue and yellow-gold, the football uniforms were navy and and metallic gold.
And Camden Catholic did the opposite – MSU colors and “Irish”…
Especially since “Saints” would be an appropriate nickname for a Catholic high school.
I think Neumann Goretti in Philadelphia is the Saints.
The Catholic imagery certainly makes sense for the school, though it all feels a little “extra” (for lack of a better word). Still, I love the stirrups and the all red uni combo. It’s pictures like that that make me want to see more MLB teams occasionally wear non-white/gray pants. When done right, it’s a classic look.
Extra is the perfect word for it.
That neon sign just made my damn day…
Red Stallions! Rawr!
Caitlin update?
Thanks for asking. She’s doing OK-ish. Definitely better than last week, although not as good as I would like.
Currently curled up and taking a nap.
Good to know. My 2 girls at Phils Phan HQ are more interested in the yard birds than sleeping some days.
The guy on the right, with the tat on his forearm, looks like Mike Trout.
He looks like the offspring of Mike Trout and Luka Doncic!
All tan-brown gloves
Usually the other way around
In the spirit of Black Flag and OFF!, I want to start a hardcore band called FlyDed.
I don’t know about FlyDed, but we use a pest control company named Kil-Mor.
Certainly didn’t expect to see my high school alma mater featured on Uni-Watch today, though we’re the boys in blue pinstripes (Jesuit High School (New Orleans)) rather than St. Thomas Aquinas. Given our somewhat draconian school uniform policy, I find it ironic that we’re not the high cuffed team.
That can is a beauty. I always love it when a package tries to include everything it does. What about hornets? Killer Bees? Malicious grasshoppers? Not mentioned on the can! And i love that small print: when used as directed. Throwing the can at the insect trying to kill it is not as directed!