Notice anything odd about D-backs shortstop Kevin Newman’s jersey during last night’s game against the Reds? His headspoon piping was missing!
Honestly, it doesn’t look that bad. Considering how rinky-dink the narrower piping looks this season, scrapping it might be an improvement. Still, it’s an(other) embarrassing MLB uni goof. And unlike most of the other problems, this one is clearly Fanatics’ fault — a manufacturing error at the factory.
Has Newman been wearing this erroneous jersey for a long time and we just hadn’t noticed until now? I looked at his game log and determined that the last time he appeared in a game wearing the team’s road greys was on April 26 in Seattle. Then I checked the video of that game and found that his headspoon was present and accounted for:
So Newman apparently was issued a new, headspoon-free road jersey sometime between April 26 and last night. Hmmmm.
The D-backs have five more games on their current road trip. Let’s keep an eye on Newman!
Meanwhile, the mismatched greys — whether caused by dye variations, sweat stains, or both — continue to confound, as exemplified last night by D-backs catcher Tucker Barnhart:
(My thanks to Twitter-ers @GoldyHappens and @DbacksStatsInfo for alerting me to the headspoon situation.)
am i crazy or does it look better without?
It looks way better!
Agreed!
Headspoons are a lazy cliche, anyway.
100% better without. I think most MLB jerseys would look better without the headspoon.
The Diamondbacks’ headspoon and sleeve piping has always looked “cheap” to me since it was unveiled, and the single, black piping doesn’t work. This looks way better.
Much better look. I can only think of two teams who use/used a headspoon that I thought worked… Atlanta (probably old guy/nostalgia talking) and the Giants roads with the SF logo. Always liked that one
The only uniforms that look better with a head spoon are those that empty a logo/crest to one side (see: Tigers home jerseys). Headspoon piping running through the wordmark is one of my all-time uniform pet peeves.
Nah, I think headspoons look pretty cool.
Of all the stupid things about the jersey fiasco, the one I can’t get over is Nike forgetting that athletes sweat. No institutional memory whatsoever of the NFL’s sweatboxes.
There seems to be little institutional memory of anything, hence the dark-on-dark text on CC unis, continued use of gradients, etc. Maybe reading too much into Paul’s interviews with Andrich, but it seems like Nike is laser-focused on “innovation” at the expense of reliability.
This fabric is supposed to wick away moisture but it seems to store it instead. And it shows. As for the headspoon, maybe he sweated it off his jersey.
Am I the only one who thinks the left and right sides of his jersey look like completely different shades of grey?
Sweat.
I remember in little league we had to report to an old building off-field where I had to get fitted and provided with a uniform. I was placed on The Yankees team (there were four teams in the league, Reds, Indians, Dodger and Yanks) and they asked if I wanted a dark or white top. As a 7 year old kid I opted for the dark top which was a Tshirt with the Yankees logo screened on it. Maybe 4 other kids on the team had this uni. It was a mess. We played the Indians, who were green on white, except for a couple kids who had red and black on white. The Reds of course had full MLB looking gear (it was in the cincy area). 2024 MLB feels like that same deal lol
The jerseys look better with no headspoon. They are not a traditional franchise so it feels slapped on. If they are going to include a headspoon, their tea/turquoise color would really pop.
Proofreading: An ‘i’ is missing from ‘unlike” in the second paragraph.
Fixed.
Maybe it’s like the pants and it tore off when he slid into a base.
Maybe it fell off when he jumped in the shower with his jersey on.
The headspoon piping should be removed from all their jerseys. It does nothing to enhance the appearance at all. It’s just clutter.
At this point I would not at all be surprised to see a jersey that either the team name, number or sleeve patch just fall off. Just, bloop and there’s a pile of poorly heat pressed fabric in a pile on the dirt.
Teams names/logos, numbers, and sleeve patches are heat-pressed then sewn on. *That* has not changed from previous years.
As amusing as it would be to see something like that happen, I doubt we’ll ever see it.
How many jerseys are issued to the players at the start of the season? I thought is was two of each jersey. It is possible he received one with the headspoon and one without. Obviously, they have not noticed it yet or he would not have worn it. As it may take time for a replacement, he just might wear it again.
Headspoon piping looks better with a monogram than with a full team wordmark in general. It can easily become too cluttered, especially if pinstripes are also added. But I must admit Atlanta has always looked great with a headspoon, even if the piping is multicolor and the wordmark is already very busy. In this Arizona case: no piping looks cleaner.
No piping, but they certainly would not forget the stupid ad!!! That’s more important than the piping!
I agree, it looks better without. Of course, I’m in the extreme minority here, but I NEVER liked headspoons. Once apon a time, when many teams wore pullovers in the 1970s up through the mid-1980s (my favorite baseball uniforms era of all), the only teams with headspoons were the Red Sox, when they went back to that design in 1979, the Tigers home, and the early 1980s Oakland A’s (remember when new ownership changed the green to a darker hue and put them in home button ups with the headspooning….that lasted all of 3 seasons from 1982-85).
The A’s looked great from 1972-81 (with gold sanis too!), as well as other teams. Now, everyone uses the same template due to the same manufacturer. All have buttons. What a travesty. At least Washington has a pullover, albeit with the hideous Nike (you should have stayed a shoe company) new pullover “necklace” style
Came across this photo of some Dodgers during 1968 spring training. They’ve got weirdly inconsistent negative space (or lack thereof).
link