In today’s Ticker, we’ve got lots of baseball news — MLB, minors, softball — and a lot more.
Uni Watch News Ticker for April 23, 2023
Posted in:
Baseball
MLB
- Fun Astros stationary? Yes please. A collector posted a press release from 1978 in his collection. (From Mike Engle)
- The Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen attributes his recent success to an old pair of shoes.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates have been waiting a long time to win five straight. Now they have, and their reward is shaving bench coach Don Kelly’s head.
- The Los Angeles Angels have a pitcher with such a crazy delivery he’s nicknamed “The Human Glitch.” But the even more impressive thing about Jimmy Herget is his fantastic stirrups-and-Air Jordans.
- Did you like the Texas Rangers new CC unis? Here’s what their players thought.
- Color matching jerseys and helmets isn’t always easy. Here’s an example of how Atlanta’s helmets/jerseys don’t quite match up. (From Jason Miller)
- Here’s another fantastic colorization by the great Bruce Menard, this one of the Babe being carried off the field after injuring himself at Fenway.
- Should the Oakland A’s completely rebrand when they move to Las Vegas?
- Clearly MLB isn’t generating enough ad revenue, so the Minnsota Twins now have placed virtual ads in the black batters eye. (From Mike Monaghan)
- The Oakland A’s might move to Las Vegas ahead of the 2027 target date for the opening of their new ballpark, playing at the stadium of their Triple-A affiliate, the Aviators, in the interim. (From Kary Klismet)
- How sad is it when basically the only legible writing on your jersey happens to be the writing on an ad? (From Kurt Rozek)
- Home run celebrations have definitely become more celebratory over the past couple seasons. Exhibit A.
- Check out these custom cleats for Fernando Tatis, Jr — and note the custom “FTJ” logo. (From Chris Ogle)
Minors
- Here’s your first on-field look at Syracuse’s Salt City Mets uniforms. (Thanks, Paul)
Softball
- The SEC softball community were united yesterday when all 13 teams participated in the third annual “All for Alex” weekend to honor the legacy of Mississippi State’s Alex Wilcox. The 13 SEC schools joined together to wear teal or teal accents on Saturday.
More
- KBO: Two time KBO champions Busan Lotte Giants completely revamped their uniforms and logo set for the 2023 season. (From Cole Greenhouse)
- College: Oklahoma Sooners baseball helmets have 3-D stickers on the rear of their helmets. Have we ever seen this before? (From Josh)
- College: Whoops? Central Michigan’s 1st base coach appears to be wearing Arizona State shoes. (From Nick)
- College: Former Texas Longhorn Taylor Jungmann had his number 26 retired by the school.
- A local youth team from Wichita appropriates not one but two MLB logos. (From Gavin Shank)
- The saddest thing you’ll read today: Tomball HS has retired the baseball jersey of an 18-year-old. Why? Well, he and four members of his family were murdered by an escaped convict in 2022. (From the article, it appears they also retired the victim’s football jersey as well.)
- College: The LSU-Alexandria baseball team received rings for winning the 2022 Red River Athletic Conference tournament championship. (From Kary Klismet)
Football
NFL
- Now that the Arizona Cardinals have redesigned (terribly), here are five other teams the author of this article feels are in need of new unis. Granted, not all of them fall under the “five year” rule for design changes, but still…
College
- Nebraska painted 45’s on the field for the spring game to honor former player and coach Frank Solich. Solich and his family were guests for the game. (From Chris Bisbee)
- If ranking SEC helmets is your thing, this article has you covered.
- Eastern Michigan unveiled rings for winning the 2022 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. More details here. (From Kary Klismet)
- LSU had a new midfield logo at Tiger Stadium for its spring game on Saturday. (Also from Kary)
- Arkansas has received rings for winning last season’s Liberty Bowl. (Another from Kary)
More
- High School: The Quincy Orioles wear helmets featuring the Baltimore Orioles colors and script. (From JDub)
- Several high school football teams have received rings recently for winning state championships last fall, including Martin (Mich.) High School, (More details here); Malvern (Ark.) High School, (More details here); West High School in Knoxville, Tenn.; East Duplin High School in Beulaville, N.C., (More details here); and, Saraland (Ala.) High School, (More details here). All these are from Kary Klismet.
Basketball
NBA
- Former NBA player and legendary coach Phil Jackson apparently stopped watching basketball after 2020, when players were permitted to wear Social Justice Messaging (“Justice,” “Equality,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Say Their Names,” “Vote,” “Peace” and others) as their NOB. According to Jackson, “It was trying to cater to an audience or trying to bring a certain audience to the game and they didn’t know it was turning other people off. People want to see sports as non-political. Politics stays out of the game; it doesn’t need to be there.”
- The Milwaukee Bucks get a new primary logo court. They had been using the alternate blue one for the last few months. (From Mike Chamernik)
- For a mere $6.8 million, this Newton, Mass., mansion — complete with a Boston Celtics-themed basketball court — can be yours! (From Kary Klismet)
College
- Here’s an interesting piece about Illinois State’s men’s team’s first game back at historic Horton Field House since it left for its current arena in 1988. (From Kary Klismet)
Hockey
NHL
- It used to be the NHL norm to hit the ice without a helmet. Decades later, the attention turns to the shrinking number of players without a visor.
- As you all know (or should), this year the NHL adopted digital ads on the dasher boards. Because that worked out so well, now they’ve expanded virtual digital ads to the ice as well. (From Mike Styczen)
Soccer
USA
- Oakland Roots SC of the USL Championship are proposing to build a new soccer stadium at the site of the Oakland Coliseum if the A’s follow through with their plans to move to Las Vegas. (From Kary Klismet)
- Nice color-v-color (which isn’t exactly rare) matchup last night in Cincinnati. (From Jared Lloyd). Looks like Portland were wearing their Parley unis. Apparently not everyone is a fan.
- Here’s how Orlando City looked in their recycled unis.
- And here’s a look at FC Cincinnati’s parley kits.
International
- Canada: Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League has new kits for the 2023 season. (From Kary Klismet)
- Canada: Harbourside FC is a semi-pro team based in Nanaimo, BC. They play in League1 British Columbia. “I am digging the wave design on their new jerseys unveiled on Saturday,” writes submitter Wade Heidt.
Rugby
- To accommodate for more than 300 million people worldwide with color vision deficiency or color blindness, World Rugby is asking international teams to wear either light or dark playing strips, beginning in 2025. The South African Rugby Union is worried about how it will affect traditional All Blacks-Springboks clashes.
Grab Bag
- Virginia Men’s Lacrosse wore 1980s throwbacks yesterday. (From Michael MPH)
- The following six (6!) items are all from Kary Klismet: 1) Did you know that the first rodeo in America was held in 1869 at Deer Trail, Colo., on a site that still hosts rodeos to this day?
- 2) Uni-watchers in the Twin Cities area may want to check out the new “High School Days” exhibit at the Chisago County Historical Society in Lindstrom, Minn., which includes a display of old high school varsity letters, letter sweaters, and sports uniforms. If someone goes, be sure to share some photos!
- 3) The Ponte Vedra (Fla.) High School girls’ swimming team received its rings for winning the 2022 state championship.
- 4) The boys’ lacrosse team at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, Tex., has been given watches rather than rings for winning the 2022 state championship.
- 5) Fresno State had a “passing the collar” ceremony last weekend to welcome their new live mascot, Victor E. Bulldog IV.
- 6) The University of South Dakota has broken ground on a new aquatics arena. Thanks, Kary!!!
Comments (42)
Should the Oakland A’s completely rebrand when they move to Las Vegas?
Why?
They haven’t rebranded after moving from Philly to KC, or from KC to Oakland.
Change the colors if you want, but keep the name. Yes, it’s a generic name but there’s nothing wrong with it.
Agree no rebrand. Keep the Athletics name a must in this situation with this franchise. Don’t change the classic hat. If there is a colour scheme change in the move it should be kelly green fulltime with the yellow trim.
If for no other reason than it’s the same crummy ownership, and the same crummy team, then there’s no reason to change to something that would most likely be vegas specific when the A’s identity is both generic and classic. The A’s and the raiders will be heading to Salt Lake City as soon as their Vegas digs start feeling outdated unless something meaningful changes with the organizations, anyway.
Actually, I would go the other way around. Keep the green and yellow, unique in all of MLB, and go with a name like the Aces, which fits Vegas and could share much of the visual identity they currently have.
I don’t think Mark Davis is going to let the A’s use Aces he owns it in Las Vegas… He isn’t a fan of the A’s org and he is actively fighting to stop this move from happening.. But it is a perfect name and a big league name at that.
The reno MILB team would probably have to rebrand then.
Agreed, keep the name, and I think the colors too.
Change the colors?
I think the NFL Football item is missing a link.
Lost in the post about the LSU mid-field logo are the gorgeous endzones they used for the Spring Game!
Agreed! Those end zones are sweet. Center field logo not so much.
Maybe it was local TV, but there have been digital ads on the ice and the glass behind the goals on Flyers telecasts for years.
Yeah that was my submission. The further point I made was that the on-ice ad replaces the playoff logo (or finals logo) that’s been in that spot for years.
And sadly, on occasion the Phillies broadcasts have covered the ivy batter’s eye with CG ads.
“here are five other teams the author of this article feels are in need of new unis.” – where?
Sorry. Link now added. If you don’t want to scroll back up, click here: link
The first college FB article is missing its link too.
Not sure what happened there — the original link appears to no longer be working, but I substituted one that should work now.
link
The author of the A’s rebrand essay asserts that green and gold is a distinctly Oakland thing, and that the A’s didn’t wear those colors in KC. To which a uni watcher can only whisper, “Google 1964.” That said, I wish the team would rebrand upon the move, though I have nigh certain expectations that they will not. The relocation will shake up Nevada’s minor-league setup, so the big team could conceivably make a deal to take over Reno’s MiLB name, the Aces, in which case the Las Vegas Aces could even keep the A’s nickname and cap logo. I agree with the author’s comparison to the Montreal precedent, in that ownership deliberately drove team quality and fan interest into the ground for financial reasons. Bury the name, and let the abandoned community have it back if ever expansion or relocation brings a new team to town.
or 1963 ;)
link
Mark Davis owns the Las Vegas Aces WNBA basketball team. He isn’t going to let the A’s just use the name.. he hates the A’s and is actively trying to stop them from moving here (i’m local). I think we are going to be the green and gold a’s with a city connect style alternate representing the city which I have know idea what that means.
Virginia Men’s Lacrosse throwbacks are gorgeous.
Virginia’s helmets didn’t quite cut it.
It’s hard to recreate the color patterns of the old bucket helmets on the modern ones, although Hopkins managed to pull it off in a throwback game several years ago.
Speaking of, whenever the A’s move to Vegas, the Aviators will need to move. My guess is they’ll relocate to Reno or Colorado Springs. If they go to Reno, the Aces will be displaced to who knows where, maybe Portland. If the A’s don’t claim the Aces name, the Aviators could adopt the Aces branding upon moving to Reno. So we’ll soon see one, maybe two, MiLB rebranding regardless of whether the A’s keep their identity intact.
Based on this article from today’s Ticker link, it sounds like the A’s want to keep the Aviators in the Las Vegas area when they move in an arrangement similar to the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL and the Henderson Silver Knights in the AHL. I would personally prefer it if they moved the Aviators to some other location. Colorado Springs would be a prime spot since MLB abandoned it as a Triple-A location after 2018.
Also, admittedly without spending any time researching the question, it seems unprecedented to have a Major League team’s Triple-A affiliate located in the same metropolitan area as the parent club. It also seems counter to the spirit of the Minor League system, which I always thought was to give decent-sized cities a chance to support a high level of baseball, even it wasn’t at the Major League level. But now that MLB fully controls MiLB, it seems like those values are largely subservient to whatever is most convenient for the parent clubs.
The one example of a AAA and MLB team sharing the same metro area is the St. Paul Saints, AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are in Minneapolis, the Saints are in St. Paul – different cities, but the same metro area. Of course, the Saints were a well-established team by the time they became the Twins affiliate – they’ve been around since 1993.
Nice find on that, Mitchell! I had forgotten about the Saints/Twins relationship. As I recall, the Saints were elevated to Triple-A status after MLB’s takeover of MiLB, so it seems to be an example of MLB’s new way of doing things now that it controls the Minors. I’m curious how the Saints fans feel about it, since it seemed the team had developed a loyal and slightly unconventional fanbase during their years in the independent leagues.
Similarly, the Astros bought the Sugar Land Skeeters and brought them into the PCL. Sugar Land is a suburb of Houston.
Oakland and the whole Bay Area had a real love affair with the A’s for a long time. Even when they were t good it used to be that they were sort of “lovably hapless”. They never took themselves too seriously and that was great. But how much of that can you take when it’s obvious that there is actually some blame to be placed on people who won’t change? If oakland wants a team back in the future I think they’d welcome the A’s moniker back, but if they got a kelly and gold team and revived the oaks name, I think they’d quickly embrace them as well if that franchise put in the effort to earn their respect.
As for Vegas, I’d love to see the silver kings revived if the LA kings didn’t take issue, but they can keep the athletics if they want. As for the colors, I’d love them to be available if oakland ever got a team again, but I don’t mind Vegas using them. The athletics is such a generic name that it almost cries out for a wild color scheme.
Keep the A’s name and move the Aviators to Oakland and rename them the Oaks.
Phil Jackson is no right-wing conservative, far from it, but he’s right, keep the politics out if sports.
Like when Lew Alcindor became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, that wasn’t political?
And then there were the American track & field medalists at the 1968 Olympics. Did people give up watching the Olympics over that?
Imagine being so anti-society and shaking your fist at the clouds that you stop watching the game you, supposedly, love because players put a social cause on their backs and not because greedy owners put advertising on the front. It wasn’t the politics. It wasn’t HIS social preferences.
agreed, he could have said he stopped watching because the game has become unwatchable, with whatever type of basketball they play.
That article of 5 NFL teams that need new unis – they need to remove Houston and replace them with…Arizona.
I disagree, The old ones were horrible.
Except for the black ones, the new ones are an upgrade, IMO.
Thanks for the shout out Phil – Cheers!
Isn’t the WNBA the Aces in Las Vegas?
I cant get a pic of it but Lucas Giolito for the White Sox currently has his sleeve patch on wrong. Instead of the sock being vertical it is horizontal.
Huge pet peeve: when people say ‘jive’ when they mean ‘jibe’. I couldn’t even finish that Las Vegas A’s rebranding article.
It’d be a shame to lose such a storied name as Athletics, though.
The A’s are somewhat of a rarity in the sense that they are an original team whose traditions were established in the 1970s. I’d like to see them with four uniforms: Solid white, solid gold (yellow), solid green, and solid grey. The home park is probably a dome, so I don’t see a problem with dark uniforms in Las Vegas.
Wade,
UniWatch reader Matt Carter (wearing the beautiful HNIC jersey in this post with the band Decadence link ) is the announcer for Harbourside FC!
Cheers,
DJ Doc