In today’s Ticker, we’ve got ad patches pushing a hockey captain’s “C” to the center of his jersey, a recently traded catcher in his old team’s gear, and more!
Uni Watch News Ticker for August 3, 2023
Posted in:
Baseball
MLB
- New Rangers C Austin Hedges was still wearing his Pirates gear when he made his Texas debut. (From multiple readers)
- Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the Mets’ grounds crew. (Thanks, Phil)
- No link, but Orioles IF Gunnar Henderson explained why he wears No. 2 on Sunday Night Baseball: “My older brother wore it and it’s kind of been a family number. So I wore it all through travel ball, city league, and stuff. Actually, never wore it in the minor leagues. When I got up here, it was sitting in my locker, so it felt pretty cool to see that. Especially when you first get called up.” (From Andrew Cosentino)
- Also from Andrew, and again no link, but evidently a Sunday Night Baseball graphic said the Orioles were founded in 1901. That was the original Orioles, not the current team, which were the St. Louis Browns until 1954.
Minors
- The Jersey Shore Blue Claws, High-A affiliates of the Phillies, will wear Captain Marvel unis this weekend. (From John Cerone)
- The Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Double-A affiliates of the Marlins, will wear these jerseys on their Salute to Service night on August 18. I really like the direction they went with these — they thought outside the box, rather than just doing a generic “flag and/or camo” Salute to Service jersey. (Thanks, Phil)
- The Lansing Lugnuts, High-A affiliates of the A’s, have announced their food-based alternate identity — the Capital City Olive Burgers. The new identity will make its on-field debut August 10. (Thanks, Phil)
Football
NFL
- Patriots rookie wideout Kayshon Boutte is wearing his LSU pads at training camp.
- In Madden 2004, the Jaguars’ default away uniform was set to white jerseys with teal pants. One problem: the Jags never wore teal pants in that era.
- The Pro Football Hall of Fame, after changing a longstanding policy of giving rings only to living Hall of Famers, will now present rings to certain family members of deceased members. (From Kary Klismet)
- Also from Kary, apparently, Lions head coach Dan Campbell wanted a live lion mascot for his team, but the NFL office rejected the idea.
College
- It appears Cal has returned to glossy helmets after several years in matte. (From Kyle Mackie)
- While going through some old things, reader Brad Belstock found his 1997 Michigan national champions T-shirt, and noticed a pretty big error on the back: it says that the Wolverines beat Washington in the Rose Bowl to win the National Championship, but they actually beat Washington State. Oops. And since you’re wondering, yes, Brad sent along the front of the shirt as well.
- North Dakota has switched from black to white facemasks ahead of the season.
- Sun Devil Stadium will have a new corporate-sponsored name. (From Mike Chamernik)
- Here’s a video detailing new upgrades at Georgia’s Sanford Stadium for this upcoming season. (From Kary Klismet)
- Auburn plans to install new field-level luxury suites at Jordan-Hare Stadium. (From Kary Klismet)
CFL
- The Edmonton Elks will have an Indigenous-designed helmet logo for their game on August 10th against the Blue Bombers. (From Moe Khan and Wade Heidt)
Hockey
Minors/Juniors
- The WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors have unveiled their 40th anniversary logo and a new alternate sweater. (From Wade Heidt)
- Due to two ad patches at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Swiss captain Leon Muggli’s “C” is in the center of his sweater. Yikes.
Basketball
College
- New unis for Wisconsin men. I feel like that back collar logo, above the NOB, is a little big, no? (From an anonymous reader)
Soccer
International
- France: Stunning new away kits for AS Monaco, who play in the independent nation-state of Monaco but compete in France’s Ligue 1.
- England: Leeds, recently relegated to the Championship from the Premier League, have unveiled their new away kit. The design evokes a peacock’s plumage, a reference to an old club badge and a prominent supporters’ pub near the club’s stadium.
- Wales: Swansea City have unveiled their new third kit. A portion of each sale of the jersey will be donated to a cancer charity. (From Terry Mark)
Rugby
- The Irish national rugby union team will have NOBs for the first time in their history for a World Cup warmup match against Italy in Dublin this weekend. (Thanks, Phil)
Volleyball
- New court design for the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga. (From Kary Klismet)
Grab Bag
- In the 1960s, the Red Sox and Patriots were exploring building a new multi-purpose stadium in Boston which would’ve had the first retractable roof stadium in both leagues. Their idea for the retractable roof sort of reminds me of Atlanta’s current stadium.
- The Cubs hosted representatives of the SEC at Wrigley recently, and marked the occasion with a scoreboard graphic showing the logos of all SEC teams, including Oklahoma and Texas, who won’t be members until after this season. (From @eshuman34)
- Finnair is recycling some of their old crew uniforms by turning them into garden furniture. (Thanks, Phil)
- Archie Comics has a 50th anniversary logo. (From John Cerone)
- Watkins Glen High School in New York has announced a team name change from “Senecas” to “Lake Hawks” in compliance with the new state law banning Native American-themed mascots and imagery. (From Kary Klismet)
- Also from Kary, the school board for Montgomery, Ala., has announced new team names and athletics logos for two high schools that were renamed from individuals associated with the Confederacy to prominent Black historical figures and key members of the civil rights movement.
Comments (34)
The Orioles franchise did start in 1901 in Milwaukee, could they have been referring to that? Moved to St. Louis in 1902.
Beat me to it.
Wow! Nice catch!
Thanks, Blair!
Exactly.
The old Brewers were founded in 1894. The American League, in which they played, declared itself “major” in 1901. So in this instance 1901 refers more to the foundation date of the league than to the foundation date of the team. If the question is, When was the team now known as the Baltimore Orioles founded? the answer is 1894. If the question is, When did the team now knows as the Baltimore Orioles join the American League? the answer is 1900. If the question is, When did the team now known as the Baltimore Orioles begin playing in what is now known as Major League Baseball? the answer is 1901.
But if they’re gonna get it wrong, as they did, I’d rather they err on the side of attempting to date the start of the franchise, not the date of the relocation. So zero points for accuracy, but maximum points for intention.
The AL was founded in 1901. Therefore, your 1900 date should coincide with your 1901 date. “In 1901, the American League removed itself from baseball’s national agreement and declared itself a competing Major League. The Milwaukee Brewers, which had been a part of the old Western League, was one of its charter members.”
However, any signage or merchandise I’ve ever seen always refers to the team as being established in 1954. I’ve never once seen 1901 used. Yes, they existed as the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Browns. And yes, it may technically be incorrect. However, that’s not the convention that the Orioles have used. Here are a bunch of examples!
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Super picayune point, but the Western League changed its name to American League in 1900, not 1901. The AL wasn’t “founded” in 1901, it declared itself a major league coequal with the National League that year. 1901 is the accurate answer to no question about the “founding” of the Orioles franchise.
R. Scott Rogers,
I see what you mean! What a fun semantics debate. Regardless, we can agree that 1901 was an odd number for ESPN to pick. Especially given the Orioles propensity to use 1954 as the date as their founding.
R. Scott Rogers,
I see what you mean! What a fun semantics debate. Regardless, we can agree that 1901 was an odd number for ESPN to pick. Especially given the Orioles propensity to use 1954 as the date as their founding.
Good primer, R.Scott!
This one goes back a while…but still sticks in my craw:
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@ChrisH
HOODOO NICKNAME!
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The original AL Baltimore Orioles played in Baltimore in 1901 and 1902, then moved to New York in 1903 and became the Highlanders. In 1913, they became the Yankees.
Mike,
Correct! However, the Yankees usually don’t associate themselves with the 1901-1902 Orioles.
Todd Radom has some great info!
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REALLY dig that Elks helmet!! Great logo
The logo is to be painted at midfield at Commonwealth Stadium for the game too.
I agree!
The Moose Jaw Warriors’ anniversary is 40 seasons in Moose Jaw. They were an expansion team that started in 1980 as the Winnipeg Warriors before moving to Moose Jaw after 4 seasons.
The Adidas and Under Armor logo “patches” on the front of their basketball jerseys just look out of place, are way too big and take away from some of the beauty of the neckline. I know Nike seems to do that with the football jerseys. But, there is a LOT more real estate on a football jersey than a basketball jersey.
I feel bad for Auburn fans. Those new K-Mart tents in the corners of the stadium are awful.
And they will not give a good view of the game. Unless that doesn’t matter to the people buying them.
North Dakota has switched from black to white facemasks ahead of the season.
OK, Minnesota Vikings, time to do the same!
New York Jets too for primary uniform. Jets have a white mask for their throwback so no excuse now
Agreed!
As for the Vikings, I like the black but think that switching back to purple would look better with the present-day helmet.
However, should they opt to make the recently-revealed alt as their primary (and they should!), I’d be OK with them keeping the facemask gray instead of changing to white.
Wait…did I just write that? ; )
Just as a footnote, the original Baltimore Orioles franchise in 1901 is now known as the New York Yankees. They played in Baltimore for 2 years in 1901 and 1902 because the New York Giants blocked the newly formed American League from putting another team in the city of New York. Finally after being allowed to move to New York in 1903. The team was sold and relocated to New York where they were called the Highlanders from 1903 to 1912. Then in 1913 they officially changed the name of the team to the Yankees.
Could North Dakota’s sleeve stripes possibly be any shorter?
Sports purgatory is the embodiment of European Hockey uniforms.
A few decades ago, the Museum of Modern Art featured the work of an architect who designed a stadium similar to that long-ago Boston proposal. The roof panels on the model actually moved. I was inspired by its innovative approach, but knew it wouldn’t be too practical.
“found his 1997 Michigan national champions T-shirt, and noticed a pretty big error on the back”
– There is a pretty big error on the front and back. It says 1997 National Champions. It should say 1997 1/2 National Champions.
Phil, to what email address do you want us to send ideas for the ticker?
Sniff sniff does this at least mean I can get an “I Still Call it Sun Devil” tshirt now?
SF Giants announced ridiculously huge ad patch, must be biggest one out there.
That Archie logo is for the Archie Digest specifically. The small size (digest sized) reprint collections. Archie himself is way older. I wasn’t aware they first started publishing those in 1973 until I saw that Ticker item and googled it. I don’t know when I thought they started, but neat fact to learn. I always like when some comic book item finds its way into the Ticker.
ESPN game coverage of MLB is beneath worthless. I’m forced to turn off the sound whenever I want to watch a game. For a network that is centered on, oh, I don’t know, let’s say sports . . . it is pitiful.
Speaking of wrong unis in video games…NFL QB Club ’98 for N64 had the Broncos away uniforms pairing white jerseys with the dreaded blue pants. They would not wear this combo on the field until the 2022 season. I could only find this image: link
That copy of Madden ’04 must come from the other timeline. link