In today’s Ticker, we’ve got lots of MLB news, more NFL rooks are getting their uni numbers, and much more!
Uni Watch News Ticker for May 7, 2023
Posted in:
Baseball
MLB
- Baseball’s most curmudgeonly fan, George Will, has praised the new rules which have resulted in shorter games, much as I said they would result in a return to the game we all once knew.
- Not really uni-related, but yesterday Willie Mays, baseball’s oldest living HOFer, celebrated his 92nd birthday. If you didn’t realize just how good he was, here are 24 stats that show how great the Say Hey Kid really was.
- Finally! A show just for us: this morning at 11 a.m (Eastern), is the season premier of “Inside Stitch.” Hosted by A.J. Andrews, the show delves into the wacky, weird, and woolly history of baseball uniforms. The debut episode breaks down the recent Twins rebrand, looks at some of the best Minor League theme nights and debates over just which powder blue uniform is best. Added bonus: You can learn about the history of the greatest uniform accessory — the stirrup sock!
- WHOA! Check out this photo of Don Mattingly in decidedly old school attire! (From Teezog)
- Enunciation is very important. (From Joe Baines)
- A Chicago Cubs “Build-a-Bear” features inner ears with baseball stitching. (From Trevor Williams)
- Some MLB teams have been wearing small, green ribbons this month for Mental Health Awareness. According to that article, “The ribbon will be donned throughout the month of May for select teams and games but doesn’t appear to be a league-wide adoption, at least not yet. The initiative is primarily being pushed by the Tampa Bay Rays, who are also lighting their roof green in May to raise awareness for the cause.”
- Phillies Nation asked several of the current Phillies what their favorite (Phillies) uniform is. (From Tim Kelly)
- Ramón Urías, who usually plays 3B and 2B, played 1B for the Orioles yesterday. He doesn’t have a 1B mitt, so he borrowed Ryan Mountcastle’s 1B mitt. (From Andrew Cosentino)
- The KC Royals honored Lorenzo Cain yesterday, and gave him a jersey with a certain maker’s mark, one which was not present on his jersey when he played for the team. (From Scott Nuzum)
- Were the Boston Red Sox channeling the 1916 Brooklyn Dodgers or New York Giants? Not really, but tattersall needs to make a comeback in MLB. (From Balko Tuzmoh)
- Here’s a baseball card showing the Phillies’ Von Hayes wearing a maroon/burgundy jersey over powder blue pants. I’m about 99% certain this combo was never worn in a regular season game and this looks to be a spring training shot. (From Trevor Williams)
Minors
- In honor of King Charles III’s coronation yesterday, the Charleston River Dogs wore specialty jerseys commemorating the occasion. (From Chad Droze)
- Today, the Rocket City Trash Pandas will become the Lunaticos de Rocket City.
More
- Japan: Check out these “Family with Tigers” uniforms for the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball league. (From Cole Greenhouse)
- More uni greatness: Here are the Sauquoit Silk Sox in 1921, a silk mill’s company baseball team from Scranton, PA. (From Adam Vitcavage)
- Japan: The Eastern and Western leagues (farm team leagues of the NPB) recently unveiled their 2023 Fresh All-Star Game logo to be played at Alpen Stadium in Toyama City, Japan July 18th. (From Cole Greenhouse)
- Japan: The Rakuten Eagles have unveiled their 2023 “Fans” uniforms. They are a maroon base that gradients to white. (From Cole again)
- Whoa! Check out these University of the Cumberlands Patriots baseball unis! (From Brent High)
- The USS Cooperstown (seen in New York) was commissioned yesterday, becoming the first U.S. Navy ship to honor Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the MLB Hall of Fame. (From Tim Donahue)
- Renderings have been released of what the new Negro League Baseball Museum building could look like. (From Kary Klismet)
Football
NFL
- The LA Rams have announced jersey numbers for their rookie class.
- Here are the updated jersey numbers for the NJ Jets.
- ICYMI: New jersey numbers for the Indy Colts draft picks.
- In his monthly column, Packers Prexy Mark Murphy talked about retiring numbers 1 and 5 (why they aren’t) and how 12 will be. (From Brian Kerhin)
- Despite the fact that the Ravens appear to be transitioning to the F.U.S.E. template, their rookies were wearing their old Speed Machine template in rookie camp. (From Andrew Cosentino)
College
- When recruits show up, they will often don a uniform combo that has never been worn before, frequently leading to speculation the team may debut said combo during the regular season. Here’s how one recruit looked at UM going blue over white. Full story here.
- “I recently stumbled across the “Gridiron Garb” blog, focusing on college football uniforms of the Northeast. Enjoy the rabbit hole!” says Kary Klismet.
More
- The football team for Cocoa (Fla.) High School has received rings for winning the state championship last fall thanks to a donation from Philadelphia Eagles safety and Cocoa alum Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. (From Kary Klismet)
Hockey
NHL
- For those who care about such things, once again Alex Ovechkin has the number one selling jersey in the NHL.
Basketball
College
- James Gilbert put together some what-if graphics in case the proposed NCAA uniform number rule change goes through. He adds, “I don’t know why UNC went away from higher digits so early.”
Soccer
USA
- Patrick Henry College of Virginia has presented its men’s soccer team with rings for winning the NJCAA Region 10 championship. (From Kary Klismet)
International
- PL: Yesterday’s matches graphic featured unis with a decidedly Kentucky Derby theme. (From Mike Wice)
- PL: Ollie Watkins, who plays for Aston Villa, removed his “Castore” maker’s mark in protest (of what, I’m not exactly sure). (From Jeff V Comedy)
- Italy: Interesting, um, kit matchup yesterday between Lazio and AC Milan. (From Graham Ward)
- Belarus: Check out the new kits for Krumkachy Minsk. (From Ed Żelaski)
Horse Racing
- “Batman is racing in (yester)day’s Kentucky Derby lol” says Valencia Joe.
- The Louisville Courier-Journal published a visual guide to the riders’ silks for yesterday’s Kentucky Derby. (From Kary Klismet)
Cricket
- During yesterday’s LV County Championship, both sides sang the British National Anthem, in support of King Charles III’s coronation. (From Jimmer Vilk)
Grab Bag
- The University School of Jackson, Tenn., unveiled rings for its girls’ state championship-winning 1600- and 3200-meter relay teams. (From Kary Klismet)
- Here’s a look at the military details behind the robes Prince William wore to his father, King Charles III’s, coronation. (Also from Kary)
Comments (14)
“In honor of King Charles III’s coronation yesterday, the Charleston River Dogs wore specialty jerseys commemorating the occasion.”
– I can’t believe they didn’t rename themselves the Charleston Kings for a day.
“Here’s a baseball card showing the Phillies’ Von Hayes”
Von Hayes brought us Julio Franco to the Indians. Who then got jobbed out of the Rookie of the Year award by Ron Kittle.
Von 541 Hayes!
Pete Rose wore that burgundy over blue in an all star game pre ‘80 I think.
Indeed. One of the more famous wearings. 1979 ASG in the Kingdome. link
I wrote about it more than a dozen years ago (unfortunately link rot and Flickr deleting my account years ago render most of the links void) link
That olde timey Mattingly pic is ruined by the AstroTurf and Nikes.
But thanks for sharing!
And those sideburns.
Surprisingly, Batman has never had a pet horse. Here is a chronological list of all of Batman’s pets, including a cow whose cowl resembles the horse linked today:
link
Though of course Batman famously rode an un-masked horse in Dark Knight Returns. So somewhere on the Wayne estate there is a stable.
Best guess on Mattingly – the 1983 International League all star game played between the Cleveland MLB team and the IL All Stars. Played in Columbus at Franklin County Stadium and celebrating the 100th season of the IL.
link
Fun fact, the County Championship is probably the oldest extant sports league in the world. For those unfamiliar, cricket comes in 3 forms. First Class Cricket which takes 4 days to complete in domestic matches, 5 in international matches. Then you have 50 over “List A) which was invented in the late 1960s and takes about 8 hours, then finally you have 20 over, or “Twenty20” which is about the length of a baseball game.
The County Championship is the four day format and is comprised of the 18 First Class Ceremonial Counties of England and there are 2 divisions with promotion/relegation between them. In an officially organized capacity, it dates back to 1890, but, the county championship as a concept dates back to 1709. The club I support, Middlesex which represents London north of the Thames, was founded in it’s current form in 1864.
Cricket itself dates back to at least the early 16th Century and the works of Shakespeare reference it. Kinda makes baseball seem like a new fangled thing huh.
The NJ Jets? Typo or intentional?
The Mets celebrated Mental Health Awareness on Saturday by not playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the seventh inning stretch. What a weird thing to do.
Love the fact that the nickname for the USS Cooperstown is “America’s Away Team”
and the logo of the ship as well being baseball themed link
Realistically, will 69 be allowed by NCAA, Nike or North Carolina? You just know how a parent, administrator or executive will complain immediately after the first game (if not sooner).
That is definitely a spring training pic of Von Hayes.