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Everyone Knows the Last Pitch Was High and Outside

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Lemme tell ya, nothing screams “deep blues authenticity” like a screening of a 50-year-old ballgame in which almost everyone in the stadium was white (although it’s arguably grittier than some of the other entries on the B.B. King’s calendar).

Such was the incongruous setting for last night’s screening of Don Larsen’s perfect game, which I attended with my buddy Michael McMahon. Reader Michael Gawley, who’d won free tix in last month’s raffle, came over and introduced himself, along with his pal Walt, whose T-shirt was a point of significant interest. Turns out it’s a campaign device for Heisman hopeful Beanie Wells. Walt said he made it himself. Want your own? Look here.

But I digress. Here are some notes I took regarding the screening of the game itself:

• I’d say slightly less than half of the players wore batting helmets. Among those who did, all of their helmets appeared to be flocked.

• Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Wolff, now in his 80s, was in attendance at the screening and did a little Q&A before the game was shown. When the screening got to the top of the 9th, they switched from the TV audio to Wolff’s radio call of the final three outs (I caught a glimpse of him at his table and he was beaming as he listened to himself). When Carl Furillo led off the 9th by flying out to Hank Bauer in right field, Wolff said Bauer was on the edge of “the cinder track” (or maybe “the cinder path” — couldn’t be sure), rather than the warning track. Never heard that term used in that context before before.

• The screening included all of the original commercials, which was actually the thing I was most excited to see. What I didn’t anticipate is that almost all of the commercials would be for Gillette razors, the official World Series sponsor. There was one ad for ballpoint pens after the end of the 6th inning, but every other spot was for Gillette. Incredibly, no two of them repeated. Most of them mentioned that for $1 you could get a pack of Gillette blades and a free “vest pocket-sized” baseball encyclopedia, which looked like a must-have, so when I got home I went straight to eBay and promptly located a copy.

• One of the Gillette ads featured former screwball master Carl Hubbell (long since retired by 1956), who was introduced, rather uni-intriguingly, as “Ol’ Square Pants himself.” I’d never heard of this sobriquet applied to Hubbell, so I did a bit of googling, which got me nowhere (although I’m now familiar with the handful of web sites that mention both Hubbell and SpongeBob). Anyone know the story behind this nickname?

• Roy Campanella had an open batting stance from the right side, which was extremely atypical prior to the 1990s.

• Sal Maglie came to the set/stretch position in the most bizarre manner of any pitcher I’ve ever seen — no words can do justice to it, but buy me a drink at the next Uni Watch party and I’ll try to pantomime it. For all I know, maybe Larsen came to the set in an unusual manner too, but of course he never had to pitch from the stretch in this game. (Speaking of which: Larsen had no windup to speak of — just a step-and-throw delivery, almost like a quick-pitch. Prior to the screening we were told that he’d scaled back his windup and adopted this more streamlined delivery just a few weeks earlier.)

• Mind-blowing factoid I’d never heard before: While Larsen was pitching the game of his life, his wife was filing for divorce. Insert “That makes his perfect day even better!” joke here.

• Vin Scully sounded almost exactly the same then as he does now.

• According to a little caption that was shown toward the end of the screening, there are only five pre-1965 ballgames whose broadcasts still exist in their entirety, and four of them are World Series games. Can that possibly be true? If so, it’s a sad commentary on the state of sports history and archiving.

My thanks to B.B.’s publicist John Seroff for letting me know about this unique event, and for providing the raffled tickets — much obliged.

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Shortstop Can’t Stop Shorts: Amidst all my recent posts about baseball shorts, I forgot that I’d linked to this 1949 photo of the Mobile Bears a little over a year ago. Fortunately, Paul Deaver found that photo on his own. Plus he found this page (see the fifth graf), although I’ve been unable to turn up any visuals on that team. But it’s becoming clear that shorts were a more widespread minor league phenomenon that we realized.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Iowa’s newly renamed hockey team has an unfortunate antecedent. Details here (with thanks to Greg Wyshynski). ”¦ Key excerpt from this article about C.C. Sabathia: “One of the first players Sabathia met in the clubhouse was first baseman Prince Fielder, who at 5 feet 11 and 270 pounds is no longer the biggest man on the roster. ‘When I first walked in, he asked me if I needed to borrow some (uniform) pants,’ Sabathia said. ‘He’s probably the only guy with a pair I’d fit in'” (with thanks to Nicole Haase). ”¦ Mike Eckert notes that Miguel Cabrera was wearing Edgar Renteria’s sweatbands last night, but he really needs to get rid of the fucking Phiten-branded socks, NOW. ”¦ I noted yesterday that Jose and Argenis Reyes both have “Reyes” NOBs (no initial), but Matt Edwards notes that Jose has a “Reyes” strip of tape on the brim of his batting helmet while Argenis has “Argenis.” No photo yet. ”¦ The controversy regarding the Celtics’ championship banners continues. Yesterday I relayed the explanation that the “NBA” icon was solid green if the Celts won the title on the road and outlined if they won it at home, but several readers have poked holes in that one. Here’s a banner-by-banner analysis, as compiled by Darrell Hatfield. ”¦ The Brewers apparently have a different mound icon for every occasion. Here’s what they had over the weekend (with thanks to Ryan Connelly). ”¦ Shorpy does it again. ”¦ Best thing I’ve learned while researching baseball shorts (or maybe just the best thing in human history, period): Check out this 1950 L.A. Times article about the Hollwood Stars’ shorts, scroll down to the last full paragraph, and check out the name of the Pacific Coast League’s president at the time. When you stop laughing, you can read the rest of the article here. ”¦ Let’s say your mad about local zoning ordinances, and you want to paint your house an annoying color as a silent protest. What color do you paint it? Purple, of course (with thanks to Steve Laga). ”¦ Wednesday was “Jason Giambi Mustache Day” at Yankee Stadium. Photo gallery here ”¦ Scott M.X. Turner sent along a bunch of photo scans from this awesome book: First, check out this 1962 team photo. Note the white outlining on the NY logo — that was scrapped for subsequent editions of the team’s dugout jacket. Next, look at this shot, taken at the Polo Grounds (which means it’s either 1962 or ’63). Is that a flocked Mets batting helmet? Never seen that before. And finally, when skipper Wes Westrum resigned, he took his jersey with him. ”¦ Half-hour highlight video of the 1952 World Series available here, and the 1960 Series is here (great find by Roger Faso). ”¦ Best newspaper correction ever (courtesy of birthday girl Alleen Barber). ”¦ More awesome tag designs from Scott Little. ”¦ Someone out there is coming up with a bunch of NHL redesigns, and some of them are pretty interesting. This, for example, is pretty damn cool (with thanks to Nathan Gemignani). ”¦ Yesterday’s notes about the different number fonts on various old AFL jerseys prompted a lengthy and detailed response from Terry Proctor. It’s too long to reprint here in the Ticker, but you can read it here. ”¦ Before there were the Mets — like, long before — there were the New York Metropolitans. Back then, just as now, their true color was blue. The back of those cards, incidentally, looked like so (great stuff from Doug Mooney). ”¦ Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Amazing early football helmet here. ”¦ UVA’s football team will be playing a throwback game against Richmond on September 6th. Details here (with thanks to Jason Perle). ”¦ Great West Virginia football clip, circa 1969, here (courtesy of J.D. Arendshorst). ”¦ Ricko sez: “These two photos have always intrigued me. It isn’t often you see two football shots of the same play taken by two different photographer=s from different angles, perhaps only hundredths of a second apart.” The WR is Art Powell, and Ricko has a lot to say about him. ”¦ Is Joe D.’s fly open here? Drew Cochrane thinks so. ”¦ I think I’m in love. That’s a high school team — the Duryea, Pennsylvania, Wildcats –from the 1950s. Saw it on the Chris Creamer board. ”¦ And at the other end of the spectrum (with thanks to Kamau Rotan. … Pretty excellent managerial tantrum here. ”¦ Jason Arndt reports that Alex Ochoa (who was supposedly a five-tool player when the Mets traded Bobby Bonilla for him in the early ’90s, but three of those tools turned out to be striking out, flying out, and grounding out) has been wearing his first name on his jersey in Japan for years now. … There’s an item about Mike Mussina’s pants at the very bottom of this page. And the last section of this page has some news about Joba Chamberlain’s stirrups. Both items were penned by Tyler Kepner, easily the most uni-aware beat writer out there. … Check out this cool vintage soccer ephemera (courtesy of Michael Orr). … Poor Nike, shut out from Olympic advertising. Breaks my heart.

 
  
 
Comments (103)

    I am certain that I am only the millionth person to note this, but I cannot resist: Mr. McMahon sure looks a lot like the great John Waters.

    While looking around the other day, found some intersting pics,
    There was talk here the other day about 2 goalies on the same team wearing the no. 1 sweater
    link
    Interesting with the different color sweaters for the starting and backup

    Then I found this,
    link
    I think it is Marcel Dhere (if yr is correct as per Hockey Ref. site), weird to see someone wear the sweater with the number facing out, any thought Teebz?

    Seattle’s Jack walker in some bitchin’ stripes….

    link

    So, in the picture with Art Powell…was he a Raider or a Titan? (Note the two different captions, besides the different angles).

    [quote comment=”279399″]So, in the picture with Art Powell…was he a Raider or a Titan? (Note the two different captions, besides the different angles).[/quote]

    WHAT? YOu don’t recognize the Polo Grounds?
    (Jussssst kidding)
    Titan. Back then, mags oftentimes used old photos, as did the baseball card companies; images simply weren’t as readily available as they are today. Plus, I honestly think that back then they thought that a) no one noticed uniforms, or b) certainly no one knew one AFL uni from another.

    I didn’t see that second photo til two or three years after the first one. (“Hey, I’ve seen that catch from another angle!”)

    Used to drive me crazy, could never figure out why, in an instance such as the photo we’re discussing, the editor’s couldn’t include “shown here during his days with the Titans” or something. Just makes the publication look stupid if they don’t.

    “Chops” would be a good nickname for a place called Hassan…and they could give away Bugs Bunny bobbleheads!

    link

    Don’t like it at all. Team is named after indians, not animals. Even ignoring that, don’t like the design of the logo either.

    I love the Ottawa redesigns:

    link

    I have always loved they old Ottawa logo. And stripes on a hockey uni are always good. Never really liked the senator head logo.

    [quote comment=”279398″]While looking around the other day, found some intersting pics,
    There was talk here the other day about 2 goalies on the same team wearing the no. 1 sweater
    link
    Interesting with the different color sweaters for the starting and backup

    Then I found this,
    link
    I think it is Marcel Dhere (if yr is correct as per Hockey Ref. site), weird to see someone wear the sweater with the number facing out, any thought Teebz?

    Seattle’s Jack walker in some bitchin’ stripes….

    link

    Man I love looking at old hockey photos. Such a difference from today. Using actual fence instead of glass (I have seen pics of arenas using chicken wire too), ice looks totally different, the look of the older pads, wearing actual SWEATERS! God hockey is sweet…..

    Also, looks like one of the guys in the MON pic is wearing a sleeve patch or something while the rest are not.

    [quote comment=”279402″]http://bp1.blogger.com/_r8tWGVHrjGI/SHPrp67Fv8I/AAAAAAAAE1I/DwFl7Nff5SY/s1600-h/chicagologo.png

    Don’t like it at all. Team is named after indians, not animals. Even ignoring that, don’t like the design of the logo either.[/quote]

    Yes, but it’s a logo that offends a lot of people. That new logo concept seems like a decent way to keep the team name and honor the franchise’s tradition while removing the Native American imagery. Would you rather they end up taking the route of so many colleges and universities that ditch the name and logo altogether? (Stanford, Ripon College, Miami of Ohio, etc.)

    [quote comment=”279402″]http://bp1.blogger.com/_r8tWGVHrjGI/SHPrp67Fv8I/AAAAAAAAE1I/DwFl7Nff5SY/s1600-h/chicagologo.png

    Don’t like it at all. Team is named after indians, not animals. Even ignoring that, don’t like the design of the logo either.[/quote]
    I have to agree on that one. Political-correctness be damned, that Blackhawks’ logo is one of the best in all of sport and one I really don’t think needs an update. I guess I wouldn’t mind it as a sleeve patch/secondary logo type thing (although not at the expense of these: link and link) but I’d never want to see it on the front of the sweater.

    That being said, I like some of his other designs and it’s a neat site, thanks for passing along.

    [quote comment=”279405″][quote comment=”279398″]
    Man I love looking at old hockey photos. Such a difference from today. Using actual fence instead of glass (I have seen pics of arenas using chicken wire too), ice looks totally different, the look of the older pads, wearing actual SWEATERS! God hockey is sweet…..

    Also, looks like one of the guys in the MON pic is wearing a sleeve patch or something while the rest are not.[/quote]

    I thought you would like these Rick. I like how you can tell that the photo is before a game as the Ice is barely used, but I also thought it was weird that there does not seem to be a goaltender. Those boards though look like they would be painful! And the fence is like a work of art….

    The Blackhawks aren’t named after Indians. They are named after 1 Indian.

    Chief Black Hawk. Sadly, the logo bears no resemblance to the man. He resisted white expansion into Sauk territory. Lincoln was involved in the Black Hawk War in Illinois.

    “I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them till they are off our lands”

    Hey Paul,

    You’ve got some funky coding issues going on with this entry:

    The controversy regarding the Celtics’ championship banners continues. Yesterday I relayed the explanation that the “NBA” icon was solid green if the Celts won the title on the road and outlined if they won it at home, but several readers have poked holes in that one. Here’s a over the weekend (with thanks to Ryan Connelly).

    Combines the e-mail about the banners with something about the Brewers’ mound icon.

    The Metropolitans base-ball card brings a smile to my face. How rich. And the last bit of lovely text on the back…

    “They are valuable”

    Precious.

    [quote comment=”279409″][quote comment=”279405″][quote comment=”279398″]
    Man I love looking at old hockey photos. Such a difference from today. Using actual fence instead of glass (I have seen pics of arenas using chicken wire too), ice looks totally different, the look of the older pads, wearing actual SWEATERS! God hockey is sweet…..

    Also, looks like one of the guys in the MON pic is wearing a sleeve patch or something while the rest are not.[/quote]

    I thought you would like these Rick. I like how you can tell that the photo is before a game as the Ice is barely used, but I also thought it was weird that there does not seem to be a goaltender. Those boards though look like they would be painful! And the fence is like a work of art….[/quote]

    Just spotted goalie in back row with elbow pads (I was looking at the ice too much!)

    [quote comment=”279409″][quote comment=”279405″][quote comment=”279398″]
    Man I love looking at old hockey photos. Such a difference from today. Using actual fence instead of glass (I have seen pics of arenas using chicken wire too), ice looks totally different, the look of the older pads, wearing actual SWEATERS! God hockey is sweet…..

    Also, looks like one of the guys in the MON pic is wearing a sleeve patch or something while the rest are not.[/quote]

    I thought you would like these Rick. I like how you can tell that the photo is before a game as the Ice is barely used, but I also thought it was weird that there does not seem to be a goaltender. Those boards though look like they would be painful! And the fence is like a work of art….[/quote]

    I think the third guy from the left in the back is the goaltender. Seems to have different equpiment on his hands. Are those elbow pads OUTSIDE the uni? Awesome. I could look at this photo all day.

    Are the site’s search issues related to its falloff in Google search results? I tried getting here from Google rather than my normal bookmark and “Uni Watch Blog” doesn’t even return this site in the top ten! I know it has in the past. What gives?

    [quote comment=”279410″]The Blackhawks aren’t named after Indians. They are named after 1 Indian.

    Chief Black Hawk. Sadly, the logo bears no resemblance to the man. He resisted white expansion into Sauk territory. Lincoln was involved in the Black Hawk War in Illinois.

    “I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them till they are off our lands”[/quote]

    Owner Fredrick McLaughlin had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Blackhawk Division during World War I. Which was named after Chief Black Hawk.

    McLaughlin named the team Blackhawks to honor the men he served with.

    “Alex Ochoa (who was supposedly a five-tool player when the Mets traded Bobby Bonilla for him in the early ’90s, but three of those tools turned out to be striking out, flying out, and grounding out) has been wearing his first name on his jersey in Japan for years now”

    I have in my possession an OCHOA nameplate from his O’s uni…they didn’t need it anymore I guess!

    Haven’t done the research yet, but could the Celtics banners correspond to whether Boston was the Home TEAM (i.e. 4 of 7 games in Boston) or the road team (only 3 of 7 games in Boston) when they won the championship?

    Not sure if Home TEAM is the correct term in this case, but hopefully eveyone understands what I am trying to say…

    Cheers.

    Yesterday, someone posted Johnny Bench at the ’76 All-Star Game wear a pill-box. Well, he wasn’t the only one:
    link
    For you Mets fans:
    link
    link

    [quote comment=”279411″]Hey Paul,

    You’ve got some funky coding issues going on with this entry:

    The controversy regarding the Celtics’ championship banners continues. Yesterday I relayed the explanation that the “NBA” icon was solid green if the Celts won the title on the road and outlined if they won it at home, but several readers have poked holes in that one. Here’s a over the weekend (with thanks to Ryan Connelly).

    Combines the e-mail about the banners with something about the Brewers’ mound icon.[/quote]

    Thanks. Now fixed.

    [quote comment=”279415″]Are the site’s search issues related to its falloff in Google search results? I tried getting here from Google rather than my normal bookmark and “Uni Watch Blog” doesn’t even return this site in the top ten! I know it has in the past. What gives?[/quote]

    Google has stopped indexing us for the moment, because they (mistakenly) think our comments are full of spam. Working on it.

    There’s no way to say this that doesn’t get the teenagers giggling, but…

    Not only does it look like Joe D’s fly is open but it looks like a Finger sticking out of it.

    NO DIRTY COMMENTS!

    There appears to be a finger-tip with fingernail there and both his hands are on his bat.

    Is the “other end of the spectrum” in reference to the gold/yellow and maroon CSU uniforms?

    link

    If so, they seem very similar to the colors found at the top of this page! If, on the other hand, you’re speaking about the combination of those uniforms with the baby blue and red of the other team … well, I’m with you there.

    Paul … you’ve never heard of Pants Rowland??!! He’s one of the three greatest managers of all time, along with Fielder Jones and Ozzie Guillen. (If you’re having trouble connecting the dots, look here)

    [quote comment=”279414″][quote comment=”279409″][quote comment=”279405″][quote comment=”279398″]
    Man I love looking at old hockey photos. Such a difference from today. Using actual fence instead of glass (I have seen pics of arenas using chicken wire too), ice looks totally different, the look of the older pads, wearing actual SWEATERS! God hockey is sweet…..

    Also, looks like one of the guys in the MON pic is wearing a sleeve patch or something while the rest are not.[/quote]

    I thought you would like these Rick. I like how you can tell that the photo is before a game as the Ice is barely used, but I also thought it was weird that there does not seem to be a goaltender. Those boards though look like they would be painful! And the fence is like a work of art….[/quote]

    I think the third guy from the left in the back is the goaltender. Seems to have different equpiment on his hands. Are those elbow pads OUTSIDE the uni? Awesome. I could look at this photo all day.[/quote]

    Elbow pads also on the player at the end of the first row, very cool…[/quote]

    [quote comment=”279422″]There’s no way to say this that doesn’t get the teenagers giggling, but…

    Not only does it look like Joe D’s fly is open but it looks like a Finger sticking out of it.

    NO DIRTY COMMENTS!

    There appears to be a finger-tip with fingernail there and both his hands are on his bat.[/quote]

    Wow, Nicole … wonder where your mind is today … pretty sure that’s just the un-buttoned button you’re seeing as a fingernail, and a fold is making up what I think you see as a finger.

    Interesting take, though!

    Man I love looking at old hockey photos. Such a difference from today. Using actual fence instead of glass (I have seen pics of arenas using chicken wire too), ice looks totally different, the look of the older pads, wearing actual SWEATERS! God hockey is sweet…..

    Also, looks like one of the guys in the MON pic is wearing a sleeve patch or something while the rest are not.

    I thought you would like these Rick. I like how you can tell that the photo is before a game as the Ice is barely used, but I also thought it was weird that there does not seem to be a goaltender. Those boards though look like they would be painful! And the fence is like a work of art….

    I think the third guy from the left in the back is the goaltender. Seems to have different equpiment on his hands. Are those elbow pads OUTSIDE the uni? Awesome. I could look at this photo all day

    Elbow pads also on the player at the end of the first row, very cool

    (trying to close tags…)

    [quote comment=”279428″][quote comment=”279422″]There’s no way to say this that doesn’t get the teenagers giggling, but…

    Not only does it look like Joe D’s fly is open but it looks like a Finger sticking out of it.

    NO DIRTY COMMENTS!

    There appears to be a finger-tip with fingernail there and both his hands are on his bat.[/quote]
    Pretty sure that’s just the un-buttoned button you’re seeing as a fingernail, and a fold is making up what I think you see as a finger.[/quote]

    That’s what I’m seeing.

    PAUL:
    You mention the Duryea Wildcats from the 1950’s. I’m from Pittston which neighbors Duryea in Northeastern PA. They still have the Duryea Wildcats which are a youth football team

    re: Don Larsen.

    He was one of the early practioners of the “no windup.” If memory serves, he had gone to it earlier that season, which made it an even bigger deal when he pitched the perfect game.

    I remembering getting home from school just in time to watch the final two batters. And right there, in the midst of all the drama of the moment, being a uni-dork I also was thinking, “Hey, first time I’ve seen Dale Mitchell in a Dodger uniform.”

    (It really is an affliction with us, isn’t it).

    [quote comment=”279405″]

    Man I love looking at old hockey photos. Such a difference from today. Using actual fence instead of glass (I have seen pics of arenas using chicken wire too), ice looks totally different, the look of the older pads, wearing actual SWEATERS! God hockey is sweet…..
    [/quote]

    Ain’t it, though?! Back in the days before they painted the under-surface of the ice white, made the ice look dark and mysterious!!

    -Jet

    I like the part in that Hollywood Stars article where they refer to the standard unis as “monkey suits,” hahaha!

    -Jet

    Re: the original NY Metropolitans wearing blue… wish I had Photoshop so I could add some black trim to those old baseball cards, just to bust Paul’s “CHOPS”, lol!

    -Jet

    i hate nike too, but i’d have to pick them over communist china any day. nationalizing advertising space, really?
    isn’t it great to see a country that refuses to give up communism and oppression when it suits them, but hides it nicely when western currency is available?

    I love the WVU clip of Old Moutaineer Field and those WVU unis.

    I have heard the term “flocked” many times to describe the batting helmets and I understand what it is visually, but what are the batting helmets “flocked” with and what is the purpose?

    [quote comment=”279437″]I love the WVU clip of Old Moutaineer Field and those WVU unis.

    I have heard the term “flocked” many times to describe the batting helmets and I understand what it is visually, but what are the batting helmets “flocked” with and what is the purpose?[/quote]

    Its the felt like tecture of the helmets. They are covered with a spray felt sort of material to make them more like the actual caps.

    [quote comment=”279418″]Haven’t done the research yet, but could the Celtics banners correspond to whether Boston was the Home TEAM (i.e. 4 of 7 games in Boston) or the road team (only 3 of 7 games in Boston) when they won the championship?

    Not sure if Home TEAM is the correct term in this case, but hopefully eveyone understands what I am trying to say…

    Cheers.[/quote]

    Interesting observation; however, one year off the top of my head where this would not work (assuming white=home and green = road) is 1969. Los Angeles had the home court advantage, Boston won the title in Game 7, and the logo is white.

    [quote comment=”279438″][quote comment=”279437″]I love the WVU clip of Old Moutaineer Field and those WVU unis.

    I have heard the term “flocked” many times to describe the batting helmets and I understand what it is visually, but what are the batting helmets “flocked” with and what is the purpose?[/quote]

    Its the felt like tecture of the helmets. They are covered with a spray felt sort of material to make them more like the actual caps.[/quote]

    haha, that should be texture

    [quote comment=”279412″]The Metropolitans base-ball card brings a smile to my face. How rich. And the last bit of lovely text on the back…

    “They are valuable”

    Precious.[/quote]

    They sure are.

    Hey, Paul: What’s the story on the naming of the Mets? Who came up with the name, and how explicitly did the new franchise call on the memory of the old Metropolitans? I was a more-or-less sentient being in the early 1960s, but I don’t recall the rollout. I believe the franchise itself was The Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc, but I don’t recall the team ever being called anything but “Mets.” Are the Mets to the Metropolitans as the Knicks are to the Knickerbockers?

    [quote comment=”279431″]PAUL:
    You mention the Duryea Wildcats from the 1950’s. I’m from Pittston which neighbors Duryea in Northeastern PA. They still have the Duryea Wildcats which are a youth football team[/quote]
    For the folks in here from PA (and maybe not but if you need to do some research it might help you too) I’d like to pass on two outstanding resources: link (ePA Sports) and link (PA Football News). Some of you might know from viewing my own website that I’m a big follower of HS football but let me just say I’m not affiliated with either of these sites. They’re both linked on my site and consider the owners of the sites as friends and web-collegues but I would stand to gain absolutely nothing from any sales of their products. (Just wanted to put that out there so this isn’t taken as spam, I truly believe there may be some folks in here that don’t know about these resources and might be interested in them.)

    They both offer great historic resources in book form. EPASports does history books and if you look at the available teams link you can sometimes piece together school closings, mergers, etc by the beginning and ending years.

    Each year, PFN puts out a resource guide (here’s the link for this year’s version: link) It has a wealth of info including every HS player from PA that ever played in the NFL. This year, one of his projects was to piece together former schools and where they are now.

    Duryea looks like it stopped playing football in ’61 according to EPASports. I’m unsure if they merged with other school and created a new school or if they were simply consolidated into an existing school but the ’08 PFN guide should spell those out.

    [quote comment=”279442″][quote comment=”279412″]The Metropolitans base-ball card brings a smile to my face. How rich. And the last bit of lovely text on the back…

    “They are valuable”

    Precious.[/quote]

    They sure are.

    Hey, Paul: What’s the story on the naming of the Mets? Who came up with the name, and how explicitly did the new franchise call on the memory of the old Metropolitans? I was a more-or-less sentient being in the early 1960s, but I don’t recall the rollout. I believe the franchise itself was The Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc, but I don’t recall the team ever being called anything but “Mets.” Are the Mets to the Metropolitans as the Knicks are to the Knickerbockers?[/quote]

    Or the Ottawa Senators to the Ottawa Senators….

    [quote comment=”279442″][quote comment=”279412″]The Metropolitans base-ball card brings a smile to my face. How rich. And the last bit of lovely text on the back…

    “They are valuable”

    Precious.[/quote]

    They sure are.

    Hey, Paul: What’s the story on the naming of the Mets? Who came up with the name, and how explicitly did the new franchise call on the memory of the old Metropolitans? I was a more-or-less sentient being in the early 1960s, but I don’t recall the rollout. I believe the franchise itself was The Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc, but I don’t recall the team ever being called anything but “Mets.” Are the Mets to the Metropolitans as the Knicks are to the Knickerbockers?[/quote]

    The Mets are not and were never the “Metropolitans”, except in the mouths of certain local radio personalities looking for a shtick.

    The old corporate name “Metropolitan Baseball Club” (similar to link) predates the nickname, which was chosen because of the corporate name, the historical connection to the 19th century Mets and, more to the point, because it looks snappy in headlines. IIRC, Joan Payson wanted to name them the Meadowlarks but yielded to a fan vote.

    [quote comment=”279445″][quote comment=”279442″][quote comment=”279412″]The Metropolitans base-ball card brings a smile to my face. How rich. And the last bit of lovely text on the back…

    “They are valuable”

    Precious.[/quote]

    They sure are.

    Hey, Paul: What’s the story on the naming of the Mets? Who came up with the name, and how explicitly did the new franchise call on the memory of the old Metropolitans? I was a more-or-less sentient being in the early 1960s, but I don’t recall the rollout. I believe the franchise itself was The Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc, but I don’t recall the team ever being called anything but “Mets.” Are the Mets to the Metropolitans as the Knicks are to the Knickerbockers?[/quote]

    The Mets are not and were never the “Metropolitans”, except in the mouths of certain local radio personalities looking for a shtick.

    The old corporate name “Metropolitan Baseball Club” (similar to link) predates the nickname, which was chosen because of the corporate name, the historical connection to the 19th century Mets and, more to the point, because it looks snappy in headlines. IIRC, Joan Payson wanted to name them the Meadowlarks but yielded to a fan vote.[/quote]

    One of my all time favorite T-shirts, sold all over Wrigley Field in the 1980s. Simply:

    “What’s a Met?”

    [quote comment=”279441″]a wiffle ball tragedy link
    In the article it mentions the kids built “a tree-shaded Wiffle ball version of Fenway Park complete with a 12-foot-tall green monster in center field, American flag by the left-field foul pole and colorful signs for Taco Bell Frutista Freezes.”
    Did they get left and center fields mixed up?
    Pics for comparison:
    link
    link (Flag is to the left of the Fleet sign)

    [quote comment=”279448″][quote comment=”279441″]a wiffle ball tragedy link
    In the article it mentions the kids built “a tree-shaded Wiffle ball version of Fenway Park complete with a 12-foot-tall green monster in center field, American flag by the left-field foul pole and colorful signs for Taco Bell Frutista Freezes.”
    Did they get left and center fields mixed up?
    Pics for comparison:
    link
    link (Flag is to the left of the Fleet sign)[/quote]

    I thought that, too. Their Green Monster is pretty clearly in center field.

    [quote comment=”279450″][quote comment=”279448″][quote comment=”279441″]a wiffle ball tragedy link
    In the article it mentions the kids built “a tree-shaded Wiffle ball version of Fenway Park complete with a 12-foot-tall green monster in center field, American flag by the left-field foul pole and colorful signs for Taco Bell Frutista Freezes.”
    Did they get left and center fields mixed up?
    Pics for comparison:
    link
    link (Flag is to the left of the Fleet sign)[/quote]

    I thought that, too. Their Green Monster is pretty clearly in center field.[/quote]

    Maybe that keeps ’em from hitting it into the grump’s yard. “Necessity is mother of Green Monster”…in this case.

    [quote comment=”279398″]
    Then I found this,
    link
    I think it is Marcel Dhere (if yr is correct as per Hockey Ref. site), weird to see someone wear the sweater with the number facing out, any thought Teebz?
    [/quote]

    Marcel Dheere was a pick-up during the season to replace an injured Canadiens player. He wasn’t part of the team officially, so he never had a Canadiens jersey. He appeared in 11 regular-season games and 5 playoff games in 1942-43, so this photo was taken at the end of the season. He never played in the NHL again after those 16 games.

    I assume that his jersey was from the PCHL’s Portland Buckaroos. He played there in 1940-41, and was a pretty good goal-scorer, which is probably why Montreal picked him up as a replacement.

    I’ve been working the overnight shift at work over the past two weeks so my days have been wrecked, so I unfortunately missed the entry on Tuesday based around the email I sent Paul a while back.

    Just wanted to say how awesome it was to be featured and that I’ll try to get some more material from that website sent to Paul very soon.

    apparently joba wore stirrups in his last outing? there’s a blurb about it at the bottom of this article. anyone have pictures?

    link

    Pants Rowland is legendary in White Sox circles. Second manager (of only three) that won the World Series for the pale hose…

    Now, I didn’t know he was the PCL president.

    The guy doing the NHL redesigns at Icethetics is the same guy who ran the NHL Tournament of Logos, yes?

    [quote comment=”279456″]’Cause I know you love nit-picking… its Chris Creamer, not Chris Cream.

    :)[/quote]

    So it’s not Cream, that’s clear. Barry will be so happy.

    “The guy doing the NHL redesigns at Icethetics is the same guy who ran the NHL Tournament of Logos, yes?”

    no! the guy who ran tournament of logos started (and runs) icethetics… he brought on another guy that does the really good, professional redesigns.

    great site!

    HORRIBLE!

    link

    Couldn’t they at least put the numbers on straight?

    Listen to 950 am ESPN Radio “the Locker Room” weeknights

    [quote comment=”279416″][quote comment=”279410″]The Blackhawks aren’t named after Indians. They are named after 1 Indian.

    Chief Black Hawk. Sadly, the logo bears no resemblance to the man. He resisted white expansion into Sauk territory. Lincoln was involved in the Black Hawk War in Illinois.

    “I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them till they are off our lands”[/quote]

    Owner Fredrick McLaughlin had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Blackhawk Division during World War I. Which was named after Chief Black Hawk.

    McLaughlin named the team Blackhawks to honor the men he served with.[/quote]

    and his resturant.

    Tell ya what… I’m liking just about all of the “makeover” NHL jersey designs on that Icethetics site, better than most of the current NHL jerseys!!!!

    -Jet

    MLB All-Star Lead-In Weekend Question for you all:

    Has there ever been a player traded after all-star selections were made, who then played in the All Star game? If so, what uniform did they wear?

    Part II: If this happens and a player switches leagues, THEN what happens?

    Hey – I haven’t been keeping up with the blog on a daily basis so I don’t know if the Celtics banner issue has been resolved. I know there was thought that a filled in NBA logo indicated a road clinch and the white inidcated a home clinch.

    Well – I downloaded the background wallpaper off the team site the day after they won, and the NBA logo was filled in green. I went back to the page, and the image now shows the white circle, which would be for the home clinch.

    If its not the home/road thing, there is SOME reason they changed the wallpaper.

    Glad to see Hank Williams Jr. was once the WVU mascot.

    (Also, love the jug with ‘XXX’ on it)

    [quote comment=”279465″]MLB All-Star Lead-In Weekend Question for you all:

    Has there ever been a player traded after all-star selections were made, who then played in the All Star game? If so, what uniform did they wear?

    Part II: If this happens and a player switches leagues, THEN what happens?[/quote]
    I believe Carlos Beltran was voted in as a kansas city royal but was then traded to houston and ended up making the national league team because Ken Griffey Jr. withdrew from the game because he was injured

    [quote comment=”279465″]MLB All-Star Lead-In Weekend Question for you all:

    Has there ever been a player traded after all-star selections were made, who then played in the All Star game? If so, what uniform did they wear?

    Part II: If this happens and a player switches leagues, THEN what happens?[/quote]
    I have been wondering about this myself but can’t ever find an answer. Another question I have is if the player is the only rep for his team before being traded within his league, who on the team gets taken out to accommodate the extra player who must now be added to the roster?

    [quote comment=”279469″][quote comment=”279465″]MLB All-Star Lead-In Weekend Question for you all:

    Has there ever been a player traded after all-star selections were made, who then played in the All Star game? If so, what uniform did they wear?

    Part II: If this happens and a player switches leagues, THEN what happens?[/quote]
    I believe Carlos Beltran was voted in as a kansas city royal but was then traded to houston and ended up making the national league team because Ken Griffey Jr. withdrew from the game because he was injured[/quote]
    Beltran is the only time an All-Star was traded before the game to the other league according a Boston Globe report from that time.

    Great motre political manifesto about no blacks at games. Why don’t you complain about no queers in the stadium?

    [quote comment=”279408″][quote comment=”279402″]http://bp1.blogger.com/_r8tWGVHrjGI/SHPrp67Fv8I/AAAAAAAAE1I/DwFl7Nff5SY/s1600-h/chicagologo.png

    Don’t like it at all. Team is named after indians, not animals. Even ignoring that, don’t like the design of the logo either.[/quote]
    I have to agree on that one. Political-correctness be damned, that Blackhawks’ logo is one of the best in all of sport and one I really don’t think needs an update. [/quote]

    Agreed. As a life-long Blackhawks fan, it would be ludicrous to change that logo. Don’t dare touch that logo. Committed to the Indian head!

    With regard to the bit about archiving television:

    Most NBC daytime shows before 1978 do not exist due to the practice of erasing the tapes and re-using them due to the immense cost at the time.

    Prior to the advent of affordable and practical television tape, broadcasts were recorded on kinescope, which required pointing a film camera at a studio monitor. The quality was questionable at best, but a side effect was also that these films were often destroyed after broadcast to recover the silver content for profit. As an example, Goodson-Todman productions (of The Price is Right fame) found out about this occurance and requested a copy of each episode of their programs to be archived.

    Since MLB is a daily program for 7 months out of the year, it is understandable that in the early 60s and earlier, tapes wouldn’t exist. I’ve heard rumor that a half-hour program tape in the 1970s cost about $700, so the cost to archive one MLB game would be at minimum $3500 plus storage space in a vault.

    [quote comment=”279474″]With regard to the bit about archiving television:

    Most NBC daytime shows before 1978 do not exist due to the practice of erasing the tapes and re-using them due to the immense cost at the time.

    Prior to the advent of affordable and practical television tape, broadcasts were recorded on kinescope, which required pointing a film camera at a studio monitor. The quality was questionable at best, but a side effect was also that these films were often destroyed after broadcast to recover the silver content for profit. As an example, Goodson-Todman productions (of The Price is Right fame) found out about this occurance and requested a copy of each episode of their programs to be archived.

    Since MLB is a daily program for 7 months out of the year, it is understandable that in the early 60s and earlier, tapes wouldn’t exist. I’ve heard rumor that a half-hour program tape in the 1970s cost about $700, so the cost to archive one MLB game would be at minimum $3500 plus storage space in a vault.[/quote]

    TJ is correct.

    I once met a man (and wrote a magazine piece on him) who collects rare sports films and who knew a lot about kinescopes.

    Apparently a lot of the World Series kinescopes were done for troops overseas and baseball required that they be destroyed afterwards so that nobody could make money off them, apparently (or so this guy said).

    As of the time of that writing, the guy told me that 19 full World Series game kinescopes still existed (this was in 2003 he said this). I don’t know how true it is, but if you’d seen this guy’s collection, you’d have to figure he’d know his stuff.

    He said at the time that the Holy Grail was Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, which no one had found. I wonder if it’s turned up in the five years since then.

    [quote comment=”279471″][quote comment=”279469″][quote comment=”279465″]MLB All-Star Lead-In Weekend Question for you all:

    Has there ever been a player traded after all-star selections were made, who then played in the All Star game? If so, what uniform did they wear?

    Part II: If this happens and a player switches leagues, THEN what happens?[/quote]
    I believe Carlos Beltran was voted in as a kansas city royal but was then traded to houston and ended up making the national league team because Ken Griffey Jr. withdrew from the game because he was injured[/quote]
    Beltran is the only time an All-Star was traded before the game to the other league according a Boston Globe report from that time.[/quote]

    Not quite the same thing, but my favorite ASG detail regarding someone changing teams: In 1973, the A’s won the A.L. pennant (and, eventually, the World Series), which means Dick Williams would be slated to manage the A.L. All-Star team in 1974. But Williams was sick of Charlie Finley’s antics and resigned after the season. Finley replaced him with Alvin Dark, but Williams was eventually hired by the Angels in June of 1974, so he got to manage the A.L. All-Star team after all — but did so in an Angels uniform, instead of the uniform in which he’d earned the honor.

    All of which brings up a question: Who managed the A.L. team in 1965 (the Yanks had won the ’64 pennant but Yogi Berra was fired afterward)? Are there other instances of pennant-winner managers who were no longer around to manager in the following year’s ASG?

    [quote comment=”279476″]Who managed the A.L. team in 1965 (the Yanks had won the ’64 pennant but Yogi Berra was fired afterward)?[/quote]

    Answering my own question: Al Lopez, manager of the White Sox, who’d finished second in the A.L. in 1964.

    My other question remains: Have there been other instances of pennant-winning skippers who weren’t around to manager the ASG the next year?

    [quote comment=”279477″][quote comment=”279476″]Who managed the A.L. team in 1965 (the Yanks had won the ’64 pennant but Yogi Berra was fired afterward)?[/quote]

    Answering my own question: Al Lopez, manager of the White Sox, who’d finished second in the A.L. in 1964.

    My other question remains: Have there been other instances of pennant-winning skippers who weren’t around to manager the ASG the next year?[/quote]

    Clint Hurdle has a shot.

    [quote comment=”279477″][quote comment=”279476″]Who managed the A.L. team in 1965 (the Yanks had won the ’64 pennant but Yogi Berra was fired afterward)?[/quote]

    Answering my own question: Al Lopez, manager of the White Sox, who’d finished second in the A.L. in 1964.

    My other question remains: Have there been other instances of pennant-winning skippers who weren’t around to manager the ASG the next year?[/quote]

    Same year as Berra — Johnny Keane won the NL pennant with the Cardinals, then left to manage the Yanks. I assume he didn’t manage the NL in the ’65 game.

    [quote comment=”279477″][quote comment=”279476″]Who managed the A.L. team in 1965 (the Yanks had won the ’64 pennant but Yogi Berra was fired afterward)?[/quote]

    Answering my own question: Al Lopez, manager of the White Sox, who’d finished second in the A.L. in 1964.

    My other question remains: Have there been other instances of pennant-winning skippers who weren’t around to manager the ASG the next year?[/quote]
    Dusty Baker.
    Managed the Giants to the NL Pennant in ’02, left for the Cubs for the ’03 season. So he managed the ’03 Game in a Cubs uniform, ironically enough in Chicago.

    via TrueHoops LiveBlog at the NBA Summer League:

    “Early observations from the opening game of the NBA Summer League:

    Why is Golden State’s C.J. Watson wearing a long-sleeve shirt under his jersey?”

    link

    Looking for a photo

    [quote comment=”279481″]link[/quote]

    Indeed! Excellent caption for the link, by the way. It made me giggle.

    Yankees are in Toronto for the first time tonight, and since it’s friday the Jays are rocking the blue throwback/alts. Love the hats, always have. I like the design of the jerseys as well, but there’s something off about the blue color.

    [quote comment=”279479″]Same year as Berra — Johnny Keane won the NL pennant with the Cardinals, then left to manage the Yanks. I assume he didn’t manage the NL in the ’65 game.[/quote]

    Gene Mauch, whose Phils finsihed 2nd in ’64, ended up managering the NL that year. Nasty reminder of Gene’s late-’64 choke job.

    [quote comment=”279480″]Dusty Baker.
    Managed the Giants to the NL Pennant in ’02, left for the Cubs for the ’03 season. So he managed the ’03 Game in a Cubs uniform, ironically enough in Chicago.[/quote]

    Oooh, good one!

    [quote comment=”279465″]MLB All-Star Lead-In Weekend Question for you all:

    Has there ever been a player traded after all-star selections were made, who then played in the All Star game? If so, what uniform did they wear?
    [/quote]

    I can’t remember the exact situation, but I think Carl Everett in 2003 falls into this catagory. He was traded from Texas to the White Sox about a week before the game IIRC, so I assume he was picked as a Ranger. I know for sure his first appearance as a White Sox in Chicago was the All-Star game (which the White Sox hosted)

    [quote comment=”279486″][quote comment=”279465″]MLB All-Star Lead-In Weekend Question for you all:

    Has there ever been a player traded after all-star selections were made, who then played in the All Star game? If so, what uniform did they wear?
    [/quote]

    I can’t remember the exact situation, but I think Carl Everett in 2003 falls into this catagory. He was traded from Texas to the White Sox about a week before the game IIRC, so I assume he was picked as a Ranger. I know for sure his first appearance as a White Sox in Chicago was the All-Star game (which the White Sox hosted)[/quote]

    I was interested and looked this up. His first game in Chicago was actually July 2 against MIN. They went on a road trip after that and did not return home until the AS game. So you were close- it was his 2nd appearance.

    I’m positive he played in a Sox uniform, I don’t think anyone would ever wear a different uni in the ASG than they one they wear at that time.

    Former Pitcher Jeff Shaw was traded to the Dodgers from the Reds in the 90’s. He was the lone Red All-Star and wore a Dodger uniform if I remember correctly.

    Also, Sandis Ozlonish (spelling?) was an NHL all-star. He played for FLA, the game was in FLA and right before the game he was traded to ANA.

    Now I’m curious… has any player actually played his first game in a team’s uni in the ASG? It’s certainly possible- the trading deadline is after the ASG.

    [quote comment=”279489″]Now I’m curious… has any player actually played his first game in a team’s uni in the ASG? It’s certainly possible- the trading deadline is after the ASG.[/quote]

    Jeff Shaw’s first game in a Dodgers uniform was in the 1998 ASG.

    [quote comment=”279477″]“My other question remains: Have there been other instances of pennant-winning skippers who weren’t around to manager the ASG the next year?”[/quote]

    Gene Mauch was the National League manager in 1965 when Keane left for the Yankees.

    [quote comment=”279396″]link[/quote]

    The jersey stripes are very nice, the helmet stripes much less so. The latter are far too “busy.”

    Jeff Majewski just came in to pitch for the Reds and has on stirrups with his pants at mid-shin. He came in and Bill Schroeder said “Love his socks” and Brian Anderson says “Those are stirrups” and then later said “I can’t remember the last time it was I saw stirrups”

    (See Paul, sometimes I just watch from home)

    Ricko,

    Maybe it’s too late to check you here, but as i am researching the history of nfl unis back to 1933, and you obviously know your stuff, mind if i pick your brain thru this channel or would you prefer email? in a way, it may be cool to do it here so other folks out there can chime in with nice ol’ tidbits.

    [quote comment=”279497″]Ricko,

    Maybe it’s too late to check you here, but as i am researching the history of nfl unis back to 1933, and you obviously know your stuff, mind if i pick your brain thru this channel or would you prefer email? in a way, it may be cool to do it here so other folks out there can chime in with nice ol’ tidbits.[/quote]

    Well, we may bore the snot out of them if we do, but…

    Or…you can contact Paul, he has my email address.

    In case you missed out on the 1973 NFL Playbook, (cause I won it on eBay, sorry) -here’s another one on eBay.
    link

    Those of you who watched the 1952 world series film might have noticed that it was narrated by Lew Fonseca. That name was familiar to me, but I couldn’t remember why. Here’s the link I found. Short version. Fascinating life. Good major leaguer; probably would have been MVP in 1929. Injuries shortened his career. Managed a bit, and was the first to use film study as a tool. After being fired as a manager, he went to the league presidents with the idea of setting up a motion picture bureau. Highlight films and news reels were produced starting in 1934 until 1967 (after which MLB’s focus shifted to television). Among other things, Fonseca was behind the film that caught Jackie Robinson stealing home (in 1955). Fonseca also was behind the motorcycle gimmick that resulted in the conclusion that Bob Feller’s fastball traveled 104 mph.

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