You Know What’s Really Stupid? Me.

June 10, 2010

Perhaps you have noticed, as I have, that the Tickers have been really short since I got back from vacation. Maybe you thought I was being a lot pickier about which items made the cut. Maybe you thought I had just gotten too lazy to bother with the Ticker. Maybe you thought all the Ticker contributions I was getting lately just sucked — except, of course, for the contributions you yourself had sent in, which most assuredly did not suck, not one little bit, and yet they also didn’t show up in the Ticker, so what’s up with that anyway?

The short answer is that I wasn’t running much Ticker material because I wasn’t receiving much of it. The even shorter answer is that I’m a complete dumb-ass.

The longer answer is that I messed up one of the settings in my e-mail preferences, and as a result a few hundred communiquÃ©s, including a shitload of Ticker submissions, were piling up in the ether. I didn’t figure this out until yesterday afternoon, at which point I basically grabbed a shovel and started digging.

The result is a really lengthy (and slightly out-of-date) string of Tickerables. It’s tempting to present them as one massive, unbroken string, sort of like an endurance test, just to see if you folks have the stomach for that. But I figure you shouldn’t have to pay the price for my technological stupidity (plus there’s some really good stuff in here that I wouldn’t want you to miss just because it’s buried in the midst of a jillion-word paragraph), so instead I’ve broken up the material into reasonably sized portions.

Okay, deep breath — here we go:

Josh Exline was recently at a minor league game and spotted a player wearing stirrups. “As he passed by I shouted down at him, ‘Hey, real stirrups. Thank you! And kudos on Getting Itâ„¢!’ He looked back up, smiled, and thanked me.” ”¦ Small note at the end of this page indicates that Terry Francona did not like the stars/stripes caps one bit (with thanks to Sam Cat). ”¦ The Stockton Ports — the A’s single-A team — held a “60s Night” promotion two weekends ago, featuring these jerseys (blame Matt Garcia). ”¦ Soccer note from Matt Beaudin, who writes: “Chivas USA goalie Zach Thornton (#22) was shown a red card and sent off in the late stages of a recent game. Defender Dario Delgado (#12) took his place at keeper, but wore Thonton’s jersey.” ”¦ Phil’s recent post about Exhibition Stadium and Jarry Park reminded Harvey Lee me of Clem’s Baseball. “The site is a gem,” he writes. “It demonstrates, based on computer mouse rollovers, the baseball and football configurations of the Jays’ and Expos’ original homes. See the links to the right hand side and rollover ‘football’ and ‘tennis’ for each of their pages.”

Oooh, love this DiMaggio’s Restaurant menu cover (thanks, Squiddie). ”¦ Color vs. color is one thing, but black vs. black is bad news. That’s the Salt Lake Bees playing the Fresno Grizzlies (with thanks to Bill Scrowther). ”¦ Love this awesome St. Louis Browns press pass (great find by Ben Traxel). ”¦ There’s an international kerfuffle — international! — over an old Team Canada jersey (with thanks to John Muir). ”¦ I might get excited about the World Cup after all now that I’ve seen these cool posters (with thanks to Chandler Swenson). ”¦More World Cup news, this time from Coachie Ballgames: “Umbro, the designer for England’s World Cup uniforms, has sponsored uni-number murals painted in the hometown of each of the squad’s 23 members. It’s a riff on their ‘Tailored in England’ campaign but it’s still a nice touch with a simple message that looks interesting juxtaposed against ordinary street scenes.” ”¦ Did you know that the FIU player with the record-threatening hitting streak was wearing stirrups? (I didn’t, until Gabe Greenbaum told me.) ”¦ What’s better than NFL Huddles? NFL Huddles bedsheets (with thanks to Chad Todd). ”¦ When did the Cardinals start wearing Cool Flo helmets? (As noted by Alex Higley.)

Interesting article about Ace Walker, a minor league pitcher who’s also an artist. Article continues here (with thanks to Daren Landers). ”¦ Morris Levin reports that the original Montgomery Inn in Cincinnati has “a black-and-white photo of the eight-member Cincinnati Reds basketball team wearing basketball jerseys with sleeves, ‘Reds’ and number on front, and northwestern stripes. Easily recognizable are Johnny Bench and Pete Rose wearing numbers 5 and 14.” Morris didn’t get a photo, so could one of you Cincy-area readers go get a shot of this so we can all see? ”¦ Hmmmm, do those stripes seem a bit out of proportion? (As noted by Bob Gassel.) ”¦ Here’s a doozy of a minor league program cover. It’s from a very nice set of Denver Bears images that Alex Higley sent me (note that stirrup-porn shot in the center).

Conor Jackson had some NOB lettering-alignment issues last week (as spotted by Ross Yoshida). ”¦ Shaun Marcum was pitching with a seriously filthy cap the other day (screen shot courtesy of David Vines). ”¦ Hey, Terry Proctor, would you say this is a collared/sleeved jersey, or just a warm-up top? The gal in question is reader Dylan Buell‘s aunt. ”¦ You’d think a Canadian network would know how to spell “Stanley Cup,” but you’d be wrong (good spot by Kyle Speicher). ”¦ Likewise, you’d think the NBA would know the difference between its own conference finals and its league championship series, but you’d be wrong about that too (as noted by John Saiz). ”¦ Hideous new road jersey for Everton FC. “These truly rival the Seahawks’ crossing guard jerseys on the bad-idea-o-meter,” says Andrew Levitt, and it’s hard to disagree. ”¦ Man, there is a lot going on — most of it bad — in this photo (with thanks to Dan Kaempff).

Some great bits about the 1943 Cubs in this Mitchell & Ness blog post. The uni-related bits are of interest, natch, but all the other items are worth reading too — “Sorry! No Hamburgers!” Great stuff. (with thanks to Dan Cichalski). ”¦ Here’s some great video of the Rays wearing hockey jerseys last week (big thanks to Michael Jaworski). ”¦ Nice assortment of throwback uniforms — even for the umps! — at the annual Rickwood Classic minor league game (with thanks to Grant Ramey). ”¦ DIY king David Frost has done what the Brewers should have done: put the “Milwaukee” script on the road grays. He also had two different kinds of Barrelman patches made — the classic 1970s royal/yellow (on the left) and the current navy/metallic gold. ”¦ Speaking of the Brewers, have we seen this prototype — if that’s what it is — before? “Looks like a quickie put together in Arizona,” says Ray Barrington, who found the photo while searching through some online archives. “The caption read: ‘Although they sport different uniforms manager Dave Bristol (l) and catcher Jerry McNertney (r) represent the same team. Bristol wears the uniform of the American League’s newest city, Milwaukee, while McNertney wears the uniform of the now defunct Seattle Pilots.’ What’s interesting is there is a photo a couple of days later -”“ not really good enough to reproduce -”“ of a stewardess on the team’s flight to Milwaukee wearing that same Brewers uniform design. For all I know, it’s the only one that was made. But by the time the Brewers had their first workout on April 11, they had the now-familiar lettering and Pilots-striped jerseys.” Faaaascinating!

Great story from Frank Fulton regarding the Seattle Crows, a pee-wee sandlot operation: “The team evolved through awareness that many of our 7- and 8- year-olds had more fun playing after their coach pitch games than during the games themselves. ”¦ We roast hot dogs in the evenings, provide donuts and coffee in the mornings, and share parenting and pitching responsibilities in between. ”¦ I designed and ordered some caps from the now-defunct Cooperstown Ballcap Company last year, and we ended up selling 72 of them; who knew? Over the winter, Ebbets Field Flannels made some jerseys for my boys, and they worked out wonderfully — simple road gray with sewn felt letters and numerals. The font was pulled from a Brooklyn Tip-Tops 1915 road jersey, the uniform numerals are 6″ rather than the standard 8″, and the Health patch on the sleeve just seemed like a good idea. The caps are cream with sewn felt crow appliquÃ©s and leather sweatbands (we had 4 vegan versions delivered, too). And for the kids who will grow, they’re sized with an internal elastic bit, though they look fitted.” ”¦ The Prez got a Real Salt Lake jersey last Friday (with thanks to Jon Alviani). ”¦ The Twins have engaged in a bit of uni-numerical hazing (with thanks to Jeff Barak). ”¦ Interesting query from Stu Taylor, who’s looking to find a manufacturer that makes the kind of sheet-style bubblegum that used to come with baseball cards. If anyone has a lead for him, contact him here. ”¦ God, I cringe every time I see an old ballplayer in one of those mesh caps (as submitted by Paul Wiederecht).

Outdoor hockey, Ã la the Winter Classic, is coming to Hartford. And if the promoter has his way, the Whalers will be coming back too (with thanks to Craig Bryant). ”¦ The Rochester Red Wings wore autism awareness jerseys last week. Somehow they look better when paired with the S100 (nice job by Greg Netherwood). ”¦ Speaking of the Gazoo lid, minor leaguers keep griping about it (as noted by Patrick Williams). ”¦ Still more Gazoo news: We’ve talked before about how Francisco Cervelli — the only S100er in the bigs — has been fidgeting a lot with the helmet when he gets on base. Now Grant Goldman reports that Cervelli is simply swapping out the S100 for a standard helmet when he reaches base. ”¦ Interested in DIYing but think it’s too girly/craft-ish? Then check out ManMade DIY and DudeCraft, which are specifically tailored for DIY guys (with thanks to Jim Vilk). ”¦ We’ve all been waiting to see this happen, and now it finally has: An MLB player has tripped over his own pajama pants (great work by Matt Bellner). ”¦ Jason Kendall has been going with a powder blue catching helmet (Alex Higley again). ”¦ As you probably know, there’s a town in Pennsylvania called Jim Thorpe. It figures that their high school would have totally boss varsity jackets (nice find by Jason Bernard).

Steve K. was watching the 1979 MLB All-Star Game and noticed that Steve Garvey helmet appeared to be spray-painted. Check out Davey Lopes for comparison. ”¦ Grant Goldman spotted Yankees catching prospect Jesus Montero with a Jorge Posada glove. ”¦ According to this story, there was a small snafu in that recent Mariners/Angels throwback game: “There was one glitch for Angels equipment man Brian ‘Bubba’ Harkins, who unpacked several boxes of batting helmets but found no size 8 to fit the large head of designated hitter Hideki Matsui. The solution? Harkins borrowed a dark-blue size 8 helmet from the Mariners, removed the Seattle logo, and replaced it with a CA” (thanks-a-plenty to Larry Brunt). ”¦ The Philadelphia Union soccer team wore Flyers-themed jerseys last week. “Interesting to note are that there are some duplicate uni numbers (2 #48s and 2 #18s),” observes Zane Tuck). ”¦ Was Reds pitcher Enerio Del Rosario wearing his undershirt backwards last Friday night, or is MLB now putting its logo on the front collar? I suspect the former, but whatever — anything’s better than the swoosh (good spot by Jason Hillyer). ”¦ Phil Primato has been painting his office wall to look like the Mets’ outfield wall. He’ll be adding the distance numerals soon — stay tuned.

I think Ricko has mentioned this in the past, but it can’t hurt to report it: Brian Schulz reports that the Minneapolis Star Tribune is running “a really amazing decade-by-decade series on Twins history, including original articles and photos.” ”¦ Arizona State football is planning a little uni number maneuver (with thanks to Jack Leary). ”¦ New team nickname for Newberry College (with thanks to Ronnie Poore). ”¦ Flyers goalie Michael Leighton has a lot of equipment superstitions, but I guess they didn’t work (with thanks to Jason Levine). ”¦ Who’s that in the vertically striped socks? It’s the Whiting Ciesar All-Americans, an early pre-NBA pro team from Indiana, and the second player from the right is none other than John Wooden (great find by Jeffery Waszak).

Potentially cringe-inducing promotion on tap for next week’s O’s/Giants series in San Francisco. According to a Giants press release: “In honor of both teams wearing the orange and black, Halloween comes early to AT&T Park. Giants will wear orange jerseys and the Orioles will wear their black jerseys. Wear your favorite costume to the ballpark for a chance to win our pre-game on-field costume contest. The famous ‘Rally Pumpkin’ will be making his first visit to AT&T park this season to serve as our celebrity judge.” Laren Richardson plans to be at the game but won’t say if he’ll be wearing a costume. ”¦ Mitch Goodman recently returned from a trip to Japan, where he saw something fairly sickening: a playground slated to be renamed from Miyashita Park to Nike Park, which had led to several protest signs and tents. ”¦ Ronny Cedeno’s eye black moustache the other day prompted Don Diaz to share the following story: “One time I was coaching my son’s Pony League team and one of the kids asked if he could use the eye black for a moustache. I didn’t care, so suddenly I had half the team with moustaches. The kids had a blast, and of course we won.”

Uni Watch hockey expert and all-around nice guy Teebz wrote a big WHA piece, full of uni-related goodness, on his blog earlier this week. ”¦ Hey, all you people at Majestic: Someone botched the “O” in Nick Hundley’s jersey the other night (screen shot courtesy of Clint Glaze). ”¦ Good article on World Cup uniforms, focusing more on the fabrics and technology, here (with thanks to Adam Stoneman). ”¦ Pretty cool retro-ish all-star jerseys, along with a 75th-anniversary logo, for the AHL (with thanks to Stan Capp). ”¦ If you’ve been wondering what to get Matt Powers for his birthday, look no further (rubber-soled thanks to Mario Carr). ”¦ If you think the MLB All-Star Game is a Mickey Mouse affair, MLB actually agrees with you (with thanks to Michael Jaworski). ”¦ The Maple Leafs won’t be officially unveiling their new uni set until next Tuesday, but Tyler Hull says it’ll look like this — not bad. He also provided our best view so far of those anniversary patches that have been floating around the internet in recent weeks. ”¦ New soccer kits for Liverpool and Barca (as reported by Ashley Wilkes). ”¦ Gotta love this: an entire article about a college ballplayer’s underbrim inscriptions (big thanks to Jason Chapman). ”¦ No visuals, but Mike Martinez says Armando Galarraga “kisses the inside of his hat before he pitches each game, and it looks as if there is something in his hat.” Anyone know more? ”¦ New logo for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

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Phew! And there you have it — about 10 days’ worth of Ticker material in one not-so-easy-to-digest sitting that only took about nine hours of my life to compile. My apologies to all of you who were wondering why your brilliant submissions were being overlooked. And hey, the fun isn’t over yet, because we still have today’s Ticker to deal with. But first, a few other orders of business…

NHL down, NBA to go: Let’s hear it for the Blackhawks, who ~~finally put the NHL season to bed~~ cemented their well-earned championship last night. I look forward to seeing them win the Cup again in another 49 years, like clockwork.

Seriously, I’m happy for the ’Hawks and their fans. Moments after the game ended, I got a note from Chicago’s own Robert Marshall. “Fireworks erupt all over the neighborhood,” he wrote. “It’s bedlam.” Outside his window, a building had the Cup depicted in its window, with three other buildings spelling out “Let’s Go Hawks” (the “Go” building was obscured). And if you’re wondering how they design those high-rish graphics, you can get the full scoop in this nifty little video clip.

Credit where credit is due: Neglected to mention that the excellent photos of Memorial Stadium in John Kimmerlein’s recent post were taken by none other than former MLB pitcher Jerry Reuss (who, as I’ve noted before, has some excellent pics on his web site).

ESPN Reminder: Another day, another World Cup column over on Page 2. The first three, in case you missed them, are here, here, and here; the fourth and final one is up today. And now we can all go back to picking our noses and not caring about soccer again until 2014, right?

Uni Watch News Ticker: With all this talk of Nebraska possibly moving into the Big 10, Ryan Mackman notes that the Cornhuskers would be playing Wisconsin as a conference opponent — a daunting prospect, since their uniforms are more or less identical. With one team wearing white, it’ll look like a spring scrimmage. ”¦ Bizarro jagged-line jersey design for Hertha Berlin (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). ”¦ Interesting World Cup calendar/schedule/poster thingie here (with thanks to Hugh McBride). ”¦ A Tigers triple-A pitcher posted a note that the team no longer has to wear stirrups. “I asked him if the rule was dropped for the entire minor league system, and he replied that he wasn’t sure,” says Jeff Cohen. “It is interesting to note that the Tigers’ director of minor league player development resigned yesterday unexpectedly. Not sure if this [uniform rule] change is an effect of the change in personnel.” ”¦ There’s a new Facebook group devoted to getting the NHL to go back to wearing white at home. ”¦ Here’s a rare sight: The Cubs not wearing the blue alts with Carlos Zambrano pitching. He usually picks the blue tops when he starts (although he couldn’t do that in 2007, when the blues were temporarily retired). Not clear if he’s changed his protocol or if this was because the Brewers were wearing their navy alts. … The Rams are retiring Isaac Bruce’s number. ”¦ In case you haven’t seen the very awful MLB All-Star gear yet, here’s the American League BP jersey and the truly horrendous BP caps for the junior and senior circuits (with thanks to Christopher Leopardi). … If tomorrow’s Ticker is short, it won’t be because I messed up my e-mail settings again. It’ll be because I’ve got tix for this afternoon’s Mets/Padres game at Shea and then have an event to attend in Manhattan, so I might not catch up on everything by tomorrow morning. Be nice to Phil while I’m gone — he usually double-checks all the links for me each morning, which means today’s post probably put him in a coma.

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Comments (105)

Lets not forget this years National League All-Star BP Jersey, nothing surprising here
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And Zambrano gets a win in the gray uniform! Maybe he’ll give up the idea that he has to always wear the softball tops.

I guess the minor leagues STILL don’t have any rule about teams wearing the same color jerseys. I saw Albuquerque and Memphis play in 2006, with both teams wearing red tops. Made watching the game a challenge.

[quote comment=”393760″]And Zambrano gets a win in the gray uniform! Maybe he’ll give up the idea that he has to always wear the softball tops.

To me, THAT’s when it looks like softball, when teams with only one set of jerseys/teeshirts, which happen to be same color or close to the same color, end up playing each other.

Also, in the past few days on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight”, Buck Showalter cued up a highlight of the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton getting a cleat tangled in his long pants on a play deep in the left field corner. Hamilton didn’t fall, though.

—Ricko

[quote comment=”393759″]Lets not forget this years National League All-Star BP Jersey, nothing surprising here
link

When you think about the bad things that certain eras of design are known for, in sports anyway, the one of this past decade is freaking outlines. How much better would those wordmarks look without the outlines on them? The lettering is supposed to be just that: lettering. Not a big, blue, arc-shaped patch with letters on it.

Re: Orioles-Giants. Kind of like Clemson-Wake Forest the day after Halloween, 2003.

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