Last week, on the brisk October evening that marked Game 1 of the World Series, I sat at a Brooklyn sports bar inside a galleria and noticed that a man on the field was wearing a suit. After Jezebel Editor-in-Chief Emma Carmichael corrected me, explaining that the man in the suit was not a catcher but in fact an umpire I like basketball , I became curious about his sartorial condition, both its formality and the practicalities of it: Why such an official kit plopped among the overwhelmingly uniformed?
As it turns out, umpires have been wearing formal attire for the nearly two-century history of baseball in the U. Back in , when most teams supported the war effort by wearing a "Health" patch on the left sleeve this was the logo of the "Hale America" fitness campaign , the Cubs wore the patch on their chest.
And in , when teams wore an MLB th anniversary patch some clubs putting it on the right sleeve , others on the left , the A's wore it like this , and the Indians like this. More recently, when most teams wore a Jackie Robinson sleeve patch in , the Reds wore it on their vest , as did at least one minor-league club. One current team appears to have learned from these examples: the Rangers, whose Johnny Oates memorial patch is usually worn on the right sleeve but migrates to the chest on the team's alternate vest uni.
Uni News You Can Use Yet another MLB jersey snafu was narrowly avoided on May 10, when A's reliever Octavio Dotel got the call to warm up, took off his jacket and found he was wearing a green jersey while the rest of the team was wearing gray.
A clubhouse attendant rushed the proper jersey to him a few minutes later. The Buffalo Bills plan to unveil an alternate jersey on June 4. They were originally planning to showcase it during the draft, like the Lions, Giants and Cardinals did with their new uni designs.
But the Bills needed some extra time to ensure that the new jersey is even uglier than their current ones. The Canadian Football League has come up with new uniforms for all its teams. Uni Watch would love to compare the merits of the new designs to the old, except that, y'know, nobody cares.
In much more important news, Royals interim manager Bob Schaeffer earns Uni Watch's highest rating for wearing real stirrups. Take the "interim" tag off of this guy, pronto! For details, look here. Follow-Ups As noted in Uni Watch's last column , the Washington Nationals recently wore their batting practice jerseys for a regular-season game. But it turns out that they're not the first team to have done this.
Reader Jerry Wolper points out that the Dodgers wore their BP jerseys on July 20th, , against the Pirates Uni Watch has seen visual proof, but it's not web-linkable. The circumstances behind this anomaly are uncleaer -- if anyone knows, or if you have other examples of teams playing in BP attire, do tell. Over in Boston, where Manny Ramirez was wearing David Ortiz's "34" wristbands for several games this season he has since stopped , Ortiz has now returned the favor by wearing Ramirez's "24" wristbands.
Good stuff, but if these guys are wearing each other's jockstraps, Uni Watch doesn't wanna know. Ramirez and Ortiz aren't the only BoSox players with misnumbered accessories, incidentally.
And these numerology games go beyond the Red Sox. Ryan Hester reports that when the Suns beat the Grizzlies in Game 4 of their NBA playoff series on May 1, Jason Williams wore a "6" armband for teammate Bonzi Wells, who'd been told not to show up for the game after missing a practice and being late for a shootaround earlier in the series.
Meanwhile: Thanks to the several readers who helpfully informed Uni Watch that the sneaker-like boxing shoes being worn in this photo are actually wrestling shoes. As Tony Gosse explains, "Wrestling shoes are made to be really light for better movement, and the grip centers around being more on the front of your foot compared to the back. So the lighter boxers who use speed as much as muscle probably prefer the lighter, quicker wrestling shoes. Finally, there's the topic that inspired an avalanche of responses: the question of why the triathlon uses direct-body numbering , while the pentathlon, heptathlon and decathlon don't.
Contrary to what dozens of readers wrote in, the answer is not as simple as, "Because the triathlon is the only one of those events that involves swimming, you moron! A better and more nuanced explanation comes from Todd Turner: "The triathlon is unique in that it combines three separate events into one, whereas the [pentathlon, heptathlon and decathlon] are essentially separate events with time off in between each event. You start a triathlon swimming, immediately run out of the water, strip off a wet suit, put on some bike attire and hit the road.
Once the bike portion is completed, you strip out of your bike gear, don some running clothes and start the marathon portion of the race. The only piece of equipment you have during the entire event is yourself, hence the numbers on the body. And Brian Hilleary adds an additional bit of info: "If you will notice on the ankle of each athlete [in this photo ], there is a visible band around the ankle. It is holding a computer tracking chip. In the pre-chip days, the only way they could easily track competitors was by marking them on the upper arm, calf, and thigh with permanent marker.
Talk about formal! Maybe he was an umpire in a former life. Paul Lukas would love to hear the NFL's reaction if a head coach wanted to wear a bow tie. Archives of his pre-Page 2 "Uni Watch" columns are available here and here. Got feedback for him, or want to be added to his mailing list? Contact him here. Member Name: Password:. TV Listings. Fleece-lined Umpire Jackets. Yes, there is no rule against wearing these heavier weight jackets when it is really cold, even if you can't easily tuck them.
At least, they are low-profile. Besides, you can't tuck a plate coat either. Overall, jackets and long sleeve shirts are less expensive, more readily available, easier to pack, washable and more athletic. After playing baseball at Centre College, he worked as a high school umpire. A supporter since the inception of the Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy, he was named to their Board of Directors in I love the plate coat!
It gives the professional look. Took me all the years but I finally broke down and got it. As soon as I make it to the college level as an umpire, I'm buying a plate coat. The professional look is worth the hassle. I think that if Ump-Attire.
I totally agree! I just got one and I love it. I will dry clean, lug it where I go with out a issue. To me it gives the professional look. Jackets : Umpire jackets were the large blazers that accommodate the significant equipment requirements. Earlier, blazers had large pockets to hold spare baseballs.
Shirts : Later in the 20th century, suit-era stiff collared shirts evolved into chest predator-accommodating button-down shirts, which was replaced by more flexible poly-style shirts. The umpire wore shirts with white or light blue shade along with dark blazers over them. Not a Big Market : The main manufacturer of plate coats made only 24 plate coats in total in a year that includes one for umpires in the major leagues who get them for free.
Expensive : Buying a new plate coat was expensive in those days. It was a long time to wait for the package. It was always necessary to lug it around themselves. Only Dry Clean : Those coats can only be dry cleaned. It is another added expense with it. Plate coat achieves the authority part but not the athleticism.
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