History
Birds of a Feather: The Double Knits
New uniforms. Is there anything so exciting as that? The prospect that maybe, just maybe, the perfect design will be unveiled. In the 70’s a big change in the way ball players dressed themselves took place. In came the era of the double knit. Polyester replaced flannel, but much more than just material changed.
Many teams took the chance to streamline and reinvent just what a baseball uniform was. Troublesome things like buttons and belts gave way to pull-over style jerseys and elastic snap waistbands. Polyester also gave way to bold new colors, exhibited by the prevalence of the baby blue road uni several teams had, and the greens, golds, and blacks of the A’s and Pirates.
The O’s made the switch in ’71 and things get a bit complicated. So, the home uniform design didn’t 
change drastically, in true O’s fashion. The script remained the same, the buttons stayed, the little bit of neck piping stayed. The biggest change (along with the polyester) came with the new tri-color striping that appeared down the legs, around the arms, and on the elastic waistband. The caps stayed the same, and the database shows the socks changing to solid orange this year, which they did eventually, but there are photos of the O’s in the polyesters wearing the striped socks, so…take from that whatever you will. The year is most notable for one of the biggest uniform debacles ever.
The story on the street is that the all orange atrocities came at legend-hero-hall-of-famer Brooks Robinson’s request, as it related to a sports apparel business that he had a stake in. Fortunately nobody was under the delusion that they looked good and stories range from the O’s having worn them as little as once and as much as a handful of times.
The next big change came for the 1973 year. The Baltimore script was pulled from the road jerseys in favor of the same Orioles script that was on the home jerseys. The reasons for this bears some explaining. Washington D.C. had just recently lost their Senators and so the O’s brass saw the opportunity to brand the team as more of a regional entity. Many debate whether such an effect ever really took place, but in any event, Baltimore wouldn’t return to the road jerseys for 35 years.
1975 brought a new cap, the tri-color, black back, white front, 
orange bill cap. Also introduced was the orange pullover alternate jersey. A cap with an orange front was around for a scant two years. This main uniform, however, became the standard all the way up until the 1989 change. Also of some note, the O’s wore a hybrid 40 years anniversary/world series patch in 1984.
The uniforms of this era are pretty iconic. For some O’s fans they are the best. I like them as a throwback, they are dated enough so that they are good identifiers for their time, but not so much that they just look silly (a la the Padres). It’s nice to have the throwback nights for the team and to have the smiling bird logo availiable for purchase for the fans, but it remains a throwback. So while the uniform which saw some of the best years in the Orioles’ history has earned a place as a classic, it’s far from timeless, and I am nonetheless happy that it’s been changed.
Birds of a Feather: The Flannel Years
By Stephen Turk
Uniforms are pretty subjective. I think most people, sports fans and non-sports fans alike, can agree on a handful of basic generalities when it comes to what is nice, what looks good, and what works when it comes to uniforms. But those little details, the nitty-gritty things can really draw some deep division lines.
And so the discussion on the recently revamped Orioles uniforms inspires a good bit of healthy discussion amongst fans. Everyone has a perfect uniform in their head, that dream look that goes woefully unfulfilled. Indeed, I’ve spent many a worrisome hour thinking “why can’t the team just know what I want and do it?”
My perfect idea is a combination of some older designs and some things pulled from other places. I think most people have a similar situation, never feeling like any one set was ever absolutely perfect.
So here is a brief uniform history of the Baltimore Orioles. Oddly enough, though they’ve changed uniforms a good number of times, their basic design has yet in the 54, going on 55, year history of the team to really change drastically. › Continue reading
Be Poignant! Reference Boxing Part II
By Stephen Turk
There are several Jack Dempsey’s in the history of boxing. The first was a champion in the late 1800s. Later there was a second, Bernie Dempsey, who assumed the name Jack as either a way to gain notoriety, revere the former champ, or just sound tougher. I don’t really know which. Bernie had a little brother, Harry. Harry boxed under the name Kid Blackie.
Bernie trained his little brother Harry. At age eleven, Harry was soaking his face in brine and crewing pine tar gum, all in an effort to toughen up. Soon after the family settled out west and Harry dropped out of school.
He was a hardscrabble kid coming up in rural America. He traveled throughout Colorado, Utah, and Nevada by means of hanging on railroad cars to get into barroom fights. Eventually, he got a manager who would get him fights on a circuit that specialized in fights in hard mining towns, a circuit similar to what his brother Bernie/Jack Dempsey fought in. › Continue reading
AFL Follow-up
by Stephen Turk
Recently, I wrote on the interesting situation surrounding the merger of the AFL and the NFL, which gave us, of course, the modern NFL as we know it. My primary source for all this was the great and extremely detailed and informative book Remember the AFL by Dave Steidel. Well, I’ve had the opportunity to communicate with Dave, and he has generously fielded a few specific questions. So here is some additional information from the expert:
Q: In watching today’s NFL, what reminds you of the AFL?
A: The names on jerseys, the two point conversion, side line reporters, the game clock being the official time were all started in the AFL. Also in the beginning the AFL offenses were very creative and wide open. Some people suggest that the West Coast offense started in the AFL with San Diego’s Sid Gillman in the early sixties. The type of game played by the NFL today is more like the old AFL then the old NFL. › Continue reading
Limbo Teams: The Baltimore Colts, Part I
By Stephen Turk
What is a team in limbo? When a team goes defunct, either through moving or folding entirely, the former team is gone for all intents and purposes. But when considering the historical value of a defunct team, there is a whole story there. There are front office decisions for a team that doesn’t exist any more, there are records set and statistics recorded for a nonexistent entity, there are photos of a team that doesn’t play anymore. It’s in this way that a team becomes a limbo team; a team that exists in memories and stats, but not in the present day. › Continue reading
A Unique Pairing: Part II
By Stephen Turk
After the 1965, only five years into the AFL’s existence, the NFL realized that they had a competent competitor in the AFL. The animosity amongst the leagues centered around some fairly simple concepts, talent and money.
With nary a friendly agreement between the leagues, rosters were often raided. The AFL at this time 
was be headed up by bullish Raiders owner Al Davis (a man still making headlines today), and there really was nothing off limits.
The AFL was able to establish itself rather quickly. Player contracts weren’t at the level they are today, so owners could compete in drafting college talent, the AFL had a television deal, so people were watching, and the interest in football around the country was only growing. Dave Steidel chronicles in his Remember the AFL that it all started when the Giants signed away kicker Pete Gogolak from the Bills. Al Davis responded by promising big money to NFL players coming up on the ends of their contracts.
A Unique Pairing: Part I
By Stephen Turk
I recently picked up Remember the AFL by Dave Steidel, and I haveto say it’s pretty fascinating. The idea that an upstart league could not only survive in the same waters as the powerhouse, but take only six years to force a merger, is something that’s as impressive to me as it is foreign. I’ve seen expansions in the major sports, but I’ve never seen a merger.
But yet, what is wholly unimaginable to me happened in 1966 with the AFL and NFL merged. To put it in perspective, that would
be like if the NFL joined up with the ill-fated XFL, something which certainly did not happen. In fact, I don’t believe that a merger like the one between the NFL and AFL could ever happen again; the circumstances were just too singular. › Continue reading
Lord Stanley’s Cup
By Stephen Turk
Hockey season is starting, and this time of year reminds me of what a great game ice hockey is, and what a shame it is that it isn’t more popular. There is only so much national attention that can be doled out to sports at a time, so to quote so many members of the pro sports world “it is what it is.” Hockey will always have one thing no one can ever take from it, however, and that is the best trophy in the world.
It’s a bold statement, I know, but If I could win one championship in professional sports, it would have to be the Stanley Cup. The trophy for the NHL is simply the best around. The reasons are many and there are some great facts here: http://www.nhl.com/cup/fun_facts.html but there are tons of great reasons to love the Stanley Cup and a great history behind it. 
› Continue reading
Thermodynamic Spectating
I remember in elementary school the many motivational posters that hung on the wall. One inf
ormed the class that math was not a spectator sport. While the poster didn’t make me any more enthusiastic about math, it did teach me what a spectator was. However, somewhere between reading sports blogs, posting on sports blogs, jumping up and down at games, buying merchandise, and generally getting way too into something that I have no real impact on, I realised that indeed spectating was not a spectator sport.
As a result, I often wonder why. I frequently wonder, “what is that thing that makes sports so engaging?” To this end, one of my more recent interests in sports, and indeed the focus of this blog, is sports history. By nature of statistics and records, history is always relevant. So when a game has occurred, when it is all said in done, there are endless comparisons (justified or not) that can be made. After the fact, you can look back and pick out all the moments which proved pivotal in the game.