Ferdinand Cesarano

I find it more interesting that the left guys kit has the three stripes on it while Pele's kit has one thick stripe. I'd bet that's why. It's also why Johan Cruyff wore only two stripes, rather than three, on his shirt and warm-up jacket during the 1974 World Cup: (bottom row, second from left) By the way, the "other guy" in the Team USA jersey is West Ham legend Bobby Moore, who was then playing in the NASL. He and Pele are flanking Gerry Francis of QPR. That image shows something which I really wish had caught on -- league all-star teams instead of national teams. A "Team USA" consisting of NASL players played against the English national team in 1976. I am a big fan of club football; but I dislike international football because it traffics in nationalism, which I despise. I do watch the World Cup and the Euros; and, because someone has to win, I root for England. But I don't feel good about these tournaments, as the flags make me ill. On the other hand, if the teams participating were representing not countries but leagues, then I could fully get behind it. I'd rather watch a Premier League all-star team play a La Liga all-star team than watch England play Spain. The teams would of course consist of players of multiple nationalities; and these players would move from one league all-star team to another as they change leagues, just as baseball players move from the American League all-star team to the National League all-star team after they change leagues. That would be the kind of World Cup that I would enjoy! There's be no minnows. Just sixteen all-star teams representing the best of the world's top leagues. In my fantasy scenario, there would be four groups, and each group would contain a team from one of the major powers: Premier League (England) La Liga (Spain) Serie A (Italy) Bundesliga (Germany) Then the other twelve teams would be apportioned to groups at random. If it were done right now, those other twelve teams might be: Ligue 1 (France) Eredivisie (Netherlands) Brasileirão (Brazil) Liga MX (Mexico)MLS (U.S. / Canada) Primera División (Argentina) Primeira Liga (Portugal) Championship (Russia) Scottish Professional Football League Belgian Pro League J-League (Japan) Super League (Switzerland) The four major powers would have permanent spots. Qualifying matches would be played in the years before my fantasy World Cup to see which other twelve teams qualify. Alas, this will never be. But it is one of the first things that I would bring into being as King of All Sports. There actually were some 'league all-star" games in the late 80's. They were frendlies and it just didn't catch on. Here's a pic of Maradona and Matthaus in the Serie A team Wow! I had no idea about that! What a shame that it didn't catch on. The most interesting thing to me in that shot is the number font. It is unusual for the Pirates to have varsity numbers; those jerseys typically had regular block numbers, even in 1976. Though they did show some inconsistency that year. Also, evidently the varsity numbers began to be used in 1975, as this 1976 card shows: And, to put up a picture that both illustrates this tangent about the Pirates' sloppliness with the number font, and also actually fits the theme of this thread, here's Willie Randolph in 1975:

I find it more interesting that the left guys kit has the three stripes on it while Pele's kit has one thick stripe. I'd bet that's why. It's also why Johan Cruyff wore only two stripes, rather than three, on his shirt and warm-up jacket during the 1974 World Cup: (bottom row, second from left) By the way, the "other guy" in the Team USA jersey is West Ham legend Bobby Moore, who was then playing in the NASL. He and Pele are flanking Gerry Francis of QPR. That image shows something which I really wish had caught on -- league all-star teams instead of national teams. A "Team USA" consisting of NASL players played against the English national team in 1976. I am a big fan of club football; but I dislike international football because it traffics in nationalism, which I despise. I do watch the World Cup and the Euros; and, because someone has to win, I root for England. But I don't feel good about these tournaments, as the flags make me ill. On the other hand, if the teams participating were representing not countries but leagues, then I could fully get behind it. I'd rather watch a Premier League all-star team play a La Liga all-star team than watch England play Spain. The teams would of course consist of players of multiple nationalities; and these players would move from one league all-star team to another as they change leagues, just as baseball players move from the American League all-star team to the National League all-star team after they change leagues. That would be the kind of World Cup that I would enjoy! There's be no minnows. Just sixteen all-star teams representing the best of the world's top leagues. In my fantasy scenario, there would be four groups, and each group would contain a team from one of the major powers: Premier League (England) La Liga (Spain) Serie A (Italy) Bundesliga (Germany) Then the other twelve teams would be apportioned to groups at random. If it were done right now, those other twelve teams might be: Ligue 1 (France) Eredivisie (Netherlands) Brasileirão (Brazil) Liga MX (Mexico)MLS (U.S. / Canada) Primera División (Argentina) Primeira Liga (Portugal) Championship (Russia) Scottish Professional Football League Belgian Pro League J-League (Japan) Super League (Switzerland) The four major powers would have permanent spots. Qualifying matches would be played in the years before my fantasy World Cup to see which other twelve teams qualify. Alas, this will never be. But it is one of the first things that I would bring into being as King of All Sports. There's only one recognizable club in the SPL at the moment and even Celtic failed to qualify for Champions League this year. The All-Star team of Turkish or Ukrainian league should be much better. Ah, I see. Well, that is what the qualification rounds would be meant to decide. Teams from the leagues of Turkey and the Ukraine, as well as those of China, Norway, and a few others would be competing for inclusion in the twelve spots.

I find it more interesting that the left guys kit has the three stripes on it while Pele's kit has one thick stripe. I'd bet that's why. It's also why Johan Cruyff wore only two stripes, rather than three, on his shirt and warm-up jacket during the 1974 World Cup: (bottom row, second from left) By the way, the "other guy" in the Team USA jersey is West Ham legend Bobby Moore, who was then playing in the NASL. He and Pele are flanking Gerry Francis of QPR. That image shows something which I really wish had caught on -- league all-star teams instead of national teams. A "Team USA" consisting of NASL players played against the English national team in 1976. I am a big fan of club football; but I dislike international football because it traffics in nationalism, which I despise. I do watch the World Cup and the Euros; and, because someone has to win, I root for England. But I don't feel good about these tournaments, as the flags make me ill. On the other hand, if the teams participating were representing not countries but leagues, then I could fully get behind it. I'd rather watch a Premier League all-star team play a La Liga all-star team than watch England play Spain. The teams would of course consist of players of multiple nationalities; and these players would move from one league all-star team to another as they change leagues, just as baseball players move from the American League all-star team to the National League all-star team after they change leagues. That would be the kind of World Cup that I would enjoy! There's be no minnows. Just sixteen all-star teams representing the best of the world's top leagues. In my fantasy scenario, there would be four groups, and each group would contain a team from one of the major powers: Premier League (England) La Liga (Spain) Serie A (Italy) Bundesliga (Germany) Then the other twelve teams would be apportioned to groups at random. If it were done right now, those other twelve teams might be: Ligue 1 (France) Eredivisie (Netherlands) Brasileirão (Brazil) Liga MX (Mexico)MLS (U.S. / Canada) Primera División (Argentina) Primeira Liga (Portugal) Championship (Russia) Scottish Professional Football League Belgian Pro League J-League (Japan) Super League (Switzerland) The four major powers would have permanent spots. Qualifying matches would be played in the years before my fantasy World Cup to see which other twelve teams qualify. Alas, this will never be. But it is one of the first things that I would bring into being as King of All Sports.

I'd completely forgotten Muresan played for the Nets. Now that my memory's been jogged, I remember him in New Jersey in video games I played as a kid. I guess that just slipped out over the years. Also, I really miss those uniforms. A lot. Hear, hear! Short of bringing back the classic ABA uniforms, the best thing the Nets could have done would have been to stick with a version of these. If they wanted to convert this set to black and white, that would have been OK, I guess. (Even though this set used red and blue together better than any other uniform does, better than the Minnesota Twins, the Washington Wizards, the Buffalo Bills, and even the venerable Montreal Canadiens.) But this wordmark and these numbers are far better than the unattractively thin and wispy lettering they have now. And the diamond pattern down the sides of this beautiful set cleverly invokes a net. These uniforms were used for the longest period in team history, and are identified with the team's high point in the NBA, the two trips to the Finals. Ditching this set completely was a bad move. The Nets' current uniforms annoy me more and more as time goes on, doubly so when I consider how much of a downgrade they are from the previous set.

I don't think that's the wrong uniforms for Gretzky. Those kings unis were called the Gretzky era uniforms. Now Gretzky in a blues uniform, THATwas wrong. What about in a Rangers uni, that was even worse ! Atleast he could have come home to Canada in his twilight years, the elephant graveyard known as Toronto would have been more fitting, Greatz as a Ranger was a lame joke, trying desperately for one last ring, but the bulk of the Olier mercenaries were gone Gretzky in the wrong L.A. uniform.

(Though I am pretty sure that this image is already in this thread somewhere.)

I can't remember the font that I used for a plaque graphic that I did last year. Can anyone help identify it? Edit: Ah, I think it is Monotype Corsiva. And, so, here's this year's model:

Here are some baseball players (and one manager) wearing uniforms which they never wore in any official game: Ernie Banks taking batting practice with his son at Dodger Stadium in 1988 Babe Ruth suited up for the Giants in 1923 in a post-season exhibition game in his home town against his former team, the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association. Here he is with manager John McGraw. Joe D. wore a Red Sox uniform in a 1946 post-season exhibition game between the Red Sox and a team of AL all-stars that was played after the regular season and before the World Series. Joe's Yankee uniform somehow didn't arrive at Fenway in time for the game, so he wore a Boston road uniform. Here he is with his brother Dom. At the trading deadline of June 15, 1976, the A's traded Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi to the A's and Vida Blue to the Yankees. Three days later, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn overruled the trades citing his "best interests of baseball" powers. None of the players got into any games with his new club during these days. Here is Fingers in his Red Sox uniform. The Yankees' first public act after they temporarily moved into Shea Stadium was to introduce Dick Williams as their manager for 1974. However, after the Yankees thought they had Williams signed, A's owner Charlie Finley refused to let Williams out of his contact. Here's Williams at his Yankee unveiling at Shea in December of 1973.

Don't forget that the proposed uniform had blue pants as well. Dark coloured jerseys are bad enough for any team, and totally wrong for the Yankees (as can be seen in spring training). But only a deranged madman could seriously favour dark coloured pants.

By reverse colour are you referring to a top to bottom navy with white pinstripe set or just a gray version? Exactly. While that is just fine as a fan's fashion jersey, it would have been a travesty as a game uni -- don't forget, the pants are blue, as well.The only team that looked good in dark-coloured pants was the White Sox in the late 1970s / early 1980s. (That uniform's lone flaw was that the collars didn't go all the way around the jersey.) Dark pants looked hideous on the Indians and the Phillies. Not even the A's, who looked beautiful while breaking all my other uni "rules" (button-down jersey; belted pants; two unis: white at home, grey on the road) could get away with dark pants. This kind of uni would be wrong for any team; for the Yankees it would have been criminal. If I, at the age that I was then, had seen the Yankees take the field in blue uniforms, I would have been crushed. I'm sure that this would have soured me on the team and would have driven me away. So thank you, Marty Appel, for scaring Gabe Paul away from this idea, thereby allowing me to remain a Yankee fan, and to enjoy the championships that the team was soon to win.

Former Yankee media director Marty Appel has mentioned that, in 1974, the team considered using a reverse-colour pinstripe uniform as a road set. According to Appel, GM Gabe Paul had a sample of the proposed uniform, which had been submitted by the manufacturer Wilson, and he liked it; but he was put off of it by Appel's aghast reaction. Appel says that no player ever modelled the uni, and that Steinbrenner never saw it; so it might not fully qualify for this thread. But the fact that the GM was favourably disposed to it is somewhat significant. Here is Paul Lukas's interview with Appel on the subject from 2010: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/100930_new_york_yankees_road_uniforms

Very true. And I feel the same way about Willie Mays with the Mets. That will never be "wrong" to me. The Mets' acquisition of Mays happened in the first season during which I was watching baseball; it spurred on my interest in, and my love of, history. Also, there was great symmetry in the fact that each of the then top three home-run hitters (Aaron, Ruth, and Mays) returned to his original city, but with a different team, at the end of his career.

It's true that the original topic of this thread used "the wrong uniform" to mean "the wrong team". Still, it is perfectly valid to broaden the concept to add "right team but wrong uniform", especially as the original theme had long ago run its course. BgMack already mentioned Robin Yount wearing the wrong Brewers uniform. Others that qualify in this category are: Each of these guys is pictured with a team that feels right for him, but in a uniform from outside the eras with which each is typically associated with that team.

A Hall-of-Famer who played his entire career with one team, led them to back-to-back championships, and is the greatest player in team history? Yes, it absolutely counts.The point isn't the team, obviously. The point is that his correct uniform is this one:

Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi in Red Sox uniforms in 1976, after Charlie Finley sold them to Boston, but before Bowie Kuhn nullified the deal. The source, Dan Epstein, who is the author of Stars & Strikes: Baseball & America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76, says that this shot is from the Oakland Colliseum. Here is the link to the comments for this shot.

Bob Gibson as a Met coach: ...and as a Braves coach: Willie Stargell as a Braves coach: Yogi as an Astros coach:

From today's UniWatch: not a player, but a manager -- Dick Williams in a Yankee uniform in December 1973, after he had quit the A's job. Williams never actually managed the Yankees, as the A's would not let him out of the final year of his contract.

Most of the contributions so far show players in uniforms of teams that we barely remember them playing for. I thought of two occasions in which movies show players in uniforms of teams that they never played for. There was the movie Amazing Grace and Chuck (called Silent Voice outside North America), in which Alex English stars as a player for the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately, this is the best photo of him that I could find: Then there was the great Naked Gun, in which Jay Johnstone is shown playing for the Seattle Mariners. Someone by the name of Matthew Glidden made a 1956 baseball card showing this: And here is the wonderful scene, in which Jay faces a pitcher who looks a lot like Mike Witt, as Frank Drebin attempts to impersonate an umpire:

Seriously? Maybe it's because someone with a fake ticket creates problems for the person who legitimately bought a ticket and finds their seat occupied by someone else? Maybe we can equate the two when buying a counterfeit jersey takes a legit jersey off of someone elses back. I have been reading this thread with a bit of interest, sometimes impressed by and sometimes bemused by the arguments advanced. Some of the sweeping generalisations ignore the concept that not all laws are equally just; a moral actor feels perfectly fine about breaking those laws which uphold injustice. Someone already mentioned smoking pot. When I used to smoke pot, I had absolutely no compunction about breaking the law (I had fear of getting caught, sure; but I had no moral quandary), because the law in question is itself morally objectionable. Mass lawbreaking is in such a case a social good, in the hope that the consensus eventually shifts to such a point where the law becomes so untenable that it will be overturned. Whereas, when I ride my bicycle, I obey the traffic rules, because the legal regime in that case is not morally reprehensible but beneficial to society. It is not sufficent to make claims about the nature of lawbreaking in general (as though there is such a thing), while failing to acknowledge the great difference between just and unjust laws. Someone else's moral compass may differ from mine, of course; but surely everyone maintains this distinction, and has in his/her ethics a line past which he/she would consider the breaking of a law to be entirely morally correct. (Incidentally: my point of view on the moral questions of counterfeiting is that I am sympathetic to the argument about unfair labour conditions, but not to the one about IP protection.) On the practical side, reacting only to the quoted material, I want to say that I am baffled by the comment about counterfeit tickets. The comparison doesn't make any sense to me because someone with a fake ticket will never get into the game, due to the fact that the fakery will be spotted. So the person who buys a fake ticket cheats only himself or herself, and gets no benefit whatsoever. Whereas, the person who buys a fake jersey does get the psychic benefit of showing fandom of a team or a player. Most other people seeing the jersey won't notice the difference; the wearer of the fake jersey will thus get the same conversation-starting benefit from the fake that a legal jersey would provide. In other words, the counterfeit jerseys are often good enough to function as the real thing, while the counterfeit tickets never are. For this reason, I find the comparison to counterfeit tickets a bit incoherent.

Red Schoendienst in any uniform other than a Cardinals' uniform. Giants: Braves:

Chelsea's Didier Drogba (my favourite player) in a Giants uniform, alongside rugby union player Mark Johnson (about whom I know absolutely nothing) in a Dolphins uniform, posing at Stamford Bridge before last year's Giants-Dolphins game at Wembley. David Beckham in a New Orleans Saints practice uni: Trading uniforms/kits with Reggie Bush:

Well, maybe it does. This list has already hit the other (worse) extreme, where any unrecognisable active player who has ever changed teams is subject to mention. Honestly, there are only a handful of these examples that make anyone take any special notice. Once you have already named Namath, Gretzky, the Babe, and a few others, there just ain't that many more.

What with the shark-jumping and all, I propose the following as reasonable guidelines: 1. The player in question must among the greatest of his sport: "hall-of-fame" calibre, or borderline (ex, Namath, Killebrew). 2. The player must be well-known, even by people who are not big fans of the sport (ex. Montana, Gretzky). 3. The player cannot be recently active (ex. Favre) -- his appearance in a strange uni must have happened long enough ago for people to have forgotten about it. 4. The player in question must be someone who is associated in the public mind with a very small number of teams (ex. Pippen, Ewing). Guys who are known for playing with multiple teams (ex. Canseco, Rodman) cannot qualify, no matter what uniform any given picture shows them wearing. 5. The player must not have appeared in his sport's finals in his "wrong" uniform. This will surely be the most controversial of all my guidelines. But I think that the point of a list such as this is to find obscurities; and the prolonged national media coverage of late-round playoff action will have removed the obscurity (and therefore the "wrongness") of this uniform for the player in question. For me (a 1970s-era New Yorker), this guideline disqualifies Willie Mays and Pele, who look completely right in their Mets and Cosmos gear, respectively, due mainly to their appearances in their sports' finals while wearing these unis. Also disqualified on these grounds would be Ray Bourque, as well as plenty of guys who won pennants and World Championships with the A's: Willie Randolph, Don Baylor, Dave Parker, Willie McGee. (If Seaver had been on the Red Sox' active roster for the 1986 World Series, then I'd say that he wouldn't qualify, either.)

That shot of Yogi is almost certainly of him as a manager, not as a player. Note his advanced age, and also the pen in his shirt. Here he is playing for the Mets: Yogi played in only 4 games as a Met, in May of 1965. (Sadly, he never caught Warren Spahn, who was also with the club early that year.) Yogi had joined the Mets as a coach that spring, having been fired as Yankee manager despite winning the 1964 AL pennant in his first season in charge. He remained a Met coach until the death of Gil Hodges in 1972, then managed the Mets until 1975, winning the 1973 NL pennant.