2023 World Baseball Classic

[The_Admiral]

On 2/20/2023 at 11:11 PM, Big Yellow Flag said:

Israel's jersey (and cap) are an incredible upgrade over the look worn in 2013 and 2017, which was basically just Italy with a few letters swapped. 

I like that they resemble the '86 Mets. I feel like being really into the '86 Mets was sort of a Gen-X precursor to writing "How Petey Pablo Changed The Way We Talk About Gerald Wallace" posts.

[Big Yellow Flag]

2 hours ago, the admiral said:

I like that they resemble the '86 Mets. I feel like being really into the '86 Mets was sort of a Gen-X precursor to writing "How Petey Pablo Changed The Way We Talk About Gerald Wallace" posts.

There's an 86 Mets thing going on, which is cool, especially when you remember that the rooting base for Team Israel is... New York Jews, mostly. People here in Israel barely know the WBC is going on, and if you look back to the 2013 qualifiers in Brooklyn, those were home games.

 

I also support a team taking on some uniform qualities to call their own, instead of yet another rec league jersey with the default script. Let racing stripes (two stripes to match the flag? It works!) and pinstripes be Israel's thing, why not?

[BBTV]

On 2/9/2023 at 5:45 PM, the admiral said:

the Israel hat will be a huge hit with terrible amateur rappers who attend Tufts.

 

I imagine they'll sell a lot of them to NBA players too.

 

On 2/10/2023 at 6:12 PM, Mingjai said:

Is the US the only country in the WBC (or in general) with the rule that the canton must be on the right side of the flag when the flag is placed on the right side of the wearer/vehicle? 

 

I might be wrong about this, and feel free to correct me, but I believe that's only a military thing - specifically a US Army thing - and anything else is just trying to emulate that, and may or may not actually be in adherence to flag code.

 

On 2/10/2023 at 5:26 PM, WestCoastBias said:

It's weird to me that Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan are in English letters. 

 

What's weird to me (not that it's technically wrong, just that it doesn't follow my own personal logic) is that they're in the Latin letters of their English exonyms, rather than a transliteration or phonetic representation.  So like Japan is using J rather than Nippon / Nihon (Latin phonetic spelling).  I get that there can't be what we would consider strict transliteration rules for character-based written languages, or syllabic ones like Hangul, so maybe they're simply like "whatever, it's just easier this way" to use their official Western name, represented in English.

 

In general, nearly all the letter-based ones suck, especially since there's so much iconography from each country that could be used to make an awesome logo.  I guess they wanted to shy away from some of that so that they can have trademarkable logos, but they could have done better.

 

USA is in the bottom 3 - at best - of the bunch.  A real shame.

[BBTV]

On 2/13/2023 at 7:24 PM, seasaltvanilla said:

bacon S, while culturally relevant

 

Help me out here - why is it culturally relevant?  

 

I'm not sure why there's a need to force a flag into some of these logos.  If it was a longer word then maybe it'd be fine, but given that it's only 3 letters, it dominates the mark and IMO looks awful.  As someone else mentioned, USA hockey pulled it off, but I can't think of another good example.

 

Regarding the other countries - are designers (or at least consultants) that actually have first-hand knowledge - whether being natives or at least having lived there - involved in these?  Or are there just a bunch of white American guys drafting these up and using Wikipedia for their knowledge of each country?

 

On 2/15/2023 at 12:31 PM, Anubis2051 said:

Anyone recognize that makers mark? 

 

I literally had just looked that up.  According to this listing on Dick's, it's "OT Sports".  But in the item description, it lists "Nike logo" as a (lol) "style / team spirit".

 

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/ot-sports-mens-puerto-rico-white-world-baseball-classic-jersey-22otsmwbcprtrcwhtmlb/22otsmwbcprtrcwhtmlb

 

STYLE AND TEAM SPIRIT

• Textured graphic name and number
• Nike® logo

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

• Brand : OT Sports

[Mingjai]

5 hours ago, BBTV said:

 

I might be wrong about this, and feel free to correct me, but I believe that's only a military thing - specifically a US Army thing - and anything else is just trying to emulate that, and may or may not actually be in adherence to flag code.

 

It’s more than a US Army or even US Military thing, at least in practice. Many transit authorities also adhere to it when they affix flag decals to the sides of buses or trains. New Era generally adheres to it when putting US flags on hats.

 

But you may be right about flag code—I’ve never looked it up to see if the “canton on the right when the flag is on the right side” is actually in the flag code. It might just be a military reg (as your suggest) or even accepted practice. 

[Pharos04]

Some takeaways from 4 U.S. Code § 8:

 

(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.

 

(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

 

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title4-section8&num=0&edition=prelim
 

what’s interesting is the usage of non-binding words like “should”

but nothing in there about it always facing forward

[damnyoutuesday]

46 minutes ago, Pharos04 said:

what’s interesting is the usage of non-binding words like “should”

 

Because US flag code is legally non-binding to begin with

[mjarvie]

I look at the flag code like I look at NBA uniforms... I don't know what team is what and what is home and what is road and no one cares. The flag code is similar, I think the only people who know about the flag  code are the people in the forum who keep quoting it. How many times do you see a girl farting on a flag bikini or a slob wiping his mouth with a flag napkin. Do we really respect the flag? I've come to the conclusion that the flag code is similar to the pirate code, in that in only applies if you're a flag.

[SilverBullet1929]

On 2/22/2023 at 3:13 AM, Big Yellow Flag said:

People here in Israel barely know the WBC is going on

I've always wondered about this. I'm very into the WBC as a fan but I'm in the US and I'm an MLB fan so I'm right there as a prime target for the marketing of this thing. But they always discuss the impact this tournament has on the countries outside of the US and while I do believe it does impact those who do watch it, I always think there's probably a ton of people in those countries who don't even know this tournament exists.

[leopard88]

Am I the only one who thinks the Italia script reads more like Ttalia?

[Big Yellow Flag]

On 2/23/2023 at 7:55 PM, SilverBullet1929 said:

I've always wondered about this. I'm very into the WBC as a fan but I'm in the US and I'm an MLB fan so I'm right there as a prime target for the marketing of this thing. But they always discuss the impact this tournament has on the countries outside of the US and while I do believe it does impact those who do watch it, I always think there's probably a ton of people in those countries who don't even know this tournament exists.

So I will tell you that the Israeli team in the Olympics did get media coverage, there were newspaper stories and they reported the (less than ideal) scores on TV. I frankly don't know what went on in 2017 because I moved here in 2018, but I imagine it was similar.

 

And you know what? If the WBC gets even one kid to pick up a glove and try it out, that's a big deal. They bring the 99% USA-born squad to do kids' camps and stuff, and they draw big crowds. 2023 will likely see an Israeli-born pitcher (Dean Kremer, Baltimore) and coach (Alon Leichman, Cincinnati) in the big leagues on Opening Day. There's progress, is what I'm saying.

[IceCap]

On 2/22/2023 at 12:45 AM, the admiral said:

I like that they resemble the '86 Mets. I feel like being really into the '86 Mets was sort of a Gen-X precursor to writing "How Petey Pablo Changed The Way We Talk About Gerald Wallace" posts.

Maybe it's just because of Seinfeld, but Israel looking like the '86 Mets feels right.

[Mingjai]

I’m just putting this out there, but Taiwan (or officially Chinese Taipei) baseball needs a rebrand. That CT logo just looks bad. I’m sure they could come up with a really traditional looking interlock CT, or even better ditch the C altogether and just use a T (T for Taipei when China inevitably complains). As someone with Taiwan ties, I own a couple of these hats and wear them fairly regularly, but yeah, not good…

 

[The_Admiral]

What if they used some variation on the plum flower from the Olympic flag as a cap monogram? That might be kind of interesting. Hope it wouldn't get them invaded by the official partner of the Los Angeles Rams, though.

[Mingjai]

2 hours ago, the admiral said:

What if they used some variation on the plum flower from the Olympic flag as a cap monogram? That might be kind of interesting. Hope it wouldn't get them invaded by the official partner of the Los Angeles Rams, though.

I think the plum flower a great idea as well. They have so much potential and all we get is that crap.

[maz]

Me: Huh, for someone whose mother was born in Italy, I really don't have anything Italian. Maybe I'll snag one of the Team Italy hats...

 

 

.... Nevermind.

 

(I know the letter I isn't the most interesting one to make a monogram with, but still)

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

35 minutes ago, maz said:

Me: Huh, for someone [whose] mother was born in Italy, I really don't have anything Italian. Maybe I'll snag one of the Team Italy hats...

 

 

.... Nevermind.

 

(I know the letter I isn't the most interesting one to make a monogram with, but still)

 

 

I am thankful that the cap I have is the previous version with the red outline (and the smaller flag).

 

 

 

 

Still, that intial is brutal.   The hat should use the capital letter I from the wordmark that has appeared on the jersey since this tournament began (shown here in the original 2006 version, before a nice clean look was ruined by stupid side panels).

 

[Hat Boy]

19 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

The hat should use the capital letter I from the wordmark that has appeared on the jersey

 

 

I don't know that I could identify that stand-alone letter as an "I". It is like the old Cleveland hat that looked more like a "J" than an "I" (at least to me, anyway).

 

Italy's block "I" is not very exciting, but it is very legible.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

27 minutes ago, Hat Boy said:

I don't know that I could identify that stand-alone letter as an "I". It is like the old Cleveland hat that looked more like a "J" than an "I" (at least to me, anyway).

 

That is a good point. 

 

So then Italy should redesign the wordmark to include a cursive capital I that looks more like an I.  I think that there should be harmony between the wordmark and the cap — even though I know that that is not the case for many teams, including the Dodgers, on whom this set was originally based.  Still, I think that you just cannot beat a coordinated look between the jersey's wordmark and the cap's logo, as seen in China's beautiful sets.

 

 

[TBGKon]

Chris has shared the Team Canada uniforms.