random jersey watch, late August make up edition

I went to 3 nats games in a row last week. They lost all of them. Some in spectacular fashion.

Since there were so many games in so many days, I had to narrow down my jersey watch to the top three. Don't ask me which games these were spotted at, I already forgot.

I don't care for the Mets. Teams like the Mets are doomed, like the White Sox, to forever be the 2nd team in their home market. So no matter what they do, they will always be the also ran. No one can seriously think either of these "other" teams will capture the top spot from the Yankees or the Cubs in their respective markets.

A result of this is their fans have a never-ending chip on their shoulder. They are the little dogs who need to bark a lot to make themselves feel tough. Whatever.

All this is a shame since the Mets have one of the best mascots in baseball. Mr. Met is a big smiling baseball with legs. I think he is distantly related to the Syracuse Orangeman.

So grabbing the lead off spot this week is a guy with a custom jersey, pen strip home Mets, with the proud 00 and Mr. Met on the back. I don't think I will be getting a Screech 05 jersey anytime soon, mainly because as a big fat white guy, I might be mistaken for him.

The number 2 spot goes to guy with a home Nats jersey, number 26, with Roosevelt on the back. Nice. This is a nice homage to everyone's favorite racing president, Teddy. I have considered a Teddy jersey, but as a history major, I would have to go will "Bull Moose" on the back.

The clean-up spot goes to guy with vintage powder blue Bo Jackson KC Royals jersey. This is a great one. One of the last of the dual sport players. I think Sanders played both for a while after, but who cares about him?

Honorable mention has to go to the sudden and inexplicable appearance of European soccer jerseys on the same day. The Sunday day game we went to yielded 4 confirmed sightings, one was a German jersey, the other three were Dutch. Did a bunch of tickets get passed out at an embassy reception? Well, nice to see the Euro fans out there.

And a final one that must be mentioned was a classic Clinton Portis University of Miami jersey. Current Redskin player, college jersey. Good stuff.

To Tell the Truth

There was this game show on back in the 60s and maybe the 70s called "To Tell the Truth". Three people were on the stage. One was the real person. Two were actors. Hunter Thompson before he was famous did an episode. The point was to ask questions about the life of the real person to all three, and the audience had to quess which was the real person. This game would not work today.
For fun, I Google imaged my full name. I came up with pages of results. Below are a selection. One of them is me. If you are reading this, chances are pretty good you know anyway...

Random Jersey Watch Aug 4 edition

On vacation at the beach. Normally that means no live baseball. But this year we arrived early enough in the season to see the final home game of the Coastal Plain League's Outer Banks Daredevils. This is a college summer league. Since college players can't be paid to play their sport due to NCAA rules, players who opt to go to college rather than right into minor league ball can play in one of several summer leagues. They get playing time, add to their stats, and hopefully catch the eye of a pro scout.

Nationals 3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman played for the Coastal Plain League in my hometown of Newport News no less!

Since people vacation on the Outer Banks from all over the east coast, I was hoping to spy some cool random jerseys. No. I guess no one packed a jersey. They likely saw the signs that said "Ball Game tonight" and loaded up the kids and paid a big 5 bucks for general admission seating.

Talk about 0 frills. They play at what is during the year a high school field. But from the first base side you could see on a dune in the distance the Wright Brothers Monument. If the bleachers weren't working for you, you can sit on a grassy dune on the first base side and get a pretty good view of the field.

The players clubhouse, such as it was, was right next to the field, so in the break between games (it was a doubleheader), players and fans mingled behind the bleachers. It made me think what minor league ball must have been like 20-30 years ago. Just a bunch of kids with no money trying to catch a break in the sport they love to play.

So, as I said, no interesting jerseys to report on. I had my red Nationals BP on. I spotted one other fan in a proper jersey, a guy in a Cal Ripkin jersey. Saw several t-shirts for various teams, but that doesn't count.

So I will write instead about the team's jerseys. The Daredevils sported a white sleeveless jersey and pants with a red Under Armor style shirt under it, which I think did duty as their batting practice jersey. Red numbers on the back, naturally no player names. They sported "Daredevils" in cursive across the chest. Their hats sported to logo featured in this post.

The away team has one of the best minor league team name. The Edenton Steamers. As in a steamed clam. Love it. Their logo is posted to the right. They wore away black with a teal and purple looking lettering across the front "Edenton". In general their kit looked a little more worst for the wear than did the home team boys. That makes since. The Daredevils likely get more in the way of corporate sponsorship and ticket sales.

I spotted on the back of the Edenton players Under Armor/BP jersey shirts "Edenton Urology Associates" emblazoned across the back. Hey, you take money from wherever it comes!

I naturally wanted to score a jersey, but none were for sale. I did get a nice looking hat like the one the players wear on the field.

The free program that was handed out was a nice touch. Would have been nicer had it listed a current roster with player names and numbers. It had a roster. From July 2. Maybe that's why it was free.

It had a nice feature on host families. People who open their homes to players for the season. These guys can't even take money for living expenses. So people with an extra bed take these guys in. In the case highlighted in the program, the player shared a room with their son.

Don't get me started on the sometimes insane NCAA rules. We all know that especially with NCAA football and basketball they are in effect playing in the minor league of their sport. Just pay the kids something and be open about it.

For everything, a season

Bittersweat. That is how one must describe this week's news.
An Icon of American family causal food service died. No more Bennigans. No more will there be a faux-psuedo Irish pub sort of thing in strip malls and suburbs accross suburbia.

Now, let me say I am not a NIMBY-ite. Bennigans got started out as a local place, got popular, and spread all over. As did TGIFridays, Ruby Tuesday, Applebees, Chili's and all the other places of their ilk. Nothing wrong with any of them, just none of them special. Aside from having the same menus, similar decor, etc, they were everywhere. Thanks to historically unheard of prosperity, dining out is no longer something special or a treat. And the restaurants themselves also stopped being special.

I am vacationing on the Outer Banks, and one of my favorite things is all the local restaurants that you can't find anyplace else. There is also an Outback Steakhouse and an Applebees. I asked a local, and they said they are busy, and not just from vacationers, but locals like them, too. For them, it was different. Up until the Outback, the only chains down here were the fast food places. And the Sizzler. But since I am not collecting social security, I am not counting that one.

But one goes and another comes back. Schiltz beer is back! And I can't wait to get a 6 pack. Yep, pure kitch irony value. No other reason. I like PBR for much the same reason.

Prohibition nearly killed off the beer business in the US. Most local breweries did not survive the dry years. Miller, Bud, and a handfull of others came though and found an empty field. Only now is the US the best place in the world for beer. There are few places on earth that you can walk into a common store, not even a beer place, and find dozens of styles of beer. Many places around the globe there is beer. Whatever they make there is beer. No light lagers, no wheat beers, no porters, stouts, ambers and IPAs. If your berg makes a Kolsch style beer, that's beer.

Speaking of which, I have some Weeping Radish brewed with lemons in the fridge now. Shandy style is what most would call it (a shandy being lemonade and beer).

Nats sweep the Reds! Cubs win, Brewers lose. Hall of Fame game tonight with the Redskins. Good start to the week!

Random Jersey Watch Aug 1 edition

This post brought to you by...

Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, ice cold, in a can.

What? I thought you were a beer snob. Well, to a point that is true. But even beer snobs have a favorite cheap beer. Me, its the cool refreshing taste of PBR. Strohs is ok, too.

I am at last on vacation, and being at the beach means round the clock drinking. I have just cracked open my first tasty beer of the week. Worry not, I have two cases of fresh Weeping Radish getting ready to be enjoyed...

So, back to jersey watch...we got to see a rare Nationals win last night. Maybe my 05 BP jersey helped. They pounded the Astros the last time I wore it.

The jersey watch team picked up on these three:

A home Manny Acta #14 jersey. Manny Acta is the current manager of the Nats. I like Manny, but this is the first time I spotted a fan with his jersey. Usually he's the one wearing it.

We also spotted a Cooperstown Collection Gary Carter #8 Expos jersey. Nice. I want one.

And finally an interesting one. I knew the Padres had a camo jersey for military appreciation day, but it would seem the Reds have one two. I spotted a visiting Reds fan with a Ken Griffey, Jr. camo jersey.

Interesting. I like the concept, not sure about the execution per se.

The cammo worked, though! It was like you couldn't see Griffey on the field at all! Oh wait, that's because he was traded just this week! One pair of Reds fans held a sign that stated they bought these tickets to see Griffey. Oops! Sorry about that, no Griffey, and you had the bad luck to come on one of the few nights the Nats won a game. And you weren't even wearing a jersey for me to write about.