The Atlanta Braves took this week to remind the world of the uniforms they wore back in 1974. They felt compelled to remind us repeatedly, to the point where a flip past TBS next week might make us wonder what they're doing in their 2002 uniforms.

The turn-back-the-clock fad has been around for at least 10 years, but this is the first time I can remember teams hammering us over the head with it. The A's did the same thing, reminding us of the preposterous unis they wore en route to winning their first title in Oakland, in 1972. Looking at the "kelly green and gold" -- hello, Monte Moore -- had the feel of the long-standing GQ feature called "Our Occasional Lapses in Judgment," where they show a guy from 1978 wearing a green-and-white polyester suit, accentuated by a ferret wrapped around his exposed midsection.

	Kickin' it old school.

But anyway.

Obviously, baseball's retro deal is a naked ploy to sell merchandise, but could there be something deeper at work? Something psychological, even? Nobody's going back to 1984, or 1990 -- they're taking us back to a simpler time, when men were men and ballplayers were pretty much fully owned and operated by the folks who ran the teams.

Why would the Braves want to remind anyone they wore those 1974 unis? What does the consumer get out of this, other than a quick stop on the SuperStation wondering, "Whoa -- who's playing?" Did anyone other than Hank Aaron -- and maybe Tom House, for that one moment -- have a good memory of their time in those uniforms?

With the labor problems becoming front-and-center, and no relief in sight, wouldn't the owners love to have the world return to pre-Messersmith days? Sadly enough, given the current state of affairs, there's probably a little part in all of us that can say the same.

This Week's List

Apparently wearing these shoes is better than being, you know, naked on the street: A Reebok consultant and personal friend of Allen Iverson says AI shoes that had been "sitting around, marked down 60 percent," are now fetching full price in retail outlets everywhere.

It deserves to be exhumed every year, just because it's the greatest record in baseball history, and because it may never, ever be broken: Padres shortstop Enzo Hernandez, who had 12 RBIs in more than 500 at-bats in 1972.

Every Baseball America subscriber flew in for the momentous occasion: Mark Prior vs. Brett Myers, Wednesday afternoon, Wrigley Field.

By the way -- and bear with this one a bit -- Myers gave up one earned run in eight innings, for an ERA of 1.12, so you know where this is headed: Bob Gibson did that -- one for every eight -- for an entire season.

The rest of the league's center fielders play under the rules established by Andruw Jones (and, to a lesser extent, Jim Edmonds) but there's another guy worth watching: Mark Kotsay, who plays a stylish center field in San Diego.

We're inside the chinstrap, under the helmet and upside the earhole with the Houston Texans, who after one week of training camp have allowed us to make the following observations: 1) it all comes down to blocking and tackling; 2) there's no reason to believe, at this point, that David Carr won't be an NFL quarterback at some point in his career; 3) 13-3 might be asking too much, but 6-10, 12-4 or 1-15 are all distinct possibilities.

Besides: The Texans will benefit from that no-place schedule that usually works to the benefit of first-year expansion franchises.

Two guys who make you wonder if there's some sort of yin-yang karma associated with being baseball icons and shaky fathers: Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.

Did someone say "pressure"?: Kenny Rogers, after careful deliberation, decided that last-place Texas -- and not contending Cincinnati -- is the place for him.

By the way: If you're a professional ballplayer, making millions of dollars, and your goal in life is to spend more time with your family, you can always, you know, quit.

They didn't hire him, but still: The Warriors, in an effort to turn their moribund franchise around, brought in John MacLeod to interview for the head-coaching job.

Just for the heck of it: Kurt Bevacqua.

And speaking of simpler times: Remember when Kurt beat Johnny Oates in the finals of the bubble-gum blowing contest?

Last-place public relations, in black and white: In the game notes from Wednesday's Dodgers-Padres game, we learned the following -- "With his Padre debut last night, Brandon Villafuerte enters the Padres' record book by matching the longest full name in Padres history -- 18 letters."

To which there is only one logical response: Brandon Villafuerte must be good friends with Chip De La Rosario.

Just to make us all feel better about the situation, the headline in USA Today said he "settled": Al Leiter, a 36-year-old pitcher, signed an extension with the Mets for $18 million over two years.

And finally, one fact that should emerge once all the hee-hawing stops: John Daly, although a bit unconventional in his application, wasn't all that far off from current medical practice when he decided to treat his open wound with Super Glue.

Tim Keown is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tim.keown@espnmag.com.