By Phil Hecken`
Quick — how many teams in the major leagues wear a red alternate jersey? Not sure? Give a guess…
If you look quickly at the graphic above, you might say it’s 17. Seventeen? No way. Of course not, but with the exception of the New York Yankees, who have not a drop of red on their uniform, but red is featured prominently in one of their logos, sixteen teams wear red as either an accent or as one of the predominant colors of their uniform. That is more than half of MLB.
Back when we were discussing BFBS (or “Black For Black’s Sake”) and arguing over the definition, an argument was made that any team who uses black as part of their “official” colorscheme therefore has the right to a black alternate, and this would not be considered “BFBS.” This wasn’t my argument, but it was one which was offered in defense of those teams who sport black.
That whole exercise got me thinking — how many teams wear red alternates now? Well, it isn’t sixteen, but it is…wait for it…eight teams. More than one quarter of the entire league sports a red jersey. People who complain about “white and gray” being ‘boring’ and who don’t find the alternate top to be so, I ask you how you feel about the red jersey trend. Is this inherently better than good old white and gray?
Now, you know how I feel about alternates — I hate them, and don’t find them the least bit necessary (other than to move more merch). But when one fourth of all teams have the same (or pretty close to it) alt? C’mon.
One could make the case that certain teams can lay legitimate claim to wearing a red top. OK, if you have “Red” in your team name, of course it makes sense to use that color for your alternate, right?
Turn on the highlights some time, without sound, and you’d have a hard time figuring out which teams are playing. For example, here’s Adam Dunn wearing a red top. Here he is in a red top, and here’s one more. Three photos of the same guy, with a red jersey and a red cap, playing for three different teams: the Reds, the Nationals and the Diamondbacks. The saying goes “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard,” and that’s true, but sometimes you can’t even tell the TEAMS without a scorecard.
Look quickly at this photograph. Is he a Red, Red Sox, National or a Diamondback? Actually, he’s Torii Hunter, and he’s an Angel. Yep, the Angels have a red alternate too. So do the Astros, who have not one, but two red alternates, which they seem to wear more often than their “official” home or road jerseys.
Alright, you say — not all those teams look alike — the Astros don’t wear a red cap and neither does Boston, and the Astors and Diamondbacks wear more of a “brick red.” Fair enough. But that’s only six teams, surely no teams with blue caps and not much red in their uniform would have a red alternate, right? No, of course not.
Now, that’s eight teams with a red alternate, but there are certainly a few teams who could make a legitimate claim to wearing red, as well as a few teams who’ve worn a red top in a previous season. Add those five teams to the current mix and we now have 13 teams who do (or have) worn red at least once.
Getting back to the “just because you have a black accent or black is an official color” folks who argue that doesn’t make a black jersey “BFBS,” what about the following teams who have red on their uniforms? The Cubs, Indians, and Dodgers? Surely this, this and this aren’t “RFRS” then, right? Or what about the previously mentioned Evil Empire? They seem to use plenty of red in that famous logo, so then this wouldn’t qualify as RFRS, would it?
What’s the point in all of this? None really, other than to bemoan the absolute overuse and non-necessity of the alternate jersey. Other than to sell more stuff, really, is there any good reason why more than one quarter of the league sports, essentially, the same alternate look?
At least teams like Oakland A’s are unique in their alternate top. Oops…not so fast. Well the Blue Jays got their own look, right? Sure they do.
There was a time when every team wore only white and gray. Some would say that was a boring time. But you know what, you could almost always tell who was playing by the caps, sleeves and stirrups. That’s what distinguished baseball for all those years and why many of us long for a return to the looks of the past. It wasn’t so much that teams looked better then, but they looked like ballplayers and they were plenty colorful, without resorting to a bunch of similar looking alternate tops that make many games today look like pick up softball games.
162 games is a long season, and I won’t say I never want to see a team dressed in some kind of alternate. But that’s where I argue that teams can mix it up by adding an alternate uniform. I ask you, which looks better: this or this? Hell, I don’t like the teams who wear vests because they’re really just sleeveless jerseys now, but if you must mix in an alternate, I’d rather see this than this.
Lets face it, cream alternates might not sell as well as colored tops, and colored tops surely sell better than do vests, so teams will keep pushing the colored tops. But it’s getting more than ridiculous. One alternate, maybe worn on one day a week? I can live with that. You wanna do something unique (note, I said unique — when seven other teams do it it’s not unique) like with two different alternates? Knock yourself out.
But those eight teams who currently have a red alternate? Of those, the Braves, Nationals, Red Sox, Diamondbacks and Rangers have two colored alternates, and the Astros have two home uniforms. How soon before the Angels and Reds join them?
It’s not even red by itself that’s so bad — I happen to like the color and I think the Nationals should take their alternate jersey style and make it into their home uniform.
But the greatest sport ever invented can surely do better than they’re doing today. And they can certainly do better than red, for red’s sake. Makes you wonder where they got the idea from in the first place.
There’s nothing funny about fishing is there? I mean, who tells fish stories?. Ah yes … here’s Rick:
Like any good protester, the “Man From FRIED” just won’t go away. Well, fine then. Let’s engage him a little, see how much he knows. Perhaps get a handle on the reason for, and the depth of, his commitment to his cause. After all, there might be something there. Or not.
Here’s your Sunday Benchies.
Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: The difficulty level on this one is probably pretty low. You know the teams, the location is pretty obvious. Ah, but is there a catch? Probably not. Ready? Guess The Game From The Scoreboard Date, location and final score, please, and be sure to link to your answer. And, as always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!
Back again with more Uniform Tweaks, Concepts and Revisions today. Lots to get to, and if you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.
Up first today is Mike Engle, who has a concept for the Chisox. And to think, you guys laughed when I suggested putting them in ‘city flag’ colors. Here’s Mike:
Sorry to give the world ANOTHER Chicago White Sox redesign concept (especially when they don’t particularly need one), but I whipped up this little number (home and away) while watching today’s Jays/Sox game. There was one guy in the stands behind home plate wearing a gray beach blanket jersey, and I couldn’t get over how lame that jersey is. But after a shot of the Chicago flag, I was inspired.
Now for the guided tour:
• The flag colors are red, powder blue, and white. So white at home, and powder on the road. I made a point to incorporate powder into the homes, so that the roads wouldn’t read as red on powder. That was my least favorite part of the real-life ChiSox powder blues, but the problem is fixed now because in this redesign, powder is an actual color.
• The font for all the text is Roman-style, drawing from the 1917 logo. The numbers are in a custom font, inspired by the same Roman font, using the same serifs.
• The NOB is straight, and preferably without a nameplate. No arch would have looked good right over the wrap-around stripes.
• Just like the flag, the light blue stripes come in pairs, and have non-contiguous red elements in between.
• I really like the current sock-in-diamond patch, so I basically kept it, with the color change and slight modifications. It says, CHICAGO WHITE SOX BASEBALL EST’D 1901.
• I had to give the White Sox white stirrups. Apparently, the Sox have worn that stripe pattern before, using black instead of powder. But don’t you dare suggest colored sanis here. The answer is no.
Next up is Jason Whitt, who is among the many who feel the Nationals need a change:
Phil-
Here are a few changes I’ve come up with for the Washington Nationals.
First is a simple tweak of their current red alternate. All I did was even up the logo and number. The current cockeyed version just drives me nuts.
I would assume that the one thing keeping the Nats from a new wordwark on the home whites is the current wordmark’s presence on the scoreboard so instead of making the 2-year-old scoreboard logo obsolete, I used the curly-W. I tried red piping instead of the red-navy-red trim to make a “photo negative” of the alternate but it was far too similar to the Reds, so I kept the current trim.
Finally, inspired by your BFBS columns, I tried to come up with the worst possible BFBS alt I could. So it’s black, of course, with their new “NatsTown” script, and red-gold-red trim. Please do not think this means that I condone BFBS, I just wanted to see what it would look like.
Thanks for your time,
Jason
Hmmm…I thought I liked that home concept.
And closing down the tweak show today is Daniel Chanelli, who is back with six more MLB concepts:
Hi,
I got a lot of positive responses for my first submission of uni-tweaks, so here is my second batch. Enjoy, Dan.
Angels: For the Angels, I tried to make modern equivalents of their 1970’s unis. I thickened the piping, made the halo yellow, changed the cap to navy, and placed the classic California patch on the sleeve. Although I still feel the team should be the California Angels, the patch can still be used today because there is a star over the Los Angeles area; therefore making it relevant to the current team. The current set seems to suffer from being too red, so the away jersey is the opposite of the home. I also added a navy alternate that harkens back to the Carew/Reggie Jackson years.
Blue Jays: A team that has visually lost its way in recent years; I tried to bring back the feel of the classic uniforms combined with some modern stylization. Many fans want the team to return to the championship uniforms, but as much as I love that set, I really don’t think it would translate very well today as anything but a throwback. I started by changing the blue to a more subtle sea-blue and adding piping to the jersey. I brought back the mid 90’s bird and placed him on the cap and front of the jersey, while keeping the current maple leaf on the sleeves. The lettering and numbers on back are the original font, however, I beveled them to give it a more modern look.
Diamondbacks: I really miss the old Diamondback uniforms; they may not have been the nicest looking, but the color combination was unique. I was disappointed the team was moving to red and black like everyone else, until I started to change the colors on the old uniforms to match the current red, sand, and black. I also added the teams original logo, updated with the current color scheme.
Giants: For the Giants, I decided to bring back the styling of the 1933 uniforms including piping, stirrups, and the original Giants font. For the away jersey, I opted for a more ornate San Francisco script that should really be seen more often. I also created a new logo based on the original dating back to New York , but updated to match the look of the current primary logo.
Padres: The Padres also seem to be in a sort of uniform limbo recently. I kept the current set for the most part, but changed the colors to the classic brown and orange (after all, a friar does wear a brown robe.) I removed the swoosh underneath the Padres script and added a swinging friar patch to the sleeve. While not a tremendous improvement, I think these uniforms would be a significant step in the right direction.
Astros: The current Astros uniforms get a lot of criticism. While I don’t find them hideous, I think they are just out of touch with what the team actually stands for; not cowboys and rope, but for the space program. I was really tempted to create something in line with the 1965 set, after seeing how great they still look this year. Instead, I used the 90’s uniforms that really looked space age-like. I kept the current numbers on back and placed them on the front as well. I updated the script on both the home and away and tweaked the Texas patch on the sleeve.
Great job everyone on those tweaks. Check back next time for more.
That’ll wrap it up for this fine Sunday. As you all know, Paul is away this week, but I will have some very special columns, some featuring some very special guests while he’s gone. Full, new content every day of the week, so be sure to check back every day.
When in doubt, wear red. — Bill Blass
Scoreboard today was the imfamous 20-inning Mets-Cardinals game from April, with Mets winning 2-1.
Too easy.
RFRS is just as bad as BFBS and the real problem is a lack of creativity in team colors. How many MLB teams have either red, blue or black? Or, better question, how many DON’T use one of those 3 colors?
That’s the real problem. There’s a whopping ONE team that wears green, and they’re stupid enough to have a black alt too. When I say that I’d like to see more color in baseball I mean more than simply switching from white vs gray to red vs blue. I think the teams need less alternates but more distinctive looks.
The Rangers having red hats & red jerseys and blue hats & blue jerseys is just silly. But why not get them to consistently wear blue hats, red jerseys and *gasp* blue pants? That’d be unique. Then the Angels could go red hat, blue jersey, white pants. The Cubs would be blue-blue-white, with little bits of red trim… the Dodgers could stay with the blue capped solid white… just because they have the same colors doesn’t mean they have to look the same.
Of course it’d be nice to see some new colors thrown into the mix… more green… silver, gold, purple, brown.. no reason for every damn team to be red blue or black.
That Cubs jersey has NEVER been worn in a game. Heck, anyone can make up a jersey, but until I see it in a game, I would not call it a authentic Cubs alternative jersey. The Cubs alternative is Blue, not Red. The Red one is just something to sell, like to unsuspecting suckers.
I’m reasonably certain no explanation is needed for the red in the NYY logo. So, I won’t
@The Jeff – agreed 110%
As a die-hard Reds fan I remember being rather upset seeing all of the red alternates crop up. The Reds red alternate jersey is used for home day games (I can’t remember seeing them wear them on the road) and that is all. I think the straw that broke the camel’s back (so to speak) for me was when Houston switched to a red and black color scheme. The ‘Stros have no identity now – but that isn’t the way it was.
The bottom line is that creativity is gone. The D-backs tried it with the name shortening on the uni, I will give them credit for that. However, the Tequila Sunrise ‘Stros looked so much better than today’s brick and black team. Heck, even the blue and gold looked better than the current iteration. When so many teams wear RFRS, one has to wonder if there really is a dearth of creativity in today’s design world.
diatribe over
Phil-
I didn’t realize I was poaching your Nationals home design. I hadn’t seen your versions before. Sorry about that!
Great job with the uni tweaks. I would LOVE to see that Giants road tweak as their everyday road jersey. It is a huge improvement over the current road jerseys.
On the topic of the alternate jerseys, I’m for them, but with restraint. In my opinion, wearing the same white or grey jerseys every day for a 162 game season would get pretty boring. In the main article, it was cited that caps and stirrups distinguished the teams from one another. The problem today is that not very many people wear their pants high, so all you would have distinguishing teams would be the caps. That makes for a pretty boring scene for me. I’m for the idea of alternates, but I do agree that with the current trend of alternates teams have lost creativity. The point of an alternate should be to stand out. I’d propose that teams use a throwback design, one that keeps the team’s identity by reaching into their history, as their alternate design. The problem with the current alternates is that you have the same template used for “official” home & away jerseys, just with a different color filled in. Throwbacks normally are completely different designs than current jerseys. It also adds a little bit of excitement for fans like me. I’m 22 and was not able to see teams in their every day unis from the 60s or 70s or even much of the 80s. And some of those designs from those periods, like the A’s and Braves, were the best ones they’ve ever worn.
Have to read the RFRS article later. I’m off in search of the elusive Racing Pierogi. Wish me luck.
That was a nice post today. It really is time for baseball teams to scrap the alt colored tops – which just makes them look like football or softball teams – and go back to the standard white and gray uniform sets. If they want alts, do what the Phillies and Indians have done, and add a cream-colored alt. For the most park, the dark-colored jerseys are entirely lazy in design, looking exactly like the regular uniform with the colors reversed.
Good to see that the softball uniform comparison got in there. Couldn’t have a discussion of alternates without it.
[quote comment=”391313″]Good to see that the softball uniform comparison got in there. Couldn’t have a discussion of alternates without it.[/quote]
Too bad it’s such a lame comparison. The softball look isn’t OMG a colored jersey with white/gray pants. It’s sweat pants, a t-shirt and a beer in your hand. Heck, the MLB doesn’t even allow beer on the field, let alone anyone wearing sweat pants…
/ducks
Love how the “red” Indians jersey logo script doesn’t line up correctly. Can’t help but think it was intentional for this weeks entries no?
[quote comment=”391305″]That Cubs jersey has NEVER been worn in a game. Heck, anyone can make up a jersey, but until I see it in a game, I would not call it a authentic Cubs alternative jersey.
The Cubs alternative is Blue, not Red.
The Red one is just something to sell, like to unsuspecting suckers.[/quote]
No need to shout. Nobody’s suggesting the Cubs have ever worn red jerseys.
Hey, glad to see I’m not the only one who liked the mid-90’s Astros uniforms. They were distinctive, the color scheme was unique, and the theme fit the team name. Unfortunately I guess the team decided the futuristic look wouldn’t fit the “old-timey” look of Minute Maid Park. They might have been right, but that doesn’t mean the new uniforms look better or make much sense.
As for alternates in baseball… put me in the “definitely FOR” column. Gray roads are really just a vestige of the past, and clinging to them is really just sticking with tradition for tradition’s sake. As long as the pants stay white and gray (because the all-color look in baseball is totally goofy, see… well everyone who has tried it). I would rather they looked like football or hockey jerseys, because those are far more interesting.
I really liked all of Daniel Chanelli’s uni tweaks. As an Angels fan who misses their early-to-mid nineties uniforms, I really like that road set. The blue alt (they wore something similar to that from ’94-’96, I think) is a nice touch. Long-time Halos fans are very used to navy alts.
I always felt that today’s Angels unis could use a navy alternate version, rather than more red. Just turn the cap and the alt jersey navy, and keep the script red. Again, it’s a look they’ve gone with in the past. And it looked good.
[quote comment=”391307″]As a die-hard Reds fan I remember being rather upset seeing all of the red alternates crop up. The Reds red alternate jersey is used for home day games (I can’t remember seeing them wear them on the road) and that is all. I think the straw that broke the camel’s back (so to speak) for me was when Houston switched to a red and black color scheme. The ‘Stros have no identity now – but that isn’t the way it was.
The bottom line is that creativity is gone. The D-backs tried it with the name shortening on the uni, I will give them credit for that. However, the Tequila Sunrise ‘Stros looked so much better than today’s brick and black team. Heck, even the blue and gold looked better than the current iteration. When so many teams wear RFRS, one has to wonder if there really is a dearth of creativity in today’s design world.
diatribe over[/quote]
the astros are a team that seems to be rnadom in their choice of red, but they actually aren’t. they switched to brick as their main color because minute maid park is built on the site of – and partly out of – the old union station, one of the few red brick buildings in a glass-and-steel downtown. they chose to change to brick red as an homage to their stadium’s heritage. it’s not necessarily a good reason, but they do have a reason for their color scheme.
phil also seems to forget that the indians most definitely had a red primary in the 1970s and still use it as an alternate at least once a year.
Mike Engle,
I love the heel on your right cleat. Those must be K Swiss. Tee hee.
the indians’ red caveman unis in both orignal:
link
and modern iterations:
link
Of the teams who switched to red in recent seasons, the dumbest move had to be Arizona. The Diamondbacks have a young franchise, and they had a unique look, and a world title in those uniforms. Instead, they got caught up in conformity, and lost their identity, horrible move.
The Rangers are a special case because they wore red uniforms during the 90’s, their most successful era. The always thoughtful and intelligent owner, Tom Hicks, upon taking over the team, changed to the current blue unis, stating that Texas should be a blue team, in spite of the near unanimous support of the fans for the red. The current red alts are token gesture to the complaints of the fans and hopefully will become the new official look once Hicks is finally removed from the team.
In any case, today’s post sounds a little too curmudgeonly for my taste. I agree with you on the black, but griping about red? Give me a break.
[quote comment=”391323″]The Rangers are a special case because they wore red uniforms during the 90’s, their most successful era. The always thoughtful and intelligent owner, Tom Hicks, upon taking over the team, changed to the current blue unis, stating that Texas should be a blue team, in spite of the near unanimous support of the fans for the red. The current red alts are token gesture to the complaints of the fans and hopefully will become the new official look once Hicks is finally removed from the team.
In any case, today’s post sounds a little too curmudgeonly for my taste. I agree with you on the black, but griping about red? Give me a break.[/quote]
I liked Pudge Rodriguez’s silent protest against blue last year. He would routinely wear red protective equipment, even with the blue uniforms. Just screamed of, “When I played here last time and we were good, I wore this red equipment, and I’m not changing.”
My three related wish lists:
1) The Blue Jays’ catcher starts exclusively wearing BLUE equipment.
2) No more black equipment for the Mets’ catchers, just orange and blue.
3) An occasional Thurman Munson harkback set (modern equipment technology, but Thurman’s colors) for Posada or Cervelli to wear every once in a while.
DITCH THE RED!
(Well, someone had to say it.)
One nitpick: have the Blue Jays used the red jerseys at any time other than Canada Day? If not, I wouldn’t really include it as an alternate (any more than I really consider the MLB-mandated flag caps alternates if they’re just worn on 7/4 and 9/11), or at least not consider them to be RFRS. They’re RFSP (Red For a Specific Purpose).
(If they have worn them outside Canada Day, though, screw ’em!)
[quote comment=”391323″]The Rangers are a special case because they wore red uniforms during the 90’s, their most successful era. The always thoughtful and intelligent owner, Tom Hicks, upon taking over the team, changed to the current blue unis, stating that Texas should be a blue team, in spite of the near unanimous support of the fans for the red. The current red alts are token gesture to the complaints of the fans and hopefully will become the new official look once Hicks is finally removed from the team.
In any case, today’s post sounds a little too curmudgeonly for my taste. I agree with you on the black, but griping about red? Give me a break.[/quote]
The big problem with the Rangers over the decades has been the switching between red and blue in the hats and uniform. The western style font is good, but the logo just isn’t distinctive enough.
Pretty sure the Cubs and Dodgers jerseys pictured are just fashion jerseys, and not actual team alternates.
Don’t forget that the ubiquitous Chicago White Sox had a red scheme, though no predominantly red top. Red pinstripes on a white jersey with a red cap was actually one of their better looks in their checkered uni past.
I read (or should I say “red”) the blog before heading to church this morning, and than almost burst out laughing when I got there and saw that by sheer coincidence the priest was wearing red vestments today as the celebration of Pentecost Sunday.
link
“Turn on the highlights some time, without sound, and you’d have a hard time figuring out which teams are playing.” – isn’t that the counter arguement for only white/gray uniforms? Angels/Rangers, Brewers/Padres – it’s basically the same uniform.
What separates baseball from the other sports is there is not a necessity to differentiate between offense and defense. As much as we personally hate royal/royal or black/black spring training games (and the occassional MLB game), it isn’t like a basketball game if both teams were wearing red.
The one arguement I hate on these boards and it always is mentioned is the “merchandising” angle. Merchandising allows MLB to be what it is today. Could it survive without it? Probably. But merchandising is pooled and divided evenly to all teams so it actually helps those small market teams who don’t sell as much (Pirates) more than big market teams who do (Yankees). MLB would be stupid to not “merchandise” itself much like this website would be stupid to not search for sponsors due to the amount of traffic it receives. And thankfully it does.
The reason I don’t like the merchandising angle is because there is no counter arguement. There is no, “Instead of merchandising, you could…..”. I understand MLB is full of black, red, and blue but whether we like it or not, those are the colors that sell the best to the masses. The brown/yellow Padres concept submitted today is beautiful, I think it looks great, but we all know brown/yellow doesn’t sell like navy/khaki. Look in your closet and see how many navy shirts you have compared to brown shirts.
I guess the point of this, we all have opinions on what we like and don’t like. Some of us like vanilla ice cream (Dodgers) others of us like Rocky Road (Astros). That’s why the weekend posts are fun to see different concepts by different people with different backgrounds and ties to the game. Complain if you don’t like the looks of jersey, the colors, the lack of history tied to a concept but don’t make the arguement about creating jerseys for “merchandising” sake. You of course are welcome to purchase or not purchase an item but returning to white/gray uniforms is not going to make merchandising disappear.
Daniel knows how to tweak.
Rich post today, Phil, with some spot-on observations. I was going to say I remember when the ChiSox switched to red because no other team in the AL had it. It was pretty garish, so back they switched.
Then I saw the first uni tweak based on the city flag. link Looks amazingly like this link
Besides the overall proliferation of alternate jerseys, they seem to show up for no rhyme or reason. At least the Royals have come up with a system: Day game at home: powder blue top; day game away: Royal blue top; otherwise it’s white and gray.
That said, the Indians have no reason to use alt tops when they have that gorgeous alt uniform. Love the Phillies’ alt cream, too.
As far as the tweaks go, I’ve always thot the Nationals should go with the cursive W over the left chest you suggested – and ditch the bevels. Your number fonts are nice.
[quote comment=”391332″] The reason I don’t like the merchandising angle is because there is no counter arguement. There is no, “Instead of merchandising, you could…..”. I understand MLB is full of black, red, and blue but whether we like it or not, those are the colors that sell the best to the masses. The brown/yellow Padres concept submitted today is beautiful, I think it looks great, but we all know brown/yellow doesn’t sell like navy/khaki. Look in your closet and see how many navy shirts you have compared to brown shirts. [/quote]
You may be surprised actually, if you went to a Padres game and actually saw how much brown there is around the stadium, especially this hat link
If they did go back to brown, I think it would sell very well, at least in this market.
RIP Jose Lima. An entertaining Royal. It’s Lima time.
DITCH THE RED!
At least the Pirates did.
A simple Tweak to the Natinals jersey (evening out the number and the curlyW) makes all the difference in that uni
I guess I’m the only person on the planet that really dislikes the Indians’ cream alternate. Boring, unremarkable font, terribly boring hat… it reminds me of those awful Civil Rights Game uniforms. The only thing I like is the cream color.
I also forgot to mention that I LOVE those Angels’ tweaks. I’ll never understand why they ditched their great traditional uniforms for those cartoony monstrosities in the late-90’s, but I’ll also never understand why they decided to go all-garish red when they switched in the 00’s. A little blue to break things up never hurts. Unfortunately, though, I think any attempt to go back to the blue/red look will come off looking like the Twins’ uniforms. However, as today’s post aptly demonstrates, teams apparently have no problem looking identical to other teams.
In my opinion, an altenate should either be based off of a classic jersey or be very original relative to the rest of the league.
Just taking your current uni and using red fabric is not original. At least pick a color not many others are using. And if you can’t, then don’t do it.
FWIW, Nats in red alts today. And they seriously need to adopt the suggested tweaks, minus the BFBS one.
RE: alts/RFRS, Nats actually wear red alts more than home whites. Alts worn for Thurs.-Sun. home games.
I understand the point you were making with the Catfish pics, but my recollection is that the classic (in my mind at least) A’s ensemble was Fort Knox gold at home, kelly green on the road, and “wedding gown” white at home on Sundays. If I’m correct, would that make the A’s the first (only?) team to use white as their alternate jersey?
They also occasionally trotted out solid gold and solid green looks with the pullovers. To their credit, they seemed to have ditched this look before it really caught on with other teams.
Great post, as always.
You know, with a post like this there’s always a different form of thought. I’m in my 20’s and have never had an issue with alternates. Is it a cheap way to increase sales? Sure, but you could also argue that (when appropriate) it helps a team further their identity to an extent. As ashamed as I should be for this, one of my favorite baseball jerseys of all time is the Rockies’ old purple alternate. It used a color that not a lot of teams used and with “COLORADO” across the front, it kind of felt like a jersey that was special to us. The issue becomes that many teams use similar color schemes or preferences, which ends up resulting in similar unis. The MLB has red, the NHL is starting to lean light blue, and at one point the NBA had a big issue with yellow.
There was a time when every team wore only white and gray. Some would say that was a boring time. But you know what, you could almost always tell who was playing by the caps, sleeves and stirrups. That’s what distinguished baseball for all those years and why many of us long for a return to the looks of the past. It wasn’t so much that teams looked better then, but they looked like ballplayers and they were plenty colorful, without resorting to a bunch of similar looking alternate tops that make many games today look like pick up softball games.
Well said, sir. Well said.
To tell the truth, I’m not really a big fan of the Cream uniform. I see a Cream v Gray game as the same thing as a White v Gray game. I have no idea that in time we will be using the acronym CFCS.
I hate alts. All of them. In all sports.
Does that make me a boring person?
I have no trouble at all with simple home whites and road grays. If the design is smart and the colors compliment each other, what’s the point of the alternative. (Sales, I know. Let the fans wear them.) You think the players care? I doubt it. If there was no option but one home and one away would the players protest? And if a few did, so what? I’ll throw them a bone and let them wear them for bating practice if they must.
When the A’s and the Pirates were mixing up their uniforms in the ’70’s it was fun, kinda silly, unique to those teams. They sure weren’t selling loads of merchandise.
Alts seem to be a product of the desire for sales and conformity. Boring.
[quote comment=”391346″]There was a time when every team wore only white and gray. Some would say that was a boring time. But you know what, you could almost always tell who was playing by the caps, sleeves and stirrups. That’s what distinguished baseball for all those years and why many of us long for a return to the looks of the past. It wasn’t so much that teams looked better then, but they looked like ballplayers and they were plenty colorful, without resorting to a bunch of similar looking alternate tops that make many games today look like pick up softball games.
Well said, sir. Well said.[/quote]
OK, someone please explain to me how every team wearing white and grey EVERY DAY is any better than having a lot of teams wearing red and black SOMETIMES? Who gives a crap if they look like football jerseys? (Which, honestly, they really don’t). The only reason why teams wore white and grey in the first place is because back in the day it was too expensive to wear and wash colors every day of the season. Now that’s not the case.
I’m sorry, but this anti-alternate crusade strikes me as OFTSOBO (Outrage for the sake of being outraged).
The Cardinals jersey linked was a fashion jersey, not anything that was ever worn in a game. AFAIK they’ve never worn red in a regular season game. I don’t follow the Phillies but I don’t ever remember seeing them in red either so really the “13 teams who do (or have) worn red at least once” is 11. I give the Jays a pass since their red jersey is celebrating Canada Day and they only do it for that specific purpose.
Adding on to the Cardinals, I’d like to see more red, but not in a jersey. I’d love it if they would ditch the blue road caps and wear red on the road. They do it in spring training and it looks SO much better than the blue.
[quote comment=”391312″]That was a nice post today. It really is time for baseball teams to scrap the alt colored tops – which just makes them look like football or softball teams – and go back to the standard white and gray uniform sets. If they want alts, do what the Phillies and Indians have done, and add a cream-colored alt. For the most park, the dark-colored jerseys are entirely lazy in design, looking exactly like the regular uniform with the colors reversed.[/quote]
But way back when, did not a number of Major League teams sport dark-colored jerseys (and even pants)? While there’s something to be said about the tradition of home whites and road greys, I wonder if there is anything genuinely sacred and untouchable about it. Doing something different for the sake of doing something different sometimes isn’t all bad — in fact, it just might be refreshing. Not all innovation is necessarily bad.
There’s something to be said for the claim that there’s a good deal of outrage for the sake of outrage anent alternate jerseys in these pages. [On the other hand, this isn’t an end-of-the-world issue, is it?]
Thinking about this post some today.
I’m a little surprised the Blue Jays haven’t tilted towards red more.
After the Grizzlies left, the Raptors ditched the purple and went to a red colour scheme, to market themselves as “Canada’s team”.
I’m surprised the Jays haven’t tried the same thing (other than adding a red maple leaf to the sleeve).
I’m not saying it would work, or that people wouldn’t see it as the marketing stunt it is, just that I thought they would try it.
NOTICE THE CARDS AND PHILS BOTH DO NOT WEAR RED ALTS DURING THE REG SEASON. I DON’T KNOW ABOUT STL UT PHILS HAVE HOME BP RED JERSEYS AND THEIR ROAD BLUES. DOES THIS COUNT AS ALTS?
I have had this same thoughts about all the red teams in baseball. It is most evident in these alt jerseys, so I agree with Phil here.
When the Nationals moved from Montreal, I was very disappointed that they gave up that blue focus to become another red team. They could’ve kept the same patriotic red, white, and blue, with the Expos’ blue still the main color, and I’d be happy. But they didn’t.
The Astros and Diamondbacks also switched, and that doesn’t help things either. Their old color combos were both unique, but we all know they won’t change now.
I don’t mind alts too much, but they should never been worn by both teams in the same game. Like the navy blue Rays at the red Astros today. There has to be a one team limit!
[quote comment=”391352″][quote comment=”391312″]That was a nice post today. It really is time for baseball teams to scrap the alt colored tops – which just makes them look like football or softball teams – and go back to the standard white and gray uniform sets. If they want alts, do what the Phillies and Indians have done, and add a cream-colored alt. For the most park, the dark-colored jerseys are entirely lazy in design, looking exactly like the regular uniform with the colors reversed.[/quote]
But way back when, did not a number of Major League teams sport dark-colored jerseys (and even pants)? While there’s something to be said about the tradition of home whites and road greys, I wonder if there is anything genuinely sacred and untouchable about it. Doing something different for the sake of doing something different sometimes isn’t all bad — in fact, it just might be refreshing. Not all innovation is necessarily bad.[/quote]
There’s absolutely nothing untouchable about the tradition of home whites and road greys in baseball. And yes, some innovation works well. At least six teams used monochrome uniforms on occasion between 1900-20, and pinstripe hats were also worn earlier last century. It’s not like these styles were introduced in the 1970s. Looking back, some worked, some didn’t, just like the standard white/grey combinations.
[quote comment=”391352″]
But way back when, did not a number of Major League teams sport dark-colored jerseys (and even pants)? While there’s something to be said about the tradition of home whites and road greys, I wonder if there is anything genuinely sacred and untouchable about it. Doing something different for the sake of doing something different sometimes isn’t all bad — in fact, it just might be refreshing. Not all innovation is necessarily bad.[/quote]
Sure, innovation isn’t bad and is sometimes necessary. But baseball is much more aesthetically pleasing to watch when the jerseys and pants colors match. If teams want to wear dark-colored jerseys, then they should find matching pants. THAT might be refreshing. It seems there were a lot of people on this board laughing at the Washington Wizards uniforms that had different colored tops and shorts. Basketball teams seem to understand that the uniform tops and bottoms should match. The same should hold true for baseball. Leave the “innovation” (if you can call it that) to the fashion jerseys and don’t use them in real games.
i forget, who had all the seattle seahawks stuff? well link, this might be a nice addition.
[quote comment=”391318″]I really liked all of Daniel Chanelli’s uni tweaks. As an Angels fan who misses their early-to-mid nineties uniforms, I really like that road set. The blue alt (they wore something similar to that from ’94-’96, I think) is a nice touch. Long-time Halos fans are very used to navy alts.
I always felt that today’s Angels unis could use a navy alternate version, rather than more red. Just turn the cap and the alt jersey navy, and keep the script red. Again, it’s a look they’ve gone with in the past. And it looked good.[/quote]
100% agree
[quote comment=”391358″]
Sure, innovation isn’t bad and is sometimes necessary. But baseball is much more aesthetically pleasing to watch when the jerseys and pants colors match. If teams want to wear dark-colored jerseys, then they should find matching pants. THAT might be refreshing. It seems there were a lot of people on this board laughing at the Washington Wizards uniforms that had different colored tops and shorts. Basketball teams seem to understand that the uniform tops and bottoms should match. The same should hold true for baseball. Leave the “innovation” (if you can call it that) to the fashion jerseys and don’t use them in real games.[/quote]
Do you remember Cuba in the WBC? Yeesh… no thanks.
As for comparing baseball uniforms to basketball, I don’t think it works that way. Think about football – many commenters are up in arms over “unitard” or monochrome uniforms. The vast majority seem to prefer when teams wear pants that are a different color than the jersey. Nobody seems to care either way in hockey. Apparently the standards vary by sport.
[quote comment=”391352″][quote comment=”391312″]That was a nice post today. It really is time for baseball teams to scrap the alt colored tops – which just makes them look like football or softball teams – and go back to the standard white and gray uniform sets. If they want alts, do what the Phillies and Indians have done, and add a cream-colored alt. For the most park, the dark-colored jerseys are entirely lazy in design, looking exactly like the regular uniform with the colors reversed.[/quote]
But way back when, did not a number of Major League teams sport dark-colored jerseys (and even pants)? While there’s something to be said about the tradition of home whites and road greys, I wonder if there is anything genuinely sacred and untouchable about it. Doing something different for the sake of doing something different sometimes isn’t all bad — in fact, it just might be refreshing. Not all innovation is necessarily bad.[/quote]
surprisingly (?), for over a year now, i have been planning on running a piece on “monochrome” baseball — indeed, in the early years of the 20th century, several teams did it (and i liked the concept), and a few teams tried it again in the 70’s…
i think it is something that CAN work in baseball, and as much as i hate the “alternate” top (notice, i never said ‘alternate uniform’ — not once, not ever), i think there is a place in baseball for the monochrome look to return…however, it is not without pitfalls
assuming all the ‘cards’ fall into place, as it were, that piece may move shortly
~~~~~~~~~
with regard to the phils/cards alt. red tops — i wrote this piece about a month ago, long before many of you vented outrage at my curmudgeonly demeanor (fair enough)…this was a very busy weekend, and i’m trying to bring five awesome posts for the weekdays, so i ran this one today…the phils, to my knowledge never wore a solid red top in a game, but the did have a solid top (that’s pete rose in the 1979 ASG), and they did have the “saturday night specials”…the cards also have worn a a red alt (1999 special)…so, it has been done, although it’s not something they break out as an alt
anyway…wasn’t trying to say a red alt in and of itself is bad (i actually like it on one or two teams), but to point out that 1/4th of all teams CURRENTLY have one and more than HALF of all teams could legitimately wear one, and have at some point in their past (not that half DO wear one currently)
das all
link
guess the scoreboard
My two cents on colored alternate jerseys: they should stay in the store & off the field. A lot of alternates are poorly designed, unimaginative, tacky, softball bush league. And baseball needs to expand its palette. Crimson, orange, green, brown, Old Vegas Gold, hell even a shade of blue between powder & royal.
[quote comment=”391359″]i forget, who had all the seattle seahawks stuff? well link, this might be a nice addition.[/quote]
you speaking of michael princip?
[quote comment=”391363″]http://photos.upi.com/topics-Curtis_Granderson/d6c45923df0b04ac296078be554ecdd2/Curtis_Granderson_2.jpg
guess the scoreboard[/quote]
I’ve always disliked those Sunday Pirates uniforms, mixing black pinstripes with the sleeveless vests just looks odd. Except for 1912-14, the Pirates haven’t used black pinstripes, so it doesn’t make sense to reintroduce them now. Matching the black alternate jersey with black pants would have been a better idea.
[quote comment=”391366″][quote comment=”391363″]http://photos.upi.com/topics-Curtis_Granderson/d6c45923df0b04ac296078be554ecdd2/Curtis_Granderson_2.jpg
guess the scoreboard[/quote]
I’ve always disliked those Sunday Pirates uniforms, mixing black pinstripes with the sleeveless vests just looks odd. Except for 1912-14, the Pirates haven’t used black pinstripes, so it doesn’t make sense to reintroduce them now. Matching the black alternate jersey with black pants would have been a better idea.[/quote]
Should have clarified, black pinstripes with a white uniform. From 1997-2000 the Pirates have black pinstripes with the grey road unis.
Matching pants really are the key to the alternate uniform roller skates. They don’t even have to be the same color as the top; just put some nice bold stripes up and down the sides of the pants and it works.
I mean, is there anything worse than when the Marlins wear their black tops and pinstriped pants?
[quote comment=”391368″]Matching pants really are the key to the alternate uniform roller skates. They don’t even have to be the same color as the top; just put some nice bold stripes up and down the sides of the pants and it works.
I mean, is there anything worse than when the Marlins wear their black tops and pinstriped pants?[/quote]
Never understood why the Marlins switched from teal as their primary color, too. Won’t there be a uniform redesign when they officially become the Miami Marlins? Thought I heard something about orange becoming part of the color scheme.
How come the Texas Rangers are the Texas Texases, but the New York Yankees aren’t the New York New Yorks? Throw in the Detroit Detroits. Is it because they use city logos and not names?
I am not a fan of alternates. I don’t hate all them, and I sure am glad my team doesn’t wear them. I think I actually prefer the alternates when they are paired with a different colored hat (ex: Astros-black hat/brick jersey)
[quote comment=”391330″]Don’t forget that the ubiquitous Chicago White Sox had a red scheme, though no predominantly red top. Red pinstripes on a white jersey with a red cap was actually one of their better looks in their checkered uni past.[/quote]
Yeah, I remember as a kid collecting baseball cards, wondering why the WHITE Sox had more red in their uniforms than the RED Sox….
-Jet
[quote comment=”391335″][quote comment=”391332″] The brown/yellow Padres concept submitted today is beautiful, I think it looks great, but we all know brown/yellow doesn’t sell like navy/khaki. Look in your closet and see how many navy shirts you have compared to brown shirts. [/quote]
You may be surprised actually, if you went to a Padres game and actually saw how much brown there is around the stadium, especially this hat link
As a kid, I was a fan of the local NY teams in all the sports, but I always had another favorite team from a different city. The minute I saw those brown Padres threads in 1969, they became my “other” favorite team.
And I lost interest, ~coincidentally~, when they dropped the brown…
-Jet
Even though I’m not crazy about the current home script, I would totally wear Daniel’s re-designed BROWN-THEMED Padres unis. Nice…
-Jet
Success!
Got my pierogi.
link
A real win-win for the boy and me – All kids got a Jalapeno Hannah and a Cheese Chester. We found the first little girl, offered her dad our Hannah for her Chester. Worked out better than I thought.
On a sunny afternoon, right field upper deck is the place to be. We had it made in the shade.
link
Just another day in the most beautiful park in the majors:
link
When it came time for the real Pierogi race, Hannah pulled up lame but still won. Booooo.
link
Bottom of the 10th, Mom says, “This guy (Ryan Doumit) needs to hit one out of here.” Bam! It’s deep and not playable!
link
There was noooo doubt about it, as the Pirate Parrot (I applied for that job once) raises the Jolly Roger:
link
How was your day? Gotta take Mom home now, then I’ll read today’s stuff when I get back.
When I clicked over and saw the title of the post, I immediately thought “Finally.”
It’s not so much that I have issue with non-white or grey alternate jerseys, or even with teams wearing them more often than what are ostensibly their “regular” jerseys (although we do need to come up with some other term than “alternate” to describe what they are in that case; perhaps the white or grey becomes the alternate then), or even with a bunch of teams employing the same basic colors. My problem is with these bright red alt jerseys. They just don’t look good–especially when worn with a red cap. It’s just way too much red.
Sartorially speaking, I think there’s a reason why traditional men’s suits are in colors like black, navy, and grey, and not colors like candle apple red.
I think the black or navy alts look okay because black and navy are darker. The A’s green is fine as well. But red, whether for its sake or not, is way too bright a color for all the body real estate a jersey takes.
That said, I can handle the Astros because, as already mentioned, that’s a dark red–and it’s paired with a black cap, not a red one. So it’s at least distinct enough that at a glance I can tell it’s the Astros, and it’s not egregiously bright.
The Braves red Sunday jersey is far and away the most hideous of all the alts–it’s not even the same shade of red as the bill of their caps. On the other hand, their navy alt jersey doesn’t bother me at all.
Regarding the wearing of alt jerseys, I do think that it should only be that one team on the field gets to wear them; I agree that both teams wearing them in the same game looks unacceptable.
And one last thought (sorry, I’ve had this pent up for a while): Some teams just should not go with these alt jerseys (I’m looking at you, Boston). Teams with long traditions should not try to jump on the bandwagon. And teams that clearly are just jumping on the bandwagon (I’m looking at you, Los Angeles of Anaheim) would be way better served with a throwback-type like the Phillies did.
Make all the weird variations for selling to the fans you want. Just stop putting the players on the field in bright red jerseys.
[quote comment=”391340″]…I’ll never understand why they ditched their great traditional uniforms for those cartoony monstrosities in the late-90’s…[/quote]
Disney
[quote comment=”391375″]When I clicked over and saw the title of the post, I immediately thought “Finally.”
It’s not so much that I have issue with non-white or grey alternate jerseys, or even with teams wearing them more often than what are ostensibly their “regular” jerseys (although we do need to come up with some other term than “alternate” to describe what they are in that case; perhaps the white or grey becomes the alternate then), or even with a bunch of teams employing the same basic colors. My problem is with these bright red alt jerseys. They just don’t look good–especially when worn with a red cap. It’s just way too much red.
Sartorially speaking, I think there’s a reason why traditional men’s suits are in colors like black, navy, and grey, and not colors like candle apple red.
I think the black or navy alts look okay because black and navy are darker. The A’s green is fine as well. But red, whether for its sake or not, is way too bright a color for all the body real estate a jersey takes.
That said, I can handle the Astros because, as already mentioned, that’s a dark red–and it’s paired with a black cap, not a red one. So it’s at least distinct enough that at a glance I can tell it’s the Astros, and it’s not egregiously bright.
The Braves red Sunday jersey is far and away the most hideous of all the alts–it’s not even the same shade of red as the bill of their caps. On the other hand, their navy alt jersey doesn’t bother me at all.
Regarding the wearing of alt jerseys, I do think that it should only be that one team on the field gets to wear them; I agree that both teams wearing them in the same game looks unacceptable.
And one last thought (sorry, I’ve had this pent up for a while): Some teams just should not go with these alt jerseys (I’m looking at you, Boston). Teams with long traditions should not try to jump on the bandwagon. And teams that clearly are just jumping on the bandwagon (I’m looking at you, Los Angeles of Anaheim) would be way better served with a throwback-type like the Phillies did.
Make all the weird variations for selling to the fans you want. Just stop putting the players on the field in bright red jerseys.[/quote]
Exactly.
[quote comment=”391365″][quote comment=”391359″]i forget, who had all the seattle seahawks stuff? well link, this might be a nice addition.[/quote]
you speaking of link?[/quote]
yes, it was mikey. i was spacing on that.
[quote comment=”391372″][quote comment=”391335″][quote comment=”391332″]
The brown/yellow Padres concept submitted today is beautiful, I think it looks great, but we all know brown/yellow doesn’t sell like navy/khaki. Look in your closet and see how many navy shirts you have compared to brown shirts. [/quote]
You may be surprised actually, if you went to a Padres game and actually saw how much brown there is around the stadium, especially this hat link
As a kid, I was a fan of the local NY teams in all the sports, but I always had another favorite team from a different city. The minute I saw those brown Padres threads in 1969, they became my “other” favorite team.
And I lost interest, ~coincidentally~, when they dropped the brown…
-Jet[/quote]
Padres should revert back to their original color scheme of brown/yellow, it gave them a unique look. It’s not surprising you saw plenty of those colors in San Diego, I’m not sure home fans really care about whether or not their team wears popular colors. It would be interesting to see if these teams switching to red have actually had a significant increase in merchandise sales. I think it’s more of the follow the leader mentality, just like those teams using more black needlessly in their unis.
As long as a team stays true to its identity, I see nothing wrong with franchises with longer traditions going with appropriate alternates. As long as it’s done tastefully, why not? It would be great to see a Yankees fan come up with a workable concept.
[quote comment=”391369″]
Never understood why the Marlins switched from teal as their primary color, too. Won’t there be a uniform redesign when they officially become the Miami Marlins? Thought I heard something about orange becoming part of the color scheme.[/quote]
It’s interesting that the Marlins, for several years, have been using orange on promotional items such as pocket schedules, yet haven’t yet incorporated the color into their uniforms.
Wasn’t that Pete Rose ’79 ASG jersey just what today we’d call a batting practice or spring training jersey?
[quote comment=”391380″]Wasn’t that Pete Rose ’79 ASG jersey just what today we’d call a batting practice or spring training jersey?[/quote]
yes…i believe it was…i was thinking charles hustle wore his saturday night special top as an alt jersey for the ASG…but those were zipper jerseys (the SNS)
link?
And link…
Here’s a simple rule that should get everyone to shut up about “BFBS” or “RFRS”:
If it looks good, wear it. If it doesn’t look good, don’t wear it.
/discussion.
[quote comment=”391381″][quote comment=”391380″]Wasn’t that Pete Rose ’79 ASG jersey just what today we’d call a batting practice or spring training jersey?[/quote]
yes…i believe it was…i was thinking charles hustle wore his saturday night special top as an alt jersey for the ASG…but those were zipper jerseys (the SNS)[/quote]
Were they? Okkonen says link. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clear enough shot of the front of those jerseys to say whether he’s right about that.
[quote comment=”391384″][quote comment=”391381″][quote comment=”391380″]Wasn’t that Pete Rose ’79 ASG jersey just what today we’d call a batting practice or spring training jersey?[/quote]
yes…i believe it was…i was thinking charles hustle wore his saturday night special top as an alt jersey for the ASG…but those were zipper jerseys (the SNS)[/quote]
Were they? Okkonen says link. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clear enough shot of the front of those jerseys to say whether he’s right about that.[/quote]
Bill Henderson’s guide shows zipper fronts.
[quote comment=”391384″][quote comment=”391381″][quote comment=”391380″]Wasn’t that Pete Rose ’79 ASG jersey just what today we’d call a batting practice or spring training jersey?[/quote]
yes…i believe it was…i was thinking charles hustle wore his saturday night special top as an alt jersey for the ASG…but those were zipper jerseys (the SNS)[/quote]
Were they? Okkonen says link. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clear enough shot of the front of those jerseys to say whether he’s right about that.[/quote]
i was going to save this one for a special moment…
but it would appear that mr. okkonen is wrong
/that WILL be in the monochrome baseball post
[quote comment=”391382″]link?
And link…[/quote]
nooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i hate that damn song.
“But the greatest sport ever invented can surely do better than they’re doing today. And they can certainly do better than red, for red’s sake.”
Phil, I thought you were talking about baseball, not indoor soccer. ;)
Anyway, I agree there’s too much red. Heretic that I am, I like the softball tops (not all the time, but semi-regularly)…but c’mon, MLB, play with the bigger box of crayons.
How about more than one green team? How about a claret and sky blue team? How about bringing back orange (yes Astros, I’m talking to you)?
Stock people preach diversification. Moms and other wise folk tell you to not put all your eggs in one basket. Listen up, MLB.
That being said, that red Twins alt looks great. Let’s see more of that…
The Cardinals never have worn a red alternate. The only have Red BP jerseys and have worn them for some spring training games.
[quote comment=”391387″][quote comment=”391382″]link?
And link…[/quote]
nooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i hate that damn song.[/quote]
I like the official version better…
link
[quote comment=”391385″]
Bill Henderson’s guide shows zipper fronts.[/quote]
yessiree
[quote comment=”391389″]The Cardinals never have worn a red alternate.[/quote]
wait, what?
[quote comment=”391392″][quote comment=”391389″]The Cardinals never have worn a red alternate.[/quote]
link[/quote]
But the Cardinals have never worn a red alternate.
And I’m pretty sure that Yankees jersey up top is just a fashion jersey.
But how awesome is that red Dodgers throwback?
link comment=”391387″][quote comment=”391382″]link?
And link…[/quote]
nooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i hate that damn song.[/quote]
[quote comment=”391390″][quote comment=”391387″][quote comment=”391382″]link?
And link…[/quote]
nooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i hate that damn song.[/quote]
I like the official version better…
link
there is not a good version of that song, it is a horrible tune.
[quote comment=”391382″]link?
And link…[/quote]
Meant to quote this one.
link
[quote comment=”391395″][quote comment=”391390″][quote comment=”391387″][quote comment=”391382″]link?
And link…[/quote]
nooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i hate that damn song.[/quote]
I like the official version better…
link
there is not a good version of that song, it is a horrible tune.[/quote]
Turn the sound down when you watch it…
Mike Engle, aside from the sensible mid-heel ladies shoes you drew, link I like your tweak.
I know, this means I have to submit my own crayon tweaks so you can laugh at my drawing. Sometime this summer…
Jason and Daniel, great stuff as well. Wasn’t a big fan of the 90s Astros unis at the time, but it was better than what they have now. How about Daniel’s tweak with orange replacing the gold?
[quote comment=”391398″]Mike Engle, aside from the sensible mid-heel ladies shoes you drew, link I like your tweak.
I know, this means I have to submit my own crayon tweaks so you can laugh at my drawing. Sometime this summer…
Jason and Daniel, great stuff as well. Wasn’t a big fan of the 90s Astros unis at the time, but it was better than what they have now. How about Daniel’s tweak with orange replacing the gold?[/quote]
I remember that hideous alt. cap with the gold bill. It sparkled.
[quote comment=”391396″][quote comment=”391382″]link?
And link…[/quote]
Meant to quote this one.
link
[quote comment=\”391394\”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2JXOUBQCiQ&feature=related[quote comment=\”391387\”][quote comment=\”391382\”]link?
And link…[/quote]
nooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i hate that damn song.[/quote][/quote]
much much better.
[quote comment=”391381″][quote comment=”391380″]Wasn’t that Pete Rose ’79 ASG jersey just what today we’d call a batting practice or spring training jersey?[/quote]
yes…i believe it was…i was thinking charles hustle wore his saturday night special top as an alt jersey for the ASG…but those were zipper jerseys (the SNS)[/quote]
Definitely not the Saturday Night Special
link
link
According to the Wikipedia its the batting practice jersey, and Bowa and Schmidt also wore it in the 1979 ASG.
Didn’t find any of Bowa, did find this photo of Schmidt (clearly at spring training)
link
Here’s one of the whole 1979 team – Bowa, Schmidt and Rose in red. Carlton and Boone in blue.
link
MAN those were colourful years. Only 4 teams in grey.
[quote comment=”391400″][quote comment=”391396″][quote comment=”391382″]link?
And link…[/quote]
Meant to quote this one.
link
[quote comment=\”391394\”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2JXOUBQCiQ&feature=related[quote comment=\”391387\”][quote comment=\”391382\”]link?
And link…[/quote]
nooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i hate that damn song.[/quote][/quote]
much much better.[/quote]RED?
I’m link?
[quote comment=”391369″][quote comment=”391368″]Matching pants really are the key to the alternate uniform roller skates. They don’t even have to be the same color as the top; just put some nice bold stripes up and down the sides of the pants and it works.
I mean, is there anything worse than when the Marlins wear their black tops and pinstriped pants?[/quote]
Never understood why the Marlins switched from teal as their primary color, too. Won’t there be a uniform redesign when they officially become the Miami Marlins? Thought I heard something about orange becoming part of the color scheme.[/quote]
All the rumors point to uniform changes, much to this Marlins fan’s chagrin. I liked the teal, but like the black base color too. I truly hope they don’t change it, but know they can’t resist.
Besides orange, the other rumored color is blue. Which sounds exactly like those NY Mets. (Although they are evolving into black and orange.)
I hope both teams see the light, stay different from each other, and not change for the sake of change.
1) Alternate uniforms are a GOOD thing. That debate is clearly “old school vs nu skool”.
2) That being said, from a “nu skool” perspective (I’m only 29) the red alternate is only acceptable if one of your main colors is red: Red Sox, Reds, Cardinals, etc.
An alternate red jersey becomes RFRS (and thereby is not acceptable) if only a small percentage of the logo/wordmark includes red: Dodgers, Cubs, Yanks, and especially my beloved Pirates. (They need to throw some red paint at the guy who allowed that abomination to ever walk on the field!!) To draw one on paper is ok (like the UW Uni Tweaks) but to put it in stores is not kewl.
As for the Padres throwback piece, the Friar’s robe has switched from brown to navy this season.