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Uni Watch

Jim & Tim tweak MLB

By
timmer & jimmer splash

By Phil Hecken

What do you get when you combine the insane genius multicolored mind of Jim Vilk with the tweaking talent of Tim E. O’Brien? Well, you get today’s main article.

A little while ago, Jimmer approached me with an idea to “fix” some of MLB’s teams — leaving some alone (“Don’t Change A Thing,” or “DCAT”), making minor adjustments to others, and some wholesale revisions to a few more. His problem? He said he doesn’t quite have the skillset to graphically show what he was proposing. So I said to Jim, “Why don’t you see if Tim E. can help you out?” About 24 hours later, problem solved.

Today I am pleased to bring you an unique collaborative effort between Messrs. Vilk and O’Brien — Jim dreamed up the changes, and Tim put them to paper in graphic form. I think it’s a pretty good marriage.

As with everything Vilkian, I pretty much disagree with everything he’s done — but that doesn’t mean I’m right. On Uni Watch, everyone has an opinion. Here’s how Jim (with assistance from Tim) would tweak the major leagues. Enjoy:

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Jim and Tim’s traveling tweak show
by Jim Vilk

As most of you know by now, I have lots of uni design ideas but very few design skills. That doesn’t mean my ideas are bad (OK, some of them are), but it can be hard to show what I’m thinking when I’m limited to a box of 64 crayons. That’s why I’ve enlisted the help of the talented Tim E. O’Brien for my latest project, tweaking Major League Baseball. Relax, it’s not as bad as you think it’s going to be. I’m leaving ten teams alone; another fourteen have very slight tweaks. That leaves six teams whose unis I want to blow up and start over, and most of them just need to go back to a previous era for inspiration. Only one team’s fans need to shudder in anticipation of what I want to do to their uniforms. With that being said, let’s get the untouchables out of the way first.

The “DCAT” list

To borrow an abbreviation from Jerry Reuss, “DCAT” (I’m pronouncing it “DeeCat”) means “Don’t Change A Thing.” The following teams can breathe easily:

• Athletics (although I would like the road jerseys to say “San Jose,” but that’s an issue for another season)

• Cardinals

• Cubs

• Mariners

• Marlins (only because I’m waiting to see what next year’s unis will look like)

• Phillies (assuming they’re no longer the Philllies)

• Red Sox

• Tigers

• White Sox (yeah, I said it)

• Yankees

~~~

The “Tweak” list

Most of the teams on this list got here because of one small thing – the way their lettering goes across the chest. While I like button-down jerseys, I grew up in the polyester pullover era and could easily live with those making a return. For your sakes, though, I’ve come up with a compromise that will avoid such a scenario. The first team, however, is on here for two other reasons.

• Angels: First, get rid of the red alt jerseys. Second, while I can live with the pointy font on the letters, it doesn’t look good to me on the numbers. Fix that and you’re done, Anaheim…uh, LA…uh, oh yeah, fix the name, too…

• Braves: Back to what I was saying about lettering: I don’t like when a word is awkwardly broken up on a button-down jersey. Atlanta’s jerseys are one of the worst offenders. Aside from resorting to a pullover, they could shrink the lettering just enough so that it breaks up as “Atl anta.” I like it better when a word splits at the syllable, but at least “Bra ves” is even on the home jersey, and “Atl anta” splits at the city’s abbrevation “Atl.”

• Dodgers: Tweak the classic home jersey? Just barely. Make it split at “Dod gers” instead of “Do dgers.” For the road jersey, take the interlocking LA off the sleeve and put it over the player’s heart, replacing “Los A ngeles.” Done.

• Giants: I’m *fine* with “GIA NTS” being even, but “San Fr ancisco“? The road jersey just needs to look like the 80s/90s version.

• Mets: Say it with me, Phil: Ditch. The. Black.

• Nationals: Change “Was hington” to “Wash ington” and lose the blue alt jersey. Maybe wear the blue hat with the red alt, but otherwise that’s it.

• Orioles: Lose the black alt and split the lettering on the road gray to say “Balt imore.” Also, since the catchers and base coaches wear the retro helmets, bring back those
hats for the players. I’d wear the cartoon bird at home and the regular bird hat on the road.

• Pirates: Same problem as the Angels – the font is fine for the lettering, but not for the numbers.Also, I’d like to see an alternate home white with a P, just like the black one.

• Rangers: This font’s not quite as pointy as the Angels’. It can stay. Don’t know if I want the home whites to say “RAN GERS” or just “T.” You decide.

• Rays: That “RAAYS” has to go. So does the dark blue alt. On the remaining jerseys,, shrink the “RAYS” to go over the heart.

• Reds: On the roads, just change “CINC INNATI” to “CINCI NNATI.” Done.

• Rockies: Lose the sleeveless jerseys. Take the logo off the sleeve of the home jersey and put it over the heart, replacing “ROC KIES.” Make sure the other jerseys split as “COLO RADO.”

• Royals: Lose the powder jersey and hat. Split the home and royal jerseys to say “Roy als.” On the road grays, replace “Kans as City” with the team logo.

• Twins: Split the road jersey as “Minn esota.”

~~~

The “What Were You Thinking?” list

For the most part, these are easy fixes – just go back to what you never should have left. For instance:

• Astros: If you’re keeping the name “Astros” (and you should), enough with the old-timey look. It’s 1971 or 1980. Or, as Tim suggests, both?

• Blue Jays: Hello? Two World Series titles ring a bell with you? Bring back an all-time classic.

• Brewers: The ball-in-glove logo was genius. Use the 1990 style. Just make sure the lettering splits as “Bre wers” and “Milw aukee” and doesn’t overlap.

• Diamondbacks: Go back to 2001, with two tweaks. On the road jerseys, remove the sleeve patch and make sure the lettering splits as “ARI ZONA.” On the home jerseys, remove the sleeve patch and replace the A logo with the snake D logo.

• Padres: Love the Taco Bell unis, but the originals are classic. On the home jersey, though, I’d replace “Padres” with the swinging friar logo.

That leaves…

~~~

And now for something completely different

…that’s right, the Indians. While I’m not against honoring Native Americans on sports teams, that name and mascot really need to go. The name bothers me more, because This…Is…Not…India. All Cleveland needs to do is go with the secondary nickname that’s used at every game when the fans yell, “Let’s go Tribe!” I know, some of you don’t like names that don’t end in “s,” but give it a try. I’d tweak the 1974 “Caveman” uniform. I love that font, but I’d make the jerseys button-down with “TRIBE” on the home white and red alt, and “CLEVELAND” on the road gray. Also, I’d drop the sleeve patch, and since I didn’t go for the full-on bloodclot look, I’d give them all red shoes.

Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?

~~~

Thanks to Tim and Jim for this effort. What say you, Uni Watchers? Home run? Strikeout? Somewhere in between?

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Benchies Header

Benchies

by Rick Pearson

~~~

Who are we kidding with all this waxing rhapsodic about Spring, anyway. I mean, really.

d-shorts

And as always, the full size.

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all sport uni tweaks

Uni Tweaks

We have another nice of tweaks today.

If you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.

Remember, if possible, try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per tweak. You guys have been great a keeping to that, and it’s much appreciated!

And so, lets begin:

~~~

Up first is Stephen Peters, with a Houston Rockets concept:

Logos and jerseys since the mid-to-late 90s have not been too kind to the Rockets franchise since winning back-to-back NBA titles.

Fans have been pleading with the team to go back to what were the glory days. With the red (wine) and gold color scheme.

Before the 1995-96 season, they fell into the trap of going too “cartoony.” This gave way to the infamous prison jumpsuits. Home & Road.

In 2002, the Rockets made Yao Ming their number one pick, then subsequently moved into the Toyota Center in 2003. With the change in venues, the team with with a change in branding.

Gone was the cartoon rocket and jail-bird jerseys and in came a flying “R” logo and the pit-stain ring jerseys. Home & Road.

To answer the pleas of the fans, the team introduced an alternate jersey that meshed the new style with the colors the championship days. What a travesty.

What I’ve done is taken the colors and script from the “Glory Days” in Houston, made some changes to the second to last logo and meshed them together into a nice little package.

LOGO: What I did here was change the color of the ball from Mars to the Sun (red to yellow). Take the orbit and grooves from the late 90s logo and changed them from blue to red. I then removed the face and wings from the rocket, recolored it and put coming from behind the sun. Then copied the script from the logo used for 20+ years, shrunk the “T” to match the other lettters’ size and superimposed it over the ball.

HOME & AWAY JERSEYS: I went with a blend of new school style jersey mixed with the lettering and placement of graphics from the championship years (Home & Away).

That’s all for this one. I’ll start working on the Mavs since they seem to have an identity crisis, too.

~~~

Next up is Jed Herrera, who has a Washington “Basketball” concept:

With the upcoming re-branding of Washington Basketball next season, I created this little concept. By tweaking the colors of the 1970’s Bullets logo, this would be the inspiration for the revamp. I used 3 new color shades instead of the proposed/traditional Red, White, & Blue because too many teams already implement R,W,B. Also instead of using home Whites, Grey is just a better alternative. The whole idea was to keep the jersey simple b/c I saw how great the Cavs jersey turned out.

Washington Bullets Home Jersey Concept I

~~~

Next up is Joseph Abraham, who asks a simple question:

Why won’t the browns make the change back to the numbers on the sleeves? The current sleeves look ridiculous!

~~~

And closing down the show today is Michael Kearney, who has a Tampa Bay Lightning tweak:

Hey guys,

After seeing the new uni’s the the Lightning will be wearing next season I decided to take a stab at improving the new look. Nothing too extreme, just eliminating the black trim that they had added and adding silver as the secondary color. I also replaced the missing “Victory Stripes” under the arms.

Thanks,
MK

~~~

Thank you tweakers. Back tomorrow with more.

~~~~~~~~~

Five Micks 2 inline

Pick Your Mick

You fine folks will recall that for the past several weeks, Rick has been soliciting “tweaks” for one of the main characters in his comic strip, Benchies. We received a bunch of great entries, and the “official” outfit will be broken out tomorrow, just in time for Masters Sunday. Ricko has a favorite, but he felt that five of the submissions were truly outstanding, so what he’s asked me to do is see if the readers have a preference.

Below, I’ll post each of the five “finalists” and ask that you guys pick a favorite and post that in the comments below or drop Ricko a line. Quite honestly, I think they are all outstanding (and they are) but if you folks really like one of these five, please let us know. I’ll withhold the names of the finalists till tomorrow, so as not to influence anyone’s voting.

Without further ado and in no particular order, here are the five finalists for the “Dress Mick” contest:

1. Mick #1

2. Mick #2

3. Mick #3

4. Mick #4

5. Mick #5

These are all great, so you really can’t go wrong by picking any single one — but give it a shot — help Ricko pick a winner for tomorrow’s special Benchies. Cast your vote in the comments below.

~~~~~~~~~~

PS

Parting Shots

☞ I thought the World’s Champs were supposed to wear their special gold “SF” caps and unis yesterday, at least for the ceremony. Did they scrap that or is that today?

☞ The Angels did their first throwback uni yesterday. Just doesn’t look the same when everyone wears pajama bottoms.

☞ The Mariners broke out their northwest green teal alt tops yesterday. Looks shitty with the solid blue cap.

☞ Meanwhile, the M’s opponents, the Indians, broke out their alternate roadies. And look, Jim Vilk’s Grandpappy was at the game.

☞ The Mets broke out the rarely worn creams. They lost in ugly fashion, but at least one guy can’t be accused of ugly fashion. Surprisingly, David Wright, who usually goes high-cuffed during day games, wore bellbottoms.

☞ The Twinkies also broke out their home creams. They didn’t lose in them.

☞ The Sawks played their seventh game yesterday. It was their first “W.” Yaz got creamed, but is it time to panic?

☞ Damn this is a nice uni. Looks like Bobby is enjoying retirement.

That’s going to be a wrap for today everyone. Enjoy the second weekend of baseball 2011, and moving day at The Masters.

See you tomorrow.

~~~

I learned something today. That I’d have had a lot more info if I’d had the Internet in 1974. I apologize for that. Sincerely. — Richard Pearson

 
  
 
Comments (177)

    So an Saturday entry based on an overly complicated scheme to move letters left and right on baseball jerseys, eh? Shouldn’t such stimulating fare be left for the all-star break?

    Too much build-up for not very much change. I’m disappointed in you Vilk. I was expecting much more than just making the wordmarks 5% smaller and moving an inch to the right to split at a different point. I mean, where’s the mono-orange for Baltimore? Or some tiger striping of some sort on Detroit? Come on man…

    The Tribe jerseys do look good though.

    ….and now to piss everyone off with a short rant about a certain old logo
    ___

    The ball & glove logo is horrible for a team. It’s a very clever design, sure. It’d be great for a sports bar owned by a guy with MB or BM initials, or a kids baseball camp in a city starting with M. It screams BASEBALL in the most generic way possible. Thus, it’s a poor choice to represent a specific team, unless we started using Euro-Soccer style naming. The MB/glove would be ok for “BC Milwaukee”, but it always sucked for the “Milwaukee Brewers”.
    ___

    /sorry

    Not gonna breathe as much fire at The Jeff, but one of his points is almost inarguable. The ball-glove IS exceedingly generic. Nothing about it suggests “Milwaukee” or “Brewers”. It could just as easily be the logo for the Menomonie BugleBoys.

    Some might say the same about the Expos logo, for example, but they’d be wrong. It has very artsy, very French, very Montreal feel to it. Very sort of haute couture (or “high concept” or something).

    Not that the ball-glove is a bad logo. Not at all. It just isn’t a perfect as some want it to be. I think much of its esteem may be based on the fact that it replaced an even more generic “M” on the Brewers hat. In that respect it generated a lot of love which it debuted. Time has morphed “new” and “original” into “great.” And that’s not necessarily always true.

    That’s why I have no problem with the current Brewers set. It’s a kind of baseball uniform version of a classic beer bottle label. Even the old gold, which the Brewers could just as easily have called “Lager Gold.”

    Funny enough, this gives me a chance to relate a weird story from earlier this week. I wore my ball and glove logo cap to class on Wednesday, and one of the other students, who’s from Wisconsin, asked me if I knew about the keg in the logo, and proceeded to point out that if you turn it sideways, the m kind of resembles a keg, link I had never heard that before, and I HIGHLY doubt it’s intentional, but I thought the UW community might be interested in hearing that story.

    Well one thing is apparent: Jeff clearly hates America.

    The American flag, apple pie, muscle cars, Classic Rock, the Brewers MB-Glove logo.

    It’s like listening to Rosie O’Donnell talk.

    Hey now, I like apple pie, and most classic rock isn’t that bad. Heck, I even have some Foreigner and Blue Oyster Cult in my mp3 collection, right next to the Slayer & Exodus.

    most classic rock isn’t that bad. Heck, I even have some Foreigner and Blue Oyster Cult in my mp3 collection

    ~~~

    the words foreigner, BÖC and classic rock don’t belong in the same sentence

    /no offense

    “I mean, where’s the mono-orange for Baltimore? Or some tiger striping of some sort on Detroit? Come on man…”

    Yeah, I could have gone all kinds of wacky on some of these (really wanted to put the Tribe in all red, for instance), but I was trying to keep things in the current “style.” If I *really* had my way, there would be more teams in headspoon jerseys with even more logos over the heart, and some teams in pullovers or two-button jerseys.

    funny i was going to say your solution to every team already seemed to be putting the logo over the heart. i appreciate the effort, but i suppose this is why one person does not design an entire league ever, it so clearly was singular in focus. i dig, you like the headsoon with a heart logo, it isn’t a bad look necessarily, but for everybody? you make them look like a little league who got the local sporting good store to make all the jerseys from the same template. i do appreciate your restraint on doing that to the o’s, i am sure you wanted to cartoon bird heat headspoon ’em. i wouldn’t mind seeing the coach/catcher cap comeback, but i don’t know about the two different birds either. maybe go with the 66/70 cap on the road and the 83 at home. or just make the current bird less complicated. for all the talk about the C hat, that current bird is the hardest thing to see ever.

    as for the slight name adjustments, fair enough if they fit i’m fine with that, but i don’t really feel strongly one way or another on pullovers. i know paul feels the same way as you jim, but does anyone really notice when the jersey has the extra letter from the button spread? the only time i really ever see raays or whatever is in a random pixture, when i watch a game i hardly notice it at all. why not just take away the second layer of letter? the pullover seems like change for change sake to me, and will not wind up being an improvement in any way.

    Royals logo on the heart = not bad.

    Rays and Rockies logo on the heart = blecch.

    It only seems to work with “simple” logos like the Pirates’ “P”.

    -Jet

    Add the swinging Friar to the list of logos that I don’t like on the heart. But going back to brown and gold-yellow for the Padres makes me very happy.

    -Jet

    So the ball-in-glove logo is generic because it could represent anything baseball related with those initials? By that rationale, nearly every logo in sports is equally or more generic. The vaunted Yankees uni’s could just as well suit the Yonkers Ninnies. Give me a break. Anyone tangentially interested in the MLB knows exactly who that logo represents. It’s classic and it’s Brewers whether you like it or not.

    But isn’t something so generic that it could be anywhere in the united states perfectly fit Milwaukee?

    A: Yes.

    (As a Chicagoan, I feel the need to insult those fat bastards any time I can)

    Ok. But you’re still holding the Brewers to a standard that virtually no team lives up to: a uni perfectly and exclusively suited to the city. The Giants caps would be just as good in Sioux Falls. Am I right? Yes. Does that mean it’s a bad logo for San Francisco? No. The Giants top my DCAT list, and Rollie’s Brewers would be up there too.

    Oh, wait, I get it. You probably could’ve put that better, but I should have gotten it. And as a fellow Chicagoan, I concur. Milwaukee is a suburb.

    Both New York logos have sources that were distinctly New York. Dig a little.

    I didn’t say it isn’t a great logo. I said it’s a tad over-loved, and that a weaknesses in it (for something so revered) it that has no source that pre-dates it for either Milwaukee or beer. It isn’t geographic. It isn’t based on the style of historical brewery or something. It certainly can be revered because everyone loved it. But it does have some weaknesses.

    Wouldn’t then it’s existence and continued use create a geographic and historic distinctness. It’s chicken/egg argument in my opinion.

    Of course. I said that. It’s a favorite because it’s endured and because it HAS become associated with the team. But, going in, it’s just an “m” and a b”, neither of which are particularly related, as rendered, to Milwaukee or brewing.

    And I repeat. I didn’t say it was bad. Quite the contrary.

    But some logos, the moment you see them, you get the feeling they’ll become “dated” quickly. That’s what I felt when I first saw the ball-glove logo. Sorta like the Phillies’ modern “p” or the Angels’ lower case “a”. They just looked like something that wouldn’t last forever. And they didn’t.

    I agree. The ball-in-glove logo is “2 O’s”.

    Over rated and Over hyped.

    Comic sans fonts were fun for a while too.

    Crap. That was supposed to be in reply to THE. I’ve been sucking on the inter-webs this past week. TWO blown reply comments? Damn sleep deprivation -_-

    I would add white outline trim to the Dodgers’ name and numbers on the roadies. Get rid of black entirely unless it is part of a team’s normal color scheme (i.e. White Sox, Pirates, Giants, Orioles). Sorry Jim and Tim, but not a big fan of using a team’s secondary logo over the heart of a uniform (i.e. Rockies, Padres, Dodgers).

    Ricko: I like #1.

    That Tribe jersey is very sharp. I also like those Houston jerseys Stephen Peters, good job!

    According to Murph & Mac on KNBR, SF Giants’ gold-trimmed unis and hats will be worn today.

    Regarding Jim & Tim’s tweaks, I can’t say I’m a big fan. All of the “recentering” looks like it actually puts the lettering off-center instead. If all jerseys were zippered and not buttoned, this would work. But, the 2 sides of current jerseys aren’t even, so you can’t split the lettering evenly either.

    And, although I generally agree with Paul’s idea that teams don’t need their own font for numbers, I like the ones that you’ve changed (Pittsburgh & LAA).

    I agree with Jason Shane that recentering makes the jersey look uneven and not as pleasing to the eye. The ones whose names were only going to be shifted should’ve just been put in the DCAT section since that really isn’t a change at all.
    Shifting the Rays name to the chest looks silly. I’d much rather see RAAYS once in a while than to see a full wordmark on left chest, it just doesn’t work.
    I really like the idea of changing the Indians to the Tribe, as well as the font chosen for the uniforms. However the sleeves look a little too funky for this era in baseball uniforms.
    One thing this post made me realize is the necessity for the Rockies to change their primary logo. It screams early 90’s and looks completely out of place. I’m sure other people have mentioned this point before but it really stood out to me today.

    While some of the recentering is a bit unpleasing (even Jim and I had to scrap some of his ideas cause it just looked too bad), I think that if the side with less name graphic has the uni number, it weights the design down a bit and sort of (but not completely)makes up for the uneven design.

    I agree. The word ‘Rays’ and the Rockies’ primary logo are both too busy to be featured that small on the front of a jersey. In the Rockies’ case that’s especially true because of the pinstripes that obscure the logo. If they simplified their logo and made it primarily purple (sorry Paul) instead of black it would work.

    I don’t like changing the name of the Indians to the Tribe. Maybe it’s because it’s a nickname, but it sound undignified to me. Other than that, I’m on record as liking the caveman font, so I like the concept. The only changes I’d make are making the belt a solid color to make it less dated to the 70s and make it a pullover. For some reason that looks better as a pullover.

    It’s not ironic. I wasn’t saying ‘Indians’ doesn’t sound undignified, just that ‘Tribe’ sounds undignified too.

    no, read it again.

    “it sound undignified to me.”

    it should be

    “it soundS undignified to me.” with an S. Otherwise it sounds undignified.

    Irony.

    “In the Rockies’ case that’s especially true because of the pinstripes that obscure the logo.”

    Yes. After seeing it I agreed, but didn’t want to ask Tim to take out the pinstripes.

    I agree with everyone saying the re-splitting is lame. It basically made me stop reading your article. You;re taking yourself waaaay too serious if you’re complaining about Altlanta’s logotype not being split to form their city abbreviation. the tribe was the only real concept here, you should’ve just done an artocle about that. Although the caveman type looks like crap for the CLEVELAND version.

    “Although the caveman type looks like crap for the CLEVELAND version.”

    Thanks, I did that from scratch with no reference on PS.

    Seriously? Rainbow-guts on the bottom half of the jersey and randomly using the shooting star? Don’t get me wrong, I own a Rainbow-guts jersey, but that concept just looks like a joke.

    Now, I do like that road concept! I have thought for a long time that the Astros should go back to navy and orange to replace the brick red and black. Using the early 70’s font is a winner.

    Agreed, although I’m choosing to believe that combo home jersey was intended as a joke. You could honestly just take that simplified road jersey, make it white with ‘Astros’ arched across the front, and wear it with the orange/blue star hat and orange accessories and that would be the full set. If it was necessary to have an alt, they could do an orange home jersey and wear it with orange hats that have blue bills.

    Ok, that’s better. After seeing that uni concept, I think I have seen that Astros set before.

    That’s pretty much what I was thinking, although I’d use a blue stripe on the pants and orange stirrups.

    Actually, as much as I like it, I would skip the shooting star and just go with the plain ‘Astros’ in the same font and style as ‘Houston’ on the roadies. Do it fauxback style instead of simply using the old uniform.

    Rockets never wore “wine.” Was flat-out catalog “Scarlet”.

    Cavaliers, yes. Rockets, no.

    Those are the Indians regular roadies. The alternate is the navy softball top they’ve been wearing for a few years.

    re: Angels throwbacks.

    Just shows what we here at UW realized a long time ago, that a throwback and TBTC aren’t the same thing.
    The former is a look at today’s unis if a former design template were used.
    The latter is the whole schmeer…stirrups and all, announcers in old style dress, simple on-screen graphics…a real “glimpse” of the past.
    One is an alternate uni, the other a promotion.

    “Tribe” is a pretty bad nickname. It’s a condescending moniker societies that consider themselves “developed” use to imply “primitiveness” in others. When is the last time you heard someone in polite conversation talk about the Belgian tribes? What about those in Libya or Cote d’Ivoire? While you might be able to find an exception or two make sure you compare the occurrences in each country before you decide one anecdotal story “proves” you aren’t being dismissive in calling Native American’s “tribes.”

    Historically speaking, “Tribal” ranks pretty high up in forms of societal organization, doesn’t it?

    Probably tied for second with Religion, right after Government, I’d imagine.

    Although it may pre-date both, actually.

    I wish I kept my notes from an ancient history class I took a couple years ago, but “tribe,” if I’m remembering correctly, is an official distinction based on size, not prestige or anything like that. It’s somewhere above clan and somewhere below civilization, I remember that much.

    Well Mr Bubble, short of completely removing any reference to the culture and calling the team the Wildcats or something, do you have a better idea?

    What do you call the various groups of Natives if not “tribes”? The only other option I can think of is “nations”, and we already have a Nationals team, so…

    How about the Cleveland The indigenous Peoples of the Americas

    oh no, wait, I got it! The Cleveland Pre-Columbian Inhabitants of North and South America, Their Descendants, and Many Ethnic Groups Who Identify With Those Peoples.

    Pops, right?!

    Alternate jersey with a CPCINSATDMEGWIWTP as a single interlocking logo, I assume?

    Hmm, would you chain them together like the Dodgers, or set them on top of each other like the Yankees?

    Um, actually most First Nations peoples call themselves “tribes” at least as often as they call themselves “nations.” (By the way, points to Canada for coming up with the “First Nations” thing. Much better than either “Native Americans” or “Indians.” More dignified, and more accurate.) And I hear “tribe” used as a jocular self-description pretty frequently by people referring to their extended families, or to fellow fans of certain sports teams, or to shared ethnic backgrounds.

    If you look up “tribe” in a dictionary, you’ll find it to be one of the most neutral, least derogatory of all the terms that have ever been used to describe groups of people.

    why don’t they just go back to naps or spiders or one of the other names thrown around for them when the settled on indians? it doen’t have to be wildcats, it can be historical.

    Interesting idea, especially since there isn’t a team in any of the major leagues called the Spiders.

    This whole discussion is absurd. The term “Indian” is offensive because this isn’t India? Well it wasn’t called America for most of the history of these indigenous peoples, so I’m sure in a few years the term “Native American” will be equally offensive. The idea that a native mascot is offensive is entirely based on the white man’s latent guilt over his delusions of superiority. Nobody thinks the Celtics logo is offensive or degrading to the Irish. Sure, it may poke a bit of fun at the people and their lore, but they can take a joke, and it’s ok because we like Irish people. Chief Wahoo, on the other hand, is only offensive if you think the stereotype bears truth, and you have guilt over not meaning it as a joke. Pirates are by definition thieves and rapists, but we don’t really think Pittsburgh’s team is glorifying those things. In every other instance, a team name is only that. Saying Cleveland’s name is different is pejorative and patronizing and hence disrespectful to the “first nations” in a deeper way than a picture on a baseball cap will ever be.

    you are insane if you believe what you wrote, or have no moral compass to speak of. first if it is insulting to native americans? then why do native americans want these names gone? it isn’t just white guys who feel guilty. put a beer in the celtics logo, have him passed out against a wall, maybe give him 6 or 7 little celtics running around, and have fans with their shillelaghs waking snakes and eating potatoes etc, then maybe you can approach the sambo wahoo, or names like redskins. but it so much more then any of that, and you clearly demonstrate that you don’t understand any of it in your post. so what’s the point of explaining the difference beween a chief wahoo and a pirate, or just why it is offensive. white guilt has nothing to do why it is wrong. don’t mind me slandering your lack of character dude, you can “take a joke” at my expense right? you won’t get mad if i use names like redskin as a descriptor, or in your case racist jerk-off right? it’s just words, you can take a joke.

    Well, Marshall, count me completely on the Pfanzler bandwagon. I guess you’ll just have to think of me as a racist jerkoff too. The NCAA has told the Sioux people that they should be offended by UND having “Fighting Sioux” as their mascot. Rediculous. Why would teams be named for something they did not respect? They wouldn’t. IT IS AN HONOR!!! It’s not the Cleveland Cowards. Anyway, I’m sure we are at an impasse on this subject. No offense taken on my part. But please understand that not everything is/was/will be offensive. Chief Wahoo, Noc-a-Homa, are representative of someone achieving success, in a proud glorious moment. They aren’t clowns, and never were. Anyway, I’m not going to respond to anything else on this subject, but not everyone who thinks otherwise from you is racist and declares superiority over equality.

    we can agree to disagree on a lot of things ben and live and let live, but i’m sorry you feel that way, because there is no doubt about how i feel on this subject and what that says about people who think chief wahoo is cool. people can bring up the vikings or celtics, but the simple fact is neither of those peoples were conquered and destroyed by this countries people or government, so it isn’t in poor taste. we can argue about a lot of things with regards to native americans, their treatment, the inevitability of this or that, we might agree on some things, but that is irrelevant and another conversation. but it is not an honour to make a people a sambo cartoon and put feathers on our heads and scream “scalp ’em, woo woo woo, go team go”. you mock them, you take away their humanity, and it is sick, twisted, disgusting, and abhorrible. you don’t want white guilt(whatever the fuck that is) like the pfonz? fine, don’t feel guilty, i don’t, i wasn’t there. but i also have a moral compass that tells me what is right and wrong, and what is right is more important then the long standing mascot histories of teams and the feelings of those teams fans. you can not put your head in the sand and ignore the obvious, that chief wahoo is a sambo image. it isn’t fun or an honour, and it isn’t funny, it is plain and simple racism even if the images you use are powerful/strong/noble, and not chief sambo. you want to own that, more power to you ben. guess what, i’m a jerk, i say it like it is, i own that, i know who and what i am, and that might turn some people off, boo-hoo, i’ll suffer the consequences. in no conceivable way can you ignore that it is wrong, it is the conqueror using the image of the subjugated for comic relief, a mascot, not honouring them, even if you do take, what you are seeing as a strong trait, and riffing of that. i’m sorry you feel the way you do ben.

    These are some of the worst tweaks ever. Minn-esota? Do you see how off-center that is? Putting the rockies logo on the left chest? Very minor-league. This column is why I read the posts religiously, but skip most of the “tweaks” days.

    While that may look off center when you type it that way, you have to remember two things. 1 is that the M takes up more space than any other letter in the Twinkies’ logotype. The other is that when the jersey is buttoned, the E will be dead center. The split may occur to the left of the E, but it’s the buttons, not the piping, that mark the actual center of the jersey.

    In other words, the jersey doesn’t split down the center, it splits an inch or two to the left (unless you’re wearing it- then it splits to your right.

    “The Mets broke out the rarely worn creams.”

    Considering that the Mets pinstripes are technically an “alternate” home uniform. I don’t see how wearing them in 28% of the time last season equates to “rarely”.

    Because the white sox where their home and road alternates 98% of the time. By comparison, 28% seems reasonable if not rare, haha.

    The Sox need to ditch that alt. Especially at home- they look like a church league softball team. Speaking of… I remember when they only wore it on Sundays, then it was Sundays an whenever else they felt like it, and now they seem to wear it every game. Maybe the washing machine is broken.

    dammit…the sarcasm tags must be broken

    fair point though — they did wear the creams last year a LOT more than they wore the white pins the year before — probably because they need to move them in the gift shops

    I would tweak some of the DCAT:

    My favorite club, the Athletics, need to bring back the road batting helmet! I’m not overly excited to see a “San Jose” script cause I love the “Oakland” script, in fact thats the only authentic jersey I own. GO A’S!

    For the Cardinals, I’d get rid of the blue road hats and the Sunday caps and have them wear the all red every game.

    For the Mariners, I’d get rid of both colored tops and the baseball in their logo.

    For the Marlins, get rid of the black in the uniform and wear the robin’s egg blue hats.

    For the Phillies, bring back the maroon set, but wear gray on the road.

    For the Red Sox, bring back the road set they wore in the 2 World Series’ and get rid of the red tops.

    “Also, since the catchers and base coaches wear the retro helmets, bring back those
    hats for the players.”

    Unfortunately, the Orioles base coaches no longer wear them… not sure why.

    Also, the helmets are historically wrong. The helmets they were wearing, and the ones that the catchers still wear have the 1966-74 logo (link) on them which was fatter and slightly different than the bird that was on the white-front helmets/hats from 1975-88 (link).

    I usually avoid offering negative feedback for tweaks, but today’s entries demonstrate a larger principle: Displaying script logos on jerseys is not typesetting. In print, it would make sense to shift a line of type left and leave a ragged right in order to make a word break more sensibly (“Wash-ington” vs. “Was-hington”) On a jersey, though, all of today’s examples of doing this fail completely. They fail because a jersey is not a page, and a team’s script is not type. A jersey script is a graphic. As such, it’s more important for it to be centered, or nearly centered, than for the letters to break cleanly.

    A ragged right margin on a jersey is ugly, and a design failure. Doubly so if a ragged right margin is achieved by pushing the script into the player’s armpit on the other side, as most of these (see Dodgers, Twins, Nats) do. That would even be a design failure if this were typesetting instead of jersey design; it’s the equivalent of pushing the type into the gutter where the first letters of each line cannot be read.

    Since I’ve thrown out such a sweeping negative, here’s some praise. The Indians camp-sign font is exactly what the team should use. I’d rather see it used to spell “Indians” or “Cleveland,” but a “Tribe” alt would be a playful addition too. And aside from ruining many of the jerseys with misguided typesetting, most of these clear away clutter and bring teams back to a much more distinctive, cleaner look. The whole point of a uniform is for a team to be easily recognized as itself and distinguished from opponents, which most of these tweaks achieve better than the teams’ actual unis. (Demonstrating why, with sports unis, less is usually more.) Good stuff.

    Well put. That is CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

    I tend to agree with you on the centering but I was merely the tool to show the MotherVilker’s mind-pictures. I do think some of the rising scripts (ala Dodgers) could work if the uni number was placed opposite the ‘armpit’ side so that – as a whole – the graphic designs on the front of the uni were centered.

    Here’s why I don’t agree about the rising scripts: a rising script creates a dynamic imbalance both left/right and up/down. Putting the number on the lower right (viewer’s POV) balances and anchors the script. Moving the script off-center to the left just increases the imbalance, and moving the number into that negative space and away from the script actually reduces its balancing effect. It becomes the equivalent of the logo/number configuration on the new Nats home jerseys, where the elements are so far out of line with one another that they work against each other to increase the inherent imbalance of each.

    All that said, it is much better for a jersey script to break between letters rather than in the middle of a letter, even if this requires a slight left/right imbalance. It’s a graphic, but it is a graphic that’s meant to be read, and since a letter is just a shape, breaking that shape reduces readability. So it’s definitely an improvement to go from “Atl nta” with half an A on each side of the middle to “Atl anta,” or to go from “Was ington” with half an H on each side of the middle to “Was hington,” as the Nats did over the winter. So there’s definitely room for typesetting to improve the display of jersey scripts on the margin. Where one runs into problems is by treating scripts as typesetting first, graphic design second, not the reverse.

    Also, that Cleveland cap logo link.

    I thought the same thing about adding a feather to the C. It just seems wrong to completely kill Chief Wahoo without leaving a little bit of him behind.

    I’ll agree, some of these looked better in my head, but there’s a reason it didn’t come out as intended.

    Take the Twins, for example. Tim was given a script that was specifically designed as “Min nesota” and moved it over. That will, of course, look bad without resizing the letters. I wasn’t going to ask Tim to do all of that, because it would be too time-consuming for a little tweak project. In reality, if the Twins were to make this change, they’d be able to play around with the script and make it look more even.

    Some of these could also be redeemed with a little creative stitching. Look at the Orioles and Braves home jerseys. They almost look like “Ori_oles” and “Bra_ves,” and that, to me, still looks a lot better than “Oriioles” or “Braaves.”

    If I had neater handwriting, I would have done some of the script jerseys with my trusty crayons to illustrate this point. But hey, Tim did a great job considering what was asked for him.

    And yes, thanks Scott, for the advice. Thanks to all of the commenters. Wasn’t saying this is the final answer to all uni problems, but just throwing the idea out there for others to improve upon it.

    Orioles: …Also, since the catchers and base coaches wear the retro helmets, bring back those hats for the players

    Unfortunately the base coaches no longer wear them (not sure why).

    Also, the helmets are incorrect. They have the 1966-1974 logo which is fatter and slightly different than the logo that was worn on the white front hats worn from 1975-1988.

    1966-74: link
    1975-88: link

    yesterday was rained out, and i missed game 3, but the coaches have worn them every game this year otherwise.

    also, just because a website points out the logo, does not mean it was right. that was the cap logo, but the helmet changed year to year, even player to player in some years, things were not as standard in the 70’s. link, looks like the fat bird to me.

    i’m sorry, i stand corrected billy, they are not wearing them today. what a shame.

    One odd uni-tracking note (though based on the laughably small sample of six games): so far this season, the Rockies unbeaten when the home team wears a white jersey and winless in other games.

    To be honest, I just don’t find the split between letters to be that distracting or annoying. I don’t even notice it.

    Anywho, am I the only one who truly hates what Cleveland’s doing with their uniforms? I thought I would love some fauxbacks, especially if they came at the expense of Chief Wahoo. But to me these jerseys are a great example of what can go wrong when you manufacture an “old-timey” uniform: if there’s no history to the uniform it can end up just looking generic and boring. Those jerseys don’t evoke anything, they just… are. They look extremely cheap and uninspiring. And that red hat is just awful, it looks like something a high school team wouldn’t wear. The whole uniform looks like those awful Civil Rights game uniforms.

    Now don’t get me wrong, not every jersey needs a shooting star or something silly to pop. But they do need SOMETHING. Why not some piping, or some distinctive font? Am I alone here?

    Agreed, Graham. Sometimes generic is just generic, not some homage to tradition.

    It’s always been their plan to wear the gold unis today. See Paul’s entry on it from a few weeks ago: link

    Hopefully when Drayton McClane manages to sell the Astros, the new owners will take them back to a non-brick based uniform. There are way too many red based teams in the league. The Astros have a hard enough time with national identity, they don’t need to look like every other team. I’m all for a return to the original Astros set, or even to the Colt .45 colors.

    Agreed, I would also add the Astros are among the teams who should never use script for their city or nickname. Others on that list would include the Cubs, Angels, Pirates, Reds, Mariners, etc.

    The Giants are wearing the gold-lettered hats and jerseys today for the ring ceremony. They went with the normal home uniforms (instead of the gold-lettered or the usual orange Friday alternates) for the home opener.

    After seeing the abysmal changes to the fantastic Royal jerseys, I refuse to read the rest of that. What a worthless article.

    BTW, The logo replacing the awesome Kansas City script on the road grays screams either high school softball, or BP.

    But it looks good, and is especially good as an alternative to road grays. Throw in a royal cap, royal stirrups, and piping, and you’ve got a great road set (not to mention something that could legitimately be called a tweak). Funny, you have no qualms about the White Sox not wearing white socks.

    *if (and that’s a BIG if)
    There are maybe three guys on that team who wear stirrups, and Juan Pierre is the only one who plays every day. He shows about 1/2″ of white and 18″ of black. Everyone else wears black socks and covers them with their pajama pants. Hardly befitting a team named the White Sox.

    I want to love the powder blues, but with all the white there isn’t enough contrast. I saw them play on a sunny day against the Angels, and it seemed as if the whole uni was drowned out, except the word “Royals.”

    Plus, link just isn’t as good as link The only improvement is the “Royals” in royal.

    i’m stuck because i am not sure what he is going to be doing. i meant to sit down and make a few, but from what we have…

    is mick an anti golfer? maybe he hides in the trees and clubs players who come by with a now that’s a game quip. if so, all green. i guess #1 is the closest to that mick.

    does he rep bub’s as they lose to the country club public house? then something like 3 has the bowling team effect.

    or is he just wanting to look the part of a golfer if he is or isn’t a proper one? then i say 4, it’s loud, it works.

    Good grief, THIS is what Toronto is wearing on the road this year?
    link

    Could it be any more boring? Hello, BLUEjays!!! What’s with the BLACK helmet and BLACK shirt sleeves?! Yeah, let’s outline all the letters and numbers in black too, so that no one can read it from the stands! Yeah, that’s the ticket!!!

    -Jet

    I was never crazy about that uni but I’ll take it over what they’re wearing now. If you’re gonna create an image for the team, at least try to remain “in the ballpark” with uniform changes over the years, not something that is far removed and dull as dishwater…

    -Jet

    Heads-up to let you know to expect that the NCAA hockey national championship should be color-on-color, since Michigan as the “home” team will be wearing its maize jerseys and Minnesota-Duluth will be wearing its somewhat bland but decent maroon roads.

    Now if you put that stirrup on the heart…

    Nah, that looks good the way it is.

    The Gamecocks are having their spring scrimmage right now. “Garnett vs Black.” Except the “black” team is wearing all white….

    I take that back. The “black team” is wearing mono garnet and the “garnet” team is wearing mono white. This is so confusing.

    While most of Jim and Tim’s tweaks were fairly innocuous, there was one that I think was totally off base.

    “Giants: I’m *fine* with “GIA NTS” being even, but “San Fr ancisco“? The road jersey just needs to look like the 80s/90s version.”

    The home uniform lettering, even though split in the middle in terms of numbers of letters, appears to be totally off balance. Since the “A” and the “N” go in opposite directions, there is too much space between the two letters. Although I’m not crazy about the font from the 80/90s version, at least the gap between letters is not as discernible.

    The best thing to come out of the tweak section today is Stephen’s Rockets logo.
    link
    Very nice, and good job by all the tweakers.

    I must disagree with the White Sox being in the DCAT category. Their uni’s are some of my faves, but they need to ditch the alt, or at least tweak the NOB (which has so many layers of trim that it is nearly illegible.) The should go with a plain white block NOB and white numbers with grey trim, although I wouldn’t mind if they got rid of all the grey on both home and alt jerseys. The only tweak I’d suggest for the home whites would be to go cream, and for the road greys I’d spiff up the boring script (which looks like it came out of a catalog.) Maybe go block like Boston used to do. All in all, the Sox have some of the best uni’s in the league- but they could still use a few tweaks.

    As a die hard Sox fan, I disagree with almost everything you just wrote, haha.

    Home is perfect
    Road just needs the sox diamond back on the sleeve
    Black alt: the nameplate is fine but I can understand going to plain white block

    and the only way I OK ditching the gray is if you replace it with red link

    If we go red, we have to go 1959 all the way, interlocking block on the cap and all. Those uni’s were perfect. I would say we should wear white socks with black stripes up top, but these days who would see them? It would only make Juan Pierre stick out more than his oversized cap and goofy face already do. Go Sox!

    I agree, the 59 black with red trim is the best. Plus, no other MLB team uses black and red. But put red trim on the road uni’s (unlike the 59’s), whether you go with block lettering or script. The 66 thru 75 script design is a classic.

    Any team could use a tweak, even if it’s minuscule. I could find some small thing in each of the DCAT teams, but it wouldn’t be worth it.

    Actually, you mentioned NOB, Pfanzler – ideally I’d tweak every jersey to be NNOB. Just my personal preference, but I was more concerned with getting rid of things that bug me, versus things that I can live with.

    “The Cleveland Tribe” sounds a thoudand times stupider than The Indians. For the most part it sounds like those stupid MLS team names like the “Chicago Fire.” I know there’s history being evoked, but it still sounds stupid. Similarly, Columbus Crew never sounded like a team to me. Perhaps a boy band, but not a sports team. Same thing with “Cleveland Tribe.” It’s fine as an informal nickname, because they’re supposed to be kind of stupid, but not the official name.

    And even if the origins of the name “Indian” were innaccurate, it has been accepted lexicon for 400 years now. The English language is full of words and phrases which have taken up new meanings by similar anomalies and the term “Indian” in reference to native Americans just so happens to be one of those quirks.

    As for the main point of the article, it was severely “meh.” I got excited when I saw that it was all tweaks but the fact that it is mostly just typesetting is a real let down. Even then I can’t stress enough how bad those ideas were. How could anyone find that redistribution of the Dodgers’ jersey type better? Sure, it looks better from the perspective of somebody with OCD, but aesthetically, they are not pleasing at all.

    Remember, the subtitle for this blog is “The Obsessive Study of Athletics Aethetics.” Changing the type on a jersey must therefore satisfy an aesthetic purpose, not just some kind of “because it’s more correct” purpose. Similarly, changing the Indians to the Tribe must satisfy an aesthetic purpose or at least a qualitative purpose. It should not be done simply because a little over 300 years ago some Italian got a little confused about where he was and his mistake happened to become the norm.

    christopher columbus and amerigo vespucci were alive in the 1700’s?

    As his navigator said (accoring to Buckeye fans, anyway)…

    “I can see Ohio, Columbus!!!”

    Yeah. Chillin’ with George Washington, Walter Cronkite and Julius Caesar.

    Hmm… just over 500 years ago may have been more accurate. Basic arithmatic (as I assure you was the source of the error) has never really been my thing.

    I don’t know if this would work if you’re not friends with him on facebook, but if you’re a fan of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine (think of it as Bloom County/Calvin and Hobbs/Dilbert for 2011), and know of Stephan Pastis:

    link

    I really think the Angels need to ditch most of the red and bring back the navy as their primary color. The ’95-’96 unis were perfect.

    yeah last night was much better…the mid 90’s look with some ‘rups would be the best

    I like the Pirates white alternate black “P” uniform concept, having that letter on the jersey was common before WW2.

    Now all you need to do is add gold pinstripes to that uniform, and that should be the new Sunday uniform for the Pirates.

    Now for the minority party rebuttal:

    Good job TimE and jimvilk. I always liked your primitive style, kinda shabby chicish, but they do now have a certain sense of professionalism. On to the criticalisms:

    General:
    * These are my views for TWEAKS. Not blowups. I would certainly change much more than I am saying, but to make some current sets acceptable, these are a few simple changes to make.

    * Need to get rid of the MLB logo on the back of the hat and base of the neck. We know these teams are in the majors. We don’t need tags on the outside of clothes. They don’t show up on blazers or white oxfords, they don’t need to be on pro sports uniforms.

    * Jammy pants need to go, but that’s understood.

    * The Majestic logo is small and marginally barable, so whatever.

    * Alt jerseys don’t count. I don’t mind one every once in a while, but that’s it.

    Now for YOUR DCATs fellas:
    Athletics – yes

    Cardinals – Simply change the name to St. Louis on the roadies and they are good

    Cubs – No red bill on the hat.

    Mariners – Too drab. Needs more color. Throw in some BRIGHT (Mariner) teal trim on the grays.

    Marlins – Yeah, just wait till next year I guess. Black needs to go away. Too hot looking for SoFla.

    Phillies – Darken the read just a touch. Too pink.

    Red Sox – Road needs to stay with the red BOSTON with the blue outline. Not just the Navy letters.

    Tigers – Aways need more orange. I much prefered the block vertically arched DETROIT.

    White Sox – The O and the X need to the the same size as the S on the logo. I’m okay with everything else, pending the sock goes back on the sleeve.

    Yankees – Other than I’m tired of that team, yes.

    For the Tweakers:
    Angels – Fix the name and I’m fine with it. Pointy numbers and all.

    Braves – They’re fine. Leave ’em alone.

    Dodgers – Word mark looks more awkward split your way. Leave it. Be sure to keep a white outline on the road wordmark and get rid of the the LA on the sleeve. Too repetitive.

    Giants – Homies are good. Roadies need work. I like the San Francisco block wordmark, just needs to be orange with black outline. More color. Same with the numbers and NOB. The gray color is too “cool”. Somehow needs to be warmed up a bit. Maybe a brownish tint of some kind. The logo is atrocious. There is so much in San Fran to make a logo out of and they settle for a baseball with Giants over it? Barf.

    Mets – One home uni is enough. Keep the pins. And no orange bill on the grays. Good.

    Nationals – Not big on the repition of the hat logo, but overall not bad.

    Orioles – Not a fan of the cartoon duck or the boring bird. I’d put a bright orange B on the hat. Other than that, good to go.

    Pirates – Perfect as is. But I like that yellow hat idea.

    Rangers – RANGERS on the homies, and I’m good.

    Rays – Grays are DRAB, DANK, and rainy. Not good for repsenting a sunny Florida sunray. Put some color on that thing ASAP! Basic design is okay though.

    Reds – Get rid of the horsecollar. Something about their previous clean look. A few too many dropshadows too.

    Rockies – Good candidate for a blowup. Black pins? How original. Needs color. And the logo is too detailed for the shirt pocket.

    Royals – Nice as is. I LOVE the power alt, just needs to have ROYALS in white with dark blue border. The logo on the shirt pocket looks pretty good guys. Make it the old one with the big R and the little KC though.

    Twins – Dump the M hat and go full time to the TC. Never been a fan of the last 20 year’s basic set either. But since this is just for tweaks, just leave it.

    And for the Bombs…..

    Astros – No help possible to the currents. Perfect for a redo. I like your thoughts, just needs more polishing.

    Blue Jays – You nailed it.

    Brewers – Yep, as you say is righto.

    Diamondbacks – Problem with going back to the old ones is that they needed to be blown up too.

    Padres – Too much work to be done to put into words.

    I’m hungary. It’s suppertime.

    Any idea why? I’d have expected the navy alt if they were to wear one on the road. As it is I have to strain to notice the gray pants, otherwise it looks like two home teams out there.

    I’m sure there’ll be some sort of boneheaded excuse for this. :-|

    Not a fan of this “precedent” that’s been set over the past few seasons.

    So I suppose we should be glad for the one-game mentality of it.

    Athough it might have been classier (such as it is) to go with just the jersey and not the hat, too. Then again, easier to sell hats than jerseys, isn’t it.

    Eight games on MLB Netowrk right now.
    Nine dark jerseys (Rangers in royal vs. Orioles in black)

    I believe the “new norm” has officially arrived (unoffically or otherwise), no matter how any of us may feel about it.

    Just starting: Indians in gray and Mariners in white to make it one game without a dark jersey.

    im still a bit shocked that since the gints didn’t go all “LOOK AT ME” yesterday, they also didn’t wear their friday orange tops…yeah, i know it was their home opener and all, but still, why fuck with the success of wearing orange on fridays? you’re the world fuckin champions … in the words of crash davis, “a player team on a streak has to respect the streak”

    i’d hate to see the giants not make the playoffs because they started screwing around with their unis or their uni rotation

    way too many teams tweaked to have a logo/team name on the heart with the letters on the right side…part of the fun of uniforms is to have them look different, not have them all the same

    Send that thought to TCU football, please.
    “Oh, but the lizard skin look is unique.”

    Yeah, if you’re going a costume party as a reptile.

    No pics yet, but the Giants are wearing the gold lettered hats and jerseys in the game.

    the numbers are impossible to read…the centerfield camera showing cain from behind…looks like a blank jersey…front (letters) with a larger (proportionately) outline is a little better

    Figure Giants think tonight is about how they look at the park, not so much how they track on TV.

    Obviously the numbers are satin-like, cuz they’re bouncing back a lot of light, which is what’s creating the problem.

    YES.

    link is what I was envisioning with today’s piece. All I had Tim do was extend the connection between the Dodgers’ d and g. Better?

    No photo but I was at the Astros and Marlins game at Minute Maid and they put bill hall’s picture on the new screen and he had number 9 on the bottom of the bat. Anyone know about that

    I do not like the idea of making the Pirates black alt a white alt. And the numbers are fine. Not unreadable. If we attack the numbers, they ALL are stupid, especially the Colorado Avalanche numbers.

    Someone is obsessed with word splitting. If the jersey is worn the right way it’s not a big deal.

    I like the Pirates and have been hoping for the cartoon bird to return on the O’s for a while. Besides that not really a fan of the rest. Also how could there not be a change to the Mariners?

    I think if you replace “Tribe” with “Spiders” you’re good to go. The great mid-70s font is perfect for the switch (segmented like a spider’s legs!). Whether indigenous peoples find “Indians” offensive is important, but the basic fact is they weren’t in charge of the decision to call the team “Indians.” I’d assume that Notre Dame has a largely Irish-American ruling body, so their decision to go with “Fighting Irish” is from a position of power.

    Anyway, I agree that the Indians alt jerseys this year are pretty boring. Last year’s alts were better. I’d love to see the blood-red jerseys make a comeback, just not the pants…

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