By Phil Hecken
Last weekend, I ran Part I of a post, which you can view here, that encompassed a reader suggestion from Dan Pfeiffer. In that post, Dan had suggested what he considered to be each franchise’s “iconic look” ”“ the combination of team, apparel and ballpark.
Obviously, and several commenters pointed this out, this is both subjective and a function of when one grew up. Many of Dan’s suggestions seemed to come from a certain time period (not that they didn’t adequately or even excellently represent the ballclub’s iconic look), but depending upon one’s formative years, one could certainly make an argument (equally compelling) that a different time period was more apropos.
But it did spark great conversation, and many readers offered their own suggestions for a different era/uni/ballpark.
Today, we conclude the exercise with Dan’s American League picks. I’ll do my best to find a picture (or pictures) that capture the era he is describing. Feel free to critique or agree, and if you disagree with his choices, to supply your own. It’s more fun than anything else, since there is, in most cases, no “wrong” era (although you could certainly say there are eras that do NOT represent a particularly good look or stadium). So, without further ado, here’s Part II, the junior circuit:
Orioles – Rookie Ripken era Sansabelt, white-front hat & Memorial Stadium
Red Sox – Ted Williams era & Classic Fenway
White Sox – Beach Blanket & Old, Falling-Apart Comiskey
Tigers – Classic 60’s & Tiger Stadium
Royals – Brett-era white/light blue sansabelt & Royals Stadium w/turf
Angels – 80’s proper case & Big ‘A’ Rams-era
Twins – Puckett era, home/road pinstripes, ‘M’ hats & the Humpty Dump w/plexiglass
Yankees – 1927-era & House that Ruth Built
A’s – Swingin’ A’s, Gold/Green solids & Oakland Alameda’s hills
Mariners – Griffey, early 90’s & Kingdome
Rangers – Nolan era & Arlington
Blue Jays – Carter era & SkyDome
And there you have it. I’d say that’s a pretty nice representation of the ‘classic’ era for each club, although, like many of you, I’d probably disagree with a couple. But a tip of the cap and a “Well done, sir” is certainly in order.
OK, readers. It’s your turn. What’s YOUR uni/stadium era for the American League if it differs from these? Fire away.
Uni Tweaks Concepts
We have another new set of tweaks, er…concepts today. After discussion with a number of readers, it’s probably more apropos to call most of the reader submissions “concepts” rather than tweaks. So that’s that.
So if you’ve concept for any sport, or just a tweak or wholesale revision, send them my way.
Please do try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per image — if you have three uniform concepts in one image, then obviously, you can go a little over, but no novels, OK? OK!. You guys have usually been good with keeping the descriptions pretty short, and I thank you for that.
Like the colorizations, I’m going to run these as inline pics — click on each one to enlarge.
And so, lets begin:
We begin today with Stephen Scheffel, who has a set of Rockies tweaks:
Phil,
The home and road uniforms are simple. I really like the look of the white stripes on the grey uniforms like
what the Phillies use. I also think that if the Rockies use purple they should go for it and their current uniforms have way too much black.The alternates are my pride and joy. For some reason I have always thought the Rockies could use green. Coors Field is green and as a discruntled fan I can tell you the only reason they make money is because of the stadium. The Rockies also sell some green merchandise and I think it could work. These would be for Sunday home games only. Almost a bit of a fauxback. They would wear solid green hats.
Stephen Scheffel
Next up is Johnny Woods, who also has a set of Rockies tweaks:
Hey Phil –
The Rockies current cap insignia and logo feature four elements:
• The initials C and R
• Hollow serif letters
• A moving baseball
• MountainsMy logo takes those and, with a slight slant, gets them in motion.
The numbers may be too Brewer-ish, though.
Thanks,
Johnny Woods
We close today with Cole Hammers who has a new name & slightly new look for the Washington football club:
Hey Phil,
I decided to make a helmet concept for the Washington Red Tails (if they come into existence to replace the Redskins) and made a simplified uni to go with it. Note the homage to the Tuskegee airmen patch.
Thanks, Cole
And that’s it for today. Back with more next time.
Stirrup Fridays…
Because we love the stirrup here at Uni Watch, this section is devoted to those of us who sport the beautiful hose on Fridays — a trend popularized many years ago by Robert P. Marshall, III. For many of us, it’s become a bit of an obsession, but a harmless one — a reflection of our times. Where we once had Friday ties, which has been replaced by Casual Friday — we now have Stirrup Fridays. It’s an endearingly simple concept — no matter where you work (or even if you don’t) — break out a fresh pair of rups to compliment (or clash with) your Friday attire.
Nice showing for Stirrup Fridays, although a couple of these were sent in during the week. Good to see the Revolution doesn’t only work on Friday!
John Zajac:
Hey Phil,
I wore these Boston Bruins inspired stirrups on the day they knocked the Penguins out of the playoffs. With Chicago winning last night now I have a Stanley Cup stirrup showdown. No matter who wins, at least my feet will look good.
John
Andrew Greenwood:
Phil,
My friend Matt decided to have a little wiffleball tournement and BBQ on Jun 8th. I felt it necessary to bring in the stirrups.
Andrew Greenwood
Chelsea Madden:
Phil:
My Cardinals stirrups get enough wear in StL but I got to wear these last Friday to watch the Reds and Cardinals in Cinci!
Chelsea Madden
James Poisso:
Phil,
With this being Father’s Day Weekend, today’s stirrups are in honor of the “father” of stirrups–Nap Lajoie.
James Poisso
John Graham:
Phil,
Doctor (vet) and patient (chihuahua) pics for today. Due to supplies I sometimes have to get creative with my colors/designs. Such is the case today as only purple and teal were available, so I designed some 90s Diamondback fauxbacks. I usually pair a jersey with my stirrups on Fridays and today I went with a Billy Wagner (my hometown hero) and Braves ‘rups.
Jake
Michael Clary:
Phil:
Nestled in the heart of the Catskill Mountains is the bustling hamlet of Claryville (population 260), where we hiked up a small mountain to see (and climb) the Red Hill Fire Tower. Stirrups and hiking socks may not be the best possible look, but at least it’s not camo.
– Clarybird
William Thomas:
Phil,
Wearing my ’47 Phillies stirrups for church league softball. Lots of compliments!
William Thomas
And that ends today’s look at Stirrup Friday — all of you who participate, send me your pics and a brief (~50 words) description of their relevance, and I’ll run ’em here on Saturday (and sometimes Sunday too!). Be sure to visit Robert’s House of Hose for news on rups.
A Special Request…
Tomorrow is Father’s Day, and I have a special request for the readership. I’d like to feature all the Uni Watch “Dads In Uniform” out there. So, if you have a picture of your dad wearing any kind of a uniform (even if not sports related), or if you’re in uniform and with your son, would you mind e-mailing me a photo? Send it to me at Phil.Hecken@gmail.com. I’m working on what I hope will be a very special Father’s Day post, and featuring the “Dads in Uniform” would be great. If you want, send me a very short (~50 words or less) description of the photo.
OK? OK!
Everyone have a fantastic Saturday.
Follow me on Twitter: @PhilHecken
Peace.
“I think it’s sad that the implicit message of sports these days ”” especially football ”” is that the goal is to be an asshole.”
–Paul Lukas
Being a Mariners fan, I’m glad Griffey Jr. got to wear the Mariners’ organization’s best uniform, when he played for the Bellingham Mariners in ’87. Unfortunately, by the time he reached the majors, the Mariners were in their 3rd year being “traditional” with the boring button-front jerseys and belted pants. Kevin Martinez, if you’re reading this, return fun to the game and bring back the Trident!
That tigers photo is perfection
Forgot to mention those Packer stirrups at the wiffleball tournament was worn in Baltimore.
For the O’s I’d pick Cal Jr. with his hat off to the crowd and the 2131 banner hanging on the warehouse. I am too young to remember the World Series in 1983, so that is my happiest Orioles memory.
Being a little older, i’d pick Brooks lying on the dirt lifting a ball he ad just caught, arm raised, with the black hat w cartoon bird.
My subjective take on the representative Orioles look would be somewhere in the ’66 to ’72 period. Cal in ’95 is a great moment, but the mid 60s to early 70s were when the team as a whole was an incredible power, loaded with future Hall of Famers. And they still had “Baltimore” on the away jerseys and wore classic stirrups. The fact that I was a kid living right down the street from Memorial Stadium at the time does not influence my reasoning at all!
Memorial Stadium had a fantastic facade and was the site to O’s championships which I guess makes it special to Baltimoreans, but Camden Yards practically set the standard by which all newly constructed MLB ballparks are measured.
This is so true … Memorial Stadium was a shocking choice because of Camden Yards’ beauty and influence. But the point of this list seemed to be to repudiate anything that’s happened in the last 30 years.
Agree. The argument can be made for Memorial Stadium, especially considering all the winning that happened there, and Wild Bill Hagy, and that iconic facade, but I still have to go with Camden Yards. Maybe it’s that they shared Memorial with the Colts? Also, the Warehouse is one of the greatest, most recognizable stadium feature in baseball.
The White Sox have changed looks so often it’s hard to pin down something iconic for them, but I’ll take a stab at the link era, even if the cap and jersey lettering didn’t match.
I think for the White Sox I’d actually point to their current uniform.
I’m completely with both of you guys, my first choice would be the Go-Go era, and a close second is the current uniform. I’m a Sox fan in his thirties, and I don’t understand why everyone else likes the beach blanket look so much.
The White Sox choice is the prime example that this list is too tied to one person’s formative era. A gaudy look that was worn for 5 years and has no real connection to anything else ever worn by the club does not make sense as a representative iconic look.
Dick Allen, smoke dangling from his lip, juggling baseballs in the Comiskey Park dugout, circa 1974. That photo made me, for a while, a Sox fan.
I gotta agree with The Jeff that the White Sox unis are the best.
It’s one thing to say it’s subjective, but I can say definitively the list of “iconic looks” is wrong for at least one team – The Mariners. The “early 90’s look” reference lasted from 1988 to 1992. By ’93 they’d adopted what, in retrospect, may be the finest jersey of it’s era (and they’ve been link).
So you’ve got a uniform that the team wore for 5 years vs. a uniform that the team wore for 21 years. In the former, the never finished more than a game over .500 or sniffed the playoffs; in the latter, they had the prime of the 4 best player at their position of their generation, made the playoffs 4 times, played in the best ALDS Series of all-time, had the most wins in a season of any club, ever, thrown a perfect game, and had the first japanese born position player not only make the big leagues, but win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season.
There is simply NO argument, not even a subjective one, that can be made for the 88-92 look.
As for the stadium, this is a tough call. The M’s played in the Kingdome from 1977-1999 (22.5 seasons) and Safeco (including this season, 14 seasons). A majority of the team success has come in Safeco, but the years – and the notoriety – belong with the Kingdom. Lean Kingdome, but in a few years Safeco will be the obvious choice.
It’s actually a testament that after 14 years, Safeco still compares favorably to the most modern parks, and after 21 years, the jersey still looks as sharp and modern as when it debuted.
Yes. I’m a since-’77 M’s fan as well, and with all due respect to Phil, this is the LEAST iconic look in team history. I agree with the Kingdome though, and Griffey is clearly the iconic player. But really, the iconic look is either the early 80’s star-logo Trident uniform, or the ’95 Miracle M’s with the teal brim.
I actually agree with both of you — I only found the pics — this was Dan’s list, not mine. While I love the original M’s look (esp. the baby blue roads of the early years), the new park and their current unis are what I would pick if you had to ask me.
I’d also go with either the late 60’s-early 70’s Orioles (although Cal in the new park is good too), and the current Sox (though I’m more of a fan of the Go-Go Sox unis). And while the Yanks haven’t really changed their unis since the 1930s, I’d say the Mick and the late 50s-early 60s era would be as ‘iconic,’ if not moreso, than the Babe/early YS years.
It’s all subjective, though, and just a fun exercise.
But as far as the M’s, 1995-current is definitely their “look.”
I don’t know if the longevity of the uniform’s use is vital, but I’ll wager that when most folks think of the Indians’ ‘iconic look’, it’s the one from “Major League”, a uniform the actual Tribe only wore for 3 years, that comes to mind.
link
If that’s the case, how sad it that?
Wait, wasn’t that a documentary?
Glad you said it so I don’t have to. The 88-92 unis are limp, uninspired and totally forgettable. I think you have to go ’95 with the teal brim. I don’t even like the teal brim, but if any combo has a claim to be the Ms “iconic look” its that one.
As far as the Angels, I was always look back to the 60’s look with the CA on the cap with the halo on top…and the Big A scoreboard in left field.
I can’t argue with the Twins Puckett era–2 WS championships and all–but for my money, based purely on aesthetics with nostalgia thrown in, the mid-’60’s era Twins and Met Stadium rule…
link
(…also provides a nice Father’s Day pic. That’s Tony Oliva and his daughter.)
I really like Cole Hammers’ tweak, which is why I’m sorry to be “that guy” in this case. But I think it may be more appropriate to use the uni-patch of the 332nd, the original Tuskegee Airmen, rather than use a cadets’ unit patch.
link
I love the concept though!
I love the concept, too. I think that the Redtail name change suggestion is the only one I’ve heard so far that didn’t sound like a minor league franchise. That way the team could keep the script “R” from the Joe Gibbs era. Although, I would go with the red tail hawk as a logo and not the pilots.
Not sure that “Red Tails” is the best way to go…I agree, it’s a nice sentiment – but it would work a lot better for a team based in Birmingham or Mobile. The Tuskegee Airmen did not train in the DC area, nor were they stationed there. In fact, none of the remaining units descended from the Tuskegee Airmen are in MD/VA/DC. As such, it’s a bit of a stretch.
One possibility that hasn’t been brought up before – especially if you want to keep the “R” as an initial – is “Rough Riders”. I only thought about it after Ottawa was dissuaded from reviving “Rough Riders” as a nickname by the CFL (with the Saskatchewan Roughriders obviously having their say).
The name has more of a DC connection (future President Teddy Roosevelt); it’s easily shortened to “Riders”; it connotes toughness and determination; and, as an aside, it allows for the use of two established logos – the fancy “R” on caps, and the old early-70s Circle “R” logo on the helmets (minus the feather, of course). Heck, you could probably just get rid of the feather and otherwise use the 1971 ‘Skins unis in their entirety.
It’s a bit odd to say the ’27 Yankees is their iconic look when there is no “NY” on the jersey.
Yeah, I don’t understand that choice either. The Yankees’ iconic uniform is their current uniform, since they’ve been wearing it with only minor changes for over 75 years.
I’d go with the ’49-’53 Yanks, uni and stadium. Hard to argue with 5 in a row.
That would have to be pre-whitewash Stadium.
Me, too.
I’m going to pick, in a most minor way, on your Angels photo – the text says “Rams era”, but the photo is clearly from before the Rams renovation. This is a Rams-era photo:
link
Where is the big A now, anyway?
According to the internets, its in the parking lot
link
Point of correction, the “Big A” is right by the 57 freeway.
The choice of Joe Carter and Skydome highlights for me the difference between what a fan would pick as the iconic look, and what an outsider would pick. I totally get the Carter/Skydome pick, but I’d argue that the uniform and stadium that fans associate with the team was much earlier.
link
(though I admit that’s probably just me showing my age)
I couldn’t agree more. Bob Bailor, Doug Ault, Jerry Garvin and his flaxen perm. Rick Cerrone. Otoo “The Swatto” Velez. “Let’s Go To The Ex.” Getting ripped off by shopkeepers who insisted on accepting US dollars at par, because you were 14 and your parents let you take the Voyageur buss from Buffalo to Toronto by yourself, and you were too stupid to calculate exchange rates. Man, I loved that stadium, and that team, and that city.
A small quibble: You mention the Royals “icon look” was “white/light blue sansabelt”.
Neither photo is sansabelt.
Here is a couple of photos of the old pullover jerseys (including the powder blue road unis):
link
link
When I click on the Go-Go link in Teenchy’s post I get an alternating skull and text box that says “Stealing bandwidth is a crime.” IDK…
For anyone else following this story, Quebec has reversed its ban on turbans in soccer. And if you thought the ban was racist, you’re “disgraceful” and “reprehensible”
link
The funny thing is how it’s all inspired by the irrational fear many North Americans (and Europeans) have against Muslims and their attempt to hide behind nebulously racist rules/laws against the scary, scary Muslims.
But in fact, this rule only really affects Sikh players.
That presumes many North Americans are aware of the difference.
Anywhere else in North America, I’d agree with you, but in Quebec I’d say its more about the Quebecois animus against anything that’s not “pur laine”.
Is anyone else worried people are breaking their pets’ legs just to get on uni watch?
^^^ Comment of the day right there.^^^
Would trade those two Series wins for anything, but always wished the Twins had been wearing their TC caps instead of the silly M.
Here’s a question: how many of you love teams but struggle to reconcile that love with aesthetic preferences? I love the Twins but would rather they wore something as timeless and classic as those Detroit uniforms.
Would not trade, meant to say
I would like to comment that any version of a field with artificial turf is inferior to its natural grass counterpart.
Regarding the A’s, here’s a link to a much better picture of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in its glory days (i.e. pre-Mount Davis):
link
Just saw on twitter via deadspin
“Colllege World Series” on dugout in Omaha
I really like the first Rockies concept. I think the green actually works. It surprises me it works.