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Matthew Drake Redesigns MLB – AL West & NL East Edition

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By Phil Hecken, with Matthew Drake

Greetings from New York, where we continue our fight against the COVID pandemic (but where it also looks like we may be slightly turning the corner — or passing the apex — to better things). Thanks to our social distancing we have been having success! I hope you and yours are holding up as well.

Two weekends ago, I introduced you to the design concepts of Matthew Drake (AL East & NL Central Editions). If you missed that post, pretty much everything you need to know is explained there. Last weekend, we showed Matt’s AL Central and NL West concepts (click here for those). And today, we finish up with the AL West and NL East.

As I explained at the time, with all the designs and writups, it’s probably too lengthy and unwieldy to include every concept from each league, as I usually do when showing off league-wide redesigns. What I’ve decided to do, then, is to break these out into the six different divisions, and I’ll run two divisions each time.

Here’s Matt:

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Here are the AL West designs:

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Houston Astros


I went with a 3-stripe “gradient” from orange to yellow on the sleeves, pants, and socks, based on the tequila sunrise design. I also added a shooting star with this design, once again inspired by @SFGiants58. As a small tweak, I also removed the beveling from the “H-star” logo.

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The orange alternate now has a white wordmark to better match the cap logo, and the navy alternate now just has white letters with no outline.

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An orange cap, socks, and undersleeves option is added to be worn on occasion at home.

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The Cooperstown Collection is based off of the Tequila Sunrise, and the Spring Training jersey has the H-star logo and a new cap.

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Los Angeles Angels


Yellow is embraced in this set, so as to separate from the other red & navy teams. I removed the spikes in the font in order to look less like the Rangers. The single stripe on the socks is meant to represent a halo.

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When worn at home, the red alternate can be paired with a white cap.

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The Cooperstown Collection is based off of the PCL Angels, complete with UCLA stripes and a wordmark from @SFGiants58. The Spring Training goes all-in on yellow.

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Oakland Athletics


I went back to the kelly green, specifically the shade used on the new alternate. I added a simplified striping pattern inspired by the old Northwestern stripes. The number font is based on the font in the team’s primary logo.

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The gold alternate stays, and the green alternate is modified so the yellow & white don’t touch.

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The Cooperstown Collection retains the brighter kelly and gold letters from the Kansas City Athletics. The Spring Training jersey is a different green top, with a white cap that has the elephant logo.

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Seattle Mariners


I went back to the original wordmark font, with the original away uniform striping, while emphasizing the iconic teal. The “M” returns as the cap logo, without the middle trident spike.

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Teal and navy variations on the primary uniforms.

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A teal alternate cap to pair with the home jerseys.

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For the Cooperstown Collection I went with a cream uniform inspired by the original Pilots uniform. The Spring Training uniform prominently showcases the new “M” logo.

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Texas Rangers


Overall, I think the Rangers’ new uniforms are an upgrade, but I kept the old “Rangers” script and the double outlines on the numbers. The cap also has a double outline and a red bill to balance the two colors effectively.

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Red and blue variations on the primary uniforms. The red jersey is based on the 80’s Rangers alternate.

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The Cooperstown Collection uniform is based on the prior Washington Senators, which the Rangers threw back to in 1994. The Spring Training uniform utilizes a modified state outline logo with just the standalone “T.”

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And now we wrap things up with the NL East:

Atlanta Braves


Not many changes to the classic primary uniforms, beyond removing the tomahawk from the jerseys.

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The striping on the alternates now matches the primaries, and the navy alternate now has white letters with a double outline to better match the iconic cap.

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The Cooperstown Collection throws back to the 70’s Braves but with the modern colors. The Spring Training set offers a navy version of the same set.

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Miami Marlins


Marlin blue is reemphasized in this color palette, and “caliente red” is replaced by a more magenta-pink shade. After all, since the team was almost originally going to be the Florida Flamingos, it only makes sense!

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A Marlin blue alt enters the rotation full-time (as it should be), and the black alternate has Marlin blue letters for improved readability.

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Here are some alternate cap options, such as a white front-panel to add to the 80’s vibe, and a Marlin blue crown cap to mimic the original road uniform.

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The Cooperstown Collection is based on the original home uniform with the classic teal, and the Spring Training embraces the pink a little bit more.

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New York Mets


The home jersey is perfect and stays the same, beyond the change to a number font more fitting with the script and cap logo. The away has a modified script logo designed by @SFGiants58, with sleeve and pants striping reminiscent of the 80’s racing stripes.

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The royal alternate now has striping that mimics the away, and I added a snow white alternate to be worn on Sunday afternoons.

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The Cooperstown Collection is based on a uniform the Mets threw back to in 2009, and the Spring Training uniform emphasizes orange and the Mr. Met logo.

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Philadelphia Phillies


I added a blue brim to the cap to be unique in a league that has the Reds and the Cardinals. The away also has blue outlines now, similar to the 1940’s uniforms.

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The red alternate is now in the rotation full time, and the cream alternate stays for Sunday afternoon games, with more blue accents.

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The Cooperstown Collection of course goes back to the beautiful maroon and powder color scheme, while the Spring Training focuses more on blue, like the team used to do.

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Washington Nationals


The home uniform is based on the uniform the team has worn during Spring Training, which in my opinion is superior to the regular primary. Also, the interlocking “DC” logo replaces the curly W on the cap & primary logo.

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The red alternate features the “DC” logo, and the World Series-winning navy alternate remains relatively the same.

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The Cooperstown Collection is a fauxback to the racing stripe, pinwheel cap Expos. The Nationals are also the only team to utilize a white uniform for Spring Training, which features the interlocking “DC” logo.

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Thanks, Matt! Some of those “Cooperstown Collection” (and BP/SP uniforms) are pretty interesting. Readers? What do you think? I want to again thank Matt for sharing these with us.

And we may be done with this collection, but we’re not done with Matthew’s designs. I’ll be back with him again in the not too distant future (and a “get to know you” interview) as we look at another interesting twist he has envisioned for MLB uniform design!

Teambrown Apparel is stepping up to the plate

Earlier this week, I got a DM from Rob Brown, who runs the awesome Teambrown Apparel site (devoted to, among other things, awesome Negro League and AAPGBL ephemera), with a question/offer:

I am working with a company that is bringing PPE (masks, gloves and working on other things) to bring into US from China. Do you know anyone in NY that may be interested if I can get them good pricing?

We just got an order for 6 million units from a large retailer back east and expecting another 21 million units for masks.

Obviously here in New York (and now, throughout the country) we’re in dire need of all PPE and I know many of the places around my neighborhood either don’t offer them, or are trying to acquire them, or — and there are a few unscrupulous ones — offering these items at gouging levels. And while I don’t know any specific places, I told Rob I’d run his offer on Uni Watch, if there are any places looking to stock up on reduced-priced PPE.

I asked Rob to give me a quick writeup and a link.

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Teambrown Apparel is stepping up to the plate to offer “PPE” (Personal Protective Equipment) to those in need. Everyone is impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and Teambrown Apparel wanted to find a way to help. With most states requiring masks, even for people that are asymptomatic, this is going to be a part of our lives for some time.

Teambrown Apparel activated their partners and network to utilize their purchasing power and production facilities both domestically and internationally to be able to source PPE for those in need. We are also working with partners that will be donating to underserved communities and organizations to make sure everyone is protected. For more information please check here.

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How great is that? Thanks, Rob! And thanks to everyone who is stepping up to help fight the COVID pandemic!


Uni Concepts & Tweaks

After being dormant for a while, the Uni Tweaks/Concepts have returned!

I hope you guys like this feature and will want to continue to submit your concepts and tweaks to me. If you do, Shoot me an E-mail (Phil (dot) Hecken (at) gmail (dot) com).

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Occasionally I’ll have some concepts tweeted at me. This one comes from Joseph Guzman, who has a couple New York Football Giants ideas:

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Thanks. OK readers, tweeters (and concepters). If you have some tweaks or concepts, shoot ’em my way with a brief description of your creation and I’ll run ’em here.

The Beginnings of Candlestick

Every so often a great tweet generates a bunch of really great, historical replies.

Late this week, my pal Ron Bolton (who posts as @OTBaseballPhoto) tweeted this photo of the ballpark known as “Candlestick”:

Now you guys know I love stadia, so this alone was interesting to me. But it turns out I’m not alone and several follow up relies showed the ballpark and area in which it’s located, in various steps of development.

Sometimes, Twitter is really good.

If you go back to Ron’s original tweet, there are also lots of good historical facts and nuggets (like, for example, the ballpark was named “Candlestick Park” because it was built on a piece of land known as “Candlestick Point.”) But seeing the ballpark and area in various stages of construction was the gem of that thread. Definitely worth a read through if you have a couple minutes.

Guess The Game…

from the scoreboard

Today’s scoreboard comes from Wade Heidt.

The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).

Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date & location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):

Please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.

And now a few words from Paul

Hi there. First and foremost, I hope you’re staying safe and (relatively) sane, as I’m doing my best to do.

Second, please join me in thanking Phil for the epic work he’s been doing during the pandemic. He’s been juggling some family stuff, some grad school stuff, and all the other stuff we’ve all been dealing with, but he’s still been doing a great job with the Uni Watch weekends — thanks, buddy.

Now then, a few merchandising notes:

• If you want a Uni Watch Classic Cap (which, as you can see, pairs nicely with a homemade mask), I have ample supplies of sizes 7 and 7-7/8, and two of size 7-1/4. Everything else is sold out. I have orders in place for new inventory, but Ebbets Field Flannels’ factory is currently shut down, so there’s no telling when those orders will be filled. If you want one of our remaining sizes, you can order here.

• As of this writing, I have one red seam ripper and two white seam rippers. Everything else is sold out. I ordered 100 new rippers a month ago, but they’re coming from China, so who knows when they’ll arrive. If you want one of the ones I still have on hand, you can order here.

On the plus side, Teespring continues to operate normally, so everything in the Uni Watch Shop and the Naming Wrongs Shop continues to be available. And remember, you can save 15% on anything in those shops by using the checkout code COMMUNITY.

And of course you can always support Uni Watch by ordering a membership card or making a donation.

Thanks, and stay safe! Now back to Phil.

In Case You Missed It

On Thursday, I appeared on TSN (The Sports Network — roughly the Canadian equivalent of ESPN) radio 1260 with host Dave Jamieson. Paul posted it in yesterday’s post, so apologies to any who saw (and hopefully listened) to it then.

I’ve done a bunch of radio (and many podcasts) over the years, but I thought this one went really well — it’s about 9 minutes, so if you didn’t listen, it’s pretty short. Dave was an excellent interviewer and obviously a huge fan of Uni Watch (and Paul as well as all the contributors) so it was a pleasure to speak to him.

Love to hear any thoughts you guys have. While the sports world may be shut down for now, there’s still lots of uniform talk to be had! If anything good comes from this awful COVID situation, at least us uni folks have plenty to discuss.

The Ticker
By Anthony Emerson

Baseball News: Kurt Rozek noticed that the 1982 Brewers batting helmet logo did not have a yellow outline, contrasting with the official logo of the time. Hmm. … Here’s a shot of then-Reds IF José Peraza wearing a modified Gucci belt on the field. Here’s hoping he brings the style to Fenway this year. … Brandon Chase reminded us that when Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia first broke into the big leagues in 2006, he wore No. 64, and would’ve kept wearing it had he not been convinced to switch to a lower number by teammates, as revealed in the 2007 Red Sox World Series DVD. … At about the 2:45 mark in this compilation of old Volkswagen commercials, we see a commercial shot in Shea Stadium. Neato! (from Keith Goggin). … A Reddit user has compiled a whole bunch of weird baseball field dimensions into a cool poster design (from Mike Chamernik). … I wish baseball teams would bring back the collars, like Syracuse University had in 1898 (from J. Max Weintraub). … Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wore a Nationals cap during her COVID press conference yesterday, and it appears to be a Nationals cap without a maker’s mark. Good job, Madam Mayor! (from @NatteringN).

NFL/CFL News: The Patriots will finally release their new uniforms on Monday. The video seems to imply that some sort of throwback will be on tap, long rumored to be the team’s 1995-1999 design, but that isn’t happening (from many, many, many readers). … Browns owner JW Johnson says the team will “get to work” adding orange pants (from Bob Moon). … Here are a few screengrabs from an early-’90s Cowboys game with OL Tom Rafferty wearing a jersey with serifed uni numbers when all his teammates had gone sans-serif. … The New York Times has an interesting article about the company behind electronic football scouting (from Adam Hebst). … The Calgary Stampeders seem to have accidentally leaked their number font. They are yet to unveil their new unis (from Wade Heidt).

College Football News: Interesting article from the Seattle Times on how Photoshop and design play a role in college football recruiting at Washington (from Dustin Jensen).

Hockey News: A blog has ranked the five goalies with the worst equipment style since 2000 — the real highlight of that piece, however, is a shot of Tim Thomas in a Stars uni with Panthers pads and mask! (from Wade Heidt).

NBA News: The NBA and WNBA will sell team-branded facemasks, with proceeds going to hunger relief programs in communities hit especially hard by COVID (from Mike Chamernik). … In last night’s WNBA Draft, Gianna Bryant, Alyssa Altobelli, and Payton Chester were all selected as honorary draft picks (from James Gilbert).

College Hoops News: New corporate name for Virginia Wesleyan’s basketball arena (from Kary Klismet). … Fansided ranked the 15 best college hoops unis (from Adam Childs).

Soccer News: The Eredivisie, the Dutch top league, is holding a contest that allows voters to pick their three favorite shirts in the entire history of the league, since 1956. What are you waiting for? Go vote! (thanks, Jamie). … Belarusian second division side Dnepr Rogachev’s new kits feature a math problem on the back. My degrees are in English and political science, so I’ll let someone else solve it (from Ed Żelaski). … Real Madrid has released new renderings of how the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium will look after renovations (from Kary Klismet). … Also from Kary: Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande have started constructing a 100,000 seat stadium, which would be one of the largest in the world upon completion.

Grab Bag: A Hoosiers blog has released a ranking of 16 failed mascots in IU history (from Kary Klismet). … Also from Kary: the city of Manchester has released plans for a 23,500 seat arena, which would be the largest indoor arena in the UK. … Here’s a cool article about how infectious diseases inspired American bathroom design (from Ted Arnold).

And Finally… Hope everyone had a good week — or at least as good as can be expected under the circumstances. Things are getting better (or at least, it appears so) here in Nassau County and New York, and it’s due in large part to everyone doing their part with social distancing — and of course also due to the heroic efforts of our doctors, nurses, medical staff, etc. and everyone who is an essential worker just making it better for us nonessential types. Let’s not fuck this up by letting down our guard now. Until we have a cure or a vaccine — this will never really be over. What we do want to do is crest this thing and be smart about it. Thinking it’s over before it is could lead to a second or third wave, and cost us any gains we’ve made. Yeah, it sucks. Spring is here and in one month the entire world has been turned upside down.

We’re all in this together. Together we’ll get through this!

See ya tomorrow,

Peace

PH

 
  
 
Comments (75)

    GTGFTS 46th Grey Cup (first under the newly formed CFL) 11/29/58 in Vancouver’s Empire Stadium. Bud Grant was the winning coach; Jim Trimble coached Hamilton. Legend has it the game was an all timer.

    The game happened to be colour vs. colour! I guess monochrome uniforms not just a new trend. Hamilton Tiger-Cats sporting a monochrome look in the 1950s.

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    Removes the tomahawk from the classic jersey but leaves the feathers on the sleeves of the Cooperstown jersey, LOL.

    Always love these redesigns! Nice work. I wondered if you were going to tweak the Angels primary logo. I know it’s solid, but I’ve always thought it was kind of surprising that they haven’t tweaked it to be LA and not just the A. I’ve always felt if you were going to have a logo with a single letter, it should be the team city and not the team nickname. I really hate that my Bengals logo is a “B” and not a “C”

    Thank you Jordan! I think with the Dodgers having “ownership” of the “LA” monogram, it’d probably be best for the Angels to just stick with the “A”

    Those Cowboys screen grabs were from the 1980s, because Tom Rafferty retired after the ’89 season (Jimmy’s first). The one of the left is definitely 1984 since the 25th SEASON (not anniversary) patch is on the left shoulder.

    I’m having trouble once again getting my phone to load the mobile site. Is anyone else having the same problem? There was a special URL shared a while back that would force the mobile site to load. Does that still work, and if so, what is it? Thanks in advance.

    Good point :) I guess I would say it’s not a single letter? And the whole team nickname is on there, not just one letter. But point taken. I still would like to see the Angels with an LA logo…

    YES! Some days it loads the mobile version but it’s mostly the irritating version. It’s so hard to read too. All I do is hit my bookmark so it’s gotta be on their end.

    Love the redesigns. My only quibble is the bespoke fonts for the A’s and Mets. MLB Block works fine for both of them. I don’t think of those teams with those fonts. The Marlins need to switch to these tomorrow.
    As far as the college hoops survey, they got it right (Go Heels!). The 6 “stripes” on Mizzou’s waistband represent the 6 columns left standing when the school’s first building (Academic Hall) burned in 1892. It sits at the center of campus. It’s their most iconic landmark, it would have been nice for the writer to do a little research before dismissing them.

    Thank you MJ! Personally, I’ve always preferred custom fonts for teams, as I’ve found MLB Block to be a bit drab. I would be fine with either team keeping it, though.

    The interlocking ‘DC’ isn’t bad by any means, and is certainly an improvement on the current Walgreens logo, but I think the new alternate logo with the Senators block ‘W’ in front of the Capitol building is far superior to either, and would instantly become one of the top logos in the entire league.

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    I liked the “W” Capitol logo for it’s time, but I don’t know, I didn’t feel like it works as well in the modern MLB as the “DC” does.

    The uniforms redesigns are pretty cool. As a huge Mets fan, I hate the number font, especially since the 4 is not closed. Their current number font has been their font for 50+ years and shouldn’t be changed. I like the gray away font reminiscent of the late 80s. I never liked the snow white jersey for the Mets.
    It’s just not them. As much as I’m glad to see the black is gone, I’d rather see a black alternate than snow white.

    I would love to see the Angels adopt a red and sky blue color scheme. Yes, it’s another red/blue team, but when you think of “Angels,” you think of the clouds and the blue sky. That’s the theme I’m thinking of. Besides, I don’t anyone has red/sky blue as their full time color scheme (not counting the sky blue alternates that’s popular again).

    Thanks Richard. I understand your distaste for the Mets numbers, but honestly I just wanted to try something new. Personally I love the snow white for the Mets, it helps them distance themselves from the other pinstripe team in the city.

    I agree that I’d love to see the Angels try red & sky blue (or maybe even periwinkle, from the 90’s Disney days). I’ve tried to figure out a way to make that color scheme work, but honestly light blue is really difficult to integrate into baseball uniforms, as it often clashes with the road gray jersey.

    I grew up a big fan of the Angels, and why should they change they lettering when they had it before the Rangers? I’d also like to see some mention of “Los Angeles” or “LA”, at least on their road uniform. Better yet, I’d like to see them dump Los Angeles. I get why they dropped Anaheim, wanting to capture the fan base for all of Southern California. So why not change their name to the “Southern California Angels”?

    Why exactly did they stray from “California Angels”? It seems to me that name didn’t need fixing.

    I never understood why a team in Orange County wanted to be called the “Los Angeles Angels”. LA County fans were never going to exchange the Dodgers for the Angels. It’s very territorial as most places are. The only thing that can happen is marginalizing their own fan base by being thirsty for something else. The “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” was even more atrocious. When I was growing up they were the California Angels and that made a lot of sense to me. I understood it. Orange County is very distinct from LA; and I think the name reflected that.

    While they’re at it they can take the red numbers off of the red softball jersey!

    I can understand wanting to take advantage of the cachet of “Los Angeles,” but they don’t! You don’t see LA on their hats or jerseys or anywhere else, and when the team refers to itself, they usually use “Angels Baseball.” I wish they’d just go back to using either the “California” or “Anaheim” monikers. At least their core fan base would appreciate it.

    I think he did a pretty nice job on the uniforms, though I don’t care for the yellow jerseys. I really dig the single-stripe “halo” on the socks and sleeves!

    That’s a great point. Likely the one good price of merchandise they’ve ever had was the Angels stylized interlocked LA; yet you never see it. Not even for a throwback game if memory serves me correctly. They seem to distance themselves from the navy blue. Perhaps that’s the reason? Hard to say but it’s a fun franchise and every bit of their identity at this long seems misplaced. They need an overhaul for sure. If even take Anaheim Angels over LA since they’re actually in Anaheim. Still prefer California Angels. But my opinion and $3 gets you a cup of black coffee.

    Nestor Chylak, the Angels went with the Anaheim moniker because the city kicked in a bunch of money for the stadium refurbishment and made a deal with the owners that in exchange the team carry the Anaheim name. That’s why Arte Moreno changed it to “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” when he first put the LA name on it and kept it there until the original agreement expired.

    Regionally/State named teams…and their City Name Alternatives

    Los Angeles Angels or California Angels vs. LA Angels of Anaheim or Anaheim Angels
    Tampa Bay Rays vs. Tampa Rays
    Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Tampa Buccaneers
    Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Tampa Lightning
    New England Patriots vs. Boston Patriots
    Minnesota Vikings vs. Minneapolis Vikings
    Colorado Rockies vs. Denver Rockies (I prefer Denver Bears)
    Colorado Avalanche vs. Denver Avalanche
    NY Jets vs. New Jersey Jets
    NY Giants vs New Jersey Giants (or East Rutherford)
    Minnesota Twins vs. Minneapolis Twins
    Carolina Panthers vs. Charlotte Panthers
    Carolina Hurricanes vs. Raleigh Hurricanes
    Florida Panthers vs. Miami Panthers
    Golden State Warriors vs. San Francisco (or Oakland) Warriors
    Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Minneapolis Timberwolves
    Indiana Pacers vs. Indianapolis Pacers

    Actually the Foxborough Patriots.
    Also, how about Texas Rangers vs. Arlington Rangers?

    Arizona Cardinals and Diamondbacks…as wrong as it may be, I prefer Phoenix for both.

    The Angels were originally called “California” after moving from LA to Orange County because they were the only American League team in California. That’s obviously not the case anymore. It really makes no sense to try to represent the entire state, And sorry, but Anaheim is a little league name. Nobody else in Orange County wants to be associated with Anaheim, That’s why calling themselves “Southern California” makes sense, like the New England Patriots or Carolina Panthers.

    RickAZ- I could never put my finger on why I don’t like the name Anaheim and I think you’ve nailed it. It does sound little league; as would Orange County. And you’re also correct in the sense that the surrounding OC cities wouldn’t necessarily appreciate the Anaheim moniker. Southern California Angels does have a uniqueness to it that really doesn’t exist in pro sports. Even New England describes a multistage region, whereas Southern California uniquely represents a region of the state. They’d be only the second pro franchise named Southern California as far as I know. The Southern California Sun from the WFL is the only I’m aware of.

    Hey Rick, I decided to change the Angels lettering as opposed to the Rangers because I felt the “spikes” in the middle of the wordmark have a “Western” feel that is more befitting to the Rangers than it does the Angels. I wanted the Angels to have a more smooth, clean look.

    I didn’t particularly like the Washington Nationals redesign. Not a big fan of the DC logo. I like the traditional curved W. I think the font should be more rounded and not blocked like it is. Maybe a pinstriped Sunday uniform in red. This team seems to have the same dilemma that the Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers have. That is, am I primarily blue or red? I think the Nationals should be red, white and blue, just like the colors of the American flag. A Montreal Expos style red/white/blue cap, red/blue stripes on a home uniform. Not as thick as what they are now but pinstripe. A throwback cream colored uniform in blue with Old English “NATS” across the chest, blue belt loops, blue back pocket flaps, a white cap with a blue N and pinstripe at the panels. They will be trying to find their identity 20 years from now again just like the Indians have been doing for the last 50 years. Pick a uniform and go with it. Like the Yankees and Red Sox. No tweaks and changes just to sell merchandise. The fans deserve that.

    “Guess the Game” is the 1958 Grey Cup (Canadian Football League Championship Game) played at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. This is the stadium where the “Miracle Mile” was run by Roger Bannister and John Landy. Both men ran sub 4 minute miles on August 7, 1954 at the British Empire Games, hence the name Empire Stadium.

    Stadium was the home to the B.C. Lions of the CFL and the Vancouver Whitecaps of the NASL and housed the MLS version of the Whitecaps while the roof at BC Place Stadium was being replaced.

    I say many games at this venue in my younger days in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s prior to the opening of B.C. Place Stadium. Our annual summer vacation always included a trip to Vancouver, a visit to the Pacific National Exhibition and a B.C. Lions game. It was always fun as a kid to go to a Lions game. After the game, you were able to walk onto the fied, which was rock hard artificial turf with a substantial crown in the middle to shed the Vancouver rain. I miss the old days.

    To provide some more clarification to those who may not know. Original Empire Stadium was demolished in 1993:

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    The spot became a location for recreational sports fields. When BC Place was undergoing renovation, a completely temporary stadium was quickly constructed on the same site as the original stadium. Called Empire Field. Housed both the Whitecaps and BC Lions during BC Place reno.

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    Interest situation when the BC Lions played at this temporary stadium. They wore throwback 1970s uniforms as an alternate in 2010. It was kind of like a double throwback. Both the temp stadium that kind of reminded people of original Empire Stadium and the uniforms the Lions wore while playing at the original stadium.

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    Attended a few Whitecaps games there back in the day. Half of the stadium would yell WHITE and other half CAPS. Great atmosphere. Would go to a store called North American Sports and buy a replica soccer jersey each visit, coming up from Portland. Great memories, thanks for the post.

    That Marlins concept is one of the best I’ve ever seen. It takes the worst uniforms in MLB and turns it into one of the best.

    Whoever authored the column on ugly goalie equipment should be prohibited from using the word “dust” or any of its derivatives again.

    As a Braves fan, I like have the tomohawk gone, but the red Jersey is so much better with solid navy piping, and the navy jersey is only used for away games, so grey works better than white.

    Thanks Elessar, personally I’ve never been a fan of “piping” on baseball jerseys, I always try to make it look more like “striping” when I can if that makes sense. That was the reason for the red jersey change. Also, I could see the team wearing the navy jersey at home on occasion, which explains the red striping on that jersey.

    The NY Giants road uni looks great. The total absence of blue in the current road uni has always looked wrong to me.

    I do not know if this was posted this week, but, in relation to the weird baseball field poster, there was a YouTube channel that made a 10 minute video on weird baseball fields this week as well.

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    And heads up, it is not safe for word due to language.

    Mariners get points for returning to the serif gothic, I think they might balk because the capital letters they now use are more “important” looking. But the trident should be a no-brainer: It’s not bad luck because EVERY UNIFORM this team has worn has brought them bad luck.

    LOVE THE ASTROS!!

    Lose the tomahawk? Heresy.

    I loved that the Mets road jersey uses the 1987(?) one year only script New York. For some reason I love that look. Perhaps it’s the giant swoop of the Y?

    Am I alone in thinking that the late 90s Astros look was underrated? I liked that blue and gold shooting star design. Way better than the brick red at least.

    I’m glad the Marlins got a teal helmet. So iconic!

    I still call them the California Angels.

    I still call them the Los Angeles Angels (their original name from 1961).

    “On September 2, 1965, with the team still a tenant of the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, Autry changed its name from the “Los Angeles Angels” to the “California Angels”.”

    Never thought of it but “Los Angeles Angels” in English means “the angels’ angels”.

    Just the sweetest team you could imagine.

    Thanks Patrick!

    I love the ‘87 road unis as well, I think it is the swoop in the “Y.”

    I was never a fan of the navy and gold for the ‘Stros, but the shooting star was a cool design.

    The teal helmet was a must!

    The Brewers 1982 helmet decal did have a yellow outline – but- the seem on the ball was blue instead of yellow.

    Correct.

    The baseball stitch line was blue, not yellow like it is on the soft caps and the official spec. sheet. I can see the yellow outline in the photo that is linked in the section above. I think the outline is partuially washed out due to the quality of the image. You can see a better shot of the batting helmet here:

    link

    Matthew Drake has done a remarkable job. Thanks. But I’m still a “One Home, One Road” guy. It’s generational. I know we can’t put the genie back in the bottle – professional sports business would not permit it – but it made for a far less cluttered and simpler environment.

    The Braves tomahawk element is iconic and belongs on the uniform. Otherwise great work.

    As an Angels fan, I really think adding yellow to the uniform is a bad idea. The yellow unis for the A’s are one of the best uniforms in the league, why would you want another team (in the same division) to have a yellow jersey, even if it is just for spring training. Big no on adding any yellow to the Angels.

    Also, Arte started using Los Angeles, because he could bring in more revenue with advertising with LA than he could with Anaheim. Also, they were looking to move to a new city for a while, so of course they weren’t going to use Anaheim during that time. They’re going to keep their options open. California Angels was nice back in the day, but when you have 5 MLB teams in the state, none of them should use the California moniker or the NoCal/SoCal either.

    I’ve really enjoyed seeing this redesign series each weekend.
    Nice work, Matthew!
    I’m a bit disappointed that you did use the original Expos number font for the Nationals. : (
    Houston would Look better if the shooting star was underneath the word mark?
    If only Miami would take your advise and embrace the Marlin Blue.

    Thanks Chris! Since I already used the Expos font for the Orioles, I didn’t want to reuse it when the Nationals have a custom font of their own.

    That’s fair Eric, to me I felt that green was really the more iconic A’s color (since nobody else uses it), so I felt that red with yellow accents was different enough from green & yellow. I understand not wanting a yellow jersey, I was a bit unsure about that myself.

    Cowboys Rafferty also has the old sans-serif NOB, whereas his teammates with the newer design jerseys have serifed NOBs.

    Not surprising. Obviously the Cowboys issued Rafferty a previous era jersey for that game, if not that year.
    Cowboys under Landry/Schramm/Brandt regime were notoriously cheap. Even when competing for championships, they had amongst the cheapest payrolls in the league. The mediocre-to-horrible 70s Saints would occasionally have a player in the Pro Bowl, and invariably the local paper would have an interview with the Saints player stating he talked to Cowboys Pro Bowlers earning 1/3 players what Saints players earned on bad teams at the same positions.

    If you look closely at the NFL Network’s “AN NFL LIFE” series, you’ll see 1970s Cowboys Training Camp footage with players wearing old game jerseys 10-12 years after last worn in games. in early 70s they were still wearing original 1960-1963 jerseys for practice.

    Putting this out there. Do not be surprised if the Chargers unveil powder blue pants to go with their new jerseys. Everything is pointing toward a navy color rush but there are a couple of unverified designs making the rounds. If the designs are even close to accurate the Chargers will have the best uniform in the NFL.

    Hi Matthew,

    Growing up near Seattle and being a Mariners fan, I really am intrigued by the Mariners’ uniform concepts you came up with. I really like bringing back the original lettering and close-to-the-original number font.
    The “M” on the hats is interesting with the trident handle. I think it is good, because there is superstition around the use of an upside down trident as the M’s logo, because it was believed to be bad luck. So, removing the handle removes that feeling and keeps the overall look intact. Cool idea!
    As for the Cooperstown Collection jersey, I like the use of the Seattle Pilots design for that jersey.
    Overall, I really enjoy your concepts. Good job, Matt!

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