Baseball Fashion Sucks Now
As a child growing up in the 80′s I loved both football (Seahawks) and baseball (New York Mets, because my neighbor liked them, because they won the Series in ’86). I consider that decade to be when football and baseball uniforms had it right, unlike today where they all look virtually the same. Sports are entertainment and part of that entertainment is the costume. Stir-ups should be part of the baseball costume (not anymore). Real color (something other than dark blue) and juxtaposition of color should be part of the costume (not anymore). New uniforms just don’t have the soul that the old ones did.
The following is a number of comparisons of current uniforms to their former counterparts:
We’ll start with the Mariners. Here’s the current hat
and the original Seattle Pilots one
I mean, it actually has the gold leaves on the bill. How awesome is that?!!?
Now for the current Astros jersey
and the one from the 80′s
How many different oranges are there, I love it.
Now for the Pirates. Their jerseys haven’t changed all that much over the years but they went through a time where the construction of their hats was completely different, it felt much more pirate-like. Here’s the new
and the older one
I mean, c’mon, can’t you just picture a guy on the mound with a pencil-thin mustache and a peg-leg???
Now, I love, LOVE the Padres old uniforms and their new ones are perhaps the most generic in the major leagues. Here’s the new
and the old
Brown and yellow? C’MON!!! It’s incredible. Dark blue and white? Yawn.
Blue Jays new
Blue Jays old
In other words: No personality. Personality.
White Sox current
White Sox old (one of the many, many)
I’m pretty sure the only reason they keep this current one is becuase the subtle word “sex” in the logo. Otherwise it’s quite bland.
Astros current
and old
Color folks. Something other than a dark blue/black hat. That’s all I’m asking.
If I were to put all the uniforms up you’d see an overwhelming number of them with some kind of dark blue/black hat (even those teams with traditionally color hats have a black version) and the team name boringly scripted or texted across the chest of the player in said dark blue/black color with little/no contrast of color. And all the new logos feel the need to be BOLD and moving forward to show everyone how exciting baseball is.
Wanna know what will get me excited about the Mariners? Wins.
Posted on July 19, 2006, in Pop Culture, Sports. Bookmark the permalink. 23 Comments.
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Nothing beats the classic Padres colors. (I went to a playoff game in ’84 when we took our first pennant!) My middle school in Poway (only about a Mile from Tony Gwynn’s house I might add) even used the Pads brown and gold. But alas the classic colors went the way of polyester. There does seem to be a big market for throwback gear still though so we at least have that.
You forgot Chief Wahoo!
I like a lot of the 80s jerseys too, but the fact is that many (though not all) of the “new” jerseys are actually “throw-backs” to classic jerseys that reigned before things got wacky in the 70s and 80s (see Astros and White Sox). Thus, the “new” White Sox logo is actually just like to their sixties logo. Same with the Pirates, Phillies, etc. Personally, I like the teams that just stick with the same thing — the Mets have been pretty good at this (though they use black now more than they used to), and of course, the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, etc.
I still don’t like the Jazz’s new uniforms. What does a friggin mountain have to do with Jazz? Bring back the musical note!
By the way, here’s a cool database of every uniform worn in the history of big league baseball.
http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online_exhibits/dressed_to_the_nines/
You know what I really love–the old Denver Broncos uniforms–when they were bright orange, and they had the snorting Bronco coming out of a big capital D on their helmets.
When they redesigned their uniforms to what some fans call the “cyberdonkey” look, it took me a long time to get used to it. I now think it’s pretty cool, but whatever happened to the orange?
I agree that there could be more color and more distinctive elements in todays uniforms, but I don’t think the answer is to go back to anything like those old ones. I pretty much hate most of the old uniforms you showed. They’re so garish and so 70′s/80′s. Brown and yellow? Gold leafing on the bill? Horizontal orange stripes? Yuck.
There are plenty of uniforms that didn’t need an update. The Jazz’s old purple, green, and yellow uni’s were great and would still look great today. There is a disturbing trend toward the dark blue/light blue/white color scheme. Off the top of my head I can think of three NBA teams with that scheme: Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, and Memphis Grizzlies. It’s also a problem when it’s hard to tell the difference between the Eagles and Seahawks at first glance.
Uni changes have done my teams good. The Jazz finally got to the NBA finals soon after their change and the Broncos won the Superbowl in the first or second year of the cyber donkey unis, which I have always loved even if the old orange ones didn’t need an update.
Rusty, I cringe at the day when the Cleveland Indians go politically correct and get rid of Chief Wahoo for good and stick with that silly little letter “I” hat the whole time.
Also, you forgot the Orioles!
Dude, that Astros uniform was my little league uniform. It wasn’t so cool to wear back in the 80s, esp. if you were a dorky weakling.
I was going to say, most of those old ones look like little league uniforms to me. But maybe that’s cuz I was a kid in the 70′s/80′s.
Yeah, Cheif Wahoo must stay.
If you go way back to the 20′s and 30′s, they had some incredible color combos for the teams. I also loved a lot of the amateurish logos and scripts the teams used. Everything now (that’s not continued from years ago) looks like it was designed-by-committee.
The old Broncos uniforms were the ones I loved to hate (Seahawks fan). Orange and blue? C’MON!!!
Yeah, the Orioles pics are on the cutting room floor.
Yeah, you fans of lame sideshow circus freak teams can complain all you want. The Yankees got it right decades ago.
Ok, I totally agree on the stirrups- I miss them, and it doesn’t look like good ol’ baseball with all the long pants, either.
But the Astro’s burger king uniform? Ugh! And the bad bannana uni of the Pads? Almost worse.
Has the Yankee uniform ever changed? A classic is a classic for a reason…
But I’m just bitter because we haven’t won a series since ’62, long before I was even a twinkle in my dad’s eye.
What’s up with those grey on grey Seahawks uniforms anyway?
Bryce I,
As much as I hate the Yankees and hate that so many people default to love them, they do have great, classic uniforms.
Brian,
Dude, I agree. I’m not a fan of the silver/blue with flourescent green. Not cool. But it’s certainly not the worst update in the NFL.
I’m pretty sure that my life-long aversion to the Houston Astros was borne out of my reaction upon first seeing their uniforms. But then I’ve never thought that yellow or orange are colours that should be part of one’s wardrobe. Cars shouldn’t come in them either.
I’m not much of an A’s fan, but I do think they should switch back to their screaming Kelly green uniforms.
Also: I’ve always liked the classic Pirates ball cap — and the Steelers helmet is one of the best in the league (or was — can’t recall if it’s been changed of late).
Nope. Steelers is the same (logo on one side, the other side black). It’s a good, classic uniform.
WM, I am an A’s fan (grew up in Sacramento, CA), and I gotta tell you that at least the hat is still around. The uniform may change a bit, as well as the mascot (what was up with that elephant thing in the 90s?), but the hat remains the same, and I like it.
They actually experimented with other hats at the retail level. I bought an all-green one (with the white “A’s” logo in the center) — no yellow bill. I also colored the center “A’s” logo with a yellow pen, and it looked rad after that. However, when the A’s charge the field, I like to see the classic yellow & green together.
Again, nothing is sicker than this:
Got stripped from the post. Here it is in html.
David- the A’s elephant is actually old school. Like OLD old school, 1900′s East coast old school. It’s always been the their logo, they just don’t use it very much.
I’m from the bay area too, just from the other side of the water, and we prefer our baseball where all the players actually play…*snerkle*
I’m from the bay area too, just from the other side of the water, and we prefer our baseball where all the players actually play…*snerkle*
Yeah, and how did that work out for you guys in 1989???
…you’ll have to pardon me, I have to go sweep the floor…
Rusty– You are crazy. The porkpie Pirates hat? Seriously?
I dare you to wear that thing around the streets of Brooklyn.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Like I said, ’62. Blame it on the earthquake- but I don’t know what to blame 2002 on, except Dusty Baker. Ugh… Sad, sad, sad…
Don’t worry Rusty, soon there will be overwhelming nostalgia for the ugly uniforms and teams will bring them back. Um, maybe.
arj, whenever they do uniform “throwback” days, they never whip out any of these terrible uniforms. They never go quite back that far, know what I mean?
Here’s a sight: a throwback uniform game between Houston and San Diego. Man, I’d pay BIG BUCKS to go to that game.