Best and worst baseball uniform?

[Victory Faust]

For best, I nominate the Detroit Tigers' home uniform. Everyone always talks about the Yankee pinstripe uniform, which is indeed a great uni. But Detroit's threads are classic baseball, the Olde English lettering harkening to the uniforms of the 19th Century.

I also like the Chicago White Sox 1919 uniforms.

For worst, I'd have to go with the 1916 New York Giants -- yes, even over those garish Astros uniforms of the '70s. The Giant's uniforms featured purple plaid!!! Plaid just isn't a good pattern for baseball uniforms!!!

Another stinker: The 1903 Boston Red Sox unis. That huge sock logo up around the neck looked totally stupid!!!

[Bill Burgess]

I like simple, classic designs. I like the Tigers uniforms, Cardinals "birds on the bat", Reds, Cubs, Braves. I love breast logos that last decades. Gives a feeling of continuity, tradition, comfort.

I dislike the A's bright, multi-color costumes. And the Pirates also got a little loud for a while. I dislike the black uniforms of the early Giants, White Sox, or the plaid uniforms used by the Dodgers and Giants. Looked like pajamas to me.

Bill Burgess

[julusnc]

I love the old Philadelphia Athletics "big elephant" logo jerseys and the "screaming brave of the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves.

The Washington Nationals and the old pillbox Pittsburgh Pirates hates were the suck :)

[iPod]

Worst uniform history: Chicago White Sox

[whatswailing]

Those new red Braves jerseys. They're almost pink. Those are just plain awful. I also hate the red Red Sox jerseys and of course the dirty yellowish Padre uniforms they wear now. The White Sox uniforms where they wore shorts, that's just wrong. The new sleeveless Rockie uniforms are just atrocious. Also hate the Mets spring training type uniform they've been wearing during the season. I like the Red Sox gray and white, the Yankee pinstripes. The Dodgers uniforms. Love the Mets pinstripes with the blue hats. I like the Tigers away unis when they include the orange D on the hat. Love the Cubs home and away uniforms. The Giants have really nice uniforms too. Especially the off white ones they wear at home. There are some very good and very bad uniforms.

[SABR Matt]

The unis worn by the Colt .49s YIKES!!!

or how about the completely hideous b;ue and red Nationals hats...those things are painful

For a good uniform see the dark navy shirt and cap ith silver logo on cap and silver lined white lettering the Mariners wore a lot in 2000

[538280]

The best are the old Philadelphia and Kansas City A's with the beautiful white elephant on their shoulder (the Oakland A's have recently adopted the elephant, but they modernized it, and it doesn't look as good as it did in Philly and KC).

The worst are the current San Diego Padres camoflaugue unis. I don't know if they still wear them sometimes, but for a few games last year they had them, and it was embarrassing for all the players. Those uniforms were so ugly you could barely even concentrate on the game. I wish the Padres would go back to the yellow and brown unis they wore in the mid 80s, I think those were very good.

[HDH]

It appears that the Tigers home uniform and the old Philadelphia A's uniform gets the most points for the best. I also like the Washington Nats.

When you mention worst. Remember the 70s? Padres and Giants bright ORN, Indians Maroon, Montreal's RED & BLU, White Sox BLK & RED(80s). but worst of all, Astros Star Burst.

For some reason, the O's and A's bright uniform was popular for awhile.

The perpetual worst is that Phillie PNK. Must've originated from surplus paint mixed together after WWII.

[rainout]

We should take into account the varying styles of the times in which these uniforms were used. The gaudy colors of the 1970s may look bad to us but they were perfect for their time and define an era of baseball.

[TheSlaff]

I you want to see all those uniforms, the BB HOF have a very interesting "uniform database":

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online%5Fexhibits/dressed%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fnines/database.htm

[Bluesteve32]

When the Pirates had the mix and match yellow, black, and white with black and yellow pinsrtipes were quite awful. The Astros rainbow unis wer quite bad, too. The Angels periwinkle and pinstipe pajamas with the winged A were quite hideous.

The White Sox had a few sets that were quite bad as well. The Red and blue stiped across the middle of the early 1980s. The pajamas with the collars in either navy with white collars, or white with navy collars were among the worst. They even tried short pants.

The Padres also had those brown and gold unis in the late 1970s as well. There were some checkerboard style unis in the early part of the 20th century that were quite unattractive as well.

I'll stick to home white and road greys. Sleaveless unis are fine if the colors work. The red teams in their road greys look good, normally, as the grey and red go fine together.

Does anyone miss the high stirrups? ;)

[rainout]

See I always liked those Pirate unis, they really made them look more like pirates. Disco Pirates!

[64Cards]

When the Pirates had the mix and match yellow, black, and white with black and yellow pinsrtipes were quite awful. The Astros rainbow unis wer quite bad, too. The Angels periwinkle and pinstipe pajamas with the winged A were quite hideous.

The White Sox had a few sets that were quite bad as well. The Red and blue stiped across the middle of the early 1980s. The pajamas with the collars in either navy with white collars, or white with navy collars were among the worst. They even tried short pants.

The Padres also had those brown and gold unis in the late 1970s as well. There were some checkerboard style unis in the early part of the 20th century that were quite unattractive as well.

I'll stick to home white and road greys. Sleaveless unis are fine if the colors work. The red teams in their road greys look good, normally, as the grey and red go fine together.

Does anyone miss the high stirrups? ;)
Me. I hate the pants pulled down to their shoes. Shouldn't go no longer than mid-calf.
Agree with you Blue on all your selections of ugly unis. The 70's seemed to bring out the worst in bb fashion. Does anyone remember an all red uniform that Cleveland had in the 70's? Frank Robinson was wearing it his first game as a manager, when he also hit a HR as DH that day. A great moment in MLB history, except he's wearing a softball uniform.

I guess I'd go along with the Detroit home as the best uniform. Someone once said, "the closest thing in bb to formal wear." Also the Cards, Giants, Dodgers. Yanks and Red Sox, although I liked them better in the blue sleeves than the red.

[klsm54]

Ugly.....at least in my eyes, and also mentioned by others. I think it was the era of the leisure suit, the days of double knit pants, fake silk shirts (Quiana I believe it was called), wide white belts and platform shoes.... :ughh I think baseball just followed suit. Thank goodness they have reverted to uniforms with more class than those days. Thanks for the link TheSlaff

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online%5Fexhibits/dressed%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fnines/images/nl_1978_sandiego.gif

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online%5Fexhibits/dressed%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fnines/images/nl_1979_pittsburgh.gif

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online%5Fexhibits/dressed%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fnines/images/al_1975_cleveland.gif

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online%5Fexhibits/dressed%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fnines/images/al_1982_chicago.gif

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online%5Fexhibits/dressed%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fnines/images/nl_1979_houston.gif

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online%5Fexhibits/dressed%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fnines/images/al_1971_baltimore.gif

[westsidegrounds]

<...>

For worst, I'd have to go with the 1916 New York Giants -- yes, even over those garish Astros uniforms of the '70s. The Giant's uniforms featured purple plaid!!! Plaid just isn't a good pattern for baseball uniforms!!!

<...>

mmpf. Never seen an explanation for that one. Have to assume that McGraw lost a bet ...

Best:

3. 1946-51 St Louis Browns, especially the 3-D effect with the lettering - very "up-to-the-minute" then, now nostalgic. Great looking cap, too.

2. 1924-26 BoSox: red sox, red bill on the cap, otherwise absolutely plain white - no logo, no emblem, no lettering, no striping, no numbers. Very pure.

1. 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers. White with (revolutionary for the time) green lettering. Not Charlie Finley green, but darker - like New England window shutters green. And for the road unis, tan instead of grey. Great uniform for The Summer Game.

Hon. mention to the White Sox for being willing to try anything once.

[538280]

I'd say the 1946-1951 St.Louis Browns had the best logo ever, but not the best unis.

[Victory Faust]

Pet peeves: I think the "sleeveless" look is way overdone. It's okay for Pittsburgh and maybe Cincinatti, since those teams have used that look in the past. But too many other teams do it now, too.

I also hate the "mix-and-match" teams, that have several versions of both home and road uniforms. Pick one home uniform and one road uniform, and stop trying to squeeze every last buck out of the fans!!! It's usually the expansion teams that are guilty of this, and it must be stopped at all cost!!!! :mad:

One more thing I hate: How the Red Sox, Braves and other teams are wearing their batting practice jerseys during games. The Red Sox only do it on Sundays, but even the Good Lord won't forgive them for eshewing their classic home jersey for that crimson monstrosity. :grouchy

[Victory Faust]

One cool uniform I forgot: the old Homestead Grays outfit (the one with the heavy piping going down the side). While we're talking Negro Leagues, I liked the Kansas City Monarch jersey (with the red sleeves).

[whatswailing]

I need to add another awful jersey that I just remembred. The all red Reds jersey they wear every so often. So disgusting, get rid of em!

[ElHalo]

I'm not sure if they still use it or not, but my vote for worst ever baseball uniform (with the exception of those plaid Giants uni's, which are just indefensible) are the camoflauge uniforms that the Padres use now and then, which just look like someone ate a bunch of jalapeno nachos and then vomited them back on a uniform.

[moviegeekjan]

I like simple, classic designs. I prefer the classic designs as well -- Longtime Cardinals with the redbirds perched on the bat is personal favorite, but the other traditional simple logo designs are all fine.

Worst ever were the ones that had the White Sox dressing like softball players... OY!

[Steve Jeltz]

I have awful fashion taste, but with the exception of the Padres "McDonalds" uniforms, I liked the uniforms of the late 70's early 80's, with the Astros my personal favorite. Least favorite are third jerseys that any team wears today.

[KHenry14]

I'm not sure if they still use it or not, but my vote for worst ever baseball uniform (with the exception of those plaid Giants uni's, which are just indefensible) are the camoflauge uniforms that the Padres use now and then, which just look like someone ate a bunch of jalapeno nachos and then vomited them back on a uniform.

I can understand why a person not from San Diego might hate those uni's, but the city LOVES them. SD is a military town, more specifically a Navy town, and the Padres wearing the cammies goes over big in town.

KH14

[64Cards]

I have awful fashion taste, but with the exception of the Padres "McDonalds" uniforms, I liked the uniforms of the late 70's early 80's, with the Astros my personal favorite. Least favorite are third jerseys that any team wears today.

Steve, did you also like polyester leisure suits and wide collars of the late 70's? :eek:

[Iron Jaw]

The unis worn by the Colt .49s YIKES!!!



Make that.....Colt .45's. Colt never made a .49 caliber revolver. :D

I presume that was a typo. ;)

[64Cards]

Make that.....Colt .45's. Colt never made a .49 caliber revolver. :D


And they never made a Colt 49 Malt Liqour, either :D

[Iron Jaw]

I always thought the Colt .45 was a great mascot, and quite fitting for Texas. But, when they moved to the dome, they became the Astros - in honor of the NASA Space Center in Houston. I guess the uniform wasn't too good though. But it was a great name. They should have kept it.

I remember back in the mid-80's, when the USFL was in business, San Antonio had a club called the Gunslingers. It probably wouldn't fly in this politically correct age. Remember when the Washington (nee Baltimore) Bullets of the NBA changed their name to the Wizards because of that?

[64Cards]

I seem to recall that Houston's USFL team was called the Gamblers. I don't think that would have ever gone over in the NFL.

[efin98]

I always thought the Colt .45 was a great mascot, and quite fitting for Texas. But, when they moved to the dome, they became the Astros - in honor of the NASA Space Center in Houston. I guess the uniform wasn't too good though. But it was a great name. They should have kept it.

I thought that Colt was going to sue the team for using their name forcing the team to make the change regardless of the new stadium :confused:

[Bluesteve32]

The dichotome of uniforms, hideous:

[Bluesteve32]

To a much shaper uniform:

[Iron Jaw]

I thought that Colt was going to sue the team for using their name forcing the team to make the change regardless of the new stadium :confused:

Perhaps you're right, but I never heard that. I wonder why? It seems it would have given Colt a little free advertising. I suppose they could have changed their name to the Ruger .44's. :D

[Old English D]

Here is my take on current baseball fashion:

I hate when players where their pants down to the bottom of their shoes, I like when players let their socks show at least half-way up their calf. It is a classic look.

I'm not a fan of those jersey-vests. I prefer the one-piece jerseys.

Please, no more than 2 different style ball caps per team.

I don't mind the team colored jerseys, but with certain restrictions:
1. Every team should have one and only one team color jersey.
2. Teams should only be allowed to wear the colored jersey during home games.

And enough already with certain players tilting their cap to the side of the head. It looks thugish. The Cleveland Indians are by far the most guilty of this awful look.

Best current uniforms
Tigers Home
Giants Home
Cardinals Home
White Sox Home
Cubs Home
Red Sox Home
Yankees Home
Orioles Home
Twins Home

Worst current uniform
Padres Away

Best Cap Logos
Tigers (Old English D)
Blue Jays (Blue Jay & J)
Cardinals (St L)
Twins (Twin Cities TC)
Yankees (NY)
Marlins (Marlin & F)
Giants (SF)
Diamondbacks (Diamondback forms a D)
White Sox (Sox)

[Elvis]

Baseball could use something like this today. I love these unis! :clapping

The vests have become cliched and tired for the teams not historicaly tied to them. Some team could use an innovative design like this.

I like the dark pants, striped white and navy sox, the old school collar and untucked jerseys. This is my all-time fav of the modern era, excluding the Dodgers classic look of course!

[Elvis]

The one The Hammer had on that STEROID FREE magical night in Atlanta!

I like the sox back then better than todays pajamas! :clapping

[Elvis]

Note to today's players:

Hank didn't stand and watch it, he RAN TO FIRST :clapping :radio

I like that uniform! Feather on the sleeves--way cool.

[sschirmer]

I like the timeless unis:
Yankee Pinstripes
Boston home and road
Tigers Home
All pretty simple designs really, but they've aged so well.
There is also some part of me that likes the A's uniforms, as well, but that could have something to do with acid my parents did in the sixties.

[Imapotato]

actually the hat titlt look was brought about by Jim Bottomley, who used to tilt his hat over his left eye

The Original Gansta he was

[sschirmer]

Speaking of hats and tilts and such, I have to admit, I love CC Sabathia, but does anyone wear a uni worse than he does?

[KHenry14]

Speaking of hats and tilts and such, I have to admit, I love CC Sabathia, but does anyone wear a uni worse than he does?

Yup, Livan Hernandez does...and Bartolo Colon isn't far behind. The reason Livan looks bad is not hard to figure out, he hasn't found a buffet that he's pushed himself away from!! Thus the nickname "Cheeseburger" that the Giants fans gave him!

KH14

[efin98]

Here is my take on current baseball fashion:

I hate when players where their pants down to the bottom of their shoes, I like when players let their socks show at least half-way up their calf. It is a classic look.

I'm not a fan of those jersey-vests. I prefer the one-piece jerseys.

Please, no more than 2 different style ball caps per team.

I don't mind the team colored jerseys, but with certain restrictions:
1. Every team should have one and only one team color jersey.
2. Teams should only be allowed to wear the colored jersey during home games.

And enough already with certain players tilting their cap to the side of the head. It looks thugish. The Cleveland Indians are by far the most guilty of this awful look.

I second everything you say, especially about the hat. There's absolutely no reason for any of the players to do that, looks stupid regardless of who it is. If players can show medical proof that they need to wear their hat that way, then fine. Only one player has done that, a minor leaguer with the Red Sox by the name of Abe Alvarez(watch for him next month...)

[DTF955]

Likes: A little vaariety, but generally tradition. Nothing way overdone.

Dislike: Black on most teaams except the trditional (Pirates, Orioles, Giants.) I could see one expansion team using it but I think it's way too overdone. Black is a football color, not baseball, and it makes the players look too hot.

Exception to above: Chicago White Sox, when they went to black, white, and gray it was a very nice look, but those black jerseys should only be worn on special occasions - maybe home sundays. (Maybe that's all they do, not sure.)

Colored uniforms I liked: A's if it's a forest green (though I liked their 1987 look best), not a brighter green. Cardinals' blue road unis. (Birds on the bat make this one okay because birds are supposed to be in the sky.)

Colored uniforms I sidliked: Pirates' all gold (Willie Stargell should have appeared on sesame Street in one impersonating Big Bird :-), all red of the Indians. (And the Rangers' one day they tried in 1984, I think - their manager said he felt "like a blood clot.")

Best overall: Dodgers home and road, Yankees and Red Sox home, and Tigers'.

Worst overall: Mets w/all black Jerseys. Violates my general rule against all but c ertain teams against black, look bad witht he blue aand orange together, and the idea was to have blue fromt he Dodgers and organge fromt he Giants. Why mix the black of the Giants in years later.

Ones that were fun for their day except...: The Astros weren't too bad, texcept that number was way too close to the crotch.

Ones I'm glad I never saw: Plaid on a uniform. LOL

I Learned something today...: The Dodgers wore green in one season in the 1930s? I just have one question? Who will tell Tommy Lasorda the bad news? Wait, I know. We say Jay Johnstone stole a time machien & went back and convinced them to do it as a prank. Yeah, that'll calm him down. :-)

[westsidegrounds]

actually the hat titlt look was brought about by Jim Bottomley, who used to tilt his hat over his left eye

The Original Gansta he was

over his left ear, even ....

[wamby]

I like the timeless unis:
Yankee Pinstripes
Boston home and road
Tigers Home
All pretty simple designs really, but they've aged so well.
There is also some part of me that likes the A's uniforms, as well, but that could have something to do with acid my parents did in the sixties.

I like the classic look also. I would add the Dodgers and Giants uniforms to your list also. I think uniforms should be in two colors: white and gray. I also like the stirrups better then the pants on the shoes look.

I hate seeing a team with a classic uniform like the Red Sox wear those orange jerseys. They look incredibly bad.

[Srschirm]

Speaking of hats and tilts and such

I absolutely abhor that.

[wamby]

actually the hat titlt look was brought about by Jim Bottomley, who used to tilt his hat over his left eye

The Original Gansta he was

I think Nick Altrock was doing it even before Jim Bottomley.

[wamby]

Speaking of hats and tilts and such, I have to admit, I love CC Sabathia, but does anyone wear a uni worse than he does?

Of all the current player, I think Manny Ramirez looks the worst in his baseball uniform.

I thought CC might have given up the gangsta pose after he was robbed in the Flats.

[rainout]

For those who don't know: when teams use more than one jersey, like a white/grey and a solid color, the choice of which to use is left to the starting pitcher for most teams, not the day of the week or whatever else.

To me the 90s were a worse decade for unis than the 70s. Maybe just cause those colorful uniforms were what I remember from when I first started watching baseball as a kid.

[hellborn]

Speaking of uniforms, does it drive anybody else nuts when the players nowadays wear their pants down over their shoes? I love the guys on the Bosox who wear their pants high with those blazing red sox, like Bellhorn and Tek. I can't stand to look at Manny's or Papi's pants. It's just not baseball!
Guess that I'm a traditionalist, even when I play softball I wear high knickers and (fake) stirrup socks. Everybody else on my team wears shorts and thinks that I'm a goofball, but I know that I look COOL and can actually slide with the longer pants with reinforced knees!
I'd say that the worst uniforms ever were the ones with skirts that the professional ladies wore after WWII...not that some of the ladies didn't look pretty fine, just that it makes my skin crawl to think about sliding with bare legs!
JUST NOTICED..sorry OED, just noticed your earlier post on the low pants. Didn't mean to be redundant.

[sschirmer]

I, for one, am glad that teams have gone back to button down jerseys and belts. I hated those double-knit pull-over jerseys in the '70s & '80s with the elastic wasteband. YUCK!

[skeletor]

I, for one, am glad that teams have gone back to button down jerseys and belts. I hated those double-knit pull-over jerseys in the '70s & '80s with the elastic wasteband. YUCK!


here ! here ! heck, even the Tigers had some of those double knit
..look at the 1984 road uniform.....jesus pal-lo-mongo !

in 1960, the Tigers for one season, replaced the olde english 'D'
home jersey, with a jersey that spelled out ' TIGERS ' in the style
of the L.A. DODGERS......that didn't last long...never mess with
trad......
in the mid 199o's again, the club changed it's logo-to a tiger peeking
thru the olde english 'D'..to it on the caps..and for the away cap,
blue with an orange bill...again, they changed back..

and one one good thing....they went back to the road jerseys of the
1940's and 1950's, with DETROIT in an hand written script..which

looks great........my all time vote for the crummiest uniforms
would be the 1969 Seattle Pilots...and the 1984 SD Padres...

man, did they stank out the place !

[sschirmer]

I never liked the Reds unis of the '70s, '80s, and early '90s. Just plain ugly. Of course those rainbow Astro jobs were pretty bad too.

How 'bout the old powder blue road unis?

[64Cards]

It seems to be unanimous on the issue of where to properly wear the uniform pants, no longer than mid-calf with stirrup socks. Glad to hear everyone else hates than pants down to shoes look.

I hate that as much as Donald hates Comerica Park.

Now we just need MLB to enforce a uniform code. If you come out wearing them like pajamas, down past the shoes, you're tossed out of that game. The NFL won't allow the players to dress like a bunch of clowns, neither should MLB. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[sschirmer]

I agree with your taste, but disagree with the "uniform police" tactics. The NFL just blows. THey are way too nit-picky on this stuff. Jake Plummer should have been commended, not scolded for honoring Pat Tillman.

[rainout]

Geez, might as well say no helmets allowed cause they didn't wear em in the 1930s.

[Bluesteve32]

I agree with your taste, but disagree with the "uniform police" tactics. The NFL just blows. THey are way too nit-picky on this stuff. Jake Plummer should have been commended, not scolded for honoring Pat Tillman.

I concur, no uniform police.

From what I have seen over the years, is what is stylish in one era, becomes passe in another. Sometime, those high stirrups of the 1970s will return. Sometimes I umpire HS alumni games, and you can tell what erea a player went to HS on the Alumni team, since most wear their uni the same way as they did in HS. I love to see the old high stirrup 70s look, because I know we are aboutthe same age.

[Food]

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread. I'm a newbie, still discovering the wonder of this magical place.

TURN-FORWARD-THE-CLOCK UNIFORMS SMEARED THE DEAD SKUNK'S SNOT ALL OVER THEIR BUTTS!!!

**pant, gasp, pant** Sorry, had to get that off my chest.

I thought the Seattle Pilots had a neato cap idea with the oak leaves ("scrambled eggs") on the bills of their caps. Just like airline pilots or high-ranking Navy officers, complimenting similar double-allusion in their breast logo of a nautical wheel with wings.

The posts comparing the Angels Eisner-era unis to their current ones matches my sense precisely. God, I hated those things!

For some reason, I like the idea of lower-case print letters, like the Angels and Mariners wore in the 80s. I also don't mind the egg-shell blue road unis of the late-70s/early 80s. I dislike alternate jerseys, because it...I dunno...just gives the game a batting-practice-style informal feel to it. Especially a Dodgers/Mets game a few years ago when they BOTH wore their blue alterna-unis.

Pinstripes are neat on home uniforms, but the Twins road uniforms are gross, as were the Cubs road uniforms of the Dave Kingman days.

When the Giants went from stark white to their current off-white, Jeff Kent called them "the ugliest uniforms I've ever seen." I don't mind them. On their Hispanic Pride Nights, they change "GIANTS" to "GIGANTES."

Turn Back The Clock Days are great. The Brewers just had theirs, I think. Appropriate, as it looks like the team really IS turning back the clock and playing like '82.

[wamby]

I concur, no uniform police.

From what I have seen over the years, is what is stylish in one era, becomes passe in another. Sometime, those high stirrups of the 1970s will return. Sometimes I umpire HS alumni games, and you can tell what erea a player went to HS on the Alumni team, since most wear their uni the same way as they did in HS. I love to see the old high stirrup 70s look, because I know we are aboutthe same age.

I remember my father laughing his ass off at the racing outfits when we were watching Chariots of Fire, back around 1982. He thought the shorts looked like boxer shorts. Ten years later they were back, though in basketball, not track.

I don't like alternate jersey's. They usually look like pajama tops. I hated them in 1975 when the Indians had about eight different uniforms, and I hate them now. I think uniforms should be white and gray.

[Brownie31]

One team that sometimes wears black jerseys is the Chicago White Sox.
Considering their history, they are one team that should never, ever
wear black!

Brownie31

[hudsonharden]

This has to be one of the worst ever.

Travis Webb from the Billings Mustangs

[Disgruntaledmarinerfan]

This has to be one of the worst ever.

Travis Webb from the Billings Mustangs

:Gulp:Choke:Choke:Cough:Hack:
Man, That one has to take the "Cake" as Worst uniform. Almost anything would be be better then that uniform.

[Wade8813]

That's bad, but not NEARLY as bad as a lot of the uniforms from the 70's and 80's. Ugly colors that often clashed with each other.

The Braves' uniform is decent - it has a classic feel to it in my opinion, and looks good.

I love the Mariners' uniforms. I think they'd be my favorites even if I wasn't an M's fan. It's certainly not a classic uniform, but I really like the colors. The uniforms have a modern look that works very well, IMO.

[Elysian Fields]

Deadball era uniforms are the best. Particularly Cincinnati's, the Highlanders, Detriot, and the White Sox.

Astros use to have the worst modern uniforms. Pirates and Padres did as well.

Today I think Detroit and the Yankees have the best uniform. Cubs unis are nice except for their away jersey.

[Dodger Black and Blue]

That's bad, but not NEARLY as bad as a lot of the uniforms from the 70's and 80's. Ugly colors that often clashed with each other.

The Braves' uniform is decent - it has a classic feel to it in my opinion, and looks good.

I love the Mariners' uniforms. I think they'd be my favorites even if I wasn't an M's fan. It's certainly not a classic uniform, but I really like the colors. The uniforms have a modern look that works very well, IMO.

Yeah, but in the 70s and 80s, that was the style and everybody was doing it. This picture -- we look at this picture now, and we all KNOW it's hideous. Right now!

Who bothered to even draw that spawn of satan and who OK'd it? Why the pitcher chose to put that on instead of quitting baseball altogether is beyond my comprehension!



As for best, I think we all know what that is. (1921 Cleveland Indians)

[Wade8813]

Yeah, but in the 70s and 80s, that was the style and everybody was doing it. This picture -- we look at this picture now, and we all KNOW it's hideous. Right now! Even when I was a little kid, with almost no fashion sense whatsoever, I still thought those things were hideous.


Who bothered to even draw that spawn of satan and who OK'd it? Why the pitcher chose to put that on instead of quitting baseball altogether is beyond my comprehension! Quit baseball? Blaspheme! (just kidding) (sort of...)

[Danielh41]

I guess I'm a baseball traditionalist, but I like the home whites and the road grays. It seemed like teams used to only wear the dark colored jerseys on Sunday games; now they wear them all the time.

As a Rockies fan, I hate seeing them in their black sleeveless jerseys. Their purple color is unique to baseball, so why can't they accent that more? Black is already the most over-used color in baseball uniforms these days. The Mets are wearing black caps now. I liked their original caps much better since they were designed to combine the Brooklyn Dodger blue with the New York Giants orange lettering.

And while I do prefer seeing teams in their home whites and road grays, I do like seeing teams use colors that make them unique. I wish the Rockies home uniforms used more purple than black. The Rox' current road grays look great with the purple numbers and lettering. I really also like the Devil Rays particular shade of green on both their white and gray unis.

As far as the classic uniforms go, Yankee pinstripes and the Detroit home whites are timeless. The Dodgers unis are great too, although I wish they would go back to "Dodgers" on their road uniforms. "Los Angeles" seems to be too many letters crammed onto the players' chests. The White Sox have had some awful uniforms, but I think they got it right with their current uniforms (which they went to at the end of 1990, if memory serves me right).

The Padres uniforms have been quite bad all throughout their history. Maybe that's why they've changed them so often.

[iPod]

Even when I was a little kid, with almost no fashion sense whatsoever, I still thought those things were hideous.


Yeah, I'm no fashion expert, but I really just can't imagine a player getting called up to, say, the A's in 1974, putting on that yellow and green uniform, looking in the mirror, and not immediately thinking "I look like a total schmuck right now."

[TRfromBR]

I'd say that the worst uniforms ever were the ones with skirts that the professional ladies wore after WWII...not that some of the ladies didn't look pretty fine, just that it makes my skin crawl to think about sliding with bare legs!



They weren't too bad on Gina Davis, or Madonna - but who really needed the view of Rosie in those things?

[TRfromBR]

Best Uniforms Ever: Brooklyn Bridegrooms 1889
Worst Uniforms Ever: Brooklyn Bridegrooms 1889

No doubt about it.

[NewEnglandAmazins]

How many times did these guys slide?
http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online_exhibits/dressed_to_the_nines/pictures/timeline_1976.jpg

[hudsonharden]

I personally think these are awful as well. The Pirates have 3 different home jerseys. One white, one white w/ pinstripes, and one red. These are by far the worst.

[REKER 9]

Best of the Best:
1. Detroit Tigers - Home Whites
2. New York Yankees - Pinstripes

They are timeless and classic.

Best of today: (along with the above)
3. San Diego Padres - Their new Navy Blue jerseys with the classic cream colored pants is a very nice and classy combination. Imo.
4. New York Mets - Their Home and away jerseys are very classy as well.
5. Milwaukee Brewers - Their new uni's are pretty sweet as well.

[rsuriyop]

I'd say that any of those old uniforms c. 1870's-80's with the "shield" on front could pass as some of the all-time worst.

http://www.capanson.com/teammates/bobaddy.JPG

[Danielh41]

Here's a link to the Tigers' uniform database: http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online_exhibits/dressed_to_the_nines/uniforms.asp?league=AL&city=Detroit&lowYear=1958&highYear=1978&sort=year&increment=15

Note the ugly 1960 home uniforms. No wonder they went back...

[rugbyfreak]

in 1960, the Tigers for one season, replaced the olde english 'D'
home jersey, with a jersey that spelled out ' TIGERS ' in the style
of the L.A. DODGERS......that didn't last long...never mess with
trad......

Wow, if what you say is true about the Tiger home jersey, then this changes the answer to a trivia question. For years, a buddy of mine, who's a "uniform history" specialist, had told me that the Tigers had MLB's current longest-running streak of "most consecutive years, unchanged home uniform". He always qualified this by saying that this meant jersey/pants, and that if a team added "alternative" hats (as you say Detroit did, and as many teams have), that was OK, as long as the team's "standard" uni remained unchanged.

I forget what year he said this streak dated back to (definitely not an area of huge interest for me, so I always deferred to him), but he always added that, right behind the Motown Meows was the Yankee home sweater, which I know for a fact (as a NYY fan) began in '36, when they began putting the famous NY logo on the breast (very similar to the hat logo, but not identical). Until then--DiMag's rookie year, as it happened--the club's home shirt had had pinstripes, but no other adornement on the front (number on the back).

The club has since been proud to tell the world that their home design has not changed one iota since '36. Of course, the material has changed, from wool to poly to whatever they use now. But not the look, as they are even one of the last holdouts on the no-name-on-back principle (believe Boston, Cubs and Minny are the others?). They have even resisted the no-brainer merchandising move that most others have made: the “alternate” jersey. MLB has some easy requirement, like the team must wear it in a game once or twice per season, and they can then sell it as a licensed team jersey. Fans eat these up because they are a different look on the street.

And, as haughty and unyielding as the non-Yankee world may find their approach to the uniform thing, I always preferred to call it respect for the uniform, and all those who had worn it before. I don't care how much people hate the team--and I have met many virulent haters, most of them right here in NY!!--if they are fans of sports in general, when pressed, they will all admit it: The Yankee pinstripes, "with the interlocking NY", as Michael Kay so annoyingly announces before every broadcast, is the most classic, tasteful, and famous, in all of sports. Right up there with my favorite: the Montreal Canadiens’—talk about haughty!—red “sweater” (as they are called), which for years was the road look and is now the home look, thanks to the marketing plan of the “new NHL”.

A quick but interesting sidebar about hockey unis. For too long, the sport was comically dinosaurish and unchanging in its every move, even as the other three in the “Big Four” were growing and changing with the times, and ironically, it took the sport’s biggest crisis—the lockout of ‘04-’05—to make it wake up and save itself. But in one merchandising respect, hockey was WAY ahead of the curve. Growing up as a young player, the cool thing to wear to practice or on the pond was a jersey from some other team, the more obscure, the better. Once in a while, you wore your favorite team’s sweater, just to keep a little balance. But more often, you wore another jersey, usually with the number of your favorite player on that team (mine was Black Hawks #21, Stan Mikita). And this was possible because the NHL made the jerseys available in all NHL venues (Cosby’s Sporting Goods in the Garden in NY).

But back to baseball. Even if the NYY franchise management has toyed with, or even flouted, some of the team's hallowed traditions, they at least have always had the good sense to know that, if any uniform demands to be left alone, it is the NYY home uni.

(Which has always begged the question: If this team is so tight on alternative team looks, and what gets sold under the team auspices, then why all those pink Yankee hats I see all over? Just wondering. Nothing wrong at all with bringing the female segment into one's marketing strategy--nothing at all--but it seems out of step with this ultra-conservative franchise. Then again, they might be black-market knockoffs.)

So now, the big question: With this new info on the Tigers in hand (I'm assuming it's true), does this put the NYY in the lead in this geeky, but nonetheless significant, record? I'm going to give it a look, but you guys let me know what you come up with.

Thanks!

[honus14]

Wow, if what you say is true about the Tiger home jersey, then this changes the answer to a trivia question. For years, a buddy of mine, who's a "uniform history" specialist, had told me that the Tigers had MLB's current longest-running streak of "most consecutive years, unchanged home uniform". He always qualified this by saying that this meant jersey/pants, and that if a team added "alternative" hats (as you say Detroit did, and as many teams have), that was OK, as long as the team's "standard" uni remained unchanged.

It's true, according to the Hall of Fame's uniform database (A really cool site, by the way.).

Link: Tiger uniforms, 57-65 (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online_exhibits/dressed_to_the_nines/uniforms.asp?league=AL&city=Detroit&lowYear=1957&highYear=1965&sort=year&increment=9)