MLB 2016 Changes

[Quillz]

What if an alt is a team's best jersey?

Then shouldn't it be made a primary? It doesn't make sense to not wear your best uniform as many times as possible.

I would agree. Although as I understand the rules, there is no cap on how many times an alternate jersey can be worn, and the decision either follows a schedule or is made by the starting pitcher. So, theoretically, there is nothing stopping a team from always wearing some alternate jersey at home if they really wanted to.

Of course, "best jersey" is entirely subjective. Unless you're a team that only has a home and road, there is always going to be differing views on what uniform is a team's best. This is why I'm fine with teams wearing alternates in the playoffs. You're on the national stage, why not show off your various looks?

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

I can't quote a post on the mobile interface.

Quilz asks why a coloured jersey doesn't belong on a baseball field. I'm sorry, but, if you can ask that question, then there's no answer that will make sense to you.

Coloured jerseys don't belong because they don't belong. White and grey as uniform colours constitute what baseball looks like. Is this arbitrary? Certainly. All aesthetic standards are arbitrary. But that doesn't mean that they're meaningless.

A set of aesthetic standards defines a phenomenon. Ignoring the prevailing aesthetic standards may occasionally result in a beautiful creation which cannot be constrained by convention. Cases in point are works of James Joyce and Picasso. (And also the uniforms of the 1972-1980 Oakland A's.) Most if the time, however, the result is just crap.

The point is that one mustn't regard the existence of a rare convention-defying artistic gem as an indication that the conventions themselves are invalid -- or, worse, as an indication that the act of having standards is undesirable.

Phutmasterflex mentions the Royals. I had forgotten about their all-powder-blue road uniforms. Those were beautiful; the Royals were the only team that wore powder blue well, the only team whose move to grey on the road in the late 1980s was a downgrade.

But their current powder blue home alt jersey, worn with white pants, is awkward. The combination looks silly; and the jersey itself suffers from unnecessary dark outlines on the white wordmark and number. Still, their all-blue set is one which artistically excels despite not adhering to the white/grey standard.

I now remember also that the White Sox' 1976-1981 uniform was outstanding. This set had a blue jersey and also blue pants! As long as those two blue garments weren't worn together, the uniform looked great. (The flaw in that uni was the fact that the collar didn't go all the way around the shirt, not the colours.)

And the pre-1972 A's had a nifty set that featured gold vests and pants.

I think I have now named all the quality deviations from the white/grey standard. But even if I missed one, the honest observer must nevertheless conclude that violations of baseball's aesthetic traditions regarding uniform colours have (with very few exceptions) resulted in artistic catastrophe.

[Quillz]

Coloured jerseys don't belong because they don't belong. White and grey as uniform colours constitute what baseball looks like. Is this arbitrary? Certainly. All aesthetic standards are arbitrary. But that doesn't mean that they're meaningless.

This reads to me as, "there is no valid reason, I just don't like it." Which is completely fine, everyone has their opinions and nobody is really right or wrong, but it would be apparent to me that MLB disagrees. Otherwise, they would have specifically enacted rules that bar alternate jerseys from being worn in the playoffs. (I believe other leagues have. The NFL doesn't allow alternate jerseys in the playoffs, IIRC.)

[BlazerBlaze]

What if an alt is a team's best jersey?

Then shouldn't it be made a primary? It doesn't make sense to not wear your best uniform as many times as possible.

I would agree. Although as I understand the rules, there is no cap on how many times an alternate jersey can be worn, and the decision either follows a schedule or is made by the starting pitcher. So, theoretically, there is nothing stopping a team from always wearing some alternate jersey at home if they really wanted to.

Of course, "best jersey" is entirely subjective. Unless you're a team that only has a home and road, there is always going to be differing views on what uniform is a team's best. This is why I'm fine with teams wearing alternates in the playoffs. You're on the national stage, why not show off your various looks?

That's what the Thrashers did. Everyone loved the powder blue alts so much that they became the primary around the time of the Edge switch over.

[Lumbergh]

On the last Sunday home game for the Angels, the promotion was the 2016 schedule. There was more navy than red on the promotion. Could that be a foreshadowing of the addition of navy?

That would be great. Or at least make the road hats a navy with red brim. I mean the Cardinals ditched that, so I don't see why the Angels couldn't adopt it and make it their own. I love the Angels' look, but sometimes the overuse of red gets in the way for me. And if the road hat idea doesn't fly, maybe ditch the red alt and adopt a navy one instead?

[Quillz]

I doubt the Dodgers would make any changes for next season, but one change I would like to see is the block numbers to be thicker. There's something off about the ones they've got now; they're too thin. Watching the Royals play tonight, they are using the same block number (I believe it's the standard MLB font), but they're a bit thicker and just look better. I'm not sure why the Dodgers are using a thinner variant, but it looks bad without an outline.

[The_Admiral]

Such a travesty

Then again, make the cubs jersey grey and it is fantastic jersey.

That Cubs logo is terrible, and any jersey would be awful it that on the chest. Their primary logo is iconic. They need to put the primary logo on the blue jerseys. And some sort of trim so it doesn't look like a BP jersey.

Put red trim around the white trim so it goes red-white-red, a white outline around the Cubs, and put it on a proper button-down.

[ANGELCAT-IDA61]

I would like the Dodgers caps to be a lighter shade of Royal blue, like the Royals, Cubs, Blue Jays, and Mets wear. Their shade of blue clashes a bit with the word mark. It also wouldn't hurt if the Dodgers edited the "O" and the "S" on their home and road jerseys, just like the ones they wore from 1999-2002 when there was no loop through the O and no double stems above the S on the Los Angeles. It would work good on their home jerseys. Just a subtle change would do.

[ANGELCAT-IDA61]

As I said earlier, I did read a post on the Dodgers message boards about the Dodgers possibly adding a pinstripe home uniform for selected day games starting next season and maybe a pinstriped hat to go with it. Also an addition of a blue alternate jersey, possibly for Sunday home and road interleague games only. Then again, mlb message boards are not always the best sources of information when it comes to uniform rebrands. It was only a rumor from what I remember reading. I've read wilder rumors a few years ago like the Angels adopting Mighty Duck colors to their uniform set, which I know will never happen. As for the Dodgers, well, we'll just have to wait and see if they do actually make some subtle changes to their current uniforms, including those two alternates I mentioned.

[Quillz]

Given the Dodgers' 1999 satin blue alts weren't very popular, I doubt they'd try to bring them back yet again. A pinstripe alt uniform doesn't seem impossible, but I also question how popular it would prove. I think the problem is the Dodgers are one of those teams that have a look that is generally seen as "untouchable," regardless of whether or not that's actually the case. (I personally don't believe any uniform in baseball is perfect or untouchable, but that's just me).

[Quillz]

The Royals really need to get rid of the black drop shadow on their primary and alternate logo:

I suppose it made sense when they had a black alternate jersey from 2002-05, but it simply makes no sense anymore. Black isn't used anywhere on their jerseys anymore, nor does it appear anywhere else on their logo or word marks. Nothing else about their otherwise great primary and alt logo needs to change, just remove the drop shadow. Probably a one minute job in Photoshop.

[TheOldRoman]

In fact, as far as I can remember, they never wore red accessories on the road with any jersey/hat, including the glory days of the '90s, when they wore the navy alt on the road all the time.

Correct. The Indians of the '90s wore red shirts, socks and shoes at home, navy shirt, socks and shoes on the road. And that stayed even when they adopted the "Cleveland" road alt with red piping. God, I miss that set. It was baseball perfection.

[Jungle Jim]

On the last Sunday home game for the Angels, the promotion was the 2016 schedule. There was more navy than red on the promotion. Could that be a foreshadowing of the addition of navy?

That would be great. Or at least make the road hats a navy with red brim. I mean the Cardinals ditched that, so I don't see why the Angels couldn't adopt it and make it their own. I love the Angels' look, but sometimes the overuse of red gets in the way for me. And if the road hat idea doesn't fly, maybe ditch the red alt and adopt a navy one instead?

I've said it before, but the Angels cap combination of navy crow / red bill is their best look and is one that dates back to their beginnings. There was no really good reason to abandon it. Something like this would certainly be an upgrade and would honor their tradition, as well...

I doubt the Dodgers would make any changes for next season, but one change I would like to see is the block numbers to be thicker. There's something off about the ones they've got now; they're too thin. Watching the Royals play tonight, they are using the same block number (I believe it's the standard MLB font), but they're a bit thicker and just look better. I'm not sure why the Dodgers are using a thinner variant, but it looks bad without an outline.

As great as the Dodgers uniforms are, that has bugged me, as well. The ones on the front are correct...

[TheOldRoman]

The only change I want to see for the Dodgers (other than dropping the road alt) is for them to lose the sleeve patch. It has always looked out of place to me.

I know this is probably unpopular, but I liked when the Dodgers had a white outline on the white jersey numbers. The Rays still do this. I guess it got started because, like the Rays currently, they used the same numbers on both home and road (and the Rays use them on both alts, as well). It may be superfluous, but I'd love to see the Dodgers ad a base-layer to the back font in the color of the jerseys. There's something nice about that little unnecessary touch that you can only see up-close.

[Silver Shamrock]

Not only navy crown/red bill for the Angels, but I would like a yellow halo as well. I always thought that tied the look together. That little amount of yellow seemed to really set it apart from all the other navy/red teams.

[Quillz]

On the last Sunday home game for the Angels, the promotion was the 2016 schedule. There was more navy than red on the promotion. Could that be a foreshadowing of the addition of navy?

That would be great. Or at least make the road hats a navy with red brim. I mean the Cardinals ditched that, so I don't see why the Angels couldn't adopt it and make it their own. I love the Angels' look, but sometimes the overuse of red gets in the way for me. And if the road hat idea doesn't fly, maybe ditch the red alt and adopt a navy one instead?

I've said it before, but the Angels cap combination of navy crow / red bill is their best look and is one that dates back to their beginnings. There was no really good reason to abandon it. Something like this would certainly be an upgrade and would honor their tradition, as well...

I doubt the Dodgers would make any changes for next season, but one change I would like to see is the block numbers to be thicker. There's something off about the ones they've got now; they're too thin. Watching the Royals play tonight, they are using the same block number (I believe it's the standard MLB font), but they're a bit thicker and just look better. I'm not sure why the Dodgers are using a thinner variant, but it looks bad without an outline.

As great as the Dodgers uniforms are, that has bugged me, as well. The ones on the front are correct...

It was explained here that at some point, the Dodgers removed the white outline from the numbers, which made the numbers look the proper thickness. And then they seemingly forgot to re-apply the standard thicker numbers (i.e. with no outline). Or so that's the story. But it makes sense. The more I look at their uniform, the more it bothers me. This is why I don't like the idea of "untouchable" uniforms. It's a change that should be made and wouldn't it any way take away from their look.

[TheOldRoman]

I'm pretty certain the Dodgers lost the outlines at the same time they got the current roads and went to Coolbase. 2007 I think.

[mbannon92]

Such a travesty

Then again, make the cubs jersey grey and it is fantastic jersey.

That Cubs logo is terrible, and any jersey would be awful it that on the chest. Their primary logo is iconic. They need to put the primary logo on the blue jerseys. And some sort of trim so it doesn't look like a BP jersey.

Put red trim around the white trim so it goes red-white-red, a white outline around the Cubs, and put it on a proper button-down.

I'll do you one better:

Update the sleeve logo, put it on a button down and we're good to go.

[Quillz]

I'm pretty certain the Dodgers lost the outlines at the same time they got the current roads and went to Coolbase. 2007 I think.

I feel like those thin back numbers have been in place longer than 2007, though. So I'm not sure when they originated, but it's been an oversight ever since.

I wouldn't mind it as much if there was NNOB and thus the numbers were taller, because then it would balance out the thinness. But even when the Dodgers had that short-lived phase, the numbers were the same height they are now.

[Gothamite]

That's the mistake most teams make with their NNOB jerseys, throwbacks and the like. They have the exact same numbers in the exact same position, making them too small and too low on the backs of the jersey.