MLB Changes 2017

[SilverBullet1929]

Cardinals won the weekend look for me but there were plenty of highlights throughout the other looks and this is coming from someone who thinks the entire players weekend was a clown show of colors. 

[BadSeed84]

Phillies looked like they were wearing sweater vests.

[ScubaSteve]

15 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

I think the Phillies looked the best by far.  

 

 

I was surprised how much I liked them on the field compared to the early images. The hat was the reverse, not as good as I was imagining.

[BadSeed84]

I was saying to my dad with the game on,of the Phillies jersey had buttons and planket piping,  and be an actual vest, it would look good. 

 

Hat was ok.

[Matito]

4 hours ago, EddieJ1984 said:

Phillies looked like they were wearing sweater vests.

Something bugged me about Philly's look, and that sums it up completely.

 

Another thing I really disliked was that from behind, there was little way to tell two different teams apart if they were wearing the same jersey. The Orioles, Tigers, and Giants all looked identical from behind, and unless you know the players well enough to know what nickname they wore or could get context clues from the opponents or the stadium, then there's nothing.

 

I like what the Rays went for with their unis, but the execution came out bad. I would have liked to see the body of the jersey in navy, with yellow sleeves. The Columbia blue, while a great color that isn't used much in baseball, is too bright to pair with an equally-bright yellow.

 

It's the same thing that I hate about the "road" versions of the fauxback that they've worn for the two throwback games this season. It's too bright. Allow me to rant about a non-Players Weekend topic for a bit.

 

These are poorly designed fauxbacks, and would have never seen the field like this in the 1970s.

 

When the fauxback uniform was first unveiled, they unashamedly ripped off the San Diego Padres' brown and yellow 70s unis. That's fine. It's a once-a-year thing, it's for fun, and it came out looking pretty great, so I don't mind it.

 

That said, the amount of Columbia/powder blue evokes a road uniform. Given that light blue is a part of the team's color scheme, I can not only live with the hat, I legitimately love it. It's one reason why I loved the 2014 All Star Game caps, and I'm actually wearing the Rays ASG cap as I type this. But the use of light blue on the sleeves and pants should not and would not have been a home uniform. Now, we've seen teams like Toronto, Kansas City, and Milwaukee revive powder blue road unis for throwback games at home, so I'll give this a pass, because this legitimately looks like a team in the 1970s would have created and worn it.

 

But the "road" fauxbacks, first worn for an 80s throwback day at Wrigley, disprove the supposed "existence" of the first fauxback.

 

If this was the "road" uniform in the 1970s/early 1980s, then where was the navy blue uniform worn? It wouldn't have been worn at home, at least not as the "home" uniform, so it must have been an alternate. Again, teams using alternates as throwback uniforms is fairly common. But why pair the alternate uniform with road pants for a throwback?

 

That issue aside, the uniform itself is too bright and garish, even for the 70s. The whole purpose of the exercise was to make something that could have plausibly existed as a standard uniform in the 70s. Instead, the designers just said "Hey, the Padres were loud and crazy, so let's copy them, but with our colors." The problem with that line of thought is that, while yes, the Padres' Taco Bell-era uniforms were gaudy, they accomplished two things. A. They balanced their color scheme, and B. They made an aesthetically pleasing uniform, or at least what passed for one in the 70s.

 

I've long thought that, given some tweaks to make them less goofy (button-down jerseys, non-elastic pants, a more standard block number font), the fauxbacks could be the base for a new look for the Rays, giving them some much needed personality. With a base white home uniform and matching cap, a powder blue away uniform and cap, and an alternate that could realistically be worn at home or on the road, this could, at least in my opinion, make for a pretty good look.

 

[Sport]

The fauxback went way too far and mashed all the uni quirks of every team from that era into one uniform. Had the Rays existed in the 70's there's no doubt they probably would've worn pullovers and sansabelt pants and powder blue road uniforms, but they probably wouldn't really have been as cartoonishly 70's as the fauxbacks, like the yellow bubble numbers on the powder blue jersey. 

 

I mean, most people in the 70's weren't wearing leisure suits, afros, and professional disco dancers, but that's how people remember the era so it makes sense for a faux 70's uniform to be obnoxiously 70's in itself. I get why they did it. 

[Matito]

2 hours ago, McCarthy said:

The fauxback went way too far and mashed all the uni quirks of every team from that era into one uniform. Had the Rays existed in the 70's there's no doubt they probably would've worn pullovers and sansabelt pants and powder blue road uniforms, but they probably wouldn't really have been as cartoonishly 70's as the fauxbacks, like the yellow bubble numbers on the powder blue jersey. 

 

I mean, most people in the 70's weren't wearing leisure suits, afros, and professional disco dancers, but that's how people remember the era so it makes sense for a faux 70's uniform to be obnoxiously 70's in itself. I get why they did it. 

I get why they did it, but to me, it seemed a little hamfisted, almost Minor League-ish in execution. They had pieces of something that could be great, but just put them together in a way that didn't quite add up to it. If they had left it to just the 2012 "home" fauxback, then it would be fine. The 2014 "away" look is where it lost me, and it gets worse now that they've seemingly switched to using that for throwback games.

[FiddySicks]

Honestly? I'd be cool if the Rays just used those fauxback units they have as their primary set. They're so dreadfully boring right now. I say they might as well just embrace the 70s inspired craziness all the way through. It would be kinda trashy, but what they have now is trashy and totally uninspired.

[Gothamite]

Do we know for a fact that both fauxback uniforms are from the same mythical season?

 

And even if they are, the 1978 Padres show it's only a dark pair of pants away. 

 

 

And in that same year, we have an example of all-lights and all-darks.   If the Rays are willing to extend their spiritual ancestry, they could add another couple fauxbacks to the same set. 

 

 

You dont have to like the uniforms, but "lack of historical precedent" doesn't seem to be a great reason to oppose them.  

[hormone]

24 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

Do we know for a fact that both fauxback uniforms are from the same mythical season?

I thought the original one was from the 70s and the second one was from the 80s (since it was worn at wrigley for 80s day). If I recall, the first was a what if 1979 and the second was a what if 82 or 83 when they first were used/hyped. This is a quote from an old tb times article "The Rays are unveiling a "road" version of their retro "fauxback" jerseys (more gold) and caps (less blue) for Sunday's '80s day game in Chicago."

 

EDIT: after a quick search, I found the original rays article with Joe Maddon on deadspin and it was distinctly called 1979 uniform. I already posted the 80s quote for the Cubs game, but they hyped this year's game vs the A's as 1970s...so I guess we have no actual answer of which year a non-existent uniform was worn on a non-existent team lol. I guess it's feasible to think they could still have been worn in 1979 through the early 80s

 

http://deadspin.com/5920016/heres-the-rays-1979-throwback-jersey

 

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2014/8/9/5985531/rays-cubs-throwback-weekend-fauxback

[Gothamite]

That can make sense as well. 

[Andrew_Gamer_NZP]

The Astros are playing their series vs. the Rangers at Tropicana field. Despite being the home team the Astros are wearing their road pants and navy alternate and the Rangers are wearing their home whites.

[Gothamite]

Did they make that choice because Houston is going on a road trip right after and they don't want to pack two sets of uniforms?

 

The Astros wanted to swap some games with the Rangers, who refused. Apparently they have an upcoming series in Arlington and were proposing trading that later series for the upcoming one. The Rangers refused, holding out for hosting both the series.  St. Petersburg is a compromise.

 

We've seen these types of games before, neutral fields for natural disasters. Which means that somebody is wearing their home uniform at a stadium other than their home. 

[SilverBullet1929]

Marlins added a Felo Ramirez memorial sleeve patch and it's rather nice. It's weird having it share space with the ASG patch but it is what it is. 

[Kramerica Industries]

49 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

Did they make that choice because Houston is going on a road trip right after and they don't want to pack two sets of uniforms? 

 

I mean, the Astros home gear is in Houston, and obviously they had no way of retrieving that stuff so they're wearing what they had with them, which was their road gear.

[Gothamite]

Well, that would make a lot of sense then.  

 

Strange to see "home" teams batting last but wearing gray.  But it happens, and not always for a reason this good. 

[The_Admiral]

On 8/27/2017 at 3:47 PM, jrodsep said:

 

Could the Cubs just bring this one back as an Alternate? The sorry excuse for a batting practice jersey they use as an alternate is unacceptable. 

 As a button-down, definitely.

 

We've seen these types of games before, neutral fields for natural disasters.

If I remember the Carlos Zambrano no-hitter at Miller Park correctly, it was the visiting Cubs in blue shirts and grey pants against the home Astros in brick red shirts and grey pants, and I think they refused to wear home uniforms to protest playing "home games" against Chicago in Milwaukee.

[uniguy22]

Good read on the Jays hated 2004-2011 logo/jerseys, with a shout-out to this site and these boards!

 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/big-read-origins-blue-jays-hated-jersey/

 

[AstroCree]

I always did like the Angry Blue Jay logo. I wish they made a blue jersey and/or hat with this logo. It may have gotten a better reception. 

[phutmasterflex]

Agreed. A blue jersey would have been good but if they emphasized the graphite caps and jersey it might not have been too bad. I just think I like it because it was a new color scheme in baseball.