2014 MLB Changes (logo, uniform wise, etc)

[Brian]

It looks like the Reds will have a new camo jersey and a St Pattys day jersey which will be unveiled at Redsfest in a few days. Yuck.

Also, from the looks of the pics, their away jerseys will have a small tweak this season. The red/white/red sleeve striping will be at the bottom of the sleeve instead of slightly above the bottom.

[tv15]

Are the pirates unveiling their new primary logo in a couple weeks?

[Gothamite]

Surprised they haven't wanted to sell tshirts with it.

[Silent Wind of Doom]

I've finally caught up to one of these. Last year I never caught up to this thread, so it's nice to be able to pitch in.

Do the Yankees need alternates?

Heck no. The Yankees look beautiful as they do now. To be honest, I hadn't thought of the situation a few of you guys mentioned, but it's a good point. Joe DiMaggio was famous for saying that he played his hardest every day just in case there was a kid in those stands who was there for his very first and possibly only game. The same thing applies to the uniforms. The New York Yankees have the number one uniform in the sport (backed up by MLB Network Countdown), and going to see the game and getting navy BP uniforms would be kinda disappointing.

But beyond that, they just look great. The only alternates I would be okay with would be a rare throwback, and not for every Saturday or Sunday. I always worry about that when I hear that certain teams have a specific alternate for that day. Some people have season tickets for a specific day. Some people have school and can only get to those games. These people never get to see their team as they classicly look. Anyone in St. Louis with a Sunday package only ever sees their team in the navy bird-on-bat look.

A lot of people crap on the Yankees away grays, but I really love them. People say the white is dated, but... I suppose I agree. But not in a bad way. They're dated like the home pinstripes, or the Red Sox and Tigers' home uniforms. When I look at the home pinstripes, it makes me think of the classic teams from the earlier part of the century, of Ruth and Gehrig, of Stengel's boys. When I look at the away grays, it makes me think of the classic teams from the latter part of the century, of the Boston Massacre and Bucky bleeping Dent, of that image of Mattingly in the dugout, of Leyritz tying it and O'Neil saving it in Atlanta. The white trimmed aways may not be the old classic look, but they have a lot of history behind them. Think of them as the Yankees' version of the Phillies' burgundy pinstripes, the Royals' powder blues, or the Big Red Machine look, all of which people wish they had back all the time here. Together, I think the look encapsulates Yankee history. Plus I like the extra pop the piping gives the navy, putting it above the Red Sox aways in my opinion. I wouldn't mind an away throwback alternate, though.

And yeah, baseball is traditionally white-gray, and doesn't need to really change from that. Alternates are all right for some teams, and if they're made of good materials and not too goofy-looking they look pretty nice. The White Sox don't look bad in black. The Mariners look good in teal. However, this shouldn't completely eclipse white-gray. It just looks good. Gray isn't a bad color. It's just what you do with it. Some grays look pretty bad, but that's just because the team didn't design the uniform well. It can either be done with color, or with good wordmarks. I think the Tigers and White Sox have really cool and unique-looking city wordmarks that make their grays just look good.

Bronx vs. Queens

As traditionalist as I am towards the look of the Yankees, I actually think this would be cool. Although keeping it to BP would be an even better step.

And yeah, everyone knows that the Big Ballpark in the Bronx where the Bronx Bombers play is in the Bronx. The Mets are the Kings of Queens. The Cubs play in the North Side, and the White Sox are the Southsiders. When the Yankees go off on a road trip to play the Angels or Rangers they play in Anaheim or Arlington as opposed to L.A. or Dallas. The Marlins play in Little Havana and the Dodgers, of course, at Chavez Ravine.

Red, White, and Blue

People complain about this all the time, and I've never understood it. There's a decent amount of these colors in the sport... but so what? The teams don't look alike at all. They look completely different. First of all, some of them are navy, and some are royal, and never the two shall meet. That's an extremely clear distinction, so lumping all those teams in together is invalid.

If you look at the royal teams, the Braves have burgundy and the Rangers and Cubs have bright red. The Cubs have pinstripes and red cap logos, while the Rangers have clean white uniforms and white cap logos.

As for the Navy teams, the Red Sox, Twins, and Indians have bright red as a secondary characteristic. The Red Sox have distinctive red plack piping and the Twins have pinstripes.

And if you want to include the predominantly red teams in here, the Phillies have pinstripes, the Nationals have a cap logo, the Angels have a strikingly different type, and the Cardinals have bats on birds.

Even if the teams have similar colors, they all have distinct characteristics that make each look unique and clearly distinguishable. If you include another team with the same colors, if you make it look different from the other teams, who cares? There's no sense of homogeny here. Plus, no matter how similar a team may look, they're going to wear two different color uniforms anyway... unless the alternate-choked universe ends up killing that distinction. I'm looking at you, Angels and Rangers.

[Bravo96]

I agree with several of your points, but the Braves' red is nowhere close to burgundy.

[leopard88]

I agree with several of your points, but the Braves' red is nowhere close to burgundy.

. . . and their blue is nowhere close to royal.

[Beeperino]

I saw this as well. I'm hoping (perhaps beyond hope) that there will be a 'suprise' unveiling of cleaned up (i.e., no drop shadow) hats and uniforms. I don't recall much prior notice concerning the Los Rojos jersey (though admittedly it wasn't such a big deal as they wore it for maybe two games). I don't mind the black as a trim color per se, as there is plenty of history there (see below). It's the use of drop shadow that drives me nuts, both on the hats and on the jerseys. It actually hurts my eyes to look at the road unis because the drop shadowed and outlined "Cincinnati" is so busy. If they're worried about contrast, I think it's been solved by the style of red they now use (bolder than the 1970s-early 90s), but if that fails, a very subtle black outline would do. Failing that, I would be pleased if they could simply get rid of the hideous black-billed road cap. It always looked stupid and I strongly suspect the '99 team favored the black caps for that very reason (which, by the way, are still their official "alternate cap" though it hasn't been worn since '06, at least that I can remember). I'm also interested to see if there's a reemergence of black in the unis based on the 2014 road BP jerseys/hats and the dugout jacket.

It looks like the Reds will have a new camo jersey and a St Pattys day jersey which will be unveiled at Redsfest in a few days. Yuck.

Also, from the looks of the pics, their away jerseys will have a small tweak this season. The red/white/red sleeve striping will be at the bottom of the sleeve instead of slightly above the bottom.

[McCall]

@Silent WoD

Mantle, Gherig and Ruth never wore the current road uniforms. They were introduced in the 70's along with the bastardization of Yankee Stadium. That's why we refer to them as dated. Because they are, from the most unflattering period in baseball aesthetics at that. Removing the white and sleeve trimming would return them closer to glorious roads that the greats actually wore.

[Silent Wind of Doom]

I agree with several of your points, but the Braves' red is nowhere close to burgundy.

I agree with several of your points, but the Braves' red is nowhere close to burgundy.

. . . and their blue is nowhere close to royal.

All right, I posted this at 5AM on the dot. I guess I was pretty out of it. I had brought up this image to help me remember all the blue teams, and didn't catch the royal/navy error. I actually thought about not using the word "burgundy", but figured that it would be understandable I was just referring to a darker red.

@Silent WoD

Mantle, Gherig and Ruth never wore the current road uniforms. They were introduced in the 70's along with the bastardization of Yankee Stadium. That's why we refer to them as dated. Because they are, from the most unflattering period in baseball aesthetics at that. Removing the white and sleeve trimming would return them closer to glorious roads that the greats actually wore.

I know. That's what I was saying. The pinstripes harken back to those teams. The road grays harken back to the Bronx Zoo and the New Dynasty.

[LEWJ]

I'm not sure if I'm in the minority, but i'd have to say the Reds' set is probably the set that got old the quickest. I really don't like it. The font doesn't work for me anymore, and the drop shadows are putrid.

I don't really think they need to get rid of black, the font is what drives me insane.

Then again, I'm a fan of the sets from the Pokey Reese era. Haha

[tomtucker]

It looks like the Reds will have a new camo jersey and a St Pattys day jersey which will be unveiled at Redsfest in a few days. Yuck.

Also, from the looks of the pics, their away jerseys will have a small tweak this season. The red/white/red sleeve striping will be at the bottom of the sleeve instead of slightly above the bottom.

so the reds will have a green jersey..........

[Gehrig27]

As a Yankees fan, I have to agree with Silent Wind of Doom. I love the fact that even our polyester-era uniforms have maintained virtually the same design since their introduction in the final year of the original stadium in 1973, over 40 years ago. This set has witnessed its own history, including: 8 100+ win seasons, 7 championships, and 11 pennants. I certainly have a fondness to them (white outlines and sleeve trim included), but I would be willing to accept a change that would call back to the classic Mantle-era uniforms. I have a feeling that the organization may want to alter the uniforms too, and have been testing the waters by allowing the 1912 throwback and wearing the BP cap for a game back in August (and supposedly next season) just to get a sense of the fan reaction. The throwback at Fenway was very well received by the fans - perhaps that got some attention in the front office.

Like a few have stated already, a full blown navy alternate would not be the way to go; If they wanted to change anything, removing the white and trim on the roads would be best. As long as they don't switch to those awful, cool-base jerseys I'll be alright. OT rant: I can't stand that every team has been switching to cool-base; they look like cheap, paper-thin knockoffs with screen printed numbers and letters.

[PJBenterprises]

As a die-hard Yankee fan, I'm a little torn on the subject of an alternate. While I agree that the pinstripes are part of the identity and part of the experience that people come to see, that doesn't mean that there's no room for an alt. For example, one way to go would be to adopt a plain navy (with interlocking NY) jersey and only wear it as a road alt. That way people who come to Yankee Stadium still get to see the pinstripes, but they can change things up on the road.

Similarly, what about a throwback home alt? Like the 1915 home - the jersey could be cream colored and could be paired with the pinstriped hat. Too late for 2014, but would be cool as a "here's what we wore 100 years ago" thing in 2015.

[Gothamite]

As a one-off, I'd be all in favor of it. But a regular alt? No thanks.

[daveindc]

Just have them wear the alt on certain days, so people who really want to see them in pinstripes will know ahead of time. Sheesh! Fridays sound cool?

[Gehrig27]

What they could do is wear a different throwback each year on Old Timer's Day only. It wouldn't be blasphemy because it would be a uniform the team has worn before, plus they could tie it in with the day by celebrating a particular year and those players. e.g: 2014 - wear 1994 throwbacks with the 125th anniversary patch, 2015 - 1995 jerseys with mantle armband and 7 patch. etc.

[larrypep]

Rob Neyer wants the Padres to go retro.

http://www.gaslampball.com/2013/12/3/5172522/neyer-wants-padres-to-go-retro

[iRTlikecrazy]

Rob Neyer wants the Padres to go retro.

http://www.gaslampball.com/2013/12/3/5172522/neyer-wants-padres-to-go-retro

Yes!

[Silent Wind of Doom]

Rob Neyer wants the Padres to go retro.

http://www.gaslampball.com/2013/12/3/5172522/neyer-wants-padres-to-go-retro

Yes!

Seconded. Going with that style would bring back the old colors, but still be rather conservative. I think it's perfect, although I can see some complaining that it's "too plain" like they did about the Astros uniforms, although I liked those too.

[RETROJR79]

I don't mind the alternate but my only problem is that some team wear it like 4x a week I would save the alternate for the weekend plus I'm also not a fan of both teams wearing alternate on the same game..