MLB Changes 2015

[Gothamite]

No, the silver outline isn't needed, and could be eliminated. But at least the silver isn't dark enough to muddy the letters, and it separates them from the Yankees (if midnight navy and black are too close, and if you think such things are important, neither of which I do).

[IceCap]

The White Sox have been through enough uniform changes. They finally found a set that they've stuck with, save for a few tweaks, for decades. They need to leave well enough alone and just stick with this identity. The black and red stuff is great for throwback purposes, but they don't need to incorporate its stylings into the primary set.

[Gothamite]

I do agree with that. After spending most of the 20th century as the one team without a consistent identity, they finally found their niche. And it's gorgeous. Ironic that they rejected the proposal for a retro ballpark right about the time they introduced the concept of returning to a retro uniform.

The only tweaks I'd make are to the road jersey - ditch the awful 70s elastic-band cuff striping in favor of black piping and bring back the White Sock patch.

Oh, and get a "C" cap.

[AnPheitseog]

Random question, does anyone know the height of the pirates front and back numbers?

I'm guessing 3" for the front and 6'? 8"? for the back, but im not sure and dont have an authentic to measure

[IceCap]

I do agree with that. After spending most of the 20th century as the one team without a consistent identity, they finally found their niche. And it's gorgeous. Ironic that they rejected the proposal for a retro ballpark right about the time they introduced the concept of returning to a retro uniform.

The only tweaks I'd make are to the road jersey - ditch the awful 70s elastic-band cuff striping in favor of black piping and bring back the White Sock patch.

Oh, and get a "C" cap.

Agreed about white sock diamond patch. That thing was beautiful. I would even add it to the sleeve of the home pinstripes.

I have to disagree about the cuff stripes though. It's not a look every team, or even a few teams, need to adopt but it just works for the Sox given their black/white scheme. Something about it just works with their amazing "Chicago" road script.

As for a "C" cap? I love the "SOX" cap, but that's probably because I see the "SOX" mark as a logo, and not a monogram. So it doesn't violate the "no team names on monograms" rule (looking at you, Colorado).

A "C" alternate cap would be cool though. Preferably in the style of their road wordmark.

[TheOldRoman]

I do agree with that. After spending most of the 20th century as the one team without a consistent identity, they finally found their niche. And it's gorgeous. Ironic that they rejected the proposal for a retro ballpark right about the time they introduced the concept of returning to a retro uniform.

The only tweaks I'd make are to the road jersey - ditch the awful 70s elastic-band cuff striping in favor of black piping and bring back the White Sock patch.

Oh, and get a "C" cap.

Agreed about white sock diamond patch. That thing was beautiful. I would even add it to the sleeve of the home pinstripes.

I have to disagree about the cuff stripes though. It's not a look every team, or even a few teams, need to adopt but it just works for the Sox given their black/white scheme. Something about it just works with their amazing "Chicago" road script.

As for a "C" cap? I love the "SOX" cap, but that's probably because I see the "SOX" mark as a logo, and not a monogram. So it doesn't violate the "no team names on monograms" rule (looking at you, Colorado).

A "C" alternate cap would be cool though. Preferably in the style of their road wordmark.

I agree with this (or at least the first half). Black, gray, and white are the team colors. They have three jerseys - one in each team color. The striping on the road jersey allows them to feature all three colors more prominently. If all teams outside of the Yankees had abandoned pinstripes in the '30s, people could say "the Yankees need to get rid of those dated outfits." While there were definitely some bad racing stripes, rainbow stripes from the Astros and large cuffs from teams which shouldn't have ever worn them (Cardinals), that's not the White Sox. You can say that the road jerseys are a product of their time (1992), but I don't think they look at all dated. They've worn them for 24 years and won a championship in them. The Phillies are the only current team which uses similar striping, and theirs is much wider. The Sox have moved past a dated trend and it just became theirs.

Furthermore, I think it would dull down the league a little if they went with piping. I consider piping with a head-spoon to be the quintessential baseball uniform. However, I don't want the entire league in it. The last 15 years MLB has had a massive boner over the stupid collar piping thing the Giants brought back from the dead. From no teams in 1999 to a third of the league today. Even the Marlins, who set out to do something outlandish, ended up with single piping and a ring around the collar. We don't need more of that. The Sox road set would look good with a head-spoon, but I think it looks better the way it is now. But yes, absolutely bring back the diamond sock patch.

As for the caps, with the shape of the road wordmark, I'm not sure the C would work on its own. I think I've seen a Nike hat with just the "C" from the wordmark and it was uninspiring. It's not a strong mark on its own, and it looks like something more abstract than a "C." Furthermore, I think their current cap is iconic, and they don't need any alternates.

[The_Admiral]

The Cubs should slap some names on the jerseys from Friday and wear them permanently on the road. That's by far the best they've ever looked. I do love the White Sox' '50s throwbacks, and I think their current set would look good with red added. However, their current set is perfect outside of the changes they've made to the roads since 2010. Scale those back and keep things the same.

The only problem I have with the Cubs' 1960s greys is that the thin blue/red piping looks purplish from a distance, so just do away with it. Agreed that the Sox are close to perfect; maybe they could come up with a new Flying Sock to wear on the road and maybe at home.

As for the caps, with the shape of the road wordmark, I'm not sure the C would work on its own. I think I've seen a Nike hat with just the "C" from the wordmark and it was uninspiring. It's not a strong mark on its own, and it looks like something more abstract than a "C." Furthermore, I think their current cap is iconic, and they don't need any alternates.

The curly C from the late '80s looked good on its own, but it would look out of place now. I've decided the only teams that shouldn't wear a letter for their location name on the caps are the A's, White Sox, and Blue Jays (call the L.A. Angels' Big A an A for Anaheim and say nothing else of the matter). The Sox have just had SOX on the cap long enough that they can get away with it. The cap they have now is the only one they need, same with the Cubs.

Speaking of the late '80s, I still wouldn't mind the "White Sox" tailed script on the jackets.

[Sport]

perfect road baseball uniform

imperfect road baseball uniform. And for what reason? Why go to single piping on the pants? WHY?

[TheOldRoman]

Because derp. They cited the popular sales of the caps and proudly proclaimed that switching the diamond sock for the primary logo on the road jersey was to "increase brand awareness" and continuity for the White Sox brand, since that jersey didn't say what team it was. As if someone would see a gray and black "Chicago" baseball jersey with a white sock on the sleeve and assume it was either the Cubs or Bears. And aside from the brilliance of the former patch, the primary logo looks awful and unbalanced as a sleeve patch. Either way, the Yankees sell a lot of caps. To increase brand awareness, they'd better slap the cap logo on the road jersey' sleeves so people know it's not a Mets jersey.

The next season they came out with the piped pants and didn't even respond when fans asked them why. I imagine some dope forgot to order the road pants, Majestic sent them singled-piped pants on short notice to start the season, and they just stuck with it to bluff, "No, we totally meant to do that." Not only did it detract from the look, but it made the jerseys and pants mismatched. I can't imagine there was any actually reasoning that went into it.

[Gothamite]

You're probably right.

Though I would rather they add that piping to the jersey sleeves, when they swap out the cap logo.

[OnWis97]

You're probably right.

Though I would rather they add that piping to the jersey sleeves, when they swap out the cap logo.

I agree. The pants and jersey should match, but I'd go with piping on both rather than the white and black stripes.

The "SOX" sleeve patch replacing the sock is just stupid. That was such a great patch. Redundantly putting the "SOX" logo is almost as bad as the Angels over-use of the halo-A.

[The_Admiral]

No, I like the black and white stripes.

The SOX sleeve patch isn't bad, just unnecessary and a downgrade from what they had before. Maybe there would have been more brand awareness for the road grey without the primary on it if the team would have worn it more than the alternate.

[daveindc]

The White Sox have been through enough uniform changes. They finally found a set that they've stuck with, save for a few tweaks, for decades. They need to leave well enough alone and just stick with this identity. The black and red stuff is great for throwback purposes, but they don't need to incorporate its stylings into the primary set.

I don't think anyone was suggesting they "incorporate its stylings into the primary set". They should just wear this throwback more often like the Phillies, Cardinals, etc, does theirs.

[BigBubba]

Eh, I just can't get behind the panel look, even for the Blue Jays. Panels have always looked high-schoolish to me, no matter who's wearing them.

I can tolerate the contrasting panel in some cases. This would look good with the white jersey. But with the blue jersey? I agree fully. They look like a high school/traveling team.

I was surprised to see them go with the alts that day. My guess is that they either a.) Were trying to kinda-sorta emulate the 1985 road look of the white front panelled cap with the powder blues (even though they also wore it with the home whites); or b.) Thought that wearing both the cap and the standard home jersey would have too much white (a common sentiment around here).

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I, for one, love the Sox's thick striping. L-o-v-e it.

And the "Sox" logo looks great on a cap.

[Sport]

No, I like the black and white stripes.

The SOX sleeve patch isn't bad, just unnecessary and a downgrade from what they had before. Maybe there would have been more brand awareness for the road grey without the primary on it if the team would have worn it more than the alternate.

So many teams wear little skinny piping in lieu of actual stripes. I miss stripes in baseball. Baseball needs stripes!

And the White Sox are silly. There was that one year wear they wore the black alternate for like 80% of their games. Thank goodness for their one actual moment of triumph they were wearing the correct uniform.

[Tigers6884]

The Detroit Tigers will be wearing these gorgeous 1945 throwback uniforms tonight.

[Cujo]

Cubs also going with their '45 throwbacks tonight vs. Detroit.

[jp1409]

The Detroit Tigers will be wearing these gorgeous 1945 throwback uniforms tonight.

I always thought I'd prefer these to the current ones but I've got to admit white and orange are much needed...

[PhilliesPhan1325]

I cannot stand these new(?) two-in-ones that seem to be appearing more and more frequently. Ex - The Cubs throwbacks tonight.

[Dynasty]

It's funny how big the cap logo is on the Tigers' throwbacks compared to their current caps.