Beltway Series: Orioles vs Nationals

[Discrim]

It's been a while since my last concept, so I figure the time was right to roll this duo out.

Orioles

That I've forgone road grays hasn't been too unusual. That I've junked home whites, though...for starters, the same black pants are worn for both home and road unis. The home jersey mimicks an oriole's torso, with an orange chest and the rest is black. Kinda like the various BP jerseys with the odd paneling and contrasting backs, but simpler and better conceived IMO. Thick sleeve striping is modeled after the 60s Orioles' stirrups, and unusually for the O's, the front uses predominantly white lettering. The all black road set is based on the 1901 Orioles, though I figured I'd replace the O actually worn with a B. The right sleeve is adorned with the classic swinging oriole, and the Lord Baltimore flag (the gold/black portions of the Maryland flag) provides the sublimated torso/sleeve pattern.

Nationals

If anyone remembers that one time the Red Sox hosted the Cubs, and Boston came out in uniforms that literally only had back numbers, the home uniform here references that same era...the Walter Johnson era, to be more specific. Hybrid of the 1910 Senators (the contrasting placket) and 20s Nats (W's on sleeves and pinstripes) with the current team's red instead of navy, this being more of a tribute uniform than a true throwback. The roadie takes inspiration from the 50s Senators' "3D" home uniforms, though as the curly W doesn't look good with the shadow style that the 50s jersey used, I went with the DC insetad. On each sleeve are three stars above two red stripes, taken from the Washington D.C. flag. As you can see, the numbers got the same treatment as the DC.

Far as the near future goes, I am going forward with likely the only intraleague rivalry of the bunch, Pirates-Phillies...as in the Pirates are done, but I haven't really started on the Phils yet. After that, I have a few good Cards-Royals ideas, I wanna flesh those out a bit more.

[leopard88]

The Orioles sets are a little over the top for my taste, but I like that you have reasons for everything you did (i.e., mimicking the 60s stirrups and the 00s all black uniforms).

The Nats are a little more my speed. I love the flag-based star/stripe combo on the road sleeves. That would be a nice touch on the Nationals' regular uniforms.

[coco1997]

Awesome work! The Orioles set is delightfully gaudy. The Nats road jersey looks like something they'd actually wear.

I hope your Phillies concept features lots of burgundy.

Any chance you'll do a Reds/Indians set?

[spoz851]

I hope to see some powder blue; well liked in Philadelphia.

[Thatlaxgoalie]

"Love the Baltimore Away

[Dynasty]

I actually like the Orioles' home cap. The shoulder striping on the Nationals' away uniforms is good as well. However, the Nationals' home uniforms need a bit more navy and the white drop shadow on the away uniforms isn't that appealing.

[Discrim]

The Orioles sets are a little over the top for my taste, but I like that you have reasons for everything you did (i.e., mimicking the 60s stirrups and the 00s all black uniforms).

The Nats are a little more my speed. I love the flag-based star/stripe combo on the road sleeves. That would be a nice touch on the Nationals' regular uniforms.

Yeah, there was a method to the madness here. And I figure the Caps have the hidden Capitol building in the Weagle, and the Bullets Wizards have the Washington Monument logo, the Nats should have their own local reference.

Awesome work! The Orioles set is delightfully gaudy. The Nats road jersey looks like something they'd actually wear.

I hope your Phillies concept features lots of burgundy.

Any chance you'll do a Reds/Indians set?

In order, thanks (I figure the Nats' owners would "improve" upon it by replacing the DC with either the 50s W or, worse, the curly W. I've tried it with the latter, the resulting shadow looked terrible no matter what I tried. But what do I know, eh?)...burgundy's the direction I'm leaning towards for the Phils...and Reds/Indians is largely in the planning stages, though I got hung up for about a week, as while I'd like to keep Wahoo's presence to a minimum for this set, I simply don't like the block C, and tried/junked a few attempts at a feather C before deciding to use the 70s C. Far as the Reds, there was something I'd done way back in 01-02 when I used to post a lot of TATC concepts...if you've heard about Rick Ross wearing a chain of himself wearing a chain, or wondered about what the old helmeted Dolphins logo would've looked like with an infinitely repeating logo, I'd done that with Mr. Red once back then (don't bother looking for it, my old TATC stuff is long gone). Eh, what the hell, I think I'll revisit that idea with Mr. Redlegs this time. I wasn't gonna do it, but what the hell, I may as well.

I hope to see some powder blue; well liked in Philadelphia.

There will be powder blue. Since nobody's wondering about the Buccos, I'll keep that under wraps for a little while longer.

"Love the Baltimore Away

Thank you, thank you *bows*

I actually like the Orioles' home cap. The shoulder striping on the Nationals' away uniforms is good as well. However, the Nationals' home uniforms need a bit more navy and the white drop shadow on the away uniforms isn't that appealing.

I figured somebody would say that. Both of the Nationals' uniforms are, to varying degrees, concepts I decided to revisit/remake for the rivalry series. Both originals were home whites, so the drop shadowed DC jerseys are a more loose interpretation of the mid 50s homes. Sorry you feel that way about the shadow, but getting as close as possible to that distinct-for-its-time look was what I was aiming for, it'd be incomplete without it.

The whites, now...as mentioned, it's a composite tribute to Walter Johnson's career, with the tweak of red instead of navy to acknowledge the current Nats. The contrasting placket is from his rookie season, and the W's on the sleeves and pinstripes represent the uniforms he wore for the bulk of his career. By all rights, everything should be navy, as the Senators rarely, if ever, used red back then, but I wanted to see what a red version looked like. I suppose I could've given the placket navy piping to acknowledge Johnson's brief stint as Indians manager, even though that has nothing to do with DC baseball, but I don't intend to redo either set.

[coco1997]

There will be powder blue. Since nobody's wondering about the Buccos, I'll keep that under wraps for a little while longer.

I'm interested in your Buccos set! Can we expect some pinstripes?

[Discrim]

All I'll say for now is that one uniform may be the best blend of the 1910s, 1940s and 1970s ever. Granted, it'll probably be one of the few, if not only, such blends of anything ever.

[coco1997]

Looking forward to seeing it.