MLB Changes 2017

[coco1997]

 

Anyone see this article on ESPN? Some of these helmet designs are pretty cool.

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19354185/adding-some-imagination-standard-mlb-batting-helmet

[CreamSoda]

The Rockies need to wear their purple jerseys more often.  Just ditch the black vests.

[Silent Wind of Doom]

On 5/9/2017 at 6:14 AM, Gothamite said:

I get that. And I respect it.  But I still think it's problematic.  

 

Images are subject to the same restriction on original research.  Your point about bad images being out there is an excellent one, and demonstrates why graphics need also be sourced, lest Wikipedia spread (and authenticate) bad information.

 

Again, I trust your work.  But Wikipedia has been responsible for spreading inaccurate information in the past, and lending it the sheen of truth, which is why the system is supposed to prevent one editor from making the value judgments you describe.  

 

Maybe we can get Paul to write a piece on the socks.  

 

Phew.  What a week.  Took the bride's sister to LaGuardia, so I'm finally all done with my best man responsibilities.

 

Articles are sourced to secondary sources, as the policy is to establish notability.  I misspoke last time in using the word "source". I meant secondary sourses.  There are generally few secondary sources for images.  Given that, and the fact that usable images needn't prove notability, if an image is sourced, primary sources are generally used instead.  Like a free recreation of a copyrighted image may link to that image.

 

If need be, I can source back to the Getty images I've been using, showing my work.  I've never done this in the past because... honestly your the first person to show concern about it.  I'd be more than happy to update things.  I've gotta run back through and do that anyway, since there's a current issue being discussed and arbitrated, so to speak.  A recent Supreme Court ruling has thrown into jeopardy the current way they are being licensed, so I may have to go through any make changes on each/reupload a few that have been moved to Commons back on the English site.

 

I totally understand the concern.  It can be problematic.  It's the Batman Problem.  Yeah, you can have someone out there, and they may be doing things right and serve the greater good, but the risk is that people without the best intentions and/or ability see this and try to do the same.  

 

And I'm not quite sure if you've felt the description of the Oakland image was problematic or not, but let me address it.  By a third of the way into the month, Khris Davis wore yellow Stance striped team socks for every game except for with the away grays.  Rajai Davis wore green stirrups with yellow sanitaries every day, except for the first game where he wore white sanitaries.  Sean Doolittle wore green Stance striped team socks every game he pitched in besides the first series.  Jharel Cotton wore Stance plain green every game that he pitched in.  Adam Rosales and Chad Pinder both worse plain green every game they were in.  Every sock was worn with almost every uniform.  Any socks included would be correct, albeit not the only correct option.  Hence the most reasonable option seemed to be to go the route I was going to, showing the different options.

 

3 hours ago, aawagner011 said:

These kinda remind me of the Rays plaid caps.

 

 

 

I love the inclusion of Lord Baltimore's banner in any sports identity, but this feels like it's lacking a bit of orange to feel like it fits the identity better.  The flag's on the sleeve patch, but that's in an orange roundel.  This doesn't look like it matches, but I'm not sure how to solve it.  Having the edge of the rim being orange could work, but it would likely look terrible.  Maybe instead of doing this having the pattern sublimated on an orange bill would work better, or changing the colors to being O's colors.

 

On a side note, I earlier saw the talk about the Padres' socks adding a new color to the identity.  I had to go to the Stance store to see if the stripe on the Pirates' socks were white or gray, since the photos look grey.  I realized that it's white, but when worn and the fabric is stretched out, the white spreads out and you can see the dark fabric below.

 

 

Seeing this made me decide to go look at the Padres' socks and see if the same effect was happening there, white stripes mixing with blue fabric.  It's actually something completely different when looked at closer.  Rather than a new blue, the Padres' stripes are a mixture of their silver and white, mixed together in a digital camo pattern.  Although stretching does cause some blue to show through as well.

 

[leopard88]

1 minute ago, Silent Wind of Doom said:

I love the inclusion of Lord Baltimore's banner in any sports identity, but this feels like it's lacking a bit of orange to feel like it fits the identity better.  The flag's on the sleeve patch, but that's in an orange roundel.  This doesn't look like it matches, but I'm not sure how to solve it.  Having the edge of the rim being orange could work, but it would likely look terrible.  Maybe instead of doing this having the pattern sublimated on an orange bill would work better, or changing the colors to being O's colors.

 

I didn't notice before that the bird appears to be red.  On last year's giveaway cap, the bird was the normal orange and it looks fine.

[upperV03]

10 minutes ago, Silent Wind of Doom said:

On a side note, I earlier saw the talk about the Padres' socks adding a new color to the identity.  I had to go to the Stance store to see if the stripe on the Pirates' socks were white or gray, since the photos look grey.  I realized that it's white, but when worn and the fabric is stretched out, the white spreads out and you can see the dark fabric below.

 

 

Seeing this made me decide to go look at the Padres' socks and see if the same effect was happening there, white stripes mixing with blue fabric.  It's actually something completely different when looked at closer.  Rather than a new blue, the Padres' stripes are a mixture of their silver and white, mixed together in a digital camo pattern.  Although stretching does cause some blue to show through as well.

 

The Padres' socks that were being discussed actually weren't their team-specific design, they were these:

See here:

[twi]

2 hours ago, coco1997 said:

 

Anyone see this article on ESPN? Some of these helmet designs are pretty cool.

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19354185/adding-some-imagination-standard-mlb-batting-helmet

But what if some poor soul only saw one Yankees game ever and they weren't wearing their normal helmet!?!?! 

[Silent Wind of Doom]

1 hour ago, leopard88 said:

I didn't notice before that the bird appears to be red.  On last year's giveaway cap, the bird was the normal orange and it looks fine.

 

I noticed it looked redder, but thought it was just an error in the graphic or prototype.  Didn't think of it being purposely colored to match.  If that's the case, then I'd rather not see it worn with the standard jersey.  I'd like to see the Orioles pair this with a Stars and Stripes style uniform, the wordmark in the style of the flag with an orange outline.  They could wear it for June 20th, July 6th, July 30th, or September 13th.

 

58 minutes ago, upperV03 said:

The Padres' socks that were being discussed actually weren't their team-specific design, they were these:

 

Bwahahaha.  I was in a rush because I had to go and take care of something, and grabbed the wrong socks.  That explains why I swore that when I checked when the conversation originally came up that it was flecked white over navy.

 

 

Those socks are the same navy as the rest, with white flecking over it.  It does look like a different shade of blue from a distance.

 

Also in my rush I'd missed the helmet.  I... I can't argue with them being objectively very attractive.  The only ones I'd like to see actually adopted full-time are the Diamondbacks (which in my opinion are the best of the bunch), the Cubs on the road, the Padres with their alts, and maybe the Astros at home.  

 

I would love to see them on display for one special event, though.  I know a lot of people prefer teams to look like themselves during the All-Star game, and that team photo with everybody in their homes or aways together is a thing of beauty.  However, as they're already showing off different cap designs, I'd love to see these helmets worn for the All-Star Game.  They would never be seen during practice/photos/intros anyway, only being seen during play.

 

Not that they're all perfect.  The Nationals have a bit of goofy charm, but that's a goalie's helmet, not a game-use baseball helmet.  Go with sublimation rather than outright printing in full color.  Pittsburgh's diamond plate fits the city well, but it would fit the Steelers better than the Pirates.  The Pirates already have an identity, an a design should be based more around piracy than steel.  I'm not sure how to put this in to practice, though.  Maybe sublimated crossed bones behind the P and folts around the helmet like a bandana?  Or ships wrapped around either side?  And the Tigers' stripe doesn't work as well in white.  It looks more like a cow or someone who bumped into wet paint a bunch.  I'd love to see the team introduce a little orange at home with sock stripes similar to the ones that inspired the name to begin with.  Maybe, then, the orange striped helmet will fit at home, albeit with a white logo.

 

This gets me thinking about what the other designs would be.  Golden Gate bridge around the Giants with the center span going under the logo?  Silhouettes of minutemen for Boston?  Mets gotta have a skyline.  Probably the same for Chicago, unless you go with fireworks and pinwheels.  Blue Jays could get maple leaves similar to the Cubs' ivy design.  Crown for Kansas City.  Minn and Pat on either side of the Twins' logo.  Disturbed waves for Seattle.  Imagine a pale gold head around the top of the Brewers' helmet.  The Rockies on... well... the Rockies' helmet.  I ain't touching Cleveland and Atlanta with a ten foot pole.

 

And, to bring it full circle: Maryland flag for Baltimore.

[Michael Bolton]

I thought the Cubs in blue and the Rockies in the new purple was a great-looking matchup yesterday.

[Matito]

7 hours ago, KGeeX5 said:

I like it!

 

also Rays should totally bring back the plaid!

 

I agree, partially because it was fun and unique and gave some life to their fairly stagnant uniforms, but mostly because my plaid cap is too small and I can't find a new one in 7 1/4.

[upperV03]

29 minutes ago, Michael Bolton said:

I thought the Cubs in blue and the Rockies in the new purple was a great-looking matchup yesterday.

[Michael Bolton]

24 minutes ago, upperV03 said:

 

I'M JOSE CANSECO!

[upperV03]

Not quite as bad as Rockies/Cubs yesterday, but the Jays and Mariners are going royal vs. navy today in Toronto. The Mariners might be wearing the navy alts as a sign of superstition since they've won the last four times they've worn them, including the past two days in Philadelphia.

[njdevs7]

Have any players ever complained about the teams wearing similar jerseys? Obviously it usually doesn't matter in baseball, but I could see scenarios where it would. If an outfielder is fielding a ball and looks up to throw it may take an extra .5 second to distinguish if a player is a cut off man or a base runner, something like that.

[KGeeX5]

15 hours ago, Matito said:

I agree, partially because it was fun and unique and gave some life to their fairly stagnant uniforms, but mostly because my plaid cap is too small and I can't find a new one in 7 1/4.

 

I've been wanting to find one in the same size as well!

[OnWis97]

10 hours ago, njdevs7 said:

Have any players ever complained about the teams wearing similar jerseys? Obviously it usually doesn't matter in baseball, but I could see scenarios where it would. If an outfielder is fielding a ball and looks up to throw it may take an extra .5 second to distinguish if a player is a cut off man or a base runner, something like that.

I don't know; I've never heard it.

I do know that it's really annoying going to a game in which two teams are wearing the same color jersey.  I went to Brewers vs. Padres very late in the existence of County Stadium and both wore dark blue.  If any sport can get away with it, it's baseball.  But it's still, at best, annoying.

 

So even if there's no impact on the ability for the players and umpires to do their job, it's just not important enough to 1) the Brewers) and 2) the Padres to wear blue to offset the visual problem caused by this.  The fans who pay only marginal attention probably have a hard time figuring out which team is at bat.  But even for interested fads, it's annoying at best.  It's just unnecessary and MLB should have put a stop to it the very first time it happened, which was in the 1990s.

 

I would have a rule that one team must be in gray and one must be in white because it's not like teams don't have ample opportunities to bust out the alts.  And red vs. blue kinda looks like a bar league softball game.  But if, for some reason, it's important to allow teams to wear what they want as often as we can, then at least find a way to avoid blue vs. blue and the like.  "For the fans."

[WavePunter]

46 minutes ago, OnWis97 said:

I don't know; I've never heard it.

I do know that it's really annoying going to a game in which two teams are wearing the same color jersey.  I went to Brewers vs. Padres very late in the existence of County Stadium and both wore dark blue.  If any sport can get away with it, it's baseball.  But it's still, at best, annoying.

 

So even if there's no impact on the ability for the players and umpires to do their job, it's just not important enough to 1) the Brewers) and 2) the Padres to wear blue to offset the visual problem caused by this.  The fans who pay only marginal attention probably have a hard time figuring out which team is at bat.  But even for interested fads, it's annoying at best.  It's just unnecessary and MLB should have put a stop to it the very first time it happened, which was in the 1990s.

 

I would have a rule that one team must be in gray and one must be in white because it's not like teams don't have ample opportunities to bust out the alts.  And red vs. blue kinda looks like a bar league softball game.  But if, for some reason, it's important to allow teams to wear what they want as often as we can, then at least find a way to avoid blue vs. blue and the like.  "For the fans."

It has been mentioned that the number and frequency of the games would make it difficult to coordinate, but I disagree.. Even on road trips, teams typically have their full compliment of jerseys that can be worn on the road (road greys, road alts, general alts, etc), and home teams should have access to their entire uniform selection.. Even if it's decided on game day, it shouldn't take more than a few hours notice to coordinate and avoid the few rare issues that cause problems.. Ideally though, it could be settled at least a day in advance, if not at the beginning of the series.

[OnWis97]

7 minutes ago, WavePunter said:

It has been mentioned that the number and frequency of the games would make it difficult to coordinate, but I disagree.. Even on road trips, teams typically have their full compliment of jerseys that can be worn on the road (road greys, road alts, general alts, etc), and home teams should have access to their entire uniform selection.. Even if it's decided on game day, it shouldn't take more than a few hours notice to coordinate and avoid the few rare issues that cause problems.. Ideally though, it could be settled at least a day in advance, if not at the beginning of the series.

 

Yeah, I really can't fathom that it's not avoidable.  And if it's not, then just outlaw alts.  Or make them do the entire schedule in advance.  Or only allow road teams to wear alts M-Th and Home teams Fri-Sun.  I don't care as long as we get rid of blue-on-blue.

 

But yeah, I think what you say makes sense.  It can be coordinated, my gut says, the day before the series.  How many teams don't travel with their road grays?  Maybe the White Sox and Marlins have some history of that...so either let the road team decide or make it so everyone travels with their road grays.  It's not that hard.  I guess MLB does not get a lot of negative feedback about blue-on-blue or they'd be making sure.

 

Of course, eventually some team is going to have a solid road jersey like the Cubs did in the early 1980s.  And when that happens, then I'm fine telling the home teams they have to wear white when they face that team.  There are tons of opportunities to wear alts.

[tohasbo]

8 minutes ago, OnWis97 said:

 

Yeah, I really can't fathom that it's not avoidable.  And if it's not, then just outlaw alts.  Or make them do the entire schedule in advance.  Or only allow road teams to wear alts M-Th and Home teams Fri-Sun.  I don't care as long as we get rid of blue-on-blue.

 

But yeah, I think what you say makes sense.  It can be coordinated, my gut says, the day before the series.  How many teams don't travel with their road grays?  Maybe the White Sox and Marlins have some history of that...so either let the road team decide or make it so everyone travels with their road grays.  It's not that hard.  I guess MLB does not get a lot of negative feedback about blue-on-blue or they'd be making sure.

 

Of course, eventually some team is going to have a solid road jersey like the Cubs did in the early 1980s.  And when that happens, then I'm fine telling the home teams they have to wear white when they face that team.  There are tons of opportunities to wear alts.

 

The Diamondbacks are the only team who has a pretty set uniform schedule.  They wear the teal trim alternates on Tuesdays and most Fridays.  The Red alternate they have makes the Sunday appearance here and there as well. Everything else for the Diamondbacks is in the air.

[WSU151]

3 minutes ago, tohasbo said:

The Diamondbacks are the only team who has a pretty set uniform schedule.  They wear the teal trim alternates on Tuesdays and most Fridays.  The Red alternate they have makes the Sunday appearance here and there as well. Everything else for the Diamondbacks is in the air.

 

Orioles have a pretty set schedule too.

[tohasbo]

22 minutes ago, WSU151 said:

 

Orioles have a pretty set schedule too.

 

True. The Red Sox do as well.

Orioles is Black Alternate on Friday home and road games with orange going the same way.  
Boston wears red alternates for Friday home games and blue alternate for Friday road games unless the home team dons an alternate.  If the latter happens, Boston wears their road grays on Friday road games.

I think Pittsburgh does the Stargell throwback things on Sundays, Phillies have that red alternate for day time home games and the cream one is weekend day games?

Everyone else I have no idea but can easily figure it all out.