San Diego Padres 2020 Rebrand Discussion

[BJ Sands]

I'd love to see a team experiment with different color pants.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

2 hours ago, DiePerske said:

While it isnt a traditional baseball look, the green pants looked really nice.

 

2 hours ago, BJ Sands said:

I'd love to see a team experiment with different color pants.

 

Oy.
 

[bosrs1]

4 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

All yellow was used for the road uniform in the set the A's wore up through 1971.

 

 

 

In the uniforms adopted in 1972, yellow pants and green pants were included, even if they were rarely used.

 

 

   
 

 

The one time that the yellow pants made an appearance on a very prominent stage was during the 1975 All-Star Game, when Vida Blue wore them.

 

 

 

 

But, with a few rare exceptions, the A's wore white pants for all games from 1972 through 1980, probably because that set's yellow pants and green pants looked ridiculous.

 

 

1970’s. A style barf fest if ever there was one.

[SFGiants58]

9 minutes ago, bosrs1 said:

 

1970’s. A style barf fest if ever there was one.

 

Yellow pants outside of the vest style, yes. Yellow jerseys, heck no.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

46 minutes ago, bosrs1 said:

1970’s. A style barf fest if ever there was one.

 

That was true for all the teams using powder blue, and for most of the teams using pullovers.  But the 1970s marked the best period for the A's (that is, when they weren't wearing coloured pants) as well as for the Pirates, the only two teams that looked good in pullover jerseys and beltless pants.

 

         

 

      

[MCM0313]

11 hours ago, hawk36 said:

Padres wore yellow/yellow in the 70s too. I think it's too much. But, I think the yellow/white is really nice. That being said, if they tried on the road a yellow/gray or yellow/beige would be horrible. 

Oh, man. Yellow over beige would be barf-worthy.

[MCM0313]

9 hours ago, BJ Sands said:

I'd love to see a team experiment with different color pants.

Current Diamondbacks color scheme - replace dark grey with turquoise for road uniform. Cause riots for second time in under a decade.

[hawk36]

14 hours ago, MCM0313 said:

Oh, man. Yellow over beige would be barf-worthy.

I really wish the MLB would allow white pants on the road if paired with colored tops. Looks great. As it is they allow a black/white vs navy/gray but won't allow white pants on the road... makes no sense whatsoever.  

[jn8]

6 minutes ago, hawk36 said:

I really wish the MLB would allow white pants on the road if paired with colored tops. Looks great. As it is they allow a black/white vs navy/gray but won't allow white pants on the road... makes no sense whatsoever.  

They do allow it. There’s no written rule saying teams can’t show up wearing white pants with their road uniforms, teams just choose to wear gray pants with colored jerseys on the road because

a. gray is traditional for the road team

b. it’s easier to only bring one pair of pants for both the gray jerseys and the colored alt

If a team wanted to, they could most definitely wear white pants on the road (though I don’t think they could wear a white jersey)

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

8 minutes ago, hawk36 said:

I really wish [...] MLB would allow white pants on the road if paired with colored tops. Looks great. As it is they allow a black/white vs navy/gray but won't allow white pants on the road... makes no sense whatsoever.  

 

Since when does Major League Baseball prohibit white pants on the road?  In addition to the A's, other teams who have worn white pants on the road were the Astros, the Braves (Aaron/feather uniforms), the White Sox (collared shirt uniform), the Padres (most notably in the 1984 World Series) and, most recently, the Cubs.

The only limiting factor is that this would not be appropriate for most uniforms.  Of the teams mentioned above, the Cubs and Padres would have looked better with grey pants; it was kind of ridiculous that all games in the 1984 NLCS featured both teams in white pants.  The A's, Astros, Braves, and Sox all had designs that were sufficiently attractive to justify the use of white pants on the road.

[hawk36]

6 minutes ago, jn8 said:

They do allow it. There’s no written rule saying teams can’t show up wearing white pants with their road uniforms, teams just choose to wear gray pants with colored jerseys on the road because

a. gray is traditional for the road team

b. it’s easier to only bring one pair of pants for both the gray jerseys and the colored alt

If a team wanted to, they could most definitely wear white pants on the road (though I don’t think they could wear a white jersey)

Really? I thought it was just another ridiculous "one helmet" type of rule. Well then, I think someone should start pairing a colored top with white pants as in most cases the look is far superior than with gray pants. 

[SFGiants58]

Just now, hawk36 said:

Really? I thought it was just another ridiculous "one helmet" type of rule.

 

The one helmet rule isn't ridiculous, it's to save teams from themselves. No full-on "stormtrooper" looks, no chrome monstrosities, and no random alternate designs. It keeps the teams from getting too experimental, while also cementing how the helmet is so important to each team's identity.

 

It makes me wish MLB implemented the one-cap rule, with only two exceptions (the Tigers and Cardinals - maybe on the Cardinals, if the navy set had a red bill) and throwback allowances (requiring matching batting helmets). Anything to get rid of pointless road caps:

 

 

Home caps that aren't as good as their road versions and alt caps worn way too often:

 

Promoting caps that should be primaries:

 

Here's to hoping that the Padres limit themselves to one primary cap. Keep the camo as the only alternate, with maybe a Taco Bell or 1998 throwback.

[hawk36]

Just now, SFGiants58 said:

 

The one helmet rule isn't ridiculous, it's to save teams from themselves. No full-on "stormtrooper" looks, no chrome monstrosities, and no random alternate designs. It keeps the teams from getting too experimental, while also cementing how the helmet is so important to each team's identity.

I'd agree that I would not want to see an Oregon type of different helmet every week thing, but think allowing the Seahawks to wear a silver throwback or Tampa to wear a white throwback or the Chargers to wear a navy throwback helmet would be perfectly reasonable and would not water down the brand in any way. 

[mafiaman]

On 10/16/2019 at 5:56 PM, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

That was true for all the teams using powder blue, and for most of the teams using pullovers.  But the 1970s marked the best period for the A's (that is, when they weren't wearing coloured pants) as well as for the Pirates, the only two teams that looked good in pullover jerseys and beltless pants.

 

         

 

     

Forget the belt-less pants...let’s focus on the glory that is that kelly green, shall we?  

[Teal]

On 10/17/2019 at 4:48 AM, BJ Sands said:

I'd love to see a team experiment with different color pants.

We can dream...

[mpcincal]

On 10/11/2019 at 5:25 AM, leopard88 said:

 

 

 

Assuming Tony ever disliked brown (a claim now thrown into serious doubt, if not wholly refuted), you have to remember that he only ever wore brown//yellow/orange and brown/orange.  He never wore the much, much better brown/yellow combo.

 

Gwynn apparently changed his opinion of the browns after he retired, but at one time he did dislike them. Here's a quote from him in an SI spring-training article in '91. He was definitely happy to see the brown unis gone back then:

 

The 30-year-old Gwynn arrived at the Padres' camp in Yuma, Ariz., last week, three days early and with a smile on his face. He bounced into the clubhouse, admired the Padres" new blue uniforms ("I hated the old brown ones. I hated every one of them"), then spotted manager Greg Riddoch and immediately asked if he could get a coach to throw extra batting practice to him.

 

https://www.si.com/vault/1991/03/11/123770/beginning-again-after-a-nightmarish-1990-the-padres-tony-gwynn-seeks-a-season-of-redemption

[Old School Fool]

Growing up as a kid, this is how I will always remember Tony Gwynn. I have no desire to see orange or navy for the Padres now, I want to see how things will go with the brown. I always wondered when I was younger why they would even ditch something so unique.

 

[-Akronite-]

On 10/16/2019 at 6:56 PM, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

That was true for all the teams using powder blue, and for most of the teams using pullovers.  But the 1970s marked the best period for the A's (that is, when they weren't wearing coloured pants) as well as for the Pirates, the only two teams that looked good in pullover jerseys and beltless pants.

 

         

 

      

 

Both teams look better now than they did then, but a fair amount of credit does go to the pullover/beltless style.

 

On 10/17/2019 at 2:04 PM, SFGiants58 said:

 

The one helmet rule isn't ridiculous, it's to save teams from themselves. No full-on "stormtrooper" looks, no chrome monstrosities, and no random alternate designs. It keeps the teams from getting too experimental, while also cementing how the helmet is so important to each team's identity.

 

It makes me wish MLB implemented the one-cap rule, with only two exceptions (the Tigers and Cardinals - maybe on the Cardinals, if the navy set had a red bill) and throwback allowances (requiring matching batting helmets). Anything to get rid of pointless road caps:

 

 

Home caps that aren't as good as their road versions and alt caps worn way too often:

 

Promoting caps that should be primaries:

 

Here's to hoping that the Padres limit themselves to one primary cap. Keep the camo as the only alternate, with maybe a Taco Bell or 1998 throwback.

 

I absolutely disagree on the Oriole cap but that's neither here nor there. A one cap rule would be cool, as it's the part of a team's identity most commonly worn by their fans. It's a signature, like the helmet, that should handled more considerately.

 

For some of these examples, and countless road jerseys, it shows baseball's weird tradition of making sure the road look is just a drab version of the home look. Sure, it's hard to overcome gray to look really good in the first place, but teams like the Indians and Astros also emphasize navy and turn their bright fun look at home into a "please don't notice me" look on the road. It's traditional and I suppose you want to let the home team shine but also why stick with it at this point in time?

[Jungle Jim]

On 10/19/2019 at 10:39 AM, -Akronite- said:

For some of these examples, and countless road jerseys, it shows baseball's weird tradition of making sure the road look is just a drab version of the home look. Sure, it's hard to overcome gray to look really good in the first place, but teams like the Indians and Astros also emphasize navy and turn their bright fun look at home into a "please don't notice me" look on the road. It's traditional and I suppose you want to let the home team shine but also why stick with it at this point in time?

 

I probably hate the alternate tops paired with white or gray pants more than anyone on this board.  I'd take the Orioles all orange, the Indians Bloody Marys, the Pirates all yellow, or the A's all green over the mismatched components we see so much of today.  For that reason, I love white at home and gray on the road.  I wish every game were played that way.

 

I do share your frustration with teams like the Astros and Indians emphasizing navy over more colorful options, though.  

[Gothamite]

On 10/19/2019 at 3:47 AM, mpcincal said:

Gwynn apparently changed his opinion of the browns after he retired, but at one time he did dislike them. Here's a quote from him in an SI spring-training article in '91.

 

Well, we all say stupid things in the callowness of youth.  I wouldn’t hold that against him, especially since he’s seen the light.  

 

Also worth pointing out two things:

 

1. Players almost never criticize new uniforms.  Every time, they’re the biggest cheerleaders.  How sincere they are is always open to question. 

 

2. 1991 was still part of the massive backlash against earthtones and everything associated with the 1970s.  Brown wasn’t fashionable for any kind of clothing, much less uniforms.  But fortunately, times have changed.