MLB: who's worn essentially their same uniform the longest?

[BBTV]

Talk about the Mariners in the other thread made me realize that they've had essentially the same look for 25ish years.  The Phillies are in theirs for 27 years. 

 

So let's start with MLB... who's worn theirs the longest?  

 

A few "rules"

1. Home uniform counts the most.  Teams like the Cubs that used to change their road look every few years won't be penalized for that.  That's just my rule, so it's certainly up for debate.

2. I'm torn about switching from button up to pullover and back.  Zipper vs button is no big deal, but pullover adds extra trim and in some cases can change the overall look.  

2.a I think I'll allow the Cardinals and Cubs, but I have to disallow the Red Sox since they also added a red cap which was a pretty dramatic change, so their "current" look doesn't start until after that era.

3. What constitutes "essentially" is inherently subjective.  I'll use the Cubs as an example.  The thickening of the logo and adding NOB and red trim on the back didn't change the fundamental look, IMO, so they pass.  The Tigers changing the D din't change their "look", so that counts as 'essentially the same'.  The Mets changing the script and adding a tail underneath does change their look.  Their heavy reliance on black does change their look during that era.  I think mostly since it was on the front vs the back is what separates it from the Cubs changes.

 

So... I have:

 

Yankees (1936 - Present)

LA Dodgers (1958 - Present) (either 1938 or 1952 for the franchise, depending on if you count the red number as significant... which I do.)

Cubs (1958 - present)

Tigers (1961 - Present)

Cardinals (1964 - Present) (I count the cap color change to be significant)

Red Sox (1979 - Present)

Braves (1987 - Present)

A's (1987 - Present) (torn on this one due to the darkening of green, but I'll allow it)

White Sox (1991 - present) (it wasn't their full time look until 1991)

Phillies (1992 - Present)

Mariners (1993 - Present)

Rockies (1993 - Present)

Giants (1994 - Present)

 

What did I miss?  We'll do NFL next. (I'll start a second thread for NFL so cross-sport discussions don't overlap.)

 

[BC985]

I’m assuming the Pirates are out because they’ve bounced back and forth between vest and sleeved home uniforms? Outside that, I feel their home look has been consistent. 

 

i would argue the Giants current look does not go back to 1994. I think going NNOB was a significant change, and I believe that change happened when their current stadium opened in 2000. 

[AstroCreep]

Do the Giants count? They did tweak the font and add a collar pipping in 2000. 

[WSU151]

Rockies have had essentially the same home uniform since 1993. Just the addition of front numbers in 2000 (maybe 2001). 

[SFGiants58]

56 minutes ago, insert name said:

Do the Giants count? They did tweak the font and add a collar pipping in 2000. 

 

They also changed the orientation of the wordmark. Their vertical arch became a radial one (an upgrade, IMHO):

 

1994-1999

 

2000-present

 

The sleeve stripes became thinner, the collar stripes appeared in 2000, and the base color changed. Still, 2000-present is an impressive run with few-to-no tweaks.

[BrandMooreArt]

Colts - 1958

Packers - 1960?

Bears - 1958?

[oldschoolvikings]

1 hour ago, BrandMooreArt said:

Colts - 1958

Packers - 1960?

Bears - 1958?

 

I wouldn't count the Packers, although I know a lot of people would.  Their changes have been small, but IMO all had outsized impact on their classic 60's look.

[guest23]

2 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

They also changed the orientation of the wordmark. Their vertical arch became a radial one (an upgrade, IMHO):

 

1994-1999

 

2000-present

 

The sleeve stripes became thinner, the collar stripes appeared in 2000, and the base color changed. Still, 2000-present is an impressive run with few-to-no tweaks.

 

agree while they look similar 2 entirely different uniforms from wordmark to trim to number font

[BBTV]

3 hours ago, Brandon9485 said:

I’m assuming the Pirates are out because they’ve bounced back and forth between vest and sleeved home uniforms? Outside that, I feel their home look has been consistent. 

 

i would argue the Giants current look does not go back to 1994. I think going NNOB was a significant change, and I believe that change happened when their current stadium opened in 2000. 

 

Pirates don't count because in the late 90s their wordmark was flat on top and dramatically arched, creating a totally different look than the normal vertical arch they've worn since.  Also, their sleeveless was full time, not an alt, so the switch to sleeves also counts as a change.

 

3 hours ago, insert name said:

Do the Giants count? They did tweak the font and add a collar pipping in 2000. 

 

So... this is going to be controversial, but I'm going to count it as a continuous look.  I know I just said that the Pirates change in arch represented an actual change, but I think in this case it was much less dramatic and didn't change the look significantly enough count.  

 

2 hours ago, WSU151 said:

Rockies have had essentially the same home uniform since 1993. Just the addition of front numbers in 2000 (maybe 2001). 

 

Fair enough.  I don't think the front numbers are as significant to them as they are (were) to the Dodgers, so I'll add them to the list.

 

2 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

They also changed the orientation of the wordmark. Their vertical arch became a radial one (an upgrade, IMHO):

 

1994-1999

 

2000-present

 

The sleeve stripes became thinner, the collar stripes appeared in 2000, and the base color changed. Still, 2000-present is an impressive run with few-to-no tweaks.

 

I'm not going to count that tweak, because like I stated above, the "feel" of the uniform didn't change... at least to me.

 

I also don't hold the NOB or dropping of NOB as a change.  If i did, then I'd have to exclude the Cubs from the list, which just feels wrong.

[chrispw12]

For the NBA the Bulls have had basically the same regular home and road uniforms since 1985

[Aardvark]

Flyers wore this exact home/road uniform for 25 years. 

 

[BBTV]

I think I'll start separate threads for each of the sports, just so we don't get a NBA post in the middle of 6 MLB posts and two NFL posts. I'll put up an NFL one once I have some free time to go through the Gridiron database and get my facts straight.

 

 

So unless the mods really care, let's keep this thread focused on baseball.  We can debate the list, or expand it all the way to this year if we want.

[DCarp1231]

I’d say the Orioles count right? The fundamental look hasn’t changed a whole lot since they moved from St Louis (1954). I don’t consider the switch back to the updated cartoon bird (2012) as a dramatic change. It’s just the hat logo and from the shoulders under, nothing has really changed.

 

[BBTV]

1 hour ago, DNAsports said:

I’d say the Orioles count right? The fundamental look hasn’t changed a whole lot since they moved from St Louis (1954). I don’t consider the switch back to the updated cartoon bird (2012) as a dramatic change. It’s just the hat logo and from the shoulders under, nothing has really changed.

 

 

Their script has changed dramatically several times, the color of the script has changed, the primary cap (which is pretty damn important to a team's look) has dramatically changed a few times, so... no.  The Orioles, as good as they currently look, don't count as having had the same look for more than just a few years.

[Gothamite]

Agreed.  I’d say the Orioles have had a long string of different but excellent uniforms. 

[IceCap]

The Yankees have to be the runaway winner here.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

9 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

Red Sox (1979 - Present)

 

The Red Sox are a special case, in that they returned to a previous design.

 

So you could say that their look dates back to 1936, with an 11-year gap from 1968 to 1978.  In 1968 they removed the piping, and the uniform stayed like that through 1971; then in 1972 they went nuts and brought in the pullover jerseys and beltless pants. (That uniform was not totally unattractive; it was just wrong for the Red Sox. The Red Sox, like the Cardinals and Reds, had no business wearing pullovers or waistbands.) 

 

By the way, when I saw the thread title, I thought that it was going to be about which individual players wore essentially the same uniform for the longest time. This would require a player who stayed for a long time on a team that did not change their uniforms. Many Yankees qualify, with Jeter probably being the champ. John Smoltz and Bill Russell also come to mind.

[BBTV]

4 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

The Red Sox are a special case, in that they returned to a previous design.

 

 

The Braves also returned to a previous design, but it doesn't change that they moved away from that design.  I'm surprised that the Red Sox would ever have jumped on the pullover bandwagon, and that they would have changed their caps so dramatically.  I get that in the 70s they weren't as old as they are today (that goes for... well, everything) but I still think they had enough history to be one of those teams to not change things up.

 

It also looks like they dropped the placket piping even before the pullover era.  I'd say that's a critical part of their current identity, and would therefore constitute a break even if the pullovers never happened.

 

 

 

[dfwabel]

What about the Royals?

[FinsUp1214]

24 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

What about the Royals?

 

In my opinion, the addition of black and going sleeveless (and piping-less, if I remember correctly) in 2002-2003 felt pretty significant, so I don’t think I’d personally count them. There’s consistent pieces, sure, but as a whole it didn’t quite feel the same as the looks before and after it.

 

If that set never existed though, then I’d say the Royals would be a pretty good candidate.