The Lost Ball Clubs Uniform Concepts

[JMS493]

Going off of my MLB uniform concepts (which can be seen at this link https://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/121809-mlb-uniform-tweaks-andor-designs/#comments), I decided to do something a bit different, and create concepts for old MLB teams that have since moved away, using the Wikipedia template. I'm only doing MLB teams that have moved since the first World Series was played in 1903, and furthermore, I am only doing the team's original city (so no Milwaukee Braves or Kansas City Athletics). There are a total of eight teams that meet this criteria, and they are the Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers, Montréal Expos, New York Giants, Philadelphia Athletics, Seattle Pilots, St. Louis Browns, and the Washington Senators (both incarnations of the franchise are merged into one concept). These concepts will be uploaded alphabetically, starting with the city name. Please, just give me your thoughts on them. Thank you! 

 

[JMS493]

First up are the Boston Braves, of the National League. Not surprisingly, today they are known as the Atlanta Braves, after having a brief in-between stint in Milwaukee. This uniform looks similar to today's Atlanta Braves uniform, including the blue-red-blue piping and stripes, along with the "Braves" script being in red and trimmed in blue. However, on the road uniform, there's a "Boston" script in cursive (it also differentiates them from the Red Sox, who have never used cursive), and the tomahawk logo is an earlier rendition of it, from the 1940s. Furthermore, the logo on the cap is the "B" from both the script "Braves" and "Boston," as they both start with the same "B." Also an Indian chief patch from then 1940s completes the look, which is what they had from that era as well. Had the Braves never left Boston, this is what I would do with their uniforms.

  

[JMS493]

Next up are the Brooklyn Dodgers, and this uniform looks almost exactly the same as to what the Los Angeles Dodgers wear today. The only changes I made to this were, aside from adding the "B" logo to the cap instead of the interlocking "LA" was removing the striping, as that was a small change that was added years later. This uniform, to me, creates imagery of Jackie Robinson and Ray Campanella.

 

[JMS493]

Next up are the Montréal Expos, the first of two Canadian MLB teams to exist, and in 2005 they moved to become the Washington Nationals. I always thought that this team had some rather weird looking uniforms early on, and although in their final days they were moving more toward red, to me the move wasn't drastic enough. Since Montréal's Canadian rival Toronto has worn blue (being called the "Blue Jays) with a bit of red, I think the the Expos should wear red with just a bit of blue to counter that and differentiate themselves from the Blue Jays. Not only that, but cursive scrip further separates them, as it was seen on their later uniforms from the early 1990s. I kept the team's main logo and sleeve patch unchanged. 

[JMS493]

Next are the New York Giants, but not the football Giants, but rather the baseball team that also played there until 1958, when they moved to become the San Francisco Giants. Much like the Giants of today, I think that the orange and black color scheme is a must, as they introduced in in 1933 (when they won the World Series) and wore it on and off again until the 1950s, when the orange and black made a return for good. The interlocking "NY" logo may look familiar, as it is the current logo that the Mets use, but just in different colors! I also removed the cream color from the Giants current home jersey and just made it a plain white, as to me it is more fitting for them. I also added a black home jersey as an alternate as a subtle tribute to their 1905 team, which actually wore an all-black uniform for the World Series that year, which they won. While I thought that an all-black tribute would be a bit much, at least a black jersey would look nice. 

[JMS493]

Now this Athletics set, for the Philadelphia Athletics, looks pretty different from what the Oakland Athletics wear today. During the first 30 years of the World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics were one of the best teams in baseball, winning the World Series five times (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 and 1930). It was during this time that they adopted royal blue as their main color, and it wasn't until the franchise had fallen into disarray in the 1950 and 1960s that they team started looking for a change in identity (Kelly green and yellow, perhaps?). The team also never had the word mark "Athletics" or "Philadelphia" on their uniforms, it was always a simple "A," which I decided to keep. I also added the white elephant patch as the team has adopted it as part of their identity, along with some piping and an "A' logo on the cap as well to complete the look. 

 

[The_Admiral]

14 minutes ago, JMS493 said:

Since Montréal's Canadian rival Toronto has worn blue (being called the "Blue Jays) with a bit of red, I think the the Expos should wear red with just a bit of blue to counter that and differentiate themselves from the Blue Jays.

 

I'd advise against too much red for Montreal, a good Montreal uniform in any sport should have a healthy balance of red for Canada and blue for Quebec. Something weird about a fleur-de-lis in or on red.

[JMS493]

Wait, there was an MLB team in Seattle before the Mariners? Well, for one season, in 1969, Seattle had an MLB team, and this team technically fills the criteria for a "Lost Ball Club." They moved to Milwaukee just one season later to become today's Brewers, due to having financial woes and terrible on-field performance. Aesthetically, however, I tried to keep in line with what they team was trying to do, as I tried to preserve their futuristic-looking uniform, as it is certainly a radical departure from most other baseball uniforms. I added a number font to match the all-lowercase script, and I also made a lowercase "S" logo to match with it as well. 

[JMS493]

6 minutes ago, the admiral said:

'd advise against too much red for Montreal, a good Montreal uniform in any sport should have a healthy balance of red for Canada and blue for Quebec. Something weird about a fleur-de-lis in or on red.

@the admiralThat's not a fleur-de-lis you're seeing above the "Montréal" wordmark, that's just an accent mark. And O.K., I didn't know that, but there is some blue on the uniform for that. Remember that although Montréal is in Quebec, it's also mainly a Canadian city. Even the Canadians are mainly red with some blue. 

[JMS493]

Yes, there was a baseball team named the Browns at one point, and they also wore an orange and Brown color scheme, although they were based in St. Louis, not Cleveland. However, today the St. Louis Browns are known as the Baltimore Orioles. What I did for the Browns was that I kept the script from their late 1930s uniforms, but I eased off on the trim. I also Brough back their "SL" logo, but I trimmed it in white. I also added some orange and brown alternates. 

[JMS493]

The final team on this list, the Washington Senators, have existed in two incarnations. The first one was established in 1901 and played in Washington until 1961, when they became the Minnesota Twins. The second incarnation was established immediately after the first one left for the Twin Cities, and it played there from 1961 to 1972, when they also moved to become the Texas Rangers. This concept accounts for both incarnations of the franchise, but is by far more influenced by the first one, which had the better uniform concepts in my opinion. What I did was keep the "W" logo and the blue pinstripes, along with the heavily navy blue color scheme with red as an accent color. I also used the same idea on the road uniform that has "Washington" written in block navy blue letters, with red trim as well. Finally a navy alternate rounds out the set, as the Senators had a history of wearing navy jerseys (and pants for that matter) in their earlier years. 

[mrcubfan415]

Actually, the St. Louis Browns were originally called the Milwaukee Brewers. They didn’t move to St. Louis until their third year of existence (1903).