MLB Full Team Name Alternates (AL Central 9/5)

[coco1997]

This is a series I've been talking about doing for years with @Victormrey, @Carolingian Steamroller and @MJD7. Vic had the idea that it would be cool if each MLB team had an alternate uniform that displayed both its city AND team name. For this series, I scoured the main site for teams' primary, alternate and wordmark logos--all of which tend to include their full names--for inspiration. Since many teams' current primary/alternate/wordmark logos don't feature their full names, expect some designs to be of throwback in nature. 

 

I'll be posting division by division, starting today with the NL West!

DODGERS:

 

The Dodgers get a blue alternate that uses the arched block "LOS ANGELES" from their 2008 50th anniversary logo. 

 

GIANTS:

 

I gave San Francisco a mono black treatment with a jersey displaying their 2000-present wordmark logo.

 

PADRES:

 

This one's a bit of a fauxback, as I recreated the Friars' 1978 uniforms but with the team's current script and numbers. I feel this one could easily slot into the Padres' uniform rotation, as they don't currently use a gold alternate. 

 

ROCKIES:

 

The Rockies design is based on Colorado's Turn Ahead the Clock unis, with the team's current alternate logo and block numbers replacing the TATC jersey's giant mountain range and "futuristic" numbers. 

 

DIAMONDBACKS:

 

For Arizona, I brought back the Snakes' classic purple/turquoise/copper color scheme, using a modified version of the team's 1998-2006 alternate logo for the jersey. I'm tempted to try this one in Arizona's current black/Sedona red/turquoise colors, so let me know if anyone is interested in seeing that. 

 

That's the NL West! An AL division will be up next. 

[VampyrRabbit]

The Dodgers, Padres and Giants look good. 

I like the idea for Arizona and the purple/turquoise/copper is far superior to their current black and red with a different shade of turquoise added as an afterthought. Using cream instead of white as well as getting rid of the Snake from the front of the shirt would improve the uniform even further.

[coco1997]

20 hours ago, VampyrRabbitDesign said:

The Dodgers, Padres and Giants look good. 

I like the idea for Arizona and the purple/turquoise/copper is far superior to their current black and red with a different shade of turquoise added as an afterthought. Using cream instead of white as well as getting rid of the Snake from the front of the shirt would improve the uniform even further.

 

Thanks! I think dropping the snake from the front causes the design to lose some of its personality, but here it is anyway. And replacing white with cream was a good call:

 

[Coiler]

Nice work on all of them, although the full names look a little -tacky- for lack of a better word in my eyes. Or at least just inherently different from how baseball uniforms normally go.

[johne9109]

2 hours ago, coco1997 said:

 

Thanks! I think dropping the snake from the front causes the design to lose some of its personality, but here it is anyway. And replacing white with cream was a good call:

 

Keep the cream bring back the snake and I think that's as good as it's gonna get. Arizona Diamondbacks is such a wordy name it's hard to come up with somehting that's not gonna look out of place or tacky. 

[coco1997]

On 8/23/2022 at 2:44 PM, Coiler said:

Nice work on all of them, although the full names look a little -tacky- for lack of a better word in my eyes. Or at least just inherently different from how baseball uniforms normally go.

 

Thanks! Yeah, some of the designs might not be to everyone's tastes. But along the way I'm hoping to tally a few more base hits and maybe even home runs than strikeouts. (You'll also come to learn if you didn't already that it's not without precedent for a team to wears its full name on their jerseys.)  

 

On 8/23/2022 at 3:25 PM, johne9109 said:

Keep the cream bring back the snake and I think that's as good as it's gonna get. Arizona Diamondbacks is such a wordy name it's hard to come up with somehting that's not gonna look out of place or tacky. 

 

Here's how that looks:

 

Up today is the AL East!
 

ORIOLES:

 

For the upstart O's, I used Baltimore's 1992-94 primary logo, which I found lends itself surprisingly well to a jersey design.  

 

RED SOX:

I gave the Red Sox a '70s-esque pullover look using a variation on Boston's 1960-2008 wordmark logo. 

YANKEES:

The Bronx Bombers get the monochrome treatment with a recolored version of their 1973-present secondary logo for the front of the jersey. 
 

RAYS:

 

Rather than just rehash the Rays' 1970s fauxback uniform, I combined the fauxback with the team's everyday look, swapping out the funky, Padres-esque scripts and rounded numbers for the team's usual wordmark and block numbers and opting for a more traditional button-down design. (On a s side note, I've found that ditching the drop shadows from the "RAYS" wordmark makes for a big improvement.) 

 

BLUE JAYS:

 

I went with the midnight blue from Toronto's blue jay logo and replaced the bird on the lower left with numbers so the maple leaf wouldn't show up twice on the jersey. The front of the jersey uses Toronto's current wordmark logo. 

 

C&C appreciated! I'll have another NL division up soon. 

[johne9109]

2 hours ago, coco1997 said:

 

Thanks! Yeah, some of the designs might not be to everyone's tastes. But along the way I'm hoping to tally a few more base hits and maybe even home runs than strikeouts. (You'll also come to learn if you didn't already that it's not without precedent for a team to wears its full name on their jerseys.)  

 

 

Here's how that looks:

 

Up today is the AL East!
 

ORIOLES:

 

For the upstart O's, I used Baltimore's 1992-94 primary logo, which I found lends itself surprisingly well to a jersey design.  

 

RED SOX:

I gave the Red Sox a '70s-esque pullover look using a variation on Boston's 1960-2008 wordmark logo. 

YANKEES:

The Bronx Bombers get the monochrome treatment with a recolored version of their 1973-present secondary logo for the front of the jersey. 
 

RAYS:

 

Rather than just rehash the Rays' 1970s fauxback uniform, I combined the fauxback with the team's everyday look, swapping out the funky, Padres-esque scripts and rounded numbers for the team's usual wordmark and block numbers and opting for a more traditional button-down design. Losing the drop shadows from the "RAYS" wordmark makes for a big improvement, IMO. 

 

BLUE JAYS:

 

I went with the midnight blue from Toronto's blue jay logo and replaced the bird on the lower left with numbers so the maple leaf wouldn't show up twice on the jersey. The front of the jersey uses Toronto's current wordmark logo. 

 

C&C appreciated! I'll have another NL division up soon. 

Arizona-looks great

Boston-Maybe because I'm used to seeing the Red Sox word mark higher on the jersey the whole wordmark looks too low.

New York- Interesting take
Tampa- Amazing, this could be an actual jersey for them

[coco1997]

On 8/24/2022 at 5:12 PM, johne9109 said:

Arizona-looks great

Boston-Maybe because I'm used to seeing the Red Sox word mark higher on the jersey the whole wordmark looks too low.

New York- Interesting take
Tampa- Amazing, this could be an actual jersey for them

 

Thanks! I've moved up the stacked script for Boston. Is this better?

[GrayJ12]

This gives me small town Little League vibes and I love it. Interesting and unique concept.

[coco1997]

58 minutes ago, GrayJ12 said:

This gives me small town Little League vibes and I love it. Interesting and unique concept.

 

Thanks! Yeah, I can see that and I'm glad you feel that way. 

I have the NL Central ready to go, so they're next!

CARDINALS:

 

The Redbirds use the team's current wordmark logo. With the birds-on-the-bat and front numbers gone, I added T-bars--a la the Cardinals of the 1940s--to give the jersey a little more character. 

 

BREWERS:

 

Milwaukee's design doesn't use a specific wordmark from team history but instead takes inspiration from the 1923 Milwaukee Bears of the Negro Leagues. 

 

CUBS:

 

 

The Cubs are one of the very few teams in MLB history to have actually worn their full name on their jersey at one point--in 1957, to be more precise. This is a recolored version of that jersey, with matching blue pants. 

 

REDS:

 

Using Cincinnati's 1999-2006 wordmark logo gave me a good excuse to bring back the team's pinstriped vest uniforms from that time period. 

 

PIRATES:

 

I've never been a big fan of the Pirates' black on black look, but lately I've warmed up to it a bit. The result is this design, which make use of the team's 1997-2010 wordmark logo. 

[johne9109]

6 hours ago, coco1997 said:

 

Thanks! I've moved up the stacked script for Boston. Is this better?

Much better

[Coiler]

All good. I particularly like the Yankees one, which looks distinct but NOT tacky.  And the Pirates black evil pirate uniform too.  For the Orioles, it's bittersweet. Seeing the realistic bird on the uniform makes me want it on the cap as well.

 

 

[GrayJ12]

Pittsburgh's jersey is one that I could very well see making it onto a major league field. I love the whole "blackout" look.

[coco1997]

On 8/26/2022 at 2:42 PM, johne9109 said:

Much better

 

On 8/26/2022 at 3:45 PM, GrayJ12 said:

Pittsburgh's jersey is one that I could very well see making it onto a major league field. I love the whole "blackout" look.

Thanks!

 

On 8/26/2022 at 2:50 PM, Coiler said:

All good. I particularly like the Yankees one, which looks distinct but NOT tacky.  And the Pirates black evil pirate uniform too.  For the Orioles, it's bittersweet. Seeing the realistic bird on the uniform makes me want it on the cap as well.

Good suggestion for the O's. I'll mock that up and have it ready for my next post. 

 

Up today is the AL West!

ASTROS:

 

The 'Stros get somewhat of a combination of eras treatment, as I used their 1994-99 primary logo and paired it with their contemporary colors. 

MARINERS:

This one is another combination of eras-type design, with the M's home uniform getting a racing striped, pullover redesign while putting Seattle's current alternate logo front and center. 

 

Texas gets a throwback-inspired powder blue set that uses the Rangers' 1981 primary logo on the chest. 

 

ATHLETICS:

My A's design uses the stacked block wordmark from the team's 100th anniversary logo on a pullover jersey. The thick sleeve stripes are reminiscent of those worn by the 1980s clubs. 

 

ANGELS:

 

This series felt like a good excuse to add a navy jersey to the Halos' uniform rotation, using the team's 2002-04 wordmark logo. 

 

C&C appreciated! The NL East is on deck. 

[VampyrRabbit]

That Halos uniform is so much better than the actual alt the team uses. No transparent, hard to make out number and wordmark and it's got Anaheim on it.

One suggestion would be to make the cap navy with a red bill and button, and to make the ANGELS part of the wordmark flat and with a navy and white outline to match the number and sleeve logo.

[coco1997]

On 8/29/2022 at 4:24 PM, VampyrRabbitDesign said:

That Halos uniform is so much better than the actual alt the team uses. No transparent, hard to make out number and wordmark and it's got Anaheim on it.

One suggestion would be to make the cap navy with a red bill and button, and to make the ANGELS part of the wordmark flat and with a navy and white outline to match the number and sleeve logo.

 

Thanks! Good suggestions for the Angels. I've made those tweaks here:

 

And here is @Coiler's suggestion to put the realistic bird on the O's cap. I also tweaked the numbers to match the style of the graphic on the front of the jersey:

 

C&C appreciated as usual!

[Coiler]

Every AL West uniform looks gorgeous. Nice job.

[coco1997]

On 8/31/2022 at 2:01 PM, Coiler said:

Every AL West uniform looks gorgeous. Nice job.

 

Thanks!

 

Today we move on to the NL East!
 

BRAVES:

 

For the Braves, I looked to a minor league affiliate for inspiration, in this case the Rome Braves. I really like the idea of the two names being split by the tomahawk.

METS:

 

I gave the Mets a solid blue look and removed the white trim from the scripts and numbers to mimic the Brooklyn Royal Giants of the Negro League. The arched Tuscan "New York" above the Mets' classic wordmark was inspired by the logo used by the Syracuse Mets. 

 

NATIONALS:

 

I brought back the Nats' old 2005-10 wordmark logo featuring "Washington" on a ribbon above the beveled block "NATIONALS" lettering. 

PHILLIES:

 

The Phils' design is based on the team's Saturday Night Specials with some powder blue mixed in. "Philadelphia" is quite the long and unwieldy name to fit onto a jersey (which would explain why the Phils have never done so) but thankfully, the team's 1980 championship logo provided a solution. 

 

MARLINS:

 

The Fish get a much-needed Miami blue alternate, and it was @Victormrey's idea to stack the wordmark and have both words feed out of a single oversized "M." Thanks, Vic!

 

C&C appreciated! I'll wrap up the series in my next post with the AL Central. 

[johne9109]

Miami is a great use of the double M. The Mets is a great way of combining both of their wordmarks. Great job!

 

[Coiler]

You squared the Philadelphia circle! Nice. (And I love the double M Marlin).