The State of the Uniforms is Not Good: An MLB Concept Series

[coco1997]

Great spin on Arizona! I particularly love the Desert Nights and BP jersey. The D-Backs could definitely pull off an all-black look. 

How would it look if you worked copper into the numbers on the home jersey and wordmark and numbers on the road?

[colinturner95]

I know I mentioned updates to the last few teams, but in the interest of keeping this thread on the roll, I offer the next team up:

 

 

Home - Away: This is another carry over from my last series, but if it works why not refine here and there? 

• Headgear - The original plan was to keep the black/black hat around with the black/orange but after seeing them with each other, the all-black felt lifeless compared to the black/orange. So the team's long time hat is ceremoniously retired. 
• Jerseys - Like I mentioned very briefly, these are a carryover from the last MLB series I did. The major changes are to the wordmarks. The San Francisco wordmark now visually matches the Giants wordmark, which changes ever so slightly. Another major change is to the number font, which is a little less ITC Machine-y and more standard. Also the sleeve patch on all the applicable jerseys changes to the Golden Gate Bridge logo. 
• Pants/Socks - Pants slim down the sleeve stripes to a triple stripe. Black and orange socks, both with a simpler triple stripe. 

 

Alternate:

• Headgear - no changes from the home and away
• Jersey - The Giants script returns to the front, decorated in the same drop shadow and outline as the home/away wordmarks. the cream color leaves the stripes. And that's really the major deviations.
• Pants/Socks - Also no changes from home/away. 

Fog: I feel like the Giants City Connect was a few changes and tweaks away from being golden. There's a solid idea there, but the execution missed on spots here and there. 

• Headgear - The hat might actually change the least, but is not without something new. The hat stays orange, but gains a dark grey brim. The SF monogram now features the fog pattern with 3 different greys present. 
• Jersey - No longer a white jersey (which let's be real, how does that imply fog?) but a warmer grey jersey, with a ever so slightly darker grey fade into the fog pattern. The GGB stays on the sleeves, now obscured by the darker fog. The G logo stays, but it itself no longer features the fog, I felt it would be too much with the base now having it. The number font does match the new wordmarks but I felt that it was too big a change for the primary uniforms so it gets used on the pseudo-City Connect uniform. 
• Pants/Socks - The pants seem comparatively tame next to the jersey, until you see that they have the same grey to grey fade. Socks are a simple solid orange. 

Batting Practice:  A lot less subtle but a black to grey fog fade, with a SF lockup that mirrors the wordmarks. Hat is cream/black with the CC "G" outlined similarly. 

 

Hanger Effect: "Through The Fog" in varying color ways on the various jerseys. 

 

C&C appreciated!

[coco1997]

That gray City Connect-inspired design is really interesting. Very clever way to have a traditional road gray uniform in the set without it actually being the road uniform. 

[colinturner95]

 

Home - Away: I really wish I had a better/more concrete plan before jumping into the Mariners. But at the same time, the Mariners feel like a difficult team when it comes to concepts. Or the third option, I just suck at this. The biggest decision I had to make was on the identity. I didn't want to initially go full City Connect but that's the way we go. I also stuck with the team's recent trend of "Past Meets Present" to help get things going. 

• Headwear - The team finally does the smart thing and goes with the navy/teal hat. The new primary logo merges the City Connect "S" with the long time compass. 
• Jersey - a little bit of everything from Mariners history mixes in to make these. Current colors, headspoon piping stick around. The sleeve stripes are adapted from the team's inaugural uniform set's light blue uniforms stripes and the wordmarks and fonts from the City Connect uniforms. The PNW patch also comes over, recolored to fit the team's primary scheme. 
• Pants & Socks - The pants were the lone enigma. The full stripe from the jerseys felt like too much and I wanted more than just a single stripe. So a split double stripes of navy and teal fills that gap. No such issues on the socks, which get the full stripes. 

 

Alternate: 

• Hat - The team's short lived teal hat from the mid 90's makes a return, but with no accompanying helmet. 
• Jersey - nothing more than a color swap of the navy jersey, which there's nothing wrong with that if you ask me. the PNW patch is swapped out for the slightly updated "global" logo. 
• Pants & Socks - nothing largely new, just a teal belt. 

Emerald City: I feel like I haven't done a vintage white fauxback in a minute so this scratches that itch. Simply put, this uniform celebrates the MLB history of Seattle, Pilots and Mariners. Also, while I rail against the team's current vintage white uniform and then offer this one, my logic is this: if the Mariners are going to use blue and yellow, do a true throwback. 

• Headgear - A hat and helmet based on the Pilots' one year hat, with a single color new S, with a contrasting stripe where the hat and brim adjoin. 
• Jersey - very much based on the Pilots uniforms, with the pilots stripes on the sleeves, now in teal and navy. For the first time in Mariners' history (I think, I did my best with research ) a logo + number combo on the front. Logo being the global logo and the teams IRL number font. 
• Pants & Socks - A faux-elastic waistband coming from the Mariners' uniforms in the late 70s-80s. No stripes on the sides. Socks match the stripes on the sleeves, just in one color. 

Hanger Effects - H/A/Alt - "SODO MOJO" . Emerald City - "Emerald City Baseball". Simple and Easy.

 

Batting Practice - The hat takes this years' tri-color but uses the trident. The tops mix in the Turn Ahead the Clock uniforms with a little bit of the dugout jackets from the 90s and touches of the new uniforms. 

 

C&C welcome!

 

[coco1997]

Love this Seattle redesign! I do have a few notes:

 

- Lighten up your shade of silver just a bit. The current shade bleeds into the teal when the colors touch. This is most evident on the BP shirt. 

- The compass shrouds too much of the "S" on the cap logo.  How about using the unused City Connect logo instead?

- I'd probably just use the compass instead of the full roundel on the front of the Emerald City jersey. 

 

All in all, this is great. I'd probably want to see that BP cap worn for some regular season games, too. 

[MJD7]

I've been meaning to catch up commenting on this thread, so I might as well do so now!

 

• Diamondbacks
  • I've always been more partial to the brick red for Arizona, but you do a nice job with the color scheme here. I'd always be in support of them going back to the triangular stripes, as well.
  • I especially love the turquoise alternate (naturally ), and the "Desert Nights" alternate is super cool. 
• Giants
  • I probably prefer the team's real-life wordmark, without the adjustments, but your version doesn't look bad, per se.
  • I also prefer the all-black hat for them, but I appreciate the boldness to go with the orange brim full-time.
  • The Fog alternate is a really creative take on the City Connect concept, that's my favorite part of this set for sure. The one thing I would say about it is that a dark gray like that evokes smoke to me more than it does fog, I wonder if a super light gray might be more effective? I don't know if the white of the Giants' actual CC evokes fog, but I definitely feel the light gray they paired with it does.
• Mariners
  • You're absolutely right, the Mariners are a tough team to design for. They're one of only two teams I had to redesign for my most recent series, because (like the other team, the Rays), they have a beautiful color scheme that unfortunately gets minimized alongside an outdated logo set.
  • Going with the City Connect logo set in the regular color scheme feels like the right way to go, as I of course concepted that myself as well. Your version is very nice, I like the combination of the headspoon piping with the throwback sleeve stripes, it's a solid way to combine the old and the new.
  • I do agree with @coco1997 that the compass obstructs too much of the "S," to where it's difficult to read. I'd make it smaller or go with the trident "M" full-time.
  • As with many teams in this series, my favorite design is the special alternate, the "Emerald City" uniform. I would have never thought to put the roundel on the front chest, but it looks great there. The updated font on the roundel also does wonders to make it feel less dated. I'll always be a fan of the Mariners using Seattle Pilots inspiration, as well.

Can't wait to see some more teams!

[colinturner95]

We reached the end of the teams that have a perfect game, and we now start with the no-hitters, resetting the clocks back to the early 20th century:

 

 

Home - Away: I feel like this is applicable to most teams in baseball and I'm saying it a lot, but I could have left them pretty much as is and been happy with the result. In my previous series, I brought in a lot of the 70s feel with the double stripes on the sleeves, even made gold the primary road uniform. This time around, I feel like I was a lot more reserved and traditional, but there's nothing wrong with that. 

• Headgear - the Pirates have never worn a black/gold hat in a regular season game (at least to my short and sweet research from the mother ship) and that doesn't change. In a departure from my own personal preferences, the all black felt like the stronger look. The only real change is the outlined logo becomes the featured logo. 
• Jersey - so like I touched on above, last go around, the 70's stripes made a return with some tweaks but I really didn't wanna go back to that. So in reality, the real life designs don't go too far away. Only real changes are the additional headspoon piping, sort of a homage to the 77-79 pullovers that featured the two color pinstripes. and the Pirates wordmark goes back to the 80-96 style, which is just a a little condensed and taller, and I overall liked it more. 
• Pants | Socks - No real changes to the pants. Now I said I didn't want to bring back the 70s again, but I sort of did in a way. While the gold pants stay locked in the vault, the black pants do stick around (if you count them from the City Connects) and would be available for the 3 main uniforms. Socks go to a classic triple stripe. 
• Hanger Effect - "RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER" combed with the skull and crossed bats from the team's alternate logo from the late 90s

 

Alternate:

• Headgear - gold and black hat with the outlined P on the front. 
• Jersey - a color flip of the white jersey, with a new PGH wordmark styled in the team's font. 
• Pants | Socks - same as the home/away

Clemente Day:  With the primary uniforms remaining pretty traditional, a wild 4th uniform felt out of place. So instead the Pirates honor one of their greatest players with permanent throwbacks to be worn on or as close to Roberto Clemente Day as they can. I personally associate him more with the vest uniforms than the pullovers so that's what gets the nod. 

• Headgear - Nothing more than just going back to the solid gold P on the front of the black hats. 
• Jersey - So technically I'm violating my 4 uniform hard cap by doing this but both the home whites and away greys would be available, depending on where the series is that falls closest to the day. But it's back to the 60s era vests with black undershirts, 
• Pants | Socks - Not a massive departure from before, with the same styled triple stripe down the sides. Sock stripes shed an outline and get placed on stirrups.
• Hanger Effect - A good quote from Roberto that I felt fit the spirit of the uniform, plus his signature. 

Batting Practice:

• Hat - A modern-ish take on the pillbox stripes, featuring the skull and cross-bats, now outlined like the P logo, on a black and gold hat. 
• Tops - Took the same style design off the hat and onto the chest, this time adding the Stargell Stars to represent the World Series' won by the Pirates. 

C&C welcome!!

9 hours ago, MJD7 said:

Mariners

• You're absolutely right, the Mariners are a tough team to design for. They're one of only two teams I had to redesign for my most recent series, because (like the other team, the Rays), they have a beautiful color scheme that unfortunately gets minimized alongside an outdated logo set.
• Going with the City Connect logo set in the regular color scheme feels like the right way to go, as I of course concepted that myself as well. Your version is very nice, I like the combination of the headspoon piping with the throwback sleeve stripes, it's a solid way to combine the old and the new.
• I do agree with @coco1997 that the compass obstructs too much of the "S," to where it's difficult to read. I'd make it smaller or go with the trident "M" full-time.
• As with many teams in this series, my favorite design is the special alternate, the "Emerald City" uniform. I would have never thought to put the roundel on the front chest, but it looks great there. The updated font on the roundel also does wonders to make it feel less dated. I'll always be a fan of the Mariners using Seattle Pilots inspiration, as well.

Can't wait to see some more teams!

 

After looking at it again, yeah the compass got a little too big. I was also trying to do my own thing when it came to adapting the City Connects since you, me and @upperV03 have all done similar designs so I wanted to make sure mine could be unique as possible. I'll try and revisit them and work on the color shades which is something @coco1997 pointed out. 

 

9 hours ago, MJD7 said:

 

• Giants
  • I probably prefer the team's real-life wordmark, without the adjustments, but your version doesn't look bad, per se.
  • I also prefer the all-black hat for them, but I appreciate the boldness to go with the orange brim full-time.
  • The Fog alternate is a really creative take on the City Connect concept, that's my favorite part of this set for sure. The one thing I would say about it is that a dark gray like that evokes smoke to me more than it does fog, I wonder if a super light gray might be more effective? I don't know if the white of the Giants' actual CC evokes fog, but I definitely feel the light gray they paired with it does.

Can't wait to see some more teams!

 

That was my concern with the Giants. I wanted to go for a warmer shade of grey specifically because I felt like it would be less smokey, but now I'm thinking it worked in the opposite. 

 

 

[verbi]

pirates bp uni tough, v cool

[colinturner95]

I promise I haven't forgotten about this thread, but when your last month or so of work has been nothing but working on World Series designs, working on baseball designs in my free time wasn't something I was super jazzed about. 

 

 

Home - Away: In terms of uniforms, the Tigers might rival the Yankees in terms of longevity and not changing things much at all. So naturally I felt like upsetting the balance. As cool as the tradition of not having orange on the home jerseys is and I claim to respect tradition and such, I felt like shaking it up a little. 

• Headwear - The navy and orange hat returns after some time away, this time with the white old English D on the front. 
• Jersey - I've been down this road before once. Though last time was awful, now that I look back at it.  This similar take feels much more restrained, taking on the look worn on the grey pullovers starting in 1972. The Tigers script graces the chest of a Detroit jersey for the first time since 1960. 
• Pants | Socks - Pants are easy like their jerseys, with the same stripes down the sides. Socks are solid navy, no need for stripes in this case if you ask me. 

 

Alternate: A bit of both worlds. With the D logo leaving the white jersey, I still wanted at least one uniform to carry it on and the navy alternate ended up with one version of it. 

• Headgear - No change from the home and away. 
• Jersey - Jersey goes navy, taking on a similar appearance to the batting practice uniforms from the mid-80's & the short lived navy uniform of 1995.  This time the stripe takes on an asymmetric look, splitting orange and white. OE D logo on the chest, accompanied by the player number. 
• Pants | Socks - like the headgear, no changes from the home and away. 

Classic: In looking into what I needed to for these, I was enlightened to the fact that the Tigers changed up their home whites ... in 2018. Shows how much I pay attention to the Tigers. I felt like this better served as a fourth uniform than an orange top. 

• Headgear - The all navy returns, and while I tagged the uniform as a Cooperstown Collection uniform, I left the traditional Batterman on the hat in case it wanted to get mixed into the everyday rotation. 
• Jersey | Pants | Socks - No reason to break it down further than this, same white uniform worn by the Tigers pre-2017 since the dawn of time

Hanger Effects

• H|A|Alt - "Motor City Baseball" in two shades of chrome because cars. 
• Classic - World Series winning seasons

Batting Practice: Well the City Connect design was good for something right? in addition, I really liked the Spring Training hats from this past spring, so those basically come over, just with a navy brim this time. 

 

C&C Welcome! 

 

[GrayJ12]

Detroit needs to inject more orange in their uniforms and branding, and you did an amazing job at it. I really love the BP shirt as well!

[coco1997]

Happy to see this thread back in action! I love what you've done with Detroit. I'm not sure I'd ever want their home set to be changed this dramatically, but it's hard to find anything wrong with the new design. 

 

One minor suggestion: Flip the orange and white sleeve stripes on the alternate for consistency with the home and road jerseys. 

[NOLAPelicans23]

The uniforms look great, but I'm not sure if I'm sold on the hat. It feels a little disjointed with the bill, cap, and logo being their own colors. Maybe an outline to match the alternate jersey would help.

[colinturner95]

9 hours ago, coco1997 said:

Happy to see this thread back in action! I love what you've done with Detroit. I'm not sure I'd ever want their home set to be changed this dramatically, but it's hard to find anything wrong with the new design. 

 

One minor suggestion: Flip the orange and white sleeve stripes on the alternate for consistency with the home and road jerseys. 

 

 

A good point. I wasn't a fan of the white being the top stripe. I felt the orange was stronger up on top but for those that want to see the inverse, here you go. 

[colinturner95]

Almost a month later isn't too bad right?  Blame it on the hurricanes 

 

 

Home - Away: Another team that has been around since before cars were introduced and another that could have survived this series with no changes as all. But that's not how I like to operate. 

• Headgear - Tradition goes away in favor of the red brimmed hat. C logo remains on the front. 
• Jerseys - Pinstripes remain on the home, along with the Cubs logo on the chest. Only change is the addition of a small triple stripe on the ends of the sleeves. Not something we haven't seen from me before. On the grey roads, I have to admit: I hate the Chicago wordmark and I have to admit, they haven't had a truly great 'Chicago' wordmark in their history. So I went with a pretty true block font and a full arch on the wordmark. Feels classic enough and still fits with the vibes. I did consider replacing the team's number font, but nothing felt like it worked and as I found out, they've had it since the mid-to-late 40's. 
• Pants | Socks - Pinstripe whites and grey road pants, both with the same triple stripe added to the sides. Solid blue socks. 
• Hanger Effect - Ivy pattern in the collar with "Hey, Chicago, What Do You Say?" laid over top. 

 

Alternate:

• Headgear - Same as home and away.
• Jersey - Same blue alternate. Only major change is the addition of the stripes to the sleeves and to the collar to create a faux v-neck similar to what the team wore in the 80's and early 90's. 
• Pants | Socks - I added in a set of plain white pants with the same stripes, mostly because I think pinstriped pants with solid jerseys looks as weird as the inverse situation but I'm sure they'd mix in the pinstripes anyways. 

North Side: Just like their neighbors to the south, the Cubs go for a historical mashup, but theirs spans pretty much the early modern era of their time in the MLB. These take heavy inspiration from the team's 2022 Field of Dreams uniforms, and the logos from the eras that inspired that uniform. 

• Headgear - All-navy (since the team didn't fully adopt royal blue until the early 40's) with a slightly modified version of the 1911-1912 logo on the front.
• Jersey - Pinstripes dotted the Cubs' early uniform history and have been a constant ever since. These jerseys opt for a vintage white base with a subtle pinstripe color. The sleeve stripe and placket stripes become a full triple stripe as opposed to their double stripe desig. @MJD7 did it first with the wordmark from 1931-1933 and I wanted to get it on a jersey too. While the Cubs used it on a chest, I used it across the whole of the chest. 
• Pants | Socks - pretty much the same design as the home pinstripe pants, just in the vintage colors. Socks are navy stirrup. 
• Hanger Effect - "North Side Baseball", perfect for a rivalry interleague matchup 

Batting Practice - Hats mix in some of the Chicago flag light blue and the City Connect C-Star Logo on the hat. Tops use the whole of the Chicago flag with the bear logo from the 80's. 

 

C&C welcome!

[Krz]

That northside uniform is beautiful, and that bp hat would sell.

[MJD7]

• Pirates
  • I'd say I prefer the Pirates' current home wordmark  to any previous versions, but overall this set is nice. I would have never thought of headspoon piping for them, but I'd say it works. Wearing the vest throwback every year on Clemente day would be awesome.
• Tigers
  • I'm not sure I'd endorse these changes in real life, but they look awesome as a concept. Maybe it's just because I'm doing college football currently, but this set gives me Auburn vibes, in a good way. If the Tigers had changed their uniforms more often over the years, I imagine it'd look a lot like this (or at least hopefully  it would).
• Cubs
  • The Cubs look nice! The traditional triple-stripe makes sense for them. Their away jerseys have been subpar for decades now, but I suppose a simple block arch wordmark isn't the worst way to go. I'd maybe consider rounding off the edges, just to help it flow with the rest of the set more. Stripes really help the blue alternate out a ton, and the "North Side" uniform looks awesome (naturally). 

Looking forward to seeing what's next!

[colinturner95]

 

Home - Away: The second half of one of the NL's most storied rivalries feels about the same as the first half did: I could have not touched a thread and been content (god I'm getting sick of typing that) but the point is true. The Cardinals have great uniforms and dare I say, even a good City Connect. But naturally there isn't much fun in leaving a team completely untouched. 

• Headgear - I might be wrong in my own series but the primary hats for the Cardinals remain untouched, one of the few teams to receive that honor. The team's alternate navy hats remain in the rotation, with the red brim and the StL interlock. 
• Jerseys - Something I had done in the previous thread was simply adding trim color to the sleeves, which is something I did here as well. I also used the St. Louis birds-on-bats on the road greys, I'm stickler for home-team name, away-city name (for the most part). 
• Pants | Socks - Pants also gain the matching stripe down the sides as their jerseys. Socks keep their stripe pattern they've had, per the mothership, since 2013. 
• Hanger Effect - A combined effort of the city flag and a "Baseball City, USA" script.

 

Alternate - Kind of boring in all honesty, but the Cardinals don't need anything crazy. 

• Headgear - Same red buckets as the primary set. 
• Jersey - Red recolor of the home jersey. Easy peasy.
• Pants | Socks - Nothing new. Same as home and away set. 

Saturday Heritage - My thought process was this: The Cardinals don't need a crazy alternate set, even if their City Connect was relatively tame in comparison to others. But the Cardinals had two good historically inspired uniforms this season and I felt like their Saturday sets could become akin to the Lakers' Lore series in a way, and celebrate their team history. This first set honors the early days of Stan Musial's career in St. Louis, from the early days of the team winning World Series in the WWII and after years. 

• Headgear - The navy and red hat from the 40s, basically the team's alternate but with no white outline on the StL.
• Jersey - Vintage white jersey, with a skinny t-bar stripe and era appropriate birds-on-bat. 
• Pants | Socks - vintage white, matching stripe, outlined belt loops. Same stripes on socks, just on a stirrup. 
• Hanger Effect - "Since 1882"

C&C welcome and appreciated!

 

On 10/12/2024 at 7:37 PM, MJD7 said:

• Pirates
  • I'd say I prefer the Pirates' current home wordmark  to any previous versions, but overall this set is nice. I would have never thought of headspoon piping for them, but I'd say it works. Wearing the vest throwback every year on Clemente day would be awesome.
• Tigers
  • I'm not sure I'd endorse these changes in real life, but they look awesome as a concept. Maybe it's just because I'm doing college football currently, but this set gives me Auburn vibes, in a good way. If the Tigers had changed their uniforms more often over the years, I imagine it'd look a lot like this (or at least hopefully  it would).
• Cubs
  • The Cubs look nice! The traditional triple-stripe makes sense for them. Their away jerseys have been subpar for decades now, but I suppose a simple block arch wordmark isn't the worst way to go. I'd maybe consider rounding off the edges, just to help it flow with the rest of the set more. Stripes really help the blue alternate out a ton, and the "North Side" uniform looks awesome (naturally). 

Looking forward to seeing what's next!

I'm definitely in that weird phase of "ancient" teams that really don't need any drastic changes so finding justifiable change is a touch difficult. The Tigers especially don't need changes but I wanted to see how a more unified set would look.