Reds Dropping Black

[IceCap]

Personally I like the way the '99 unis looked. The red pinstripes on the home helped balance out teh black sleaves, and the roads looked great.

[The_Admiral]

I propose no black, no pinstripes, no vests, no trim, no piping. The Reds should have the simplest cleanest uniforms in the leagues. I always make fun of "it's so clean!" but it just seems like the oldest team in baseball should have a pure, perfect, look. No frills, no busy color pallette, just plain baseball. There are 30 teams, plenty of room for other clubs to experiment. But I think absolute uniform simplicity should belong to the Reds.

All that needs to be done.

[bradleyrmanuel]

Personally I like the way the '99 unis looked. The red pinstripes on the home helped balance out teh black sleaves, and the roads looked great.

Thing is, that '99 style guide (or wherever it's from) image is wrong, which led to video games getting it wrong a few times. The Reds wore the black-crowned cap and black sleeves at home and on the road from mid-season on. They haven't worn red sleeves on the road EVER with that set, as far as I know, but I've seen video games with that error several different times. The all-red cap was worn twice at home in 2000 but they lost both games and they've never been seen again, except on around 75 % of people I saw wearing Reds hats when I was in college.

The uniforms before that were okay; I really liked the roads with the exception of the number being on the left (it just looked off), and the home uniforms were fine except for the caps. In 1993 when they first started with those the players hated those hats, saying they looked like ice cream men, and even wore the red ones with the home uniforms for a game I went to in April '93 against the Mets. It looked really sharp but I don't think they ever did it again. I was amazed those hats lasted til 1998.

As far as a navy blue addition goes, I wish they'd done it with the 1999 revision, because it would have had much the same effect as the black but would have had some basis in Reds uniform history. Adding navy blue would be correcting a mistake and doing something they should have done in the first place, in my opinion. Black is completely played and it's nice the Reds brass is realizing it. If they'd just put red sleeves on the road uniform and actually wear the all-red cap, I would be happy enough, but this news is just terrific.

[STL FANATIC]

When will the Mets follow suit?

I know I'm in the minority, but I like some of the black in the Mets' jerseys.

From an historical standpoint, the Blue and Orange were derived from the two original New York National League teams, so adding the black is just encorporating another element of the New York Giants colorset.

Now I'd love to see them drop both black jerseys, both black hats, as well as the new batting helmets (but that's another thread altogether.) But I think the black did good things for the home pinstripes and road greys, and made the home white alternates (at least it was originally an alternate) perfect. But that's just my two cents.

I won't disagree one bit. The black makes the blue and orange look great. They dropshadows are awesome. And I wouldn't mind a black bill on a blue cap one bit. The NY should be orange, but a white outline and black dropshadow is cool.

But we all know the Mets don't use the black that well. Even though they have the uniforms to do just about that, they wear the black hats and the black jerseys, belts, socks...whatever. Black has become they're primary it almost seems like. Blue is essentially the alternate color that gets used a lot, and orange is trim.

The Mets would be better off keeping the black as trim, but at this point it might be an easier change if they just started by removing all black.

[IceCap]

hey haven't worn red sleeves on the road EVER with that set, as far as I know

I have actually seen replicas of the road grey Reds vests with red unndershirts being sold.

[Jungle Jim]

hey haven't worn red sleeves on the road EVER with that set, as far as I know

I have actually seen replicas of the road grey Reds vests with red unndershirts being sold.

Yep, that's the only way I've ever seen the road replicas - with red sleeves. And the only way I ever see the home replicas is with the black sleeves. They've always been reversed, which is silly. Does no one at Majestic or whoever makes them not realize they have them backwards?

Bradley is right, though, the Reds have never worn red sleeves or caps with the current road set, althought they very much should have.

As for the changes, I am delighted, but would be much happier if they'd go with just red and white. The 1968-71 models would be perfect!

[Artmanc3po]

Red and navy doesn't really sound any better, or much different than red and black, especially since umpteen teams in MLB wear navy and red. More and more, I'm thinking just plain red is what the REDS need. Modernized Big Red Machine unis with buttons and belts would instantly become the hottest set in baseball, IMHO, and it might inspire some other cluttered-up looking teams to tone it down a bit.

[Krona]

is it too far fetched to think a return to pullovers could come back? maybe leave behind the sansabelt pants, but i wouldnt be surprised if teams went back. i was playing MLB 2K6(best baseball game ever, by the way) with the reds in retros and they looked great. the stripes on the waist really did it.

[rebelx]

This change doesn't sound too cool to me; I really would have preferred a return to just red and white. However, if they're really intent on a navy and red scheme, then we really can't say anything quite yet until we know how the navy is actually being used. They didn't say that the black would just be swapped out for navy, and nothing else altered, did they? For all we know, they might be planning on using navy as an accent color only, and not in the same way as the '50's with the navy crowns and all. It is possible for this combination to be tasteful, if they use the colors in the proper proportions, that is. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Claystation360]

I don't know , just know it's bad when I sit down in the bar & I am thinking it's National's up to bat because there was the team in the outfield & pitching with bight red from head to toe it looked like . well about 3 innings into the game after I had been there ate & all I realized it was the nationals in RED because i got a look of those black sleeves , the reds were wearing Gray & black maybe it's just me , But that was backward as crap .

[edensker]

I have been a serious Reds fan since 1972, so I will weigh in. The 1970s-early 1990s uniforms were just fine, except that they needed to be button-down, with black belts. Great look.

The mid-1990s home uniform was also excellent. The road uniform would have been fine as well, if it had featured a vest and no pinstripes. I really prefer the Reds in vests.

The current look is not bad. I would prefer to lose the black altogether, but I could tolerate it if the team would red undershirts both on the road and at home.

Oh, and they need stripes on their socks. Every team needs striped socks.

[Jungle Jim]

I have been a serious Reds fan since 1972, so I will weigh in. The 1970s-early 1990s uniforms were just fine, except that they needed to be button-down, with black belts.

Why black belts?

[VitaminD]

Why black belts?

Because black belts are paired with black shoes. The alternative is red shoes, which are garish to begin with, but also don't look as good with a team going with a traditional look like the Reds usually do, IMO. I'd love to see more teams go back to black shoes (or navy), with the exception being the A's and their white shoes.

[edensker]

I have been a serious Reds fan since 1972, so I will weigh in.  The 1970s-early 1990s uniforms were just fine, except that they needed to be button-down, with black belts.

Why black belts?

The elastic red and white striped waists looked silly. Baseball uniforms should always have belts.

[Jungle Jim]

I have been a serious Reds fan since 1972, so I will weigh in.  The 1970s-early 1990s uniforms were just fine, except that they needed to be button-down, with black belts.

Why black belts?

The elastic red and white striped waists looked silly. Baseball uniforms should always have belts.

Oh, I agree that they should have belts. I was just wondering why he chose black instead of red. I understand the reasoning of matching them to the black shoes, but I disagree. The BRM of the 70s wore all red-and-white unis with black shoes, and I don't think the black shoes looked out-of-place as the only black part of the set. To me, it would be the black belt that would look out-of-place. If a solution must be found, then I would much rather see the red shoes.

edensker, it sounds like you liked the uniform shown below, and on that, we agree. I would love nothing more than to see them return to this exact uniform:

[edensker]

edensker, it sounds like you liked the uniform shown below, and on that, we agree. I would love nothing more than to see them return to this exact uniform:

You are correct, sir. If I could figure out how to post photos, I would have found one just like the one that you so kindly put up. That is a great looking uniform. Clean, pure, no gimmicks.

[tommytimp]

And EVERYONE has to wear the Bench-style sanitary hose. If you wear your pants cuffed below the calf, you get fined. Then shot.

[pflava]

Couldn't agree more^.

Man those things were beautiful.