Red 1970-1974 Houston Astros Hat

[BamaHater]

Just bought this red Star H cap from Distant Replays. My question to you is if you know of any pictures of them wearing them that is in color. I've only seen black and white ones.

[FiddySicks]

I think its accually Navy and Orange. Could be wrong though.

[BamaHater]

nope it's red. I just got it today

[cubbies06]

Good Astros site is www.astrosdaily.com.Lots of old baseball card shots from all years may have what you are looking for...

[VitaminD]

Hmm. The Astros never had a red cap until this latest redesign upon moving out of the Astrodome. They had an orange hat through the early 1980s, but never a red one back then. The team colors were navy and orange. Granted, the orange appeared dark sometimes - especially when they started wearing it in 1971 - but if you mean red like what the Cardinals or Phillies wear, then... no, they never had a red cap in the 1970s.

The only red was on the jerseys when they went to the rainbow-bellied uniforms from 1975-86 (and perhaps the pants at some point). Even that picture looks more like a red-orange than an actual red cap, but maybe that's my mind being influenced by what it knows from history.

[TruColor]

Hmm. The Astros never had a red cap until this latest redesign upon moving out of the Astrodome. They had an orange hat through the early 1980s, but never a red one back then. The team colors were navy and orange. Granted, the orange appeared dark sometimes - especially when they started wearing it in 1971 - but if you mean red like what the Cardinals or Phillies wear, then... no, they never had a red cap in the 1970s.

The only red was on the jerseys when they went to the rainbow-bellied uniforms from 1975-86 (and perhaps the pants at some point). Even that picture looks more like a red-orange than an actual red cap, but maybe that's my mind being influenced by what it knows from history.

What he said.

If that hat is truely Red, then it's probably incorrect.

It's SUPPOSED to be Orange.

[BamaHater]

I found this from dressed to the nines

This is from 1974. It looks like the hat is red.

This is from 1976 and you can clearly tell the hat is orange.

[BamaHater]

Found this pic of Bob Watson form 1972. The hat looks red like the one I got.

[griffin128]

The Astros did indeed where red uniforms and red caps from 1971-1974. They switched to range caps in 1975.

That baseball card is accurate.

[TruColor]

No.

The Astros wore Orange...it was NOT Red.

Here's the history:

[TruColor]

...continuing through today:

I love Marc Okkonen's work, but color accuracy is not his forte.

It was NOT Red...it's a somewhat darker Orange...the Orange and Navy Blue continued over from the Colt .45 uniforms.

[BamaHater]

Here is a link to Distant Replays for the red hat. It is the Houston Astros Red Color.

Red Astros Hat

[TruColor]

Here is a link to Distant Replays for the red hat. It is the Houston Astros Red Color.

Red Astros Hat

Listen...

Todd Radom and I spent a lot of time together on the phone and via emails researching the Astros' color history. In case you didn't know, Todd provided most of the color estimates for the Cooperstown Collection graphics, and the colors I provide there are taken from a combination of official documents (re: MLB Style Guide) and other legitimate sources.

I stand by my color swatches - as most of you know, they are generated using actual Pantone values, and represent the colors as accurately as you're gonna get.

You find me a single official MLB document that EVER referred to that color as Red, and me and Todd and the MLB Creative Services Dept. will eat our shorts (hmmm...I probably should only speak for myself, huh?).

It was Orange, Orange, Orange.

Not Red.

End of story.

Don't use photographic evidence as proof...it's not a constant. Pantone colors are for the most part. Sure, CMYK values can change slightly over time, but the differences are relatively subtle.

Bonus - the color was 172 C. CMYK breakdown: C-00, M-66, Y-88, K-00. Formula mix: Yellow 25%, Warm Red 75%.

[Krona]

Funny. I just picked up an old baseball photography book while second handing, and i wanted to post this astros picture. The caption says 1975, so it doesnt answer all the questions like pantone just did, but it sure is a nice photo:

1975 Astros

ps: I find it odd that the astros would ditch the colt .45s orange, go to red, just to go back to orange again.

pps: If anyones interested, i'll post some more from this book, including dave parker in the pirates banana unis, smoking what may be a joint in the dugout of a spring training game

[otherwilds]

Methinks somebody will not admit owning amything posibly orange as in Big Orange...Tennessee Vol orange...

[cheo25]

Funny. I just picked up an old baseball photography book while second handing, and i wanted to post this astros picture. The caption says 1975, so it doesnt answer all the questions like pantone just did, but it sure is a nice photo

That would be the Astros uniform from 1972-74. The Astros switched to orange caps in 1971 and had uniforms without the collar and sleeve coloring in 1971 before adding it in 1972. They switched to the rainbow scheme in 1975.

As for the "red" look, I would chalk that up to bad color reproduction on the press that printed those early 1970s baseball cards.

[SiddFinch]

If anyone doubts that the real 71-74 hats were dark orange, not truly red, check this clip

74_AS_Game

At the 1:00 minute mark, Cincinnati Red Joe Morgan passes right by Astro Cesar Cedeno and the diference between Reds Red and Astros Orange is clear.

Pantone, Here is what I find confusing: the 1971-1974 hats were darker "Houston Astros Orange", OK. Which color presents the light orange used on the Astros hats 1975-1982 hats and also the light orange star on the 1982-1993 dark hats?

[TruColor]

If anyone doubts that the real 71-74 hats were dark orange, not truly red, check this clip

74_AS_Game

At the 1:00 minute mark, Cincinnati Red Joe Morgan passes right by Astro Cesar Cedeno and the diference between Reds Red and Astros Orange is clear.

Pantone, Here is what I find confusing: the 1971-1974 hats were darker "Houston Astros Orange", OK. Which color presents the light orange used on the Astros hats 1975-1982 hats and also the light orange star on the 1982-1993 dark hats?

Let me look into this...I thought Todd and I had nailed this down, but maybe they DID use a darker Orange during that time-period. I'm still confident that it wasn't Red though.

I'll keep you all updated...

[griffin128]

I have spent months going through photos of baseball hats to compile a master hat list. The Astros did in fact wear a red hat from '71-'74. It's absolutely not a poor color reproduction, because in no way would it always show up in every photo as red over a 4 year period. Then suddenly the photos show it as orange in '75. What happened, they suddenly figured out true color printing after 4 years of messing it up.

Also, they are completely different colors in the Okkonen book. Are we to beleive that that is just a case of poor printing too?

[Gothamite]

No offense, my friend, but I'll put Pantone's work over your "months" any day.

And yes, some of the colors in Okonnen's book are wrong. That's a fact - some entries printed darker than others, when we know that the team didn't change colors.