Another Astro color thread

[totc]

WHAA??

How could you NOT look good in this:

Oh the 70s, how I weep for thee...

K, Now I'm at a loss.

Didn't they also have a standard navy block-number style?

I confuse easily, help me out here, Panny...

After 1976, yes. The number in the circle was, I think, 1975 only.

These same digits wound up on the fronts of the Dubuque Packers' uniforms.

Sand Knit used those western numbers as the "default" font whenever making jerseys for high schools, colleges, or rec softball teams using the Ultra-Stripe template.

The Charleston Charlies, however, wore block numbers in their numbered circles:

[BBM]

And, I must admit that 7-year-old me thought those uniforms were awesome when they were introduced.  Now, not so much.  Then, again, I also loved the Braves early '70s uniforms with the feather on the sleeve.  Now, not so much.

Is it a bad thing that, as a 24-year-old, I still think they look pretty good? Both these and the successor, toned-down uniforms are the best looks the Astros ever had.

Of course, I'm not a fan of the current set and the "radical" mid-90s set wasn't anything spectaular to me either.

I don't understand why so many people dislike Houston's current set. Ok, so maybe it doesn't scream "spacey" like the name Astro would imply, but then again the team was named after a building that was vacated six years ago. To me the brick/black/sandstone is a very nice color scheme (that isn't used by any other team, making it original), and the fonts and wordmarks seem in place with Houston and the state of Texas. I really like their current set.

EDIT: For reference:

[DrBear]

I have no problem at all with the current basic design the Astros wear - if the team was still named the Colt .45s, we'd be proclaiming it possibly the best design in baseball.

But for a team called the Astros that has been traditionally linked to up-to-the-second, space-age imagery? Better the team should have been renamed with the move to the new field. (To fit in with Enron Field, they could have been the Pension Rustlers, or maybe the Absconders).

[leopard88]

I don't understand why so many people dislike Houston's current set. Ok, so maybe it doesn't scream "spacey" like the name Astro would imply, but then again the team was named after a building that was vacated six years ago. To me the brick/black/sandstone is a very nice color scheme (that isn't used by any other team, making it original), and the fonts and wordmarks seem in place with Houston and the state of Texas. I really like their current set.

For me, you've hit the nail on the head. With a name like Astros, you should try to look modern, just like a team named the Blue Jays should wear blue (oh, sorry). It doesn't matter that they have moved out of the Astrodome as long as the name remains.

I actually do like the current color scheme and the wordmark (except the fact that it doesn't use a true cursive S, while everything else is in cursive). However, they don't fit the name to me (or at least the wordmark doesn't -- I can probably be sold on red and black for the Astros as more time passes).

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The current Astros set looks nice, but to me it's folksy for the sake of being folksy. It fits the look of the ballpark, but not the team name. That said, it would have been a shame to rename the team.

On their own, forgetting the team name or it shistory, the Astros set (minus the pinstripes) is handsome and definitely in the top half of the league. But when you consider what the name represents, what they've looked like in the past, and what your expectations of their look might be, it's kind of weak.

[ibsouper]

I don't understand why so many people dislike Houston's current set. Ok, so maybe it doesn't scream "spacey" like the name Astro would imply, but then again the team was named after a building that was vacated six years ago. To me the brick/black/sandstone is a very nice color scheme (that isn't used by any other team, making it original), and the fonts and wordmarks seem in place with Houston and the state of Texas. I really like their current set.

I couldn't agree with you more. The Astros have one of the nicest looks in the Majors, and it goes well with Enron being next to Union Station. Very Texas.

Chris

[Thunderstruk]

Those uni's were tight baby I loved em also. Being a Sox fan I rember when they were changing their unis in the early 80's and were considering an astro style uni. I really wished they kept those, the astros I mean.

[HurricaneDavid]

Of course, I'm not a fan of the current set and the "radical" mid-90s set wasn't anything spectaular to me either.

Agreed, the mid-90s set wasn't spectacular - it was SIMPLE. The best designs are often the simplest. The mid-90s set was why I became an Astros fan in the first place - well that, and Bagwell's 94 MVP season. I think that set is definitely the best in Astros history.

[KJTALBOT]

I would drop the pinstripe jersey and black hat. The star is hard to see. Brick hat and brick letters is unique and very cool.

[Gothamite]

If they had gone ahead with the name change, then the Olde Weste look would more or less work for them.

As it is, I'd go so far as to call their look silly. The disconnect between team name and uniforms is huge.

[ibsouper]

If they had gone ahead with the name change, then the Olde Weste look would more or less work for them.

As it is, I'd go so far as to call their look silly. The disconnect between team name and uniforms is huge.

If you get off the fact that the club dropped the whole "spacey/space exploration theme" and just realize that Astros is spanish for Stars (I'm sure you do already), it works. Stars in the "Lone Star State" sense of things, not the Astronaut sense.

The club no longer plays in the Astrodome, on Astroturf, and the Johnson Space Center doesn't even get that much action anymore.. not like it did in the 60's 70's and 80's. The team didn't need to change nicknames after a few a decades (a terrible idea, whomever suggested that). It just reinvented what the name means. If someone suggests that the Lakers change their name because there aren't any lakes around LA.. that person would be laughed off the board.

Chris

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The club no longer plays in the Astrodome, on Astroturf, and the Johnson Space Center doesn't even get that much action anymore.. not like it did in the 60's 70's and 80's. The team didn't need to change nicknames after a few a decades (a terrible idea, whomever suggested that). It just reinvented what the name means. If someone suggests that the Lakers change their name because there aren't any lakes around LA.. that person would be laughed off the board.

That's a good point. I just always thought that "Lakers" was a pretty stupid name to begin with, "Land of a Thousand Lakes" be damned.

But I'm down with the "Star" thing. They do, indeed, have a star on their hat. It's hokey, but makes sense. You've converted me.

[leopard88]

If you get off the fact that the club dropped the whole "spacey/space exploration theme"  and just realize that Astros is spanish for Stars (I'm sure you do already), it works. Stars in the "Lone Star State" sense of things, not the Astronaut sense.

The club no longer plays in the Astrodome, on Astroturf, and the Johnson Space Center doesn't even get that much action anymore.. not like it did in the 60's 70's and 80's. The team didn't need to change nicknames after a few a decades (a terrible idea, whomever suggested that). It just reinvented what the name means. If someone suggests that the Lakers change their name because there aren't any lakes around LA.. that person would be laughed off the board.

Chris

It is an interesting theory. I would give it more credence, however, if there was some mention by the team that they were consciously going in that direction. Was that ever done?

[oddball]

I thought the spanish word for star was "estrella"?

[Gothamite]

It is an interesting theory. I would give it more credence, however, if there was some mention by the team that they were consciously going in that direction. Was that ever done?

Not to my knowledge.

I'd like to hear if they had, or if that's just fan fiction.

[Korkie]

Of course, I'm not a fan of the current set and the "radical" mid-90s set wasn't anything spectaular to me either.

Agreed, the mid-90s set wasn't spectacular - it was SIMPLE. The best designs are often the simplest. The mid-90s set was why I became an Astros fan in the first place - well that, and Bagwell's 94 MVP season. I think that set is definitely the best in Astros history.

agreed, simple and it fit in with the space theme. Awesomeness.

[leopard88]

I thought the spanish word for star was "estrella"?

Actually, you're right. Has Dora the Explorer taught me nothing?

Spanish Dictionary

[Korkie]

I thought the spanish word for star was "estrella"?

Actually, you're right. Has Dora the Explorer taught me nothing?

Spanish Dictionary

You just beat me to it Leopard. Also, the term "astro" derived is from the Latin word for star: astrum.

So... there goes that theory.

[BBM]

Sticking with the Lakers theory... not only are there no lakes in their logo but lakes are neither purple NOR yellow. So just because their name is Astros doesn't mean they HAVE to be all space age-y.

[leopard88]

Sticking with the Lakers theory... not only are there no lakes in their logo but lakes are neither purple NOR yellow. So just because their name is Astros doesn't mean they HAVE to be all space age-y.

That is certainly true. However, the Astros cultivated that image for nearly 35 years. It is not as if they changed the name to Astros, but kept a picture of a revolver on their jersey. I think that is why the sudden departure bothers me.