Throwback Day for Astros-Padres on Thur.

[winghaz]

I used to hate the Padres' brown, but after seeing it last night, it seems the brown just goes best with the Padres.

Besides, how many other teams in MLB wear brown?

Plus, the original padres themselves who worked the missions along the California coast wore brown, right?

[hawk36]

I used to hate the Padres' brown, but after seeing it last night, it seems the brown just goes best with the Padres.

Besides, how many other teams in MLB wear brown?

Plus, the original padres themselves who worked the missions along the California coast wore brown, right?

I've been saying this for years. IMO the Padres' ID and uni designers graded an F for the current uni, not because it looks bad, but because it has nothing to do with Padres.

[dutyfree]

Agreed. Nothing.

Now, I'm a proponent of the new Mil. Admiral's look, and others have suggested it has nothing to do with the team's identity, a valid arguement I suppose, but I see a connection. The Padres, meanwhile, have totally abandoned the unique, wonderful, whimsical friar (well, actually, they did this years ago, before it's re-introduction-sort of-recently) for...what? A wave?

[The_Admiral]

The Padres, like the Canucks, have never really had a good identity. I'll like the current package better once they get rid of the urine uniforms and the bowtie script.

[hawk36]

Would you agree though that the ID for a team called the Padres should at least have something to do with the subject matter?

[The_Admiral]

Well, looking like a Padre is kind of tough to implement in a baseball uniform. That brown-orange-yellow combo is just so dated, it can't work on a regular basis today. It reminds me of schools that were built in the 70s that are always painted in brown, yellow, and orange. The colors they have now are smooth and aesthetically pleasing, kind of like San Diego itself, I guess. And it's not as if brown/orange/yellow is associated with greatness here: the best they ever did in that look was lose to the '84 Tigers, and the worst was having the owner apologize for how crappy they were. If they were a dynasty at the time, I could see the attachment, but given the city in question and the new Moneyball direction of the club, I think a more streamlined and contemporary appearance is more appropriate.

[Jungle Jim]

I'm not sure I understand the gripes on this thread about the Padres hat; one of the most unique of all times, as the front two panels were not all gold; the original was more of an inverted "V" shape, so I don't think the "throwback" hats were exactly right, either.

You're right, they weren't accurate. This is what the Padres wore until they added the orange to their caps in 1984:

Their helmets were also the only ones of their kind. Notice how small the triangle panel is. Sports Products, the company that made souvenir batting helmets from the late 60s until a couple of years ago, always got these wrong, as they made their panel the same size as the Orioles, Twins, Blue Jays, etc. Fotoball, the company that makes them now, does an absolutely horrible job, with the panel being HUGE.

(Sorry to veer off topic with the helmet thing. )

[totc]

Naaah. Tuscon Toros, 1980. Yellow, turquoise, avocado, pink, lime, red. And with orange pants!

You mean these ?

Interesting subnote to this.

The Tucson Toros were the AAA club for the Disco Stro's at this time. You can see the catcher is sporting an Astros orange batting helmet.

So apparently, the Disco Rainbow thing wasnt just an Astros thing....it was prevalent throughout the ball club?s farm system too.

Who else were there affiliates at that time? Seeing as the transition from the big league club to the AAA club was that much worse, uniformly speaking, I cant imagine what the lower classes wore.

True.

Some (but not all) wore gaudy Rainbow Guts. The Dubuque Packers were several shades of blue with red numbers and letters. The Charleston Charlies were several shades of blue as well, but with yellow accents. The Charlies also had home and road versions of the Rainbow Guts. The road jersey was yellow where the white should have been.

The Daytona Beach, Cocoa, Covington and Glens Falls Astros wore orange Rainbow Guts, as far as I can tell. Columbus had cheesy Little League-style T-shirts:

But I don't know about the '76 Memphis Blues or the Gulf Coast League split-squad (there was a Blue team and an Orange team) in 1980 and 1981.

One other thing. Upon looking at a 1980 Tuscon Toros TCMA set, I must revise my thinking on the stripes on the front of the jersey. They seem to be avocado, lime, red, orange (instead of pink), red, yellow, and avocado.

[hawk36]

Well, looking like a Padre is kind of tough to implement in a baseball uniform. That brown-orange-yellow combo is just so dated, it can't work on a regular basis today. It reminds me of schools that were built in the 70s that are always painted in brown, yellow, and orange. The colors they have now are smooth and aesthetically pleasing, kind of like San Diego itself, I guess. And it's not as if brown/orange/yellow is associated with greatness here: the best they ever did in that look was lose to the '84 Tigers, and the worst was having the owner apologize for how crappy they were. If they were a dynasty at the time, I could see the attachment, but given the city in question and the new Moneyball direction of the club, I think a more streamlined and contemporary appearance is more appropriate.

I don't mean you must "look" like a Padre, but at least incorporate the subject matter in the primary or even secondary logo.

As for brown/yellow/orange, I'm not in favor of that either. My preference is for the original dark chocolate brown/yellow/off white combo. Classic and unique.

[totc]

One other thing: the font on the back of the Astros jersey yesterday was the 1975 font, not the block number used from 1976-1987.

Actually, the font used yesterday was the correct font. The Astros used the serif number font in 1976 without the circle on the back that was used in 1975, and they also used it on the leg. I was happy they got that right. Notice the 1976 NL patch with the serif number on the leg. The "2" is a better example than the '8'.

For further proof, go to about the 1:30 mark of this video linked below, and let it run for a few seconds. You'll see the Astros running out of the dugout after the final out of Larry Dierker's 1976 no-hitter. You can see the serif number font there.

Dierker video

I stand corrected. Now, did they switch to block in 1977 with a white outline around the numbers? I seem to remember them having a year when they had just dark block numbers with no outlines ... I could be wrong!

[cheo25]

Now, did they switch to block in 1977 with a white outline around the numbers? I seem to remember them having a year when they had just dark block numbers with no outlines

I think they added the white outline around the numbers when they added the block style in 1977, but I'm not 100 percent certain of that. The only evidence I can find to support my thought is this 1978 Bob Watson baseball card. Since it's a '78 card, the photo should have been taken in 1977. But I could be wrong.

Later in the early 1980s, the Astros dropped the orange in the collar and added a white outline to the front star. Not sure if both changes happened in the same year, but they were pretty close together.