Houston Astros

[Krona]

I wanted to bring back the older blue and orange for the 'stros. i also wanted to return to an space theme. I never really liked the last set, it reminded me too much of star tours. I tried to bring a little vibe from the 60s, when the team was named, and when the space program was at its peak.

[NDwas]

I love the home and road sets and the basic premise of the alts, but the H logo isn't kickin it for me. I think if you just put an H over a star, or used a star in place of the H, it would work a little bit better. In general, though, awesome work.

[So_Fla]

I like 'em, a lot.

I'm not really keen on the sleeveless jerseys at the bottom, but you did a good job on them.

As far as the top home and away, those are nearly perfect. The only change I'd make is that I'd keep the stirrups all the same across all the uniforms.

BTW...where did you get that uniform template?

Can I have a copy?

[BallWonk]

Good use of the colors. And I love that Grays / old time Cardinals jersey striping scheme; some team in the big leagues needs to use jersey stripes like that.

However, I have to say I don't think you even came close to achieving a "space theme" with your cap logo. You've put an H in the universal symbol for "atom." Atoms are quite common here on earth. Space is a black void precisely because it has far fewer atoms than down here. A single one of those swooshy balls could be a baseball in orbit, like a planet, a moon, or a spaceship. But two of them is an atom, and an atom is not in any obvious way thematically related to space.

On the H itself, I think the serifs are a bit too much. I'd rather see two serifs than four. Either two on the top, or one on the top and the other on the bottom of opposing legs of the H. Having four serifs makes it look too closed, too much like a digital number 8 or letter B.

Also, the pants numbers. Bad idea then, worse idea now. "Hey, let's take the number off the front of the jersey and put it lower down, where it's harder to see and more likely to get covered in dirt during the course of the game!" At least back then people had the excuse that it hadn't been done before, so its badness was unproven. No such excuse today. If you want a star on the front of the jersey but no number, that's fine. You don't have to put a number on the front of the jersey.

That looks like a good number font, but no one can really tell. You've got space to show us 8 of the 10 digits in your number set, but you only show us 2. Is that because the digits 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 are ugly?

The vests fail for me for the simplest of reasons: The piping. You've gone with the single most cliche uniform element in modern baseball: narrow A-B-A three-stripe piping. If you'd modified the bold, distinctive striping on your regular jerseys to work on the vests, you'd have some great vests. But the piping you've chosen make these vests look cheap and lazy. Also, the H on the vests probably should not be white on white.

All that said, I think you're two minor modifications (cap logo and pants number) away from having a set of sleeved uniforms that would actually sell me on the idea of blue and orange for Houston, even though that's probably the least space-themed color scheme it's possible for Houston to have. I am radically opposed to blue and orange for a team named "Astros," but your concept almost overcomes my objections to the colors. I like it that much. Good work!

[ravenmaster]

I especially like the road uniform, but they all look sharp in general. These would be nice to see on the Astros at any point of the season, well done.

[Artmanc3po]

I love these, really I do, except for the new H logo. I have wanted the 'stros to go back to the H on star logo for a long time, and putting it on this uniform would make it close to perfection, in my opinion. I love the old-timey stripes on the homes and roads, I love the stirrups (if players would stop velcroing their pants to the tops of their cleats, that would be nice), and I don't even mind the numbers on the pants, if only because it's kind of a part of Astros history.

Nothing about their current set reminds me of Nolan Ryan, JR Richard, Mike Scott, Jose Cruz, Cesar Cedeno, etc. Lots of good players in the 70s and 80s especially (I don't know much about the early years of the Astros/Colt .45s in the 60s other than the start of Joe Morgan's career) wore the orange and navy. As a silly kid, I loved the rainbow unis, as well as the rainbow sleeve unis that followed. Later, when I saw the precursors from the 60s and 70s, I liked them too. Using the old H on star, this concept would be terrific, and would hearken back to some baseball history that the black, brick and sand doesn't.

[patsox]

Good use of the colors. And I love that Grays / old time Cardinals jersey striping scheme; some team in the big leagues needs to use jersey stripes like that.

However, I have to say I don't think you even came close to achieving a "space theme" with your cap logo. You've put an H in the universal symbol for "atom." Atoms are quite common here on earth. Space is a black void precisely because it has far fewer atoms than down here. A single one of those swooshy balls could be a baseball in orbit, like a planet, a moon, or a spaceship. But two of them is an atom, and an atom is not in any obvious way thematically related to space.

On the H itself, I think the serifs are a bit too much. I'd rather see two serifs than four. Either two on the top, or one on the top and the other on the bottom of opposing legs of the H. Having four serifs makes it look too closed, too much like a digital number 8 or letter B.

Also, the pants numbers. Bad idea then, worse idea now. "Hey, let's take the number off the front of the jersey and put it lower down, where it's harder to see and more likely to get covered in dirt during the course of the game!" At least back then people had the excuse that it hadn't been done before, so its badness was unproven. No such excuse today. If you want a star on the front of the jersey but no number, that's fine. You don't have to put a number on the front of the jersey.

That looks like a good number font, but no one can really tell. You've got space to show us 8 of the 10 digits in your number set, but you only show us 2. Is that because the digits 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 are ugly?

The vests fail for me for the simplest of reasons: The piping. You've gone with the single most cliche uniform element in modern baseball: narrow A-B-A three-stripe piping. If you'd modified the bold, distinctive striping on your regular jerseys to work on the vests, you'd have some great vests. But the piping you've chosen make these vests look cheap and lazy. Also, the H on the vests probably should not be white on white.

All that said, I think you're two minor modifications (cap logo and pants number) away from having a set of sleeved uniforms that would actually sell me on the idea of blue and orange for Houston, even though that's probably the least space-themed color scheme it's possible for Houston to have. I am radically opposed to blue and orange for a team named "Astros," but your concept almost overcomes my objections to the colors. I like it that much. Good work!

Wow. What he said. I agree on all counts and therefore I do not find it necessary to add any additional comments of my own. Congrats BallWonk. You are officially a genius in my book.

[ltravisjr]

I too agree with all that's been said. In any case, this may be the best Astro concept I have seen, and there have been quite a few good ones before. Atomic H aside, this set just looks pleasing to me. Ballwonk gives a very valid criticism of the pant number, but I will give you a pass on that. Granted, it is harder to see and is subject to soiling, but it is still more visible than no front uniform number at all, which in itself is acceptable. The issue with the number, then, might come down to an aesthetics preference, or an aversion to its "gimmickiness". This is where I will turn a blind eye. It is a quirk that was peculiar to the Astros, at least until the Chisox copied it in the 80's. For its nostalgia, I accept it.

LT

p.s. I love the template and presentation here, but the stirrups are oriented incorrectly (either that or the player has severe duck feet).

[chestnutz]

amazing.

[Don]

wow, send these out right now to the stros.

[DomTheAthlete29]

nice job. can i get that template? rasterized?

[Shumway]

Overall, great stuff here. I like what I'm seeing. Just a thought, but if you want to nod to the past, why have the star as they used to, with the "shooting star" coming from the wordmark? Then, the numbers can go where they normally would.

[AJM]

HOME RUN! Quality concept. Would love to see these on the field.

[Krona]

Good use of the colors. And I love that Grays / old time Cardinals jersey striping scheme; some team in the big leagues needs to use jersey stripes like that.

However, I have to say I don't think you even came close to achieving a "space theme" with your cap logo. You've put an H in the universal symbol for "atom." Atoms are quite common here on earth.

Also, the pants numbers. Bad idea then, worse idea now.

All that said, I think you're two minor modifications (cap logo and pants number) away from having a set of sleeved uniforms that would actually sell me on the idea of blue and orange for Houston, even though that's probably the least space-themed color scheme it's possible for Houston to have. I am radically opposed to blue and orange for a team named "Astros," but your concept almost overcomes my objections to the colors. I like it that much. Good work!

The "atom" is a play on the old Astros "astrodome" logo. I believe it has two balls in orbit.

as for the leg numbers, i agree. i just wanted another cheap link to the 80s.

As for the blue and orange being spaced themed: think 60s space program....orange space suits, blue NASA badges. I see the connection.

[FattySeth]

I'm a big Astros fan, so I love seeing all this Astros talk lol

as the uni's go I like them pretty well. The Logo is pretty good by itself, but I don't like it on the uniform or the hat at all. The old star and H, or the current star would have looked better.

The star they use now has been used since 94 (they updated in 2000) so I doubt they'll change from it.

As good as the orange and blue looks I think I'd rather have the Astros keep their current colors. It'd be nice if they didn't keep changing their look every decade or so.

I just wish they would wear the Saturday red hat alt as the regular home, its much better looking then the pinstripes.

[NyghtOwl]

I am totally rockin' these--especially the numbers on the pants. And I like the H with the orbiting baseballs--looks like something out of Tom Swift!

[VitaminD]

I love all of it, save for one thing. BallWonk touched on it, but I want to go a little further on it.

The serifs on the "H" are overwrought, and it's to the point that the "H" looks like something else. The way the serifs close off the open spaces turns the "H" into an "8". Similarly, in the "HOUSTON" wordmark, the "U" has its open space closed off, and turns "HOUSTON" into "HOOSTON". It's enough that you lose legibility, which compromises the design for me.

That single flaw aside, I like - nay, LOVE - this design. It does everything an Astros design should do IMO - the right colors and the rekindling of the Space City vibe that's been lost in the name of making "Astros" synonymous with "Old Timey Railroad Station".