"Change Strip" for Baseball -- Contrast Color Caps?

[nateoxford]

I silently disagreed, though noting to myself that I did wish the Phillies would try wearing gray on the road instead of off-white.

The Phillies have never worn off-white on the road, at least not in the modern-era. That's gray as gray can be.

I heard somewhere that there are four different tones of gray that Majestic makes. Looking at those pics, those road jerseys definitely look lighter than, say, the Dodger road unis.

[BBTV]

I silently disagreed, though noting to myself that I did wish the Phillies would try wearing gray on the road instead of off-white.

The Phillies have never worn off-white on the road, at least not in the modern-era. That's gray as gray can be.

I heard somewhere that there are four different tones of gray that Majestic makes. Looking at those pics, those road jerseys definitely look lighter than, say, the Dodger road unis.

There are certainly different shades of gray, but I can tell you from seeing them play live on the road, and owning an authentic road, that the actual difference in gray is nearly impossible to detect with the naked eye. You'd have to actually place one team's gray jersey right next to another's to tell the difference.

Also remember that the trim can play games with your eyes. I'd be willing to bet that the Yankees road jerseys would appear darker than the Phillies (even if they used the exact same shade of gray, which I'm not sure about) due to the navy trim. Same with the Angels - at first glance, their jerseys look a lot like the Phillies, but the navy outline around the red vs. the Phillies' white outline could cause some type of optical illusion.

[Gothamite]

We'll have to ask ColorWerx - he has a list of all the road gray variations.

I remember a couple years ago, the Brewers adopted a very greenish gray to match their green piping on the road uniforms. That was very noticable to my eye, but as for all the current versions of gray, I'm with Vet - they all look the same until you put them side by side.

Had the Jays not abandoned their graphite jersey at the last moment, that would have stood out among road grays:

[BadSeed84]

I would say the phillies do indeed have a noticeable lighter shade of gray.

I have 2 gray replica jerseys, a phillies and a royals (from a few years ago, with the black sleeves) and I can tell which jersey is which, from just the color.

[Jezus_Ghoti]

Reminiscent of the Dallas Cowboys.

[Gothamite]

I would say the phillies do indeed have a noticeable lighter shade of gray.

I have 2 gray replica jerseys, a phillies and a royals (from a few years ago, with the black sleeves) and I can tell which jersey is which, from just the color.

Wow. That's pretty dramatic - wonder how the authentics measure up.

[erlovepuck]

This is an interesting idea but as some have said not really necessary given that in baseball differentiating the teams is not as big a deal as in other sports. Generally speaking though, I do like that many teams have a road cap which provides some contrast against their home cap.

[fkaKrock5cent]

I was at the 2nd game of that Phills/Nats game and I didn't find it an issue. White and gray was enough.

[BallWonk]

To jump back in, I personally don't think "necessary" has anything to do with baseball uniforms. You could send both teams out in identical uniforms and it would be entirely possible to follow the game. As has been pointed out, the guys with the soft caps and big leather gloves? They're the defense. The guys in the helmets with no gloves, especially the guy with the big wooden stick in his hands? They're the offense.

The point of baseball uniforms is to make teams visually distinctive from one another, to increase visual contrast, not to enable attentive fans to distinguish between otherwise indistinguishable competitors, and not to enable players to tell one another apart. If the batter is wearing the same uniform as his fielders, the pitcher is not going to accidentally pitch to the shortstop instead of the batter, whereas in most field ball games (soccer, football) putting both teams in identical uniforms would lead to mistaken passes and other errors. Whether or not it's any easier to follow a ballgame when the teams have entirely contrasting color schemes -- and it is -- uniform contrast is more about the aesthetics than it is about utility or necessity.

Which is to say, there is no more or less justification for "change caps" than there is for gray road uniforms. Both serve no purpose other than slightly improving the aesthetics of the game; neither would make any difference to an attentive fan's comprehension of the game while it's being played. (As anyone who's ever watched a little league baseball or beer league softball game between teams in identical colored shirts and caps can attest.)

Point is, there's no burning need for "change caps" in baseball. But then, there's also no burning need for teams to have road uniforms in the first place.

[BBTV]

Reminiscent of the Dallas Cowboys.

That's surprising - I thought that the replicas were all one shade of gray, and only the authentics were different.

[Sport]

Which reminds me that the Houston Astros for a few years didn't have a gray road uniform. They wore white uniforms at home and then a cream colored uniform up until the shooting star uniforms of the 90's. Am I correct, did they not have a change uniform? It would be like if the Giants wore their home uniform for ever road game.

http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dre...mp;increment=18

[BBTV]

Which reminds me that the Houston Astros for a few years didn't have a gray road uniform. They wore white uniforms at home and then a cream colored uniform up until the shooting star uniforms of the 90's. Am I correct, did they not have a change uniform? It would be like if the Giants wore their home uniform for ever road game.

http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dre...mp;increment=18

I'm not sure what a "change" uniform is, but you are correct that they used white at home and cream on the road. This always drove me nuts while watching on TV, because I couldn't figure out if my TV's color was off, or if they were wearing their home unis on the road, or what, until I went to the Rawlings outlet and they had both the Astros home and road jerseys on the rack and I could see the difference first hand.

[philly97flyer]

I would say the phillies do indeed have a noticeable lighter shade of gray.

I have 2 gray replica jerseys, a phillies and a royals (from a few years ago, with the black sleeves) and I can tell which jersey is which, from just the color.

I wouldnt necessarily say one grey is darker than the other, they just seem to have a different tint than each other.

[ltravisjr]

Which reminds me that the Houston Astros for a few years didn't have a gray road uniform. They wore white uniforms at home and then a cream colored uniform up until the shooting star uniforms of the 90's. Am I correct, did they not have a change uniform? It would be like if the Giants wore their home uniform for ever road game.

http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dre...mp;increment=18

I'm not sure what a "change" uniform is, but you are correct that they used white at home and cream on the road. This always drove me nuts while watching on TV, because I couldn't figure out if my TV's color was off, or if they were wearing their home unis on the road, or what, until I went to the Rawlings outlet and they had both the Astros home and road jerseys on the rack and I could see the difference first hand.

It will be hard to convince me that during their rainbow guts era that the Astros didn't use the exact same uniform (rainbow on white background) for both home and away. I never could see the difference on tv, and Dressed to the Nines doesn't show any difference either. Anyone have any photos that would prove that the Astros had road rainbow guts on gray instead of white as it appears to me?

-LT

[Epiphanic]

Point is, there's no burning need for "change caps" in baseball. But then, there's also no burning need for teams to have road uniforms in the first place.

As I understand it, gray road uniforms were a function of utility in the early days of professional baseball. Gray uniforms hid dirt better than white uniforms so teams could reuse the same sets during road trips to save on laundry (which was not quite as available on the road). In the modern game where laundry is easy and accessable, gray uniforms aren't exactly necessary, but are now just a remnant of what was necessary.

[BallWonk]

Point is, there's no burning need for "change caps" in baseball. But then, there's also no burning need for teams to have road uniforms in the first place.

As I understand it, gray road uniforms were a function of utility in the early days of professional baseball. Gray uniforms hid dirt better than white uniforms so teams could reuse the same sets during road trips to save on laundry (which was not quite as available on the road). In the modern game where laundry is easy and accessable, gray uniforms aren't exactly necessary, but are now just a remnant of what was necessary.

Exactly. It's (mostly) an aesthetic issue. As would be contrast caps. There is a slight advantage to viewer comprehension if one team is not wearing a white uniform; there would similarly be a slight advantage to viewer comprehension if teams wore dissimilar cap colors. But the main effect is aesthetic; it's about the look and feel of the game.

Several teams already have road and/or alt caps that could be used as contrast caps -- "change caps" as I've called them, after the "change" uniform that soccer teams have to wear if their opponents are wearing a too-similar jersey:

Arizona

Colorado

Houston

Minnesota

NY Mets (kind of -- they have royal and black options, which might not qualify if blue and black are both "dark" colors)

Philadelphia

St. Louis

Washington

That leaves 22 teams. Here's what I imagine their "change caps" would be:

LA Angels: Navy

Atlanta: Red with navy bill

Baltimore: Orange with black bill

Boston: Red (white B logo)

Chi Cubs: Red with royal bill

Chi Sox: Gray

Cincy: Black (red C logo)

Cleveland: Red with blue bill

Detroit: Orange with navy bill (navy D logo)

Florida: Teal or orange, depending on what the team's colors are when they become the Miami Marlins

Kansas City: Powder blue (royal KC logo)

LA Dodgers: Powder blue with royal bill

Milwaukee: Old gold (blue M logo)

NY Yankees: Gray (Navy NY logo)

Oakland: Yellow with green bill (green A's logo)

Pittsburgh: Yellow (black P logo)

San Diego: Tan (blue SD logo)

San Francisco: Orange (black SF logo)

Seattle: Teal with navy bill

Tampa Bay: Yellow (blue TB logo)

Texas: Red

Toronto: Royal

I can only think of a few of these that wouldn't be a fun, attractive variation. I find myself especially liking the idea for several of the teams whose "classic" or simple uniforms I like, such as the Giants and Braves.

Plus, unlike most alternate uniforms, these would actually serve some minimal functional purpose. I'd much rather a well-uniformed team like Atlanta had a red-and-blue cap to change to on the road in blue-capped cities than a blue-on-blue or bright red alt jersey. I'd rather see the Giants wear orange caps in Colorado or Miami than black jerseys in San Francisco.

[Braden]

We'll have to ask ColorWerx - he has a list of all the road gray variations.

I remember a couple years ago, the Brewers adopted a very greenish gray to match their green piping on the road uniforms. That was very noticable to my eye, but as for all the current versions of gray, I'm with Vet - they all look the same until you put them side by side.

Had the Jays not abandoned their graphite jersey at the last moment, that would have stood out among road grays:

I think I'm gonna cry...

(BTW that picture was taken in my room!)

[Sabrejeff]

Instead of different hat colors, MLB should work on speeding up the game! Think about it. If people weren't so bored and started spacing, they might actually be able to stay awake and follow which team is at bat and which team is fielding.

(I'm a huge baseball fan and I've grown more and more bothered lately.)

[Braden]

One can only dream...

[BBTV]

Which reminds me that the Houston Astros for a few years didn't have a gray road uniform. They wore white uniforms at home and then a cream colored uniform up until the shooting star uniforms of the 90's. Am I correct, did they not have a change uniform? It would be like if the Giants wore their home uniform for ever road game.

http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dre...mp;increment=18

I'm not sure what a "change" uniform is, but you are correct that they used white at home and cream on the road. This always drove me nuts while watching on TV, because I couldn't figure out if my TV's color was off, or if they were wearing their home unis on the road, or what, until I went to the Rawlings outlet and they had both the Astros home and road jerseys on the rack and I could see the difference first hand.

It will be hard to convince me that during their rainbow guts era that the Astros didn't use the exact same uniform (rainbow on white background) for both home and away. I never could see the difference on tv, and Dressed to the Nines doesn't show any difference either. Anyone have any photos that would prove that the Astros had road rainbow guts on gray instead of white as it appears to me?

-LT

Actually, Dressed to the Nines shows that they did have different home and away uniforms (at least from '80 -->)

I think we were more talking about the post-guts set (>= '86). But at least according to Dressed to the Nines (and my memory, which is admittedly fuzzy from that time frame) the guts weren't worn on the road.