MLB 2009

[dahatman]

I talked to Joe at Jersey-Joe.com about when the 2009 jerseys would be available. He said he can order anything in the Majestic catalog now, even though it's not all on the site. That includes the new Pirates, O's, Rangers, Twins retro alt, Padres Camo COOLBASE, etc.

The thing of particular interest was that he said, "Almost everything is COOLBASE only. They aren't making most of the teams in doubleknit anymore. The Yanks are still doubleknit, though."

That goes with what the MLB.com article said about the Rangers new set being exclusively COOLBASE. I saw the Red Sox are still available in both doubleknit and COOLBASE, and the Yanks aren't changing, but it sounds like almost everyone else is making the switch if at all possible if they haven't already.

Does Jersey Joe have a listing for what team will be wearing throwbacks this year?

[BallWonk]

And insult the Army? Or Navy? Or Air Force? Never!

The silly pander requires them to be all things to all people.

Nah. San Diego is a Navy/Marine Corps town. And the Navy only recently adopted its own camo pattern, which even Navy folks recognize is both ridiculous and ugly, so the Marine Corps camo pattern is appropriate. More appropriate, anyway, than wearing a camo pattern currently only worn by foreign countries.

(Alternately, and better, the Padres should ditch the insulting camo thing and go back to wearing their regular uniforms all the time, since their home and road uniforms resemble Navy and Marine Corps uniforms anyway.)

[Bouj]

I talked to Joe at Jersey-Joe.com about when the 2009 jerseys would be available. He said he can order anything in the Majestic catalog now, even though it's not all on the site. That includes the new Pirates, O's, Rangers, Twins retro alt, Padres Camo COOLBASE, etc.

The thing of particular interest was that he said, "Almost everything is COOLBASE only. They aren't making most of the teams in doubleknit anymore. The Yanks are still doubleknit, though."

That goes with what the MLB.com article said about the Rangers new set being exclusively COOLBASE. I saw the Red Sox are still available in both doubleknit and COOLBASE, and the Yanks aren't changing, but it sounds like almost everyone else is making the switch if at all possible if they haven't already.

Does Jersey Joe have a listing for what team will be wearing throwbacks this year?

It's not on the site yet, and I didn't ask. They did put a nearly complete list up last year (to correspond to what they sold), so I would think they would again once they know.

"Will the padres Camo coolbase be the same as last years camo jersey ?"

I didn't ask either. I was just surprised when he said that it would be available in COOLBASE, and not standard polyester. It was one of the jerseys he specifically mentioned as new for 2009.

"Did they solve the pinstripe problem yet? Those armpit vents look mighty strange without 'em!"

I don't thiink Majestic sees it as a problem. Part of the selling point of the COOLBASE is that you can see the underarm gussets. It looks bad on the Cubs and Phil, but considering that Majestic doesn't even care about making the correct shade of grey for everyone, I don't think they'll care about putting pinstripes on the gussets.

[JayJaxon]

And insult the Army? Or Navy? Or Air Force? Never!

The silly pander requires them to be all things to all people.

Nah. San Diego is a Navy/Marine Corps town. And the Navy only recently adopted its own camo pattern, which even Navy folks recognize is both ridiculous and ugly, so the Marine Corps camo pattern is appropriate. More appropriate, anyway, than wearing a camo pattern currently only worn by foreign countries.

(Alternately, and better, the Padres should ditch the insulting camo thing and go back to wearing their regular uniforms all the time, since their home and road uniforms resemble Navy and Marine Corps uniforms anyway.)

Yea, I should have mentioned why the Padres should wear the 'Marine Corps' pattern. Thanks for clearing that up BallWonk.

[BallWonk]

"Did they solve the pinstripe problem yet? Those armpit vents look mighty strange without 'em!"

I don't thiink Majestic sees it as a problem. Part of the selling point of the COOLBASE is that you can see the underarm gussets. It looks bad on the Cubs and Phil, but considering that Majestic doesn't even care about making the correct shade of grey for everyone, I don't think they'll care about putting pinstripes on the gussets.

I suspect Bouj is right -- Majestic either doesn't care to get the details right, or actually sees the visible gussets as a selling point.

But I tend to think that the non-pinstriped gussets are a good thing. As long as there's going to be a separate little bit of fabric there, the only thing that will clash with pinstripes on the body and sleeves more than a plain white gusset would be a pinstriped gusset. A pinstriped gusset would inevitably not line up with the stripes on both the body and the sleeve. (The Phils have such ugly jerseys to begin with that the white gussets don't hurt any. But when looking at the Cubs and imagining a set of not-quite-lined-up pinstripes under the arms, I tend to think the white gusset is the better solution.)

The trick, if you're a team with pinstripes, is to make sure you don't sign Craig Counsell, or anyone with a batting stance that raises the arms straight up in the air.

[The_Admiral]

Armpit vents must really come in handy for the Cubs at your typical April home game when it's 45 degrees and windy.

[JayJaxon]

Armpit vents must really come in handy for the Cubs at your typical April home game when it's 45 degrees and windy.

I saw them wearing them last year. I think they are ugly.

[JH42XCC]

So now EVERY Rangers jersey says Texas? How stupid. It's pretty simple, people. Home = nickname. Road = geography.

The Texas Rangers are not alone. A few minor league teams, such as the Omaha Royals (KC Royals AAA affiliate), the Memphis Redbirds (STL Cards AAA affiliate), the Springfield Cardinals (STL Cards AA affiliate), and the Reading Phillies (PHI Phillies AA affiliate), have their location name instead of their team's nickname on the front of their home jerseys as well.

[BRice16]

Armpit vents must really come in handy for the Cubs at your typical April home game when it's 45 degrees and windy.

I saw them wearing them last year. I think they are ugly.

The players like them more for the freedom of motion than the coolness.

[sacker12]

Not to mention that they are lighter, more breathable, and more comfortable than the double-knit. I've tried on the CoolBase BP tops when they first came out, and they are very comfy.

[GuitarPunk2512]

im perfectly fine with the double knit replicas i got, i hope i can still buy double knit replicas, i dont need armpit vents, im not on the field doing mad work. i think it looks ugly because the vent is so noticable.

[doctorpeligro]

They will always be the Anaheim Angels to me.

Yes, because a team having it's 3rd designation for only 8 years before switching to it's 4th, and mainly a revert back to it's original, is always the more nostalgic choice.

Either drop "of Anaheim" or go back to "California".

No can do, under the restrictions of the contract. If Moreno could drop "of Anaheim", he would have.

Nobody thinks the name is a good one. Arte's just waiting out the life of Disney's amateur contract until he can give the team its proper name.

Does anyone know when the contract expires? I thought it was something like a 30 year, or the length of the lease signed when the city of Anaheim rebuilt their park.

They can activate an escape clause in 2016. Realistically, however, it's unlikely the Angels will threaten to leave Anaheim. They really have no leverage because there isn't a city in LA County or Orange County clamoring to spend hundreds of millions of public dollars to help them build a new stadium. The conventional wisdom is that the Angels are generally happy in the Big A and are more likely to renovate than start from scratch.

[Gothamite]

Oh, I don't think he wants out of Anaheim at all, only the naming rights agreement.

[McCall]

Anyone else notice on Dressed to the Nines that they have the all-navy Alternate Cap shown as the away cap for the Braves? Are they really making this change? They don't show alt caps, only home or road, so this has me wondering whether or not they made a switch.

Pic:

[TFoA]

Anyone else notice on Dressed to the Nines that they have the all-navy Alternate Cap shown as the away cap for the Braves? Are they really making this change? They don't show alt caps, only home or road, so this has me wondering whether or not they made a switch.

Pic:

They did it for more than a few road games last year (mainly as a way to mix up the bad karma on the road...which didn't work, they were still terrible away from Atlanta last year), so I guess it isn't too surprising to see them going with the navy cap.

[patsox]

Anyone else notice on Dressed to the Nines that they have the all-navy Alternate Cap shown as the away cap for the Braves? Are they really making this change? They don't show alt caps, only home or road, so this has me wondering whether or not they made a switch.

Pic:

I don't like the idea of that. I like the cap, but it doesn't go with the away jersey as it has no red on it.

[Gothamite]

So now EVERY Rangers jersey says Texas? How stupid. It's pretty simple, people. Home = nickname. Road = geography.

The Texas Rangers are not alone. A few minor league teams, such as the Omaha Royals (KC Royals AAA affiliate), the Memphis Redbirds (STL Cards AAA affiliate), the Springfield Cardinals (STL Cards AA affiliate), and the Reading Phillies (PHI Phillies AA affiliate), have their location name instead of their team's nickname on the front of their home jerseys as well.

That only reinforces his point - the Rangers' new look is strictly bush league.

[JayJaxon]

Anyone else notice on Dressed to the Nines that they have the all-navy Alternate Cap shown as the away cap for the Braves? Are they really making this change? They don't show alt caps, only home or road, so this has me wondering whether or not they made a switch.

Pic:

I don't like the idea of that. I like the cap, but it doesn't go with the away jersey as it has no red on it.

I don't like it either. I'm okay with the all blue cap as long as it's with the navy alternate jersey. They don't need a permanent switch to n all-navy cap on the road.

[The_Admiral]

I don't see how this improves the road uniform. It just means they're doing what the Cleveland Indians do.

[BallWonk]

I don't see how this improves the road uniform. It just means they're doing what the Cleveland Indians do.

More importantly, it means they don't look like the Braves anymore. For two decades or more, the Braves have been one of the most instantly recognizable teams in pro sports with their plentiful piping and iconic blue-and-red cap. The cap is so central to their instant-recognize karma that wearing an all-blue cap is almost like the Yankees ditching the pinstripes at home, or the Dodgers wearing a red number on the front.

You'd think that with Coca-Cola located in Atlanta, some degree of brand-maintenance mojo would have rubbed off on the Braves front office. You literally cannot buy the kind of brand recognition that the Braves have achieved with their uniforms; changing them up in this sort of silly way wastes an important corporate asset for no conceivable organizational benefit. Just a foolish move.