New Pirates Uniforms

[sacker12]

Was there really a need for the Pirates to change the uniforms?

The Pirates' stated motivation, if not an outright need, was twofold:

One, they wanted to ditch the red. From the moment Frank Coonelly came aboard, from his reading up on the franchise's past to inviting greats from the past to be more active, he has pushed an infusion of history into the foundation of many activities. Part of that, as he mentioned Friday, was going with the basic Pittsburgh black and gold. So, ditching the red was going to involve ditching the alternate sweater as well as changing the spring training/batting practice caps. (That's the only cap that changed, by the way, Max.)

Two, they wanted to add sleeves back. Although most of the talk Friday was related to which championship teams wore sleeves, be sure that the larger issue was that the players flat-out did not like the sleeveless model because of comfort. That extra black undershirt constricted and made hot days seem that much hotter.

Some still wear an undershirt, even long sleeves, when weather dictates. But players like having the option of going without.

As Paul Lukas pointed out on his Uni Watch blog, reason number two is a crock, as baseball players almost always wear an undershirt.

No, the article was pointing out how players hated wearing the extra black undershirt. Meaning, they hated wearing the Majestic undershirt with the logo on the sleeve over their preferred undershirt (e.g., the Nike Pro undershirt).

[Survival79]

So according to that link, the hats will still have red in the MLB logo?

It seems that will be the only red anywhere to be found with the pirates uniforms. Kinda odd if you ask me.

Don't forget about the sleeve patch.

[maz]

The more I see those, the more I like them. I actually like them better than the vests now.

[hormone]

So, they like sleeved jerseys because of the undershirt, but a few years ago when they got vests, it was because they hated the "restrictive" sleeves. So which is it? How about not putting out a piece of $hi+ baseball team and raping the fans of the money they spend to go there?

[andrewharrington]

The piping around the neck is so, so much better than the piping that goes down the entire button placket.

[BBTV]

The piping around the neck is so, so much better than the piping that goes down the entire button placket.

In this case, I totally agree with you. Anyone remember when neck piping used to be an elastic insert?

IIRC, their regular white jerseys had the same treatment.

[cheo25]

The more I see those, the more I like them. I actually like them better than the vests now.

Yes, major upgrade on the gray and solid white. Wish they had placed the number parallel with the "P" on the black alt.

[Legend]

So according to that link, the hats will still have red in the MLB logo?

It seems that will be the only red anywhere to be found with the pirates uniforms. Kinda odd if you ask me.

Don't forget about the sleeve patch.

Yeah, see I don't get that. If they are keeping red in the logo and MLB sign, why the major effort to remove pretty much all the other red so the little left seems out of place?

Why not just take it out of everything or leave it?

[jonkj]

Yeah, see I don't get that. If they are keeping red in the logo and MLB sign, why the major effort to remove pretty much all the other red so the little left seems out of place?

Why not just take it out of everything or leave it?

Agree. It seems it would be pretty easy to change the red in the logo to gold:

[LEWJ]

Yeah, see I don't get that. If they are keeping red in the logo and MLB sign, why the major effort to remove pretty much all the other red so the little left seems out of place?

Why not just take it out of everything or leave it?

Agree. It seems it would be pretty easy to change the red in the logo to gold:

Yea that looks nice.

Is it me, or does the "P" look unproportional on the home jersey?

[Bmac]

Yeah, see I don't get that. If they are keeping red in the logo and MLB sign, why the major effort to remove pretty much all the other red so the little left seems out of place?

Why not just take it out of everything or leave it?

Agree. It seems it would be pretty easy to change the red in the logo to gold:

Yea that looks nice.

Is it me, or does the "P" look unproportional on the home jersey?

I agree that it looks unproportinonal. It's not just you.

I also like the yelloy/gold replacing the red, though I am not exactly against red being part of the uniform.

[The_Admiral]

The yellow bandana doesn't work. From a distance, he looks like a one-eyed hair metal frontman. I'm still advocating that coat of arms.

[jonkj]

The yellow bandana doesn't work. From a distance, he looks like a one-eyed hair metal frontman. I'm still advocating that coat of arms.

What does he look like from a distance with a red bandana?

[See Red]

The yellow bandana doesn't work. From a distance, he looks like a one-eyed hair metal frontman. I'm still advocating that coat of arms.

What does he look like from a distance with a red bandana?

A pirate. The yellow makes the bandana look like long blonde hair. From a distance. To me, anyway.

[Legend]

I was never partial to the red either way. I guess I liked it, and I actually loved those red unis. The steelers have red in their logo, albeit a small bit. So I think it would be ok to keep the pirates bandana red if they hadn't made such a big thing about removing all the red. Then it just seems awkward.

But that yellow bandana looks awesome. I think they should do it. Again, not because I care about the red, but because they make a big deal about not using it then don't use it at all.

Idk, I'm nitpicky with stupid things like that. I guess that's why I'm on here? Lol.

[BigShoop]

I liked the vests...but overall, this is an upgrade.

The Rays "went simple" with theirs last year, and it was a huge success(before they started winning, even). Maybe a little piece of the Pittsburgh brass is following their lead?

[DallasSports]

Rays completely overhauld their look. Pirates did not.

[Viola73]

Yeah, see I don't get that. If they are keeping red in the logo and MLB sign, why the major effort to remove pretty much all the other red so the little left seems out of place?

Why not just take it out of everything or leave it?

Agree. It seems it would be pretty easy to change the red in the logo to gold:

How would blue look for the bandana?

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

Yeah, see I don't get that. If they are keeping red in the logo and MLB sign, why the major effort to remove pretty much all the other red so the little left seems out of place?

Why not just take it out of everything or leave it?

Agree. It seems it would be pretty easy to change the red in the logo to gold:

If they have to have a pirate-head patch, they ought to use this guy, from the 70s:

Furthermore, as VandyDelphiaMike pointed out upthread, they should use this cap with the white jersey:

That would give an updated version of this crisp look:

(By the way, I think that Nellie Briles is to that pirate-head logo as Jerry West is to the NBA logo.)

[maz]

I seem to be in the minority of disliking the mainly-gold cap. I think it looks bad with any jersey thats not all gold, and all gold jerseys are not the best look, either.

Take the current cap and make it pillbox-shaped, put the old friendly pirate pictured in the post above, make it the primary logo (with a gold bandana), put it on the sleeve, make the "P" in Pirates proportional to the rest of the script and, boom. A clean, good-looking, look that when I visualize it, seems to have the feel of many successful eras of pirates baseball in one.

EDIT: After scouring Dressed to the Nines, these are exactly the same as they had in the late 40's and early 50's, minus the awful logo and slightly different script...