Baseball stirrups or socks?

[karby65]

Playing off the Philly sock-stirrup question; how can teams have sock or stirrup clad players? Can they have both or just one? Take Oakland and St. Louis - the two teams with the best looks with the stirrups. I've seen Oakland players wear both, but if someone in St. Louis would want to wear socks, they'd be laughed at and given stirrups. Are there any uniform rules on this, team or league?

[oddball]

It's an individual player decision. Whatever the player wants and makes him comfortable and there are no rules team or league wise to my knowledge. Oh and no one would laugh at a player in St. Louis for wearing red socks and not stirrups. I know that for a fact. How? Because I can take a pretty good guess and say that all the players that have their pants down over their shoes are wearing red socks underneath and not stirrups.

[BBTV]

The point of stirrups was to mimic colored socks back when they couldn't be worn for safety reasons, so I'm not sure why it matters. The fact that players started wearing their stirrups higher than intended is probably what should have been regulated. If they're not going to regulate stirrup height, then you'd have some players wearing them really high, and some wearing them really low (so they'd look like colored socks anyway) so it wouldn't really be any different than today.

[63Bulldogs63]

I believe the rules are by an organization basis. Working in the minors I know some clubs have an actual uniform diagram that states length of pant, sock, under shirts, etc... I think the rule in st. louis is if yoyu wear your pant leg up then you must wear the stirrups, where as if it is down, it wouldnt matter.

[M59]

The Orioles (at the minor league level) enforce high pants (sad to say). They were also a no-stirrups team until last season (IIRC) when Kevin Millar got a waiver, at least for a while. Jamie Walker was wearing the super low stirrups this year, and looked ridiculous.

[oddball]

Here's what's in Mark Okkonen's book Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century:

Stockings in 1900 were made of heavy wool and were of one-piece full-length (above the knee) construction. The foot covering part below the ankle bone was white or natural wool and often created the illusion of stirrups. The true stirrup stocking, separate from the ?sanitary? foot stocking, first came into being about 1905. The popularity of striped or multi-tone stirrup stockings ebbed and flowed in cycles, becoming widely used around 1910 and less common by the late teens. Except for a few "candy-cane? varieties (particulary by the Giants, Cardinals & Washington), striping was quite minimal during the twenties and, in contrast, enjoyed a revival of sorts in the early thirties. As pant legs became lower and stirrups were stretched higher and higher over the following decades, the stockings became a neglected component in the overall appearance of the uniform. In fact, since the sanitary undersock has gained more and more visibility, its traditional white color, in some cases, has been abandoned for a distinct color to complement the new colored variety of shoes.

[oldschoolvikings]

Love the stirrups... the cards players that show some sock have the best look in baseball.

[patsox]

Since the Red Sox began wearing solid red socks in 2003, I can't remember anyone wearing stirrups. Before 2003, all they wore was stirrups (the ones that were red at the bottom and navy with two white stripes at the top). Wilton Veras is the last player I can remember to sport the striped stirrup look for the Red Sox.

[karby65]

Since the Red Sox began wearing solid red socks in 2003, I can't remember anyone wearing stirrups. Before 2003, all they wore was stirrups (the ones that were red at the bottom and navy with two white stripes at the top). Wilton Veras is the last player I can remember to sport the striped stirrup look for the Red Sox.

First time I've seen those from Boston. What about 2004 and Kurt Schilling's bloody sock. He was wearing stirrups, although his stirrups weren't showing much.

[patsox]

Since the Red Sox began wearing solid red socks in 2003, I can't remember anyone wearing stirrups. Before 2003, all they wore was stirrups (the ones that were red at the bottom and navy with two white stripes at the top). Wilton Veras is the last player I can remember to sport the striped stirrup look for the Red Sox.

First time I've seen those from Boston. What about 2004 and Kurt Schilling's bloody sock. He was wearing stirrups, although his stirrups weren't showing much.

I forgot about Schilling, but he definitely did wear stirrups. I can't think of anyone wearing them on the current roster though. There could be someone wearing them with long pants though.

[hormone]

The stirrup = the hockey lace up collar...once served a purpose, now just for show. Me? Colored socks!

[karby65]

The stirrup = the hockey lace up collar...once served a purpose, now just for show. Me? Colored socks!

Since you brought it up, what was the lace up collar's purpose?

[scarsofthumper]

Personally, I love the stirrups

[oldschoolvikings]

The stirrup = the hockey lace up collar...once served a purpose, now just for show. Me? Colored socks!

If everything on the uniform had to serve a purpose, we'd have nothing to talk about.

[GeorgesL]

Personally I like the socks. It has a cleaner look, as opposed to the stirrups. But if one team was wearing white shoes, in this case the Athletics, it would look kinda stupid.

[Still MIGHTY]

The stirrup = the hockey lace up collar...once served a purpose, now just for show. Me? Colored socks!

Since you brought it up, what was the lace up collar's purpose?

Back when the jerseys were actually sweaters, they were used to tighten it up. Same fashion as the lace-up crotch on football pants.

Now they really don't tighten anything. They're just there.

[The_Admiral]

Stirrups and socks are both fine by me, really, as long as they're seen. Pants over shoes looks sloppy.