MLB Road Uniforms w/Team Rather Than City Name

[rebelx]

For some reason, MLB teams that use the club nickname on the road jersey, rather than the city name, bother me, and I think every team should use its city name. As far as I know, only five clubs are left that do this. The Phillies are the only ones who can get away with it, since their nickname is a direct reference to the city name. As for the others, anybody have any idea why they decided to go that route?

Angels?used to say "Anaheim"; could have easily been changed to read "Los Angeles", or are they still conflicted about which city they're in?

Rays?given that they already have the city's initials in the proper font on their caps, not sure why they didn't stick the full name on the unis; hoping they do this eventually

Cardinals?a LONG time ago, the road unis read "St. Louis"; never could understand why they didn't go back to that, unless fans didn't care for it or something

Brewers?makes absolutely no sense, especially because they used the city name as recently as the late ball-in-glove era

Oh, one other thing: does anybody have any clue why the hell the Rangers felt the need to remove their nickname from their HOME unis this season? It's not like they're the Tigers or Yankees, who are legitimate exceptions to the nickname-on-home-uni "rule" because those uniforms are so rooted in tradition. In fact, the Rangers are one of the few teams left who essentially have no tradition to speak of (sorry Texas fans ).

[BBTV]

It's about branding. Some teams feel that their primary wordmarks are such an important part of their brand, that they feel that the nickname wordmark should be the consistent identifier for the team. I'm not sure that's the reason for all of the holdouts, but I'm sure it's a factor. I don't really buy the whole "we'll be excluding fans outside of our city" reasoning. All of the teams you mentioned would look good with city names on their jerseys, except the Phillies. Philadelphia just looks terrible when rendered in their custom script.

[elliott]

It's about branding. Some teams feel that their primary wordmarks are such an important part of their brand, that they feel that the nickname wordmark should be the consistent identifier for the team. I'm not sure that's the reason for all of the holdouts, but I'm sure it's a factor. I don't really buy the whole "we'll be excluding fans outside of our city" reasoning. All of the teams you mentioned would look good with city names on their jerseys, except the Phillies. Philadelphia just looks terrible when rendered in their custom script.

Agreed, I'll say the same about the Brewers. Some of the longer wordmarks (I'll give an example in the 'San Francisco' mark) look good because they are simple and very readable. The the 'Milwaukee' wordmark has intricate details and is a tad too long for my taste, I've seen some simple mockups with that mark on gray, it's too small with the length of it, and it's a little hard to read. I prefer 'Brewers' in this case.

And the Angels really just should be called Anaheim.

[Gothamite]

"Intricate details"?

What intricate details would that be? Looks okay on the jersey to me.

I don't really buy the whole "we'll be excluding fans outside of our city" reasoning.

I don't buy it either (I don't know a single Packers fan who actually ever lived in Green Bay), but the unfortunate fact is that owners believe that it makes a difference.

The Brewers dropped "Milwaukee" from their roads as part of the push to attract fans from all around the state, boosted in no small part by Miller Park's retractable roof, which guaranteed fans driving in from all over the state that games wouldn't be rained out. I've never heard any confirmation from the team, but that was the clear inference.

The Rays similarly wanted to make a push towards being a regional team. Unlike the Brewers, this was explicitly stated at the time, IIRC. The Rays held out the possibility that "Tampa Bay" could be put on the roads in future seasons not too far down the road. Don't know what winning a pennant does to that timeline.

The Angels are a special case. Moreno knew that he could command a larger fee for television broadcast if his team was named "Los Angeles" (guess station executives also fall prey to the silly "won't root for the town next door" fallacy). Putting the city name on the roads would cause some trouble with the City of Anaheim, so the team name is there instead.

[BBTV]

Yeah, Milwaukee looks fine on the jersey. BBM doesn't look bad either, except that there's a N.O. Saintsish mismatch in the golds.

[elliott]

Actually, you know what, I take it back. I must have been looking at a pixelized wordmark in a concept. 'Milwaukee' does look pretty good.

[Gothamite]

Thanks - tell Attanasio.

Yeah, Milwaukee looks fine on the jersey. BBM doesn't look bad either, except that there's a N.O. Saintsish mismatch in the golds.

Yeah, but that's my lousy Photoshop skills. Won't be an issue for the team.

[JayJaxon]

I'm all for teams using their city name. Baltimore went back to it, and the Rays and Brewers could easily adopt the same practice. I doubt we will ever seen Philly do it. A road uniform with 'Philadelphia' actually got produced at one point but the idea was shot down before it went into mass production. I think St. Louis could pull it off though, but I doubt they will.

[sacker12]

I'm all for teams using their city name. Baltimore went back to it, and the Rays and Brewers could easily adopt the same practice. I doubt we will ever seen Philly do it. A road uniform with 'Philadelphia' actually got produced at one point but the idea was shot down before it went into mass production. I think St. Louis could pull it off though, but I doubt they will.

Yeah, only a prototype of the grey jersey with "Philadelphia" on the front was made. It looked really crowded on the jersey because the logo had to be compressed to fit on the jersey.

[darkhaha]

In general, I prefer the city name on the road set, but I think it would be kind of boring if everyone did it that way. What should be outlawed in perpetuity is pinstripes on the road grays -- but that's a different topic...

[Sport]

I'm all for teams using their city name. Baltimore went back to it, and the Rays and Brewers could easily adopt the same practice. I doubt we will ever seen Philly do it. A road uniform with 'Philadelphia' actually got produced at one point but the idea was shot down before it went into mass production. I think St. Louis could pull it off though, but I doubt they will.

Yeah, only a prototype of the grey jersey with "Philadelphia" on the front was made. It looked really crowded on the jersey because the logo had to be compressed to fit on the jersey.

If there's any team that doesn't need the city name on their road GARYS it's the Phillies. Their nickname comes directly from the name of the city.

In general, I prefer the city name on the road set, but I think it would be kind of boring if everyone did it that way. What should be outlawed in perpetuity is pinstripes on the road grays -- but that's a different topic...

I've heard this sentiment many times on this board, not specifically just from you. I just want to know the reason for all the hate on road pinstripes. I don't get it, I think the Rockies and Twins look good. What didn't look good was when the Reds wore road pinstripes in the 90's, but that has more to do with the gray being almost darker than the red pinstripes creating an inverse effect. so back to the question, what wrong with road pinstripes.

[BBTV]

I'm all for teams using their city name. Baltimore went back to it, and the Rays and Brewers could easily adopt the same practice. I doubt we will ever seen Philly do it. A road uniform with 'Philadelphia' actually got produced at one point but the idea was shot down before it went into mass production. I think St. Louis could pull it off though, but I doubt they will.

Yeah, only a prototype of the grey jersey with "Philadelphia" on the front was made. It looked really crowded on the jersey because the logo had to be compressed to fit on the jersey.

If there's any team that doesn't need the city name on their road GARYS it's the Phillies. Their nickname comes directly from the name of the city.

In general, I prefer the city name on the road set, but I think it would be kind of boring if everyone did it that way. What should be outlawed in perpetuity is pinstripes on the road grays -- but that's a different topic...

I've heard this sentiment many times on this board, not specifically just from you. I just want to know the reason for all the hate on road pinstripes. I don't get it, I think the Rockies and Twins look good. What didn't look good was when the Reds wore road pinstripes in the 90's, but that has more to do with the gray being almost darker than the red pinstripes creating an inverse effect. so back to the question, what wrong with road pinstripes.

For me, two things:

1. I don't really want to see a game where both teams have pinstripes, which could happen if a team has road pins. The home team should really have center stage, and much like the concept of "clash kits", a road team shouldn't wear anything that treads on the identity of the host.

2. I just think they look bad on gray.

[cmm]

I'm all for teams using their city name. Baltimore went back to it, and the Rays and Brewers could easily adopt the same practice. I doubt we will ever seen Philly do it. A road uniform with 'Philadelphia' actually got produced at one point but the idea was shot down before it went into mass production. I think St. Louis could pull it off though, but I doubt they will.

Yeah, only a prototype of the grey jersey with "Philadelphia" on the front was made. It looked really crowded on the jersey because the logo had to be compressed to fit on the jersey.

In case anyone hasn't seen it, Uni Watch had a pic of the "Philadelphia" prototype:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1286/833743...945e2968a_o.jpg

It does look very crowded.

[Gothamite]

I don't see that as too crowded at all.

Can't stand the sleeve number's blue outline, but fix that and it's a great look.

[The_Admiral]

I think that script looks great too. I'd like it even better in maroon, but that's just because I have a color-crush on the Phillies in maroon.

[BBTV]

[disgusting image removed]

I don't see that as too crowded at all.

Can't stand the sleeve number's blue outline, but fix that and it's a great look.

I think that script looks great too. I'd like it even better in maroon, but that's just because I have a color-crush on the Phillies in maroon.

Couldn't disagree with either of you more. It's just too many letters to work in that type of script. It just looks goofy and silly, and I personally (not that I wear jerseys though) wouldn't "rep my city" if my city's name was rendered like that. Frankly, it'd be embarassing IMO to wear that jersey. If they have to put the city name on the jersey, something in plain block would be a better option IMO.

[Gothamite]

I wouldn't wear any Phillies jersey, but that's only because the Phillies' script is terrible in any case.

Go back to the classic version, before it was ballooned, and no problem. Not for the nickname on the homes, nor the city names on the road.

[oldschoolvikings]

I once saw a concept for a St. Loius road jersey with "St. Louis" in navy outlined in red (along with the numbers, I assume to match the road cap) with the bat passing thru the upper section of the "S". Looked sharp IMO.

By the way, on this board, maybe we can officially call all road baseball uniforms GARYS. Just confuse the newbies.

[Gothamite]

Yep, the Cards have an official "St. Louis" script in their current package.

They could easily put it on the roads.

[CubsFanBudMan]

It doesn't look crowded to me, it just looks like a long name, which it is. Actually looks better than, say, San Francisco, has at times.

And darkhaha, much like your sentiment "that it would be kind of boring if everyone did it that way" in reference to city names on roads, I feel the same way about road pinstripes. I don't think two teams is too many. Hoping at least the Rockies and Twins keep them, and if they don't, someone else adds them.