Astros in 1965 unis tonight

[mmejia]

"And I'd push the brick red to more of an orange"

A friend and I were talking about this the other day while at MMP. The Shed (the astros in-stadium merchandise shop) clearly pushes the blue/orange stuff more than their current scheme. Outside of current jerseys for sale, it's virtually all blue/orange merchandise.

[TrueYankee26]

The unis look good, but the team doesn't

[IceCap]

I never really got the love for these. Sure, the idea's nice enough, but the execution is terrible.

They really don't stand up to well against the best Astros set ever, in my opinion:

[The_Admiral]

I thought those were okay, but then when I saw a rerun of the Kerry Wood 20K game a while back, I noticed the numbers were really ugly. I think they were some variation on Eurostile. The 1s looked like 7s, and everything else looked generally crappy as Eurostile often does. (That's the problem with Dressed to the Nines, they leave half the uniform out). It was terrible. I guess midnight blue and gold is okay enough, but that version of the shooting star looks so thin and scrawny and feeble. Looks like it would peel right off the shirt. Also, I've never interpreted the shooting star to be an A.

I guess orange and navy would be okay, but the Tigers are kinda-sorta already doing it better, and they might be mistaken for the Mets or Giants if they went about it poorly. They can't go back home to midnight/gold because the Padres and Brewers stole it. Even their distinctive new colors were ganked and improved upon by the Snakes. I know it's baseball and everyone pretty much has the same colors, but the life of me, I can't find a niche for this team short of neon rainbows (RIP Alex Chilton).

[IceCap]

Really, I like them because the whole thing fits the name. Astros is not a name that lends itself to traditional pinstripes and script in brick, black, and cream.

I don't remember the number font that went to these, but if they brought them back I wouldn't be opposed to standard block being used.

Also, I don't recall the shooting star ever trying to be an A. If someone in the team marketing department was trying to spin it as such, well that's a stretch, I agree.

[Bouj]

Love the stirrups. I haven't seen the highlights (if there were any), but I'd bet most of the player's didn't show any socks or stirrups, which always ticks me off about throwbacks. I've always liked the H hat to the star logo, but that is what I grew up with watching them come up short all the time.

The Astros all wore stirrups and socks showing. The stirrups had the star on them.

[Sodboy13]

I thought those were okay, but then when I saw a rerun of the Kerry Wood 20K game a while back, I noticed the numbers were really ugly. I think they were some variation on Eurostile. The 1s looked like 7s, and everything else looked generally crappy as Eurostile often does.

Yeah, the fronts of those uniforms looked pretty sharp, but the backs were trash. If they brought back that look and re-worked the back, I'd be all for it, especially if the alt cap with the metallic gold brim made a comeback. And as much as it pains me to say it, you know what could work for the back? An italicized version of Agency Bold, and the names done in a straight line on the back. Your name is futuristic and out there; you should be able to "go for it" in some respects, and you should also be able to do it without coming off as a hot mess.

[Firefly]

I didn't mean that the star was an A. I was saying it invoked the sort of general A shape. Not a hidden A. Just that it sort of reminds me of an A.

[tBBP]

I thought those were okay, but then when I saw a rerun of the Kerry Wood 20K game a while back, I noticed the numbers were really ugly. I think they were some variation on Eurostile. The 1s looked like 7s, and everything else looked generally crappy as Eurostile often does.

Yeah, the fronts of those uniforms looked pretty sharp, but the backs were trash. If they brought back that look and re-worked the back, I'd be all for it, especially if the alt cap with the metallic gold brim made a comeback. And as much as it pains me to say it, you know what could work for the back? An italicized version of Agency Bold, and the names done in a straight line on the back. Your name is futuristic and out there; you should be able to "go for it" in some respects, and you should also be able to do it without coming off as a hot mess.

I don't ever wanna see that font--or any hackneyed version of it--on any more pro sports uniforms ever again. The San Diego Chargers completely ruined that font for me. That the Indiana Pacers went to it further irked me. Then seeing the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and Washington Capitals go to it (in the case of the Caps, something similar) just sealed the deal. Agency needs to die. (And I actually used to like that font.)

All that having been said, I did a concept for this once, and if I can find it, I'll repost it here, but it utilized black, copper, and silver green--the idea being that those are the colors I associate with outer space and the moon and all that jazz. It basically played off the mid-90s shooting star identity (my favorite), but with elements of the tequila sunrise sets incorporated.

[Sport]

I hate (HATE) the current "shooting" star. The one from the 90's was great because it was drawn to invoke motion and the size of the star on the cap really looked sharp. The current star isn't shooting at all. It's stagnant. They took a star and cut a notch in it, what's the point of that?

I agree though that the number and NOB font on those 90's uniforms were terrible.

By the way, I was googling pictures of the Astros and I came across this picture.

One, that's Craig Biggio in the catcher's gear, but even weirder is that they're in Minute Maid Park wearing the gold and blue uniforms. I thought the Stros switched uniforms when they moved into Enron. Was this picture from a throwback game? If so, that has to be the fastest a team has ever turned around and worn a uniform as a throwback.

[tohasbo]

I hate (HATE) the current "shooting" star. The one from the 90's was great because it was drawn to invoke motion and the size of the star on the cap really looked sharp. The current star isn't shooting at all. It's stagnant. They took a star and cut a notch in it, what's the point of that?

I agree though that the number and NOB font on those 90's uniforms were terrible.

By the way, I was googling pictures of the Astros and I came across this picture.

One, that's Craig Biggio in the catcher's gear, but even weirder is that they're in Minute Maid Park wearing the gold and blue uniforms. I thought the Stros switched uniforms when they moved into Enron. Was this picture from a throwback game? If so, that has to be the fastest a team has ever turned around and worn a uniform as a throwback.

From what I remember, this was one of the last game that Biggio played and correct me if I am wrong fellow CCSLCers but the last series in Biggio's career was marked by the different uniforms he wore. (like friday was the "rainbow set" saturday was the set in question and sunday was the current set)

[rp71284]

Here's the caption from that Biggio photo:

Houston Astros' Craig Biggio, right, waves to fans as he and pitcher Brandon Backe, left, walk onto the field for the start of the game against the Atlanta Braves in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007, in Houston. Biggio played catcher for two innings, his first position with the Astros 20 seasons ago.

[The_Admiral]

Man, I forgot all about the whole Craig Biggio Viking Funeral that consumed the Astros' being for most of that season. I'm surprised it slipped my mind; it was really touching when the Astros put him on a boat with Brandon Backe and set it on fire.

[Bouj]

Man, I forgot all about the whole Craig Biggio Viking Funeral that consumed the Astros' being for most of that season. I'm surprised it slipped my mind; it was really touching when the Astros put him on a boat with Brandon Backe and set it on fire.

This is my favorite Astros-related post of all time. Bravo on "Craig Biggio Viking Funeral".

That weekend's uniform sets were: Fri: the white rainbow sleeves of the late 80's/early 90's; Sat: the shooting stars in the picture; Sun: the current set (I think it was the red brick alt).

The kinda-sorta did a similar thing the following season when they let Brad Ausmus pick the jersey they wore for the home finale, since he was a long-time Astro and it was assumed he's retire (he didn't). He chose the home pinstripes, which I think is the only time they've worn the home pinstripes on a Sunday (unless they wore them for some ESPN Sunday Night game).

[Anubis2051]

I thought those were okay, but then when I saw a rerun of the Kerry Wood 20K game a while back, I noticed the numbers were really ugly. I think they were some variation on Eurostile. The 1s looked like 7s, and everything else looked generally crappy as Eurostile often does. (That's the problem with Dressed to the Nines, they leave half the uniform out). It was terrible. I guess midnight blue and gold is okay enough, but that version of the shooting star looks so thin and scrawny and feeble. Looks like it would peel right off the shirt. Also, I've never interpreted the shooting star to be an A.

I guess orange and navy would be okay, but the Tigers are kinda-sorta already doing it better, and they might be mistaken for the Mets or Giants if they went about it poorly. They can't go back home to midnight/gold because the Padres and Brewers stole it. Even their distinctive new colors were ganked and improved upon by the Snakes. I know it's baseball and everyone pretty much has the same colors, but the life of me, I can't find a niche for this team short of neon rainbows (RIP Alex Chilton).

I wouldn't mind an Orange/Brick color scheme. Why not? It could work. Although I did love the Gold/Blue scheme, one of my favorite uniform sets ever. There really isn't enough variety in MLB these days.

[DustDevil61]

I wouldn't mind an Orange/Brick color scheme. Why not? It could work. Although I did love the Gold/Blue scheme, one of my favorite uniform sets ever. There really isn't enough variety in MLB these days.

Well, since we're floating ideas for the Astros, here are some of mine (apologies for the size, and in the case of the older concept, its being a JPG):

And the Scripts:

Yes, that is brown in there, for some "rustic" Texas feel without taking over the entire look of the Astros.

The older one, just for the record, was indeed an attempt at the brick/orange look, with charcoal gray mixed in for good measure:

As for my actual thoughts on the Astros, I wouldn't mind seeing them in a Brick/Orange (or Red/Orange) look, as that's one of my needs-to-be-used-more color schemes (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being the only one in major sports, though the orange in their current look is virtually unnoticable on the field).

However, I'd love to see a return to the Navy/Orange with a little brown thrown in. They could use a modern variant of their "H-star" logo on an orange hat, just as in that concept. I don't see any teams using a primarily orange hat full-time. Orange at home, blue on the road; simple as that. How about a crescent Saturn logo as well? That integrates the 2 next well-known shapes associated with space after a star (crescent moon, ringed planet) into the Astro's look.

Sorry for any self-promotion here.

[Anubis2051]

The alternate logo here reminds me of this:

Which, as someone who loved Legos when he was a kid, is a great thing!