2013 MLB Logo and Uniform Changes

[Mitch B]

Correct me if I'm wrong (as I've seen several people state that the Cards have never worn an alt), but didn't the Cardinals wear a red alt in the late 90's? Or am I crazy? Perhaps they wore their bp jersey in a game or 2. Idk, but can somebody with a better memory please chime in.

Perhaps there is a different perspective between sports fans that live in a major league market and those of us who do not. I'm a New York Mets fan because I grew up in a small town with a Mets' minor league affiliate. I identify more with the team name Mets than I do the city name (No offense to NYC, I think it's the greatest city on the planet). I tend to buy more Mets home jerseys.

Maybe you're on to something. Me, being born in the Bronx, growing up 2 hours north of NYC, and now living in Brooklyn, I always thought of teams as a representation of their city and the people in it. I love wearing apparel with New York on it, and I especially love that the Knicks for instance wear New York across their jersey at home & on the road. I also love the look of the Yankees & Mets road jerseys (especially the Mets. More so than their home jerseys). Now with that being said, I don't only buy jerseys and hats (I have way more hats than jerseys) because of the city or team they represent, but when it comes to New York teams, it may or may not subconsciously play into my decision making process. Like for instance, even though Yankees home gear has the NY on it, I chose to go with an away authentic dugout jacket because I loved the way it looked with New York spelled out across it. But I suppose for small town fans who root for teams based on things other than location, I can see a preference for home gear with just the team name on it, rather than the city.

For years, Virginia had two teams in The Mets organization (The triple A Norfolk Tides and my hometown Lynchburg Mets, a single A affiliate). Growing up watching lots of single A ball, you get an opportunity to actually talk to the players before, after, and sometimes during the games. In my younger days, I got to know Wally Backman, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra and other Mets. The better players would get called up to double A (Jackson Mets) or in some cases go straight to Norfolk for a season and then on to New York. Once I had made a connection with a player in my hometown, I would continue to follow his career at each stop he made. I was a fan of the players and The Mets organization as a whole. The cities that were home to the teams of these players were less consequential to me (no offense intended).

[gEO 3b 4]

Then I must have been thinking of the Labor Day '99 game, because I know I remember watching a game with them in red tops

[gEO 3b 4]

Correct me if I'm wrong (as I've seen several people state that the Cards have never worn an alt), but didn't the Cardinals wear a red alt in the late 90's? Or am I crazy? Perhaps they wore their bp jersey in a game or 2. Idk, but can somebody with a better memory please chime in.

Perhaps there is a different perspective between sports fans that live in a major league market and those of us who do not. I'm a New York Mets fan because I grew up in a small town with a Mets' minor league affiliate. I identify more with the team name Mets than I do the city name (No offense to NYC, I think it's the greatest city on the planet). I tend to buy more Mets home jerseys.

Maybe you're on to something. Me, being born in the Bronx, growing up 2 hours north of NYC, and now living in Brooklyn, I always thought of teams as a representation of their city and the people in it. I love wearing apparel with New York on it, and I especially love that the Knicks for instance wear New York across their jersey at home & on the road. I also love the look of the Yankees & Mets road jerseys (especially the Mets. More so than their home jerseys). Now with that being said, I don't only buy jerseys and hats (I have way more hats than jerseys) because of the city or team they represent, but when it comes to New York teams, it may or may not subconsciously play into my decision making process. Like for instance, even though Yankees home gear has the NY on it, I chose to go with an away authentic dugout jacket because I loved the way it looked with New York spelled out across it. But I suppose for small town fans who root for teams based on things other than location, I can see a preference for home gear with just the team name on it, rather than the city.

For years, Virginia had two teams in The Mets organization (The triple A Norfolk Tides and my hometown Lynchburg Mets, a single A affiliate). Growing up watching lots of single A ball, you get an opportunity to actually talk to the players before, after, and sometimes during the games. In my younger days, I got to know Wally Backman, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra and other Mets. The better players would get called up to double A (Jackson Mets) or in some cases go straight to Norfolk for a season and then on to New York. Once I had made a connection with a player in my hometown, I would continue to follow his career at each stop he made. I was a fan of the players and The Mets organization as a whole. The cities that were home to the teams of these players were less consequential to me (no offense intended).

Nah, that makes perfect sense. That's one of the beauties of growing up in a Minor League town. The closest minor league team to where I grew up ar the Hudson Valley Renegades (NY-Penn League affilliate of TB), about an hour away. So whether I was going to a 'Gades game, or a Yankees or Mets game, it was still a trip, so most of the time we just went to the Major League games. But when I interned with the Renegades in 2007, I got to know guys like Alex Cobb, Justin Ruggiano, and Doug Waechter (he was there for a while on a rehab assignment). That was also the year Price got drafted, and they were originally gonna send him there, but at the last minute they decided to send him to the Columbus (GA) Catfish instead (who I believe are now the Bowling Green Hot Rods). Needless to say, I was disappointed by that decision, as I was really looking forward to meeting him,

[Cardsfan124]

Then I must have been thinking of the Labor Day '99 game, because I know I remember watching a game with them in red tops

Here is jersey from Labor Day 1999, a special one off jersey made out of differnet material than the bp jerseys of that time

[STL FANATIC]

I think I've seen a Ron Gant picture from that day. Otherwise, it's hard to find photo evidence, so that's a good pic above.

But yeah, I wouldn't think that qualifies any more as an alternate than any other one-off jersey.

One thing that rarely gets address—and it's probably because nobody knows the exactly what the story is—but there were a handful of years (according to Mark Okkonen) prior to 1950 which the Cardinals had a third uniform.

Sometimes that means a team made a permanent change mid-season as opposed to having an alternate. I've never been sure what it meant in regards to the Cardinals.

[Bouj]

Just BP

They wore them, or a special one-off version of the jersey, for a "shirt off our backs" game around Labor Day 1999. But that was it. Wasn't really an alt. When they introduced them in 1998, they said they may be available game use, but never did.

This comes up from time to time. The consensus opinion on the board was that this falls under the same category as one-offs like Turn Back The Clock promotions, since they are one-day-only specials, and not a true alt.

[Gothamite]

When was that made the consensus? I'd vote the other way - it was a true alt, just one they ended up not wearing much. Just like Detriot's a couple years back.

[McCall]

When was that made the consensus? I'd vote the other way - it was a true alt, just one they ended up not wearing much. Just like Detriot's a couple years back.

It wasn't a true alt. It was the BP jersey. They made a special one-off jersey in the regular material for that game alone.

[BadSeed84]

But did the cardinals bp have the navy piping? found this pic from 98

[McCall]

But did the cardinals bp have the navy piping? found this pic from 98

They had the navy piping BP jerseys from the 1998 update until they standardized BP jerseys league-wide in what, 2003?

[Gothamite]

When was that made the consensus? I'd vote the other way - it was a true alt, just one they ended up not wearing much. Just like Detriot's a couple years back.

It wasn't a true alt. It was the BP jersey. They made a special one-off jersey in the regular material for that game alone.

It was a regular jersey, in the regular material, that the team originally planned on wearing for special occasions during the season. How is that not an alternate? Sounds a lot like the '95 Tigers to me.

[Anubis2051]

But did the cardinals bp have the navy piping? found this pic from 98

So much '90s in one picture!

[TheOldRoman]

But did the cardinals bp have the navy piping? found this pic from 98

No, the BP's of that era had placket piping. That was a Majestic fashion jersey from the '90s. The material was like that of football jerseys, with large holes in the mesh. They made them in lots of different non-team colors, also. I remember a few clowns wearing lime green and purple White Sox jerseys.

[TheOldRoman]

When was that made the consensus? I'd vote the other way - it was a true alt, just one they ended up not wearing much. Just like Detriot's a couple years back.

It wasn't a true alt. It was the BP jersey. They made a special one-off jersey in the regular material for that game alone.

It was a regular jersey, in the regular material, that the team originally planned on wearing for special occasions during the season. How is that not an alternate? Sounds a lot like the '95 Tigers to me.

Look at the picture a few posts above yours. The doubleknit red jerseys had a "Cardinals Care MDA" patch on the sleeve for the Labor Day charity event they were holding. The jerseys were auctioned off for charity after the game. I have never heard any indications they were made to be worn as regular alternates.

[McCall]

When was that made the consensus? I'd vote the other way - it was a true alt, just one they ended up not wearing much. Just like Detriot's a couple years back.

It wasn't a true alt. It was the BP jersey. They made a special one-off jersey in the regular material for that game alone.

It was a regular jersey, in the regular material, that the team originally planned on wearing for special occasions during the season. How is that not an alternate? Sounds a lot like the '95 Tigers to me.

Look at the picture a few posts above yours. The doubleknit red jerseys had a "Cardinals Care MDA" patch on the sleeve for the Labor Day charity event they were holding. The jerseys were auctioned off for charity after the game. I have never heard any indications they were made to be worn as regular alternates.

And they were mesh, not typical game jersey material. They were BPs. Not an alternate jersey.

[STL FANATIC]

When was that made the consensus? I'd vote the other way - it was a true alt, just one they ended up not wearing much. Just like Detriot's a couple years back.

It wasn't a true alt. It was the BP jersey. They made a special one-off jersey in the regular material for that game alone.

I don't know if it was a BP jersey or not (the photo above looks like a regular jersey material), but it was pretty clearly made for a single game, and I have a strong memory of it never being introduced as an alternate.

I remember when the Cardinals made the changes and everything in the late 90s. There was a great deal of unrest (about things that ended up being minor). None of it had to do with an alternate jersey.

That was a one-off.

[TheOldRoman]

And they were mesh, not typical game jersey material. They were BPs. Not an alternate jersey.

The picture above is a doubleknit. These were special doubleknit jerseys different from their BP jerseys. However, the sleeve patch shows pretty clearly that they were worn for a special event and weren't intended to be alternates.

[McCall]

And they were mesh, not typical game jersey material. They were BPs. Not an alternate jersey.

The picture above is a doubleknit. These were special doubleknit jerseys different from their BP jerseys. However, the sleeve patch shows pretty clearly that they were worn for a special event and weren't intended to be alternates.

Exactly. Those were a special one-time only jersey much like any throwback game. The actual BP jerseys were mesh and never worn in a game, therefore, were not true alternate jerseys.

[Old School Fool]

Then I must have been thinking of the Labor Day '99 game, because I know I remember watching a game with them in red tops

I remember them wearing the red jerseys during the McGwire era aswell.

I chalk this up to two things: 1) It could've been all the footage of McGwire during Batting Practice during his HR war with Sosa and 2) Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. on Nintendo 64, which had alternates for nearly every team. It even had the Dairy Queen Twins alt in the game, which was discontinued like 3 years before.

[TheOldRoman]

And they were mesh, not typical game jersey material. They were BPs. Not an alternate jersey.

The picture above is a doubleknit. These were special doubleknit jerseys different from their BP jerseys. However, the sleeve patch shows pretty clearly that they were worn for a special event and weren't intended to be alternates.

Exactly. Those were a special one-time only jersey much like any throwback game. The actual BP jerseys were mesh and never worn in a game, therefore, were not true alternate jerseys.

I'm confused. I thought he was suggesting that the doubleknit jersey shown above was an actual alternate. Was he talking about the BP version with mesh? Arguing that was actually an alternate jersey? If so, you are correct. They didn't make a mesh BP jersey with the intention of wearing it as a normal game alt.