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I wish that some mlb teams would get rid of the white outlines on their scripts and striping, as it creates what many here describe as an "80s" look, and in some cases, causes a script to lose its organic charm and look like something designed on a computer screen.

The Dodgers dropped their white outline years ago, and have never looked better (at least in LA.) Next on my hit list is the Phillies road uniform. Their current uniform came out in '92, and I guess the white outline, cuff trim, and pants stripe fit in with the aesthetic of the era (not too dissimilar to MTL's). However, among my many gripes about the current script, it (and all scripts IMO) is that it doesn't look like something that could ever be drawn by hand, which IMO is the charm of old-timey scripts (several other teams fall into this category as well.) Part of it has to do with the roundness of the letters and the precision shaping of them, but the most easily fixable part is the white outline around them which creates a "patch" effect - (which is what I'm sure they are actually intending, since it appears with a white outline in every single instance that it's used. I guess that's consistency, which is usually a good thing, but I think you can make adjustments in some cases without affecting your brand.) The 40s and 50s didn't suffer from this, and look infinitely better IMO.

The Tigers are another offender. They have a great script, but it has two outlines on it, the outer which is white. I'm okay with a single colored outline, as long as it's an outline and not a "fill in the gaps" background patch. The white needs to go though. It clashes with the rest of the uniform, since they use the navy and orange caps on the road. Plus it has that "80s" style that they were moving away from when they ditched the racing stripes of their old Indians' style uniform.

The white Sox fall into this category as well. For some reason though, I don't mind their script with the outline. Their pants bothered me more, but they fixed that. However they left the white on the sleeve and script. Maybe it's because gray and black is dull IMO, but it wouldn't really bother me if it remained on the script. That is inconsistent with my other opinions though. I think a better fix would be to add a second color to the black - red being the most obvious choice. That, however, is a discussion for another thread.

The Yankees seem to be the most debated offenders in this category. Many want them to lose all white, many think they look "classic" even with the white, and think it should stay.

Discuss.

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I generally agree with you on this. The white outline on the Tigers road uniform makes the script look way too busy. I was glad when the Orioles dropped the white outline on the road uniform and black backgrounds. See below.

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My biggest problems with the Phillies uniform script are --

1. The outline on the P covers part of the H as if it is not part of the same script.

2. The outline on the home uniform cuts off the pinstripes before they reach the script (which really makes it look like a patch).

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The White Sox's script and striping look(ed) great with white outlines. The new white-less pants stripes on the road look inferior to what they had before, in my opinion. Also, I know I'm in the minority here, but I like the Yankees' road uniform with the white stripes/outlines.

Maybe it is an "80s" look, but truth be told there are a few 80s design aesthetics I rather like.

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I love the "80s" look that the Sox and Yankees have. I think they're two of the best road uniforms and would look considerably worse without the outline.

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The White Sox's script and striping look(ed) great with white outlines. The new white-less pants stripes on the road look inferior to what they had before, in my opinion. Also, I know I'm in the minority here, but I like the Yankees' road uniform with the white stripes/outlines.

Maybe it is an "80s" look, but truth be told there are a few 80s design aesthetics I rather like.

Yeah, the White Sox looked perfect on the road until 2010. I don't get why people argued the uniforms looked dated Sure, their pants and sleeve stripes were a bit of a throwback to the era they started in, but so what? They didn't use racing stripes running up the side of the jerseys. They didn't use vertical sleeve stripes. Their stripes were unique to them, not one-color piping like is worn by a dozen or so teams, or the newest trend of three-color piping including around the neck. Their stripes weren't obnoxiously wide like what Montreal used, or the stripes on the Phillies' sleeves. You could maybe tell that the uniforms were created in the early '90s, but that doesn't make it dated. You can tell what era the Tigers' home set was made in, also. They used black and white on the striping, the team's two most important colors. Just a great, great set in my admittedly biased opinion.

As for the white outlines for the Sox, they absolutely make the road jerseys. First off, the obvious - WHITE Sox. They should prominently feature white in their road jerseys. Adding the thick white stroke takes it from a drab gray and black to a clean look which really pops. That said, with recent bumble:censored: moves the marketing department has made, I'm guessing we are two years away from a road set with a solid-black Sox logo on the chest and neck piping. Woof.

As for outlines in general, it's a case-by-case basis. The Tigers would be better served to remove the white from the road set. Navy and orange is a GREAT combo, and the orange would really make it pop off the gray. That being said, there is, at least to me, some charm in the Tigers' current set. I like the white. The Cubs need to get their heads straight and come up with a new road set that features blue with a red outline. The current has blue/white here and red/white there. The Royals would look much, much worse without the white outline. I could take or leave the Dodgers dropping white. I prefer the version with white, but the current one is more traditional and helps distinguish them from the Royals. I also like the Yankees' use of white. They've worn it for what, 35 years? Through 7 champions. I think they're past the point of being dated. I think the white outline really gives the road set a clean solid, clean look. Removing the white would strip them of the little character they have.

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I prefer white outlines to no outlines. Sorry. I think the Yankees road uniforms are perfect as is. Again, sorry.

I especially love the Tigers use of the white outline. Adds another visual layer (and literal twill layer) than if the orange outline of the wordmark touched the gray. BUT, I also love gray Oakland jersey and the gray Pittsburgh jersey and don't think they'd look as good with a white separating the yellow from the gray. I think it's a case-by-case basis and in most cases for me, I like to see a white outline there.

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The Tigers are another offender. They have a great script, but it has two outlines on it, the outer which is white. I'm okay with a single colored outline, as long as it's an outline and not a "fill in the gaps" background patch. The white needs to go though. It clashes with the rest of the uniform, since they use the navy and orange caps on the road. Plus it has that "80s" style that they were moving away from when they ditched the racing stripes of their old Indians' style uniform.

What do you mean by this?

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Anybody remember the song White Lines (Don't Do It)? Anyway...I think the white outline looks terrible. It is something that should have died sometime in the late 90s or last decade. It somewhat works for the White Sox I guess. But as for the Phillies and Yankees, it makes the uniforms so outdated. You couple the white script outlines with the sleeve cuff stripes and it makes for terrible uniforms like the ones I wore in little league 20 years ago. Its a shame because I like the Phillies and Yankees pinstripe home uniforms a lot.

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The Reds went without outlines with their double-knit pullovers from 1972-1987, then added them for the last five years 1988-92. They also added a second red sleeve band and racing stripes down the pants legs. It was all unnecessary, in my opinion. The 1972-87 look was much better...

hi-res-2145891_display_image.jpg?13680725421783315_display_image.jpg?1321247026

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With the advent of HD TV and the fact that you can now clearly see the uniform lettering much more easily it seems totally unnecessary to have white keylines on most uniforms these days. I hope that more teams decide to drop them in the near future. The Yankees would definitely benefit from this.

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Yeah, no. Those pictures just reassure my belief that one-color-and-white teams should have use white outlines. I don't care if it's necessary or not, the Reds look better with white.

And the White Sox shouldn't even be in this discussion. It's perfectly acceptable for the White Sox to feature white on their road jerseys. Especially since gray is one of their team colors. Should they have white, black and gray on the home, white, black and gray on the alt, but black and gray on the road? No. That's dumb.

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I completely disagree with the theory that a white outline ruins a look. In some cases it does, but truthfully, I can't think of any instance where white ruins a look on baseball jerseys. I can't. To each his own, but I don't see it all as a problem. Cutesy numbers like the Brewers had in the 90's, now that's a big problem.

 

 

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The Reds went without outlines with their double-knit pullovers from 1972-1987, then added them for the last five years 1988-92. They also added a second red sleeve band and racing stripes down the pants legs. It was all unnecessary, in my opinion. The 1972-87 look was much better...

hi-res-2145891_display_image.jpg?13680725421783315_display_image.jpg?1321247026

it's night and day as to how much BETTER that uniform looks WITH the outlines.

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Maybe I'm blinded by my nostalgia for the Big Red Machine era. But on the other hand, I'm one of those who like the Dodgers much better without the outlines and wish the Yankees would do the same.

I would've warmed up to the Reds outline jersey more if they'd left the racing stripes off the pants. That was overkill, IMO.

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