MLB Alternate Jerseys

[Gold Pinstripes]

I'm glad to see the pirates enthusiasm for the black jerseys. I love them and think they are their best. That's saying something coming from me considering I think their normal ones are some of the best and classiest, especially the home white. I typically like more classic unis like the dodgers, tigers, and Red Sox. Sure I'm a bit of a pittsburgh fan but I freely admit the pirates have had some atrocious and silly alts in the past that I couldn't care less for. The black alt looks equally great with both pant sets too. I've heard a lot of people here harp on the alt hat logo with the white border. I understand that it's such a minor add on that it's really not necessary. I think it looks fine. I think it helps accentuate the P some. It's also so minor I don't think it messes up the classic logo.

The Pirates alt jersey is one of the worst in MLB. The white outline is completely unnecessary. Gold stands out very well against black on its own as seen with the NOB. The giant P, while not necessarily a bad chest logo, isn't the best option. And the low number on the right side is completely amateurish, and that goes for all teams who do it, which I think the Nationals are the only other team doing it at this point. If you're gonna go chest logo on the left and number on the right, you center the number with the logo, as done by the White Sox and Reds. And if the only difference between your primary cap and alt cap is a white outline, you don't need an alt cap. They would've been better off doing a black version of the home uniforms with all-gold lettering and piping.

Definitely understand the Pirates black alternate has had mixed reviews, but I think it will be around for a long time. It's popular with the public and players, and has become synonymous with decisively ending the losing streak and opening up a new era of Pirate baseball. The club is a contender again this season, and will have a player(Gregory Polanco) rated ahead of Andrew McCutchen at the same age coming up shortly. Have to admit I was lukewarm on the alternate hat and jersey, but for me, that design, amplifies the iconic "P" logo as opposed to taking away from it.

Historically, there's also tradition behind having the giant hat logo on the front of the jersey. The Pirates wore this design for roughly a dozen years between 1906 and 1935, and that includes hall of famers like Paul Waner, and Pie Traynor, and a player generally considered the greatest shortstop of all time, Honus Wagner. Fast forward to the present day, and I'm hoping the club will introduce a yellow alternate with the giant "P", based on the batting practice jersey they discontinued this year.

[SoxSteeler]

I'm glad to see the pirates enthusiasm for the black jerseys. I love them and think they are their best. That's saying something coming from me considering I think their normal ones are some of the best and classiest, especially the home white. I typically like more classic unis like the dodgers, tigers, and Red Sox. Sure I'm a bit of a pittsburgh fan but I freely admit the pirates have had some atrocious and silly alts in the past that I couldn't care less for. The black alt looks equally great with both pant sets too. I've heard a lot of people here harp on the alt hat logo with the white border. I understand that it's such a minor add on that it's really not necessary. I think it looks fine. I think it helps accentuate the P some. It's also so minor I don't think it messes up the classic logo.

The Pirates alt jersey is one of the worst in MLB. The white outline is completely unnecessary. Gold stands out very well against black on its own as seen with the NOB. The giant P, while not necessarily a bad chest logo, isn't the best option. And the low number on the right side is completely amateurish, and that goes for all teams who do it, which I think the Nationals are the only other team doing it at this point. If you're gonna go chest logo on the left and number on the right, you center the number with the logo, as done by the White Sox and Reds. And if the only difference between your primary cap and alt cap is a white outline, you don't need an alt cap. They would've been better off doing a black version of the home uniforms with all-gold lettering and piping.

Agree to disagree about what you feel is amateurish.

[JonBoy]

No, it looked like a softball game.

And with two dark colors it looked rather dull too. The Orioles black jerseys are pretty drab without any white, and the A's forrest jersey is too dark to contrast effectively against the black. If the A's wore kelly, maybe it'd be a different story. It would still look like a softball game, but at least a colorful one.

It's orange vs green tonight. A little better, but I agree with most that the use of alts has gotten to be too much.

[Jungle Jim]

I don't like alts, but it's not necessarily that it's a jersey of color, but rather the mismatched top and bottom. I'll be honest, the monochromes of the 1970s looked better than the current alts, because at least there was consistency from top to bottom.

[McCall]

No, color over white or gray looks much better than cool over color. Makes them look like little league teams. Monochrome never looks good in baseball (white and gray excluded). That's true in many cases of football as well.

[Jungle Jim]

It looks like batting practice or spring training to me. Not saying the above examples look good, by any means, but at least the uniform looks like one "unit" and not two stray articles thrown together. That being said, I do think our Reds do alts as well as or better than most.

[BBTV]

The White Sox and maybe SF Giants could probably pull off the black on black look if they wanted to. Definltely the White Sox.

[Soarindude]

I don't like alts, but it's not necessarily that it's a jersey of color, but rather the mismatched top and bottom. I'll be honest, the monochromes of the 1970s looked better than the current alts, because at least there was consistency from top to bottom.

Look guys, pullovers!

[Packid]

The White Sox and maybe SF Giants could probably pull off the black on black look if they wanted to. Definltely the White Sox.

I wish the Giants would do an orange-on-black alt and ditch the Friday orange jerseys. They have a beautiful orange wordmark on their black BP jerseys, but nearly all the merchandise they sell with the "GIANTS" logo is black-on-black.

[phutmasterflex]

The White Sox and maybe SF Giants could probably pull off the black on black look if they wanted to. Definltely the White Sox.

I wish the Giants would do an orange-on-black alt and ditch the Friday orange jerseys. They have a beautiful orange wordmark on their black BP jerseys, but nearly all the merchandise they sell with the "GIANTS" logo is black-on-black.

It was a popular design and I guess they love using it

[Tigers6884]

I don't like alts, but it's not necessarily that it's a jersey of color, but rather the mismatched top and bottom. I'll be honest, the monochromes of the 1970s looked better than the current alts, because at least there was consistency from top to bottom.

Look guys, pullovers!

We could simply fix that with black buttons for the Pirates jersey, navy buttons on that Indians jersey, and white buttons for the Orioles.

[Gold Pinstripes]

I don't like alts, but it's not necessarily that it's a jersey of color, but rather the mismatched top and bottom. I'll be honest, the monochromes of the 1970s looked better than the current alts, because at least there was consistency from top to bottom.

This is probably better left with a Cleveland fan, but I do recall a photo where the Indians mixed the red with blue. This was an extremely rare move, but it happened in at least one game.

[MarsHotel]

I don't like alts, but it's not necessarily that it's a jersey of color, but rather the mismatched top and bottom. I'll be honest, the monochromes of the 1970s looked better than the current alts, because at least there was consistency from top to bottom.

This is probably better left with a Cleveland fan, but I do recall a photo where the Indians mixed the red with blue. This was an extremely rare move, but it happened in at least one game.

[daveindc]

I don't like alts, but it's not necessarily that it's a jersey of color, but rather the mismatched top and bottom. I'll be honest, the monochromes of the 1970s looked better than the current alts, because at least there was consistency from top to bottom.

How can a football fan be bothered by "mismatched" tops and bottoms? If they were to go full color, mixed colors would be the way to go, imo.

[VandyDelphia Mike]

The White Sox and maybe SF Giants could probably pull off the black on black look if they wanted to. Definltely the White Sox.

Like this?

Argument against - looks like softball or little league.

Argument for - top and bottom match.

I don't dislike it.

[Lights Out]

Honestly, I can't deny that there are some instances where color-over-color looks good:

With the exception of that Cubs throwback, I think it only works with lighter colors.

[wonderbread]

Light blue is about the only time it looks good, i always thought those A's unis looked piss stained same with the pirates, and every other color is just too much, monochrome only looks good in basketball hockey, and soccer, in football and baseball it looks awful

[Gold Pinstripes]

The White Sox and maybe SF Giants could probably pull off the black on black look if they wanted to. Definltely the White Sox.

Like this?

Argument against - looks like softball or little league.

Argument for - top and bottom match.

I don't dislike it.

I see you're a Vanderbilt fan, and the Commodore baseball program used gold pinstripes around 1980. Don't know who came up with it first, but the Pirates introduced gold pinstripes in 1977, wearing them through the 1979 world championship season. I believe Vanderbilt was also wearing pillbox hats at the time.

[BBTV]

I disagree that it only looks good with lighter colors. I think it looks good with really light or really dark colors - but nothing in between (i.e. Cleveland's red set.)

The Cubs uniform looks good, as would a White Sox. I think the all dark still looks professional - like a suit. The caps would have to be dark as well. I'm not sure about socks - obviously the White Sox would use actual white sox if they wore my proposed uniform, but I think that the pirates yellow socks look pretty garish against the black, so I'm unsure if I'd want the Giants to be in orange, white, or black socks. I think the Cubs uniform shown above would look best in white socks with blue trim.

[Packid]

I disagree that it only looks good with lighter colors. I think it looks good with really light or really dark colors - but nothing in between (i.e. Cleveland's red set.)

The Cubs uniform looks good, as would a White Sox. I think the all dark still looks professional - like a suit. The caps would have to be dark as well. I'm not sure about socks - obviously the White Sox would use actual white sox if they wore my proposed uniform, but I think that the pirates yellow socks look pretty garish against the black, so I'm unsure if I'd want the Giants to be in orange, white, or black socks. I think the Cubs uniform shown above would look best in white socks with blue trim.

My apologies, when you said black-on-black for the Giants and White Sox, I thought you were referring to the logos and numerals, not the jersey/pants combo. Don't forget the Giants also have these socks in their arsenal:

Although I believe Sergio Romo is the only one who wears them on a regular basis. Zito used to wear them quite a bit. Every other player, though, usually wears the solid black socks.