With over a century of history of professional uniforms, baseball has been one sport to notably stick to its roots throughout its progression. It has seen trends come and go, but even as styles have changed, the traditional button down jerseys and pants have managed to vary very little. Here we have compiled a list of 6 of the most unforgettable uniforms in baseball history. Spread across 8 decades, each stood out for its’ own unique reason.
New York Highlanders 1903
After moving to New York in 1903, the Baltimore Orioles became the Greater New York Baseball Club and were soon given the nickname the “Highlanders” by the media. This was because they played their games at Hilltop Park, one of the highest points in Manhattan. The Highlanders then began to be called the Americans, and as the term American because synonymous with Yankee, they finally in 1913 adopted the name we all recognise today, the New York Yankees.
St Louis Cardinals 1942
Memorable baseball uniforms aren’t always those that are notably different or those that only make an appearance for a couple of seasons. Often the most iconic uniforms are those that change very little and can be remembered as timeless. In 1922 the St. Louis Cardinals introduced a simple outfit with two birds perched on a baseball bat across the front of their jersey. The 1942 jersey, whilst incredibly similar, featured an American flag patch on the sleeve. This adjustment came against the backdrop of the Second World War and was done in support of the nation. The success they enjoyed during this period was unmatched and their legacy has opened debates as to whether they are one of the greatest teams in baseball history. In addition to World Series titles in both 1942 and 1944, the Cardinals had three consecutive years with over 100 wins.
Brookyln Dodgers 1944
As opposed to the stylistic or financial motives in many of these interesting uniforms, the 1944 Brookyln Dodgers has a functional reason for their peculiar uniform. The management believed at the time that if the team has satin based uniforms for their night games, the light would reflect off the material and the audience would be better able to see them play. These glowing satin uniforms were white for home games and light blue and navy for away. Some have called these the most unattractive baseball uniforms of all time, but apparently not all thought so. The concept was adopted at some point by the St. Louis Cardinals, The Boston Braves and The Cincinnati Reds.
Houston Astros 1975
The 1975 Houston Astros had an incredibly eccentric get up managed to somehow stick around for almost 20 years. With bright red, orange and yellow stripes, the jersey looked like a technicolor rainbow. The team brought it in in 1975 as part of a major re-branding operation. It was obviously heavily influenced by the fashion trends of the time and set the stage for many other teams migrating from the traditional grey away jerseys to colorful pullovers. The trail of the comet that had made up their initial jersey was replaced by the stripes, covering the whole jersey. The most iconic jersey of the decade was also the most polarizing and in the 80’s The Astros opted to tone down the uniform and move the stripes to the sleeves.
The Chicago White Sox 1976
The owner of the Chicago White Sox, Bill Veeck, a promoter known for his eccentricities, held a press conference on the 3rd of March, 1976 to reveal the teams new uniform. In the iconic Miller’s pub, Veeck announced that the team “may not be the greatest team in baseball….but [they would] immediately be the most stylish in the game.” If that wasn’t enough he went on to claim that “Comisky Park [would] replace Paris and New York as the fashion center of the world.” It seems he was off on both predictions, and when the uniforms were revealed to the public, six days later, not only were they noticeably different to the styles of the time – they had replaced the traditional baseball pants with shorts!
Unsurprisingly, after becoming the butt of a few jokes, the White Soxs quickly dropped the shorts, though the rest of the get up remained relatively unchanged until 1981.
The Chicago White Sox 1982
It would seem Bill Veecks intentions to because the most stylish team in the game were serious. In 1981 the team was taken over by new owners who decided to hold a fan based competition to design the White Sox uniform going forward. The race for the new uniform ended up attracting 1600 submissions which were eventually narrowed down to six. The winner was a 25-year old graphic designer who took a page out of the Astros book for his horizontal stripes inspired get up. The result was the most memorable look of the 1980’s and a 4 year run as the official White Sox uniform.
What do you think about our choices? Let us know any memorable baseball jerseys that you would have included in the list.
http://www.uniformstore.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment