New Uniforms for The World Champion Giants?

The Giants have won the World Series, their sixth trophy since the first Series played in 1903.  Will the Giants come out with new uniforms as a result in 2011?  Well, after they won their first WS in 1905, the Giants made a change in their 1906 uniforms.  John McGraw thought it necessary to show everybody who they were playing.  So, they promptly removed the traditional "NY" from their jerseys and replaced it with the identifier of "WORLD'S CHAMPIONS."  To see the transition, click here.  For a closeup of the '06 threads, click here.  These come from a great section of the Hall of Fame website, called "Dressed to the Nines," detailing the uniforms for every team in history.

I'm not expecting a big change to their already classic uni's.  But just think how such a thing would go over today.

The Best Retro Uni Night Ever

Last night, probably the best ever turn-back-the-clock night for uniforms took place. Yes, it was 70's retro uniform night at a certain game. Of course, when a baseball fan thinks of the wildest uni's of the 70's, it is immediately clear that such an event could only happen in an interleague contest. And the "best" 70's uniforms in all of baseball were worn by none other than the Oakland A's and the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was also 1970's Joe Rudi replica jersey night in Oakland.

The A's wore their California Gold double-knit polyester pajama pullovers with their gold pants and green stirrup socks, with Kelly green hats and yellow bills. Also typical of the 70's A's, the coaches and managers wore the white hats with the green bills. The official uniform colors used to be "Kelly green, California gold and wedding gown white." The "Swingin' A's" logo was also used. The Pirates wore their black pajama pullover tops, black pants, gold stirrups and those (n)ever classic "cylinder" gold top hats with the three pinstripes. It was pure disco. To compound the look, all the announcers, TV crews, stadium personnel and the like wore afros, "porn star" mustaches and/or comb-around hair-do's. They brought back total homer A's announcer Monty Moore who even brought a cow bell to ring when the A's hit a dinger. The announcers had old fashioned microphones with the giant foam ball pop protectors, and creme-gold type sport coats with wide lapels and the rounded lowercase font "csn" (Comcast Sports Net) letters, reminiscent of the 70's ABC's Wild World of Sports. Even a few turtleneck sweaters and tie-dye t-shirts were seen here and there.

The stats graphics across the TV screen mocked the old plain block yellow letters used back then before the newer computer generated ones. The fans got into the act, too, wearing all the old colors and styles. It must have been fun.

Orange Friday

Another uniform change made this year for the 2010 Giants is that they're wearing orange tops on home Friday games. The uni style and letter font remain the same as the standard uni, but the color is orange. I'm not used to this yet, and the uni's look a bit bold as can be seen by this Giants TV commercial. The Giants wore orange tops as part of a rotating uni (along with white and black tops) back in the '77-'82 time span.

Back in the early 2000's, the Giants wore black jerseys on Friday, both at home and on the road, but these were done away with because they weren't the traditional uni's. Bonds hit his 71st and record breaking home run in a black top. Last night's game between the Giants and Red Sox just didn't look like the Giants vs. Red Sox. The Giants wore their orange, while the Sox wore their blue tops and gray pants.

For several years now, the Giants have had Orange Friday, but it has been the fans who wore orange to the games, including some rad 70's style orange afros here and there. Now the Giants themselves have joined their own promo. The jury is still out.

Sunday Hats

This year the Giants are wearing an orange billed cap on Sundays. This appears to be the case both at home and on the road. This is very similar to the hat worn between 1977 and 1982. The interlocking SF logo is slightly different - as in font - from the old cap. This new cap looks a bit odd with the traditional cream uni's, maybe only because we've been so used to solid black for so long. Maybe it's because there's a hesitancy on my part to adopt styles from the 70's.

In any case, these caps look so much better than the patriotic ones the teams are wearing today for Memorial Day. White caps with red bills and a stars-and-stripes logo theme. Giants and Rockies both wearing them. They simply don't go with either uniform.

I still have a 1982 cap from hat day that had the orange bill. I've worn it a few times over the last couple of years. It's old and flimsy and has lost its form. The stitching where the tag was is way off, leaving the tag stump sticking out. Typical of the cheapo hats they used to give away on cap day. Otherwise, it's a way to look retro cool, but it's a real hat, and a real hat is a way to show that you've been a fan all these years.

Giants Uniform Changes for 2010

The Giants have introduced two uniform changes for 2010. First, they're using an orange-billed hat on Sundays, similar to the hat they wore from about 1977 to 1982. Second, they're applying the "Orange Fridays" theme, where fans have been encouraged to wear orange to the Friday games for the last so many years, to their uni tops. They're now wearing orange tops, similar to the ones from the same '77-'82 period, except with the current traditional block letters. Another small change is an optional display of three orange stripes around the upper calf of their black socks for those players who like to show the full sock. I'll write about each of these things a bit more.

Throw Back Days

Back when I was much more of a baseball traditionalist, I liked those "turn back the clock" days, where old uniforms or old ways of doing things were put into play at a particular game. But not really anymore. I saw an A's/White Sox game recently that had throwback uniforms to 1929, a year the A's won the Series. The granddaughter of Connie Mack and grandson of Jimmy Foxx threw out first pitches.

The uniforms were interesting to look at, but when I looked at the total picture, it wasn't a real throwback attempt. Only the jerseys and pants were throwback. It just didn't look authentic because the uni's were polyester, not flannel with the right bagginess, and the players had their Nike swoosh spikes on, the A's wore their contemporary white shoes. Players also used modern gloves, had helmets, wore shin guards, arm guards, batting gloves, and other modern trappings. And I hate those throwback games where the current helmets are used if they don't fit the uniform. This game, the A's at least used blue helmets with a lone white "A" logo, like it was in 1929.

But the ones that are even worse are those games that use minor league uniforms or other past teams. Watching the highlights on SportsCenter is useless to identify those teams. If somebody broke some all time record or threw a no-hitter during one of those games, I'd hate to see endless replays of somebody who had to be explained every time. Oh, he threw a perfect game, but they were wearing minor league uni's in tribute to something or other.

Cerveceros vs. Gigantes

It was Hispanic heritage night in Milwaukee tonight. The Brewers celebrated in part by translating "Brewers" on their uniforms into Spanish. "Cerveceros" was the result. The Giants joined them by wearing their "Gigantes" uni's. I've never seen the Gigantes on the road threads. I guess the usual "San Francisco" wasn't Spanish enough. Either way, it makes for an interesting marketing scheme for jersey collectors. I wonder what the Padres would wear on Hispanic heritage night.

Baseball's Worst Uniforms

In my opinion, the worst uniforms in baseball are those of the Toronto Blue Jays. Or is it just plain Jays? Whatever. Their uniforms have always been among the worst. For me it's the combination of bad font choice and some dumb picture on their hats. Their numbers have always looked stupid and so has everything to do with their hats.


I've never been thrilled with anything the Diamondbacks have done either. Their recent change of team colors to red just makes things confusing when trying to watch on TV. The Brewers, although not horrible, are not among the best. Their choice of fonts also detracts from readability of names and numbers. The revealed uni's of the Nationals were also a major disappointment. They kept their classic "W" hats of the late 60's, but ruined them with bad logos and fonts. That "W" doesn't match anything else they wear.


This topic can't go without naming some of the worst uni's of all time. Many of the colors of the 70's were bad, no matter what team. The Astros rainblow uni's were grotesque. The Padres taco uni's were similarly wild. Or the White Sox bermuda shorts and collared shirts. The Indians blood red tops. The Cardinals baby blue road jammies were also vile. Polyester double knit pullovers and beltless pants with the elastic waste bands. Barf. I do like Oscar Gamble's 'fro, though.

Baseball's Best Uniforms

Which team has baseball's best uniform? Well, it's hard for me to decide the best, but I can say that there are six (home) uni's that set themselves apart from the other 24. Those are, in no particular order, the Giants, Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals and Tigers. It's interesting that, aside from the Tigers, the first five are the five teams with the most colorful and storied pasts, rich traditions and most famed of all teams in history.

The Yankees and Dodgers have had their home uni's for the longest without change, followed by the Tigers, if I'm not mistaken. The Cards have had their theme for a long time, but they succumbed to the double-knit pullover pajama tops for a few decades. That style really killed a traditional look.

Road uni's are a different matter. I like the current Giants roadies the best. The tall, skinny lettering resulting from cramming "SAN FRANCISCO" in to such a limited space really makes the look classic. The classic Yankee roadies from years past, with the solid gray, no piping and block letters, "NEW YORK" are among the all-time best. Their current roadies with the piping and black band just don't make the cut. The Tigers' roadies stink, and not many good ones come off well with the gray shirts.