With most MLB teams maintaining a similar mix of jerseys under Nike’s “4 + 1” rule, many recognizable uniforms from the past are no longer used. Here’s some I’d love to see brought back.
As Major League Baseball stands out as the oldest of the four major North American professional sports leagues, it should come as no surprise to many fans that traditions remain strong throughout the sport – with uniforms comprising a large part of that.
The common sights still seen today across MLB have their roots dating back to well over a century ago – most namely the long established tradition of home teams wearing a white jersey while the visiting team dons a grey jersey.
A practice originally established due to dirt being less visible on the darker fabric to reduce the need to wash the uniforms when out of town, the grey and white precedent has existed in some form throughout the past century-plus of league history.
Yet uniforms certainly have changed plenty over the years, with the first noticeable changes taking place in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, when many teams abandoned their grey away jerseys in favor of a powder blue look on the road – a trend that eventually dissipated by the start of the 1990’s.
This period of time also saw jerseys shift away from button-up to pull-over – yet another trend that would reverse itself by the time the ’90s rolled around.
One trend that has persisted since its origins would be that of the alternate jersey, which also became increasingly common throughout the league during the ’90s. As opposed to a steady rotation between two colors that are essentially universal throughout the league, teams incorporated colors from their logos to create alternate jerseys that added a new twist to what fans were used to.
By the time this became widespread practice throughout the league, I was getting interested in baseball myself – as I began to follow the sport closely when I was five years old during the 2001 season. While I always enjoyed the classic home and away look that baseball was sure to provide, I was also enamored by alternate jerseys and the seemingly endless design and color possibilities they came with.
The turn of the century would see just about every team in the league (the New York Yankees of course standing out as an exception) utilize alternate jerseys of some sort, ranging from the long-term usage of jerseys like the Chicago Cubs’ blue alternate to the vest jersey fad that swept across MLB in the 2000’s.
Looking back on all of the different uniforms I was used to seeing as a kid, I singled out four that I think could still be a welcome addition to a team’s wardrobe today – with enough time having passed that these uniforms could be considered throwbacks themselves.
Jersey photos credited to The Kit Archive.
1. Houston Astros crimson red alternates
Known as the dominant alternate color of the Astros during their National League days in what is now Daikin Park, the Astros utilized iterations of the crimson red jerseys from 2001 until 2012, their final year in the senior circuit.
Instantly evoking memories of Jeff Bagwell, Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman, these uniforms truly looked to be a perfect match with the backdrop of Daikin Park’s towering left field wall and spacious outfield.
While the club also wore similar alternates that read “Houston” for road games, the look of the crimson red jerseys at home were a better fit than the gaudy pinstripes that dominated their primary home uniform of the time.
Although today’s overall color scheme for the Astros is preferable to the colors they donned during the 2000’s, the crimson alternates serve as the exception to the rule.
2. Florida Marlins-era black alternates
While these jerseys will always bring back nightmares of the 2003 NLCS for any Cubs fan, they also marked a solid component to the Marlins’ uniform lineup for their final nine seasons as the Florida Marlins.
After abandoning teal as a primary color in the early 2000’s, the franchise leaned more into black – with the wordmark on the primary home jersey changing to black text while the team added a black alternate.
Although the Marlins have brought back jerseys from the Florida era as throwbacks in recent years, they have yet to revisit the black alternate – which may not fit as a permanent addition to the uniform lineup today, but could serve as an excellent anniversary throwback to honor the 2003 team.
Additionally, the Marlins have had a black alternate in each of their two jersey sets in the Miami Marlins era – though I’m still partial to what I saw growing up.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates pinstripe away
While I’m very happy that the Pirates have returned to cursive script on their away and alternate jerseys, one final touch that can be brought back is the away pinstripes that the Bucs donned from 1998-2000.
A classic baseball look, there simply aren’t very many teams, if any other ones at all, that can pull off the away pinstripes the way that Pittsburgh was able to at the turn of the century.
With black text and gold trim in recognizable baseball cursive alongside the alternate logo on the shoulder patch, this always looked to me like the quintessential grey away jersey – and in a time where most of them are unremarkable, the return of this uniform would be welcome.
4. Toronto Blue Jays 2000’s black alternates
I’ll preface this by clarifying that the current Blue Jays uniform set that replaced the “Jays” era uniforms are much better – serving as the ideal modern twist on a classic logo and uniform set.
With that said, the one notable strength from Toronto’s uniform set used from 2004-2011 would be their black alternates, which still stand out as the best black jersey to be worn by the franchise to date.
Featuring the blue and silver “Jays” wordmark with a perfectly placed red maple leaf as a shoulder patch, the uniform strays from tradition while still being unapologetically representative of what is Canada’s lone MLB franchise.
While I hope the Blue Jays hang on to their current uniforms, it would be fantastic to see the alternate black jerseys trickle back in every once in a while.
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