Baseball uniform
Encyclopedia
A baseball uniform is a type of uniform
worn by baseball
players
. Most baseball uniforms have the names and uniform numbers
of players who wear them, usually on the backs of the uniforms to distinguish players from one other. Baseball shirt
s (jerseys
), pants
, shoes, sock
s, cap
s, and glove
are parts of baseball uniforms. Most uniforms have different logo
s and color
s to tell which team
is which. Uniforms are also worn to identify the two teams and officials apart.
Baseball uniforms were first worn by the New York Knickerbockers Baseball Club in 1849. Today, sales of replica uniforms and derivative branded products generate large amounts of income for Major League
teams through merchandising
.
The New York Knickerbockers were the first baseball team to wear uniforms, taking the field on April 4, 1849 in pants made of blue wool, white flannel
shirts and straw hat
s. The practice of wearing a uniform soon spread, and by 1900, all Major League Baseball
teams had adopted them. By 1882 most uniforms included stockings, which covered the leg from foot to knee, and were used to differentiate one club from another. The uniforms themselves had different colors and patterns that reflected the different baseball positions
. In the late 1880s, the Detroit Wolverines
and Washington Nationals
of the National League
and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms
of the American Association
were the first to wear striped uniforms.
and a different one when they played on the road. It became common to wear white at home and one of gray, solid dark blue, or black on the road. An early example of this is the Brooklyn Superbas
, who started to use a blue pattern for their road uniforms in 1907.
In 1916, on the Giants' road uniforms, purple lines gave their uniforms a tartan
-like effect and another kind of road uniform was a solid dark blue or black material with white around this time. The Kansas City Athletics
home and road uniforms were changed by Charles O. Finley
in 1963, to the colors of gold and green. Some teams used light blue for their road uniforms from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Early striped patterns developed into long stripes along the length of the uniforms, called pinstriping
. This was first worn on some major league baseball team's uniforms in 1907, and the pinstripes were then widened in 1912, so that the crowd could see them more clearly.
The Brooklyn Bridegrooms started to use pinstriping in 1907, 1916 and 1917. Satin
and other items were added soon after pinstripes were added. Satin uniforms were developed by several team including the Brooklyn Dodgers for night games, as the sheen of the fabric was more reflective and thus easier to see. Pinstripes were commonly worn on the uniforms of the New York Yankees
. Legend had it that the stripes were adopted to make Babe Ruth
look slimmer, but since the Yankees had already been wearing pinstripes a few years before Ruth played for them in 1920, the legend was found to be a myth. The Yankees' pinstripes on their home uniforms soon became a symbol of them and the team.
In 1916, the Cleveland Indians
became the first team to add numbers on their uniforms, positioned on the left sleeve of the home uniforms only. (Okkonen, p. 36, p. 120) In 1929, numbers were first added on the backs of uniforms by the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians. By 1932, all major league baseball teams had numbers on their players' uniforms. The Brooklyn Dodgers
, in 1952, became the first baseball team to add numbers to the fronts of their uniforms.
In most parts of the world, numbers are no more than two digits long; however some Japanese players have three-digit numbers. Major league teams typically assign the highest numbers (#50 and above) in spring training to the players who are not expected to make the regular-season roster; hence the lower numbers are considered more prestigious, although there are many veterans who wear high numbers anyway. Two Hall of Famers who wore high numbers are Don Drysdale
, who wore #53 for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers and Carlton Fisk
, who wore #72 for the Chicago White Sox
.
Caps, or other types of headgear with eye-shades, have been a part of baseball uniforms from the beginning. Baseball teams often wore full-brimmed straw hats or no cap at all since there was no official rule regarding headgear.
From the 1840s to the 1870s, baseball players various types of hats, such as straw hat
s, boating caps, jockey caps, and even cycling caps. Caps, or other types of headgear with eye-shades, have been a part of baseball uniforms since the beginning. The Brooklyn Excelsiors
were the first team to wear what would later become the baseball cap, with its distinctive rounded top and peak, in the 1860s.
By the early years of the twentieth century, it became common for players to wear hats with rounded tops, but some persisted with flat-topped caps, such as the Giants in 1916, and the Pittsburgh Pirates
as recently as during the 1979 World Series
. In recent years, baseball caps have changed very little, although over time, the peak has enlarged slightly to further protect the player's eyes from the sun. More recently, players have worn hats with fold-down ear flaps in cold weather.
In the 1970s, as artificial turf
became prominent on baseball fields, modifications to footwear became necessary. Detachable spikes
became popular in the 20th century, as they helped players to avoid slipping, especially on turf, but they were banned in 1976.
In the 19th century and the first part of the 20th, baseball shoes were commonly black in color. In the 1960s, the Kansas City Athletics began wearing revolutionary white shoes, a tradition carried over when they moved to Oakland. Since then, some teams are wearing colored cleats corresponding to their team colors. For example, the Philadelphia Phillies
and St. Louis Cardinals
now wear red cleats, the Chicago Cubs
and the Los Angeles Dodgers
in blue cleats, and some of the San Francisco Giants
players in orange cleats.
Inspired by the Cincinnati Red Stockings
, the stocking colors of teams in the 1860s onward were a principal device in distinguishing one team from another (hence team names such as Chicago White Stockings
, St. Louis Brown Stockings (or Browns)
, etc.). Except for a few "candy-cane” varieties (particularly by the Giants, St. Louis Cardinals
and Washington Senators
), striping was quite minimal during the 1920s and, in contrast, a revival of other sorts in the early '30s.
By the 1990s, new styles of close-trimmed pants legs made it possible for players to wear pants that ran clear to the shoetops, in lieu of the traditional knee-breeches
style that had prevailed for generations. This led to a violation of the literal concept of a "uniform", in that different players on a given team might wear knee-length and full-length pants on the field at the same time. Players such as Manny Ramirez
have taken this fashion trend to an extreme, wearing loose-fitting pants whose legs nearly lap under the heels of the shoes. Some, such as Gary Sheffield
have even developed straps that hook under the cleats. Meanwhile, players such as Alfonso Soriano
continue to wear the traditional knee-breech
es, though most of these players still lack the traditional stirrups
.
By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, nearly all players wore either traditional knee high socks or pants that covered the shoetops and contained no elastic in the bottom. Such loose-fitting pants are called "pro-flare", as they are worn by most major league players. However, a few older players, like Derek Jeter
, wear pants that stop right at the shoes, like the style of the late 1990s/early 2000s.
In recent years teams that wear throwback uniforms usually outfit themselves with stirrups or knee-breaches, to simulate the look of a particular era. In addition, some teams began to wear stockings with stripes. Examples include the Tampa Bay Rays
sporting Columbia blue and white striping on their navy stockings, the St. Louis Cardinals with navy and white stripes on their red stockings, and the San Francisco Giants in black stockings with orange stripes.
From the beginning, graphic design
s were used to identify teams. Often an Old English letter was worn on the chest. This style survives with the Detroit Tigers
and their gothic style "D" on their home shirts. Road jerseys were more likely to identify the city, as with the Tigers wearing the word "Detroit" on their road shirts. The Oakland Athletics
currently have an Old English "A" on their caps and their alternate gold jerseys.
As official nicknames gained prominence in the early 1900s (in contrast to media-generated and unofficial nicknames of prior generations), pictorial logos began emerging as part of the team's marketing. Some early examples include a small red tiger on the black cap of the 1901 Detroit Tigers, as they were officially the Tigers from the beginning; and a bear cub logo on the Chicago Cubs shirts by 1907, as that unofficial nickname was then adopted officially by the club.
In another famous example, the Boston Americans (an unofficial designation that merely distinguished them from their across-the-tracks rivals) adopted the Nationals' abandoned red stockings in , and have been the Boston Red Sox
officially ever since then.
By the 1930s, nearly every team had distinctive logos, letters or the team nickname on their home shirts, as part of the team's marketing. The trend of the city name on the road jerseys continued. In recent years, with team nicknames being so strongly associated with the clubs, logos that were once only used at home also turned up on road jerseys, in place of city names.
Uniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
worn by baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
players
Position player
In baseball, a position player is a player who on defense plays as an infielder, outfielder, or catcher. This is generally all players on a team except for the pitcher, who is considered separate from the position players; in the American League, there is also a designated hitter, who bats but...
. Most baseball uniforms have the names and uniform numbers
Uniform number (Major League Baseball)
As in many sports, a baseball player's uniform number has the purpose of identifying the player. However, it has come over time to have a much more significant meaning to the player and fans. A number can be symbolic of a player's legacy, and has resulted in all kinds of superstition...
of players who wear them, usually on the backs of the uniforms to distinguish players from one other. Baseball shirt
Shirt
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...
s (jerseys
Jersey (clothing)
A jersey is an item of knitted clothing, traditionally in wool or cotton, with sleeves, worn as a pullover, as it does not open at the front, unlike a cardigan. It is usually close-fitting and machine knitted in contrast to a guernsey that is more often hand knit with a thicker yarn...
), pants
Trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
, shoes, sock
Sock
A sock is an item of clothing worn on the feet. The foot is among the heaviest producers of sweat in the body, as it is able to produce over of perspiration per day. Socks help to absorb this sweat and draw it to areas where air can evaporate the perspiration. In cold environments, socks decrease...
s, cap
Baseball cap
A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded stiff brim. The front of the cap typically contains designs or logos of sports teams ,...
s, and glove
Baseball glove
A baseball glove or mitt is a large leather glove that baseball players on the defending team are allowed to wear to assist them in catching and fielding balls hit by a batter, or thrown by a teammate.-History:...
are parts of baseball uniforms. Most uniforms have different logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
s and color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
s to tell which team
Team
A team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team...
is which. Uniforms are also worn to identify the two teams and officials apart.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
teams through merchandising
Merchandising
Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
.
Early developments
Flannel
Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of various fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fibre. Flannel may be brushed to create extra softness or remain unbrushed. The brushing process is a mechanical process...
shirts and straw hat
Straw hat
A straw hat is a brimmed hat that is woven out of straw or reeds. The hat is designed to protect the head from the sun and against heatstroke, but straw hats were also used in fashion and as a decorative element of a uniform.- Manufacture :...
s. The practice of wearing a uniform soon spread, and by 1900, all Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
teams had adopted them. By 1882 most uniforms included stockings, which covered the leg from foot to knee, and were used to differentiate one club from another. The uniforms themselves had different colors and patterns that reflected the different baseball positions
Baseball positions
There are 9 fielding positions in baseball. Each position conventionally has an associated number which is used to score putouts...
. In the late 1880s, the Detroit Wolverines
Detroit Wolverines
The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th century baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant in 1887. The team was disbanded following the 1888 season.-Franchise...
and Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
of the American Association
American Association (19th century)
The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
were the first to wear striped uniforms.
Home and road uniforms
By the end of the 19th century, teams began the practice of wearing one of two different uniforms, one when they played in their own baseball stadiumBaseball park
A baseball park, also known as a baseball stadium, ball park, or ballpark is a venue where baseball is played. It consists of the playing field and the surrounding spectator seating...
and a different one when they played on the road. It became common to wear white at home and one of gray, solid dark blue, or black on the road. An early example of this is the Brooklyn Superbas
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
, who started to use a blue pattern for their road uniforms in 1907.
Tartan
Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns...
-like effect and another kind of road uniform was a solid dark blue or black material with white around this time. The Kansas City Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
home and road uniforms were changed by Charles O. Finley
Charles O. Finley
Charles Oscar Finley , nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who is best remembered for his tenure as the owner of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas City, moving it to Oakland in 1968...
in 1963, to the colors of gold and green. Some teams used light blue for their road uniforms from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Early striped patterns developed into long stripes along the length of the uniforms, called pinstriping
Pin stripes
Pinstripes are a pattern of very thin stripes of any color running in parallel found in cloth. The pinstriped suit has become associated with conservative business attire, although many designers now produce fashionable pinstripe patterns for fashion-conscious consumers...
. This was first worn on some major league baseball team's uniforms in 1907, and the pinstripes were then widened in 1912, so that the crowd could see them more clearly.
The Brooklyn Bridegrooms started to use pinstriping in 1907, 1916 and 1917. Satin
Satin
Satin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibres such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is...
and other items were added soon after pinstripes were added. Satin uniforms were developed by several team including the Brooklyn Dodgers for night games, as the sheen of the fabric was more reflective and thus easier to see. Pinstripes were commonly worn on the uniforms of the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
. Legend had it that the stripes were adopted to make Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
look slimmer, but since the Yankees had already been wearing pinstripes a few years before Ruth played for them in 1920, the legend was found to be a myth. The Yankees' pinstripes on their home uniforms soon became a symbol of them and the team.
In 1916, the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
became the first team to add numbers on their uniforms, positioned on the left sleeve of the home uniforms only. (Okkonen, p. 36, p. 120) In 1929, numbers were first added on the backs of uniforms by the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians. By 1932, all major league baseball teams had numbers on their players' uniforms. The Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
, in 1952, became the first baseball team to add numbers to the fronts of their uniforms.
In most parts of the world, numbers are no more than two digits long; however some Japanese players have three-digit numbers. Major league teams typically assign the highest numbers (#50 and above) in spring training to the players who are not expected to make the regular-season roster; hence the lower numbers are considered more prestigious, although there are many veterans who wear high numbers anyway. Two Hall of Famers who wore high numbers are Don Drysdale
Don Drysdale
Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...
, who wore #53 for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers and Carlton Fisk
Carlton Fisk
Carlton Ernest Fisk , nicknamed "Pudge" or "The Commander", is a former Major League Baseball catcher. During a 24-year baseball career, he played for both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox .Fisk was known by the nickname "Pudge" due to his 6'2", 220 lb frame...
, who wore #72 for the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
.
Cap styles
From the 1840s to the 1870s, baseball players various types of hats, such as straw hat
Straw hat
A straw hat is a brimmed hat that is woven out of straw or reeds. The hat is designed to protect the head from the sun and against heatstroke, but straw hats were also used in fashion and as a decorative element of a uniform.- Manufacture :...
s, boating caps, jockey caps, and even cycling caps. Caps, or other types of headgear with eye-shades, have been a part of baseball uniforms since the beginning. The Brooklyn Excelsiors
Excelsior of Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Excelsiors were an amateur baseball team that played in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1854, the Excelsior ballclub featured stars such as Jim Creighton, Asa Brainard, and Candy Cummings.-1860 Championship Season:...
were the first team to wear what would later become the baseball cap, with its distinctive rounded top and peak, in the 1860s.
By the early years of the twentieth century, it became common for players to wear hats with rounded tops, but some persisted with flat-topped caps, such as the Giants in 1916, and the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
as recently as during the 1979 World Series
1979 World Series
The 1979 World Series matched the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League's Baltimore Orioles , with the Pirates coming back from a three games to one deficit to win the Series in seven games...
. In recent years, baseball caps have changed very little, although over time, the peak has enlarged slightly to further protect the player's eyes from the sun. More recently, players have worn hats with fold-down ear flaps in cold weather.
Shoes
In the late 19th century, soft but durable leather shoes were the preferred choice of baseball players.In the 1970s, as artificial turf
Artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well...
became prominent on baseball fields, modifications to footwear became necessary. Detachable spikes
Cleat (shoe)
Cleats or studs are protrusions on the sole of a shoe, or on an external attachment to a shoe, that provide additional traction on a soft or slippery surface...
became popular in the 20th century, as they helped players to avoid slipping, especially on turf, but they were banned in 1976.
In the 19th century and the first part of the 20th, baseball shoes were commonly black in color. In the 1960s, the Kansas City Athletics began wearing revolutionary white shoes, a tradition carried over when they moved to Oakland. Since then, some teams are wearing colored cleats corresponding to their team colors. For example, the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
and St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
now wear red cleats, the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
and the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
in blue cleats, and some of the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
players in orange cleats.
Stockings and pants
- See footnote and Baseball stirrupsBaseball StirrupsStirrups are uniform socks commonly worn by baseball players up until the mid-1990s, when major-league players began wearing their pants down to the ankles, setting a trend soon picked up by players in minor and amateur leagues. Until then, stirrup socks had been an integral part of the...
Inspired by the Cincinnati Red Stockings
Cincinnati Red Stockings
The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first fully professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati,...
, the stocking colors of teams in the 1860s onward were a principal device in distinguishing one team from another (hence team names such as Chicago White Stockings
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
, St. Louis Brown Stockings (or Browns)
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
, etc.). Except for a few "candy-cane” varieties (particularly by the Giants, St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
and Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
), striping was quite minimal during the 1920s and, in contrast, a revival of other sorts in the early '30s.
Breeches
Breeches are an item of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles...
style that had prevailed for generations. This led to a violation of the literal concept of a "uniform", in that different players on a given team might wear knee-length and full-length pants on the field at the same time. Players such as Manny Ramirez
Manny Ramírez
Manuel "Manny" Arístides Ramírez Onelcida is a retired Dominican-American professional baseball outfielder. He was recognized for great batting skill and power, a nine-time Silver Slugger and one of 25 players to hit 500 career home runs. Ramirez's 21 grand slams are third all-time, and his 28...
have taken this fashion trend to an extreme, wearing loose-fitting pants whose legs nearly lap under the heels of the shoes. Some, such as Gary Sheffield
Gary Sheffield
Gary Antonian Sheffield , nicknamed "Sheff", is an American retired Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for eight major league ball clubs from 1988 to 2009, primarily as an outfielder.-Biography:...
have even developed straps that hook under the cleats. Meanwhile, players such as Alfonso Soriano
Alfonso Soriano
Alfonso Guilleard Soriano is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Chicago Cubs....
continue to wear the traditional knee-breech
Breeches
Breeches are an item of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles...
es, though most of these players still lack the traditional stirrups
Baseball Stirrups
Stirrups are uniform socks commonly worn by baseball players up until the mid-1990s, when major-league players began wearing their pants down to the ankles, setting a trend soon picked up by players in minor and amateur leagues. Until then, stirrup socks had been an integral part of the...
.
By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, nearly all players wore either traditional knee high socks or pants that covered the shoetops and contained no elastic in the bottom. Such loose-fitting pants are called "pro-flare", as they are worn by most major league players. However, a few older players, like Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter
Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...
, wear pants that stop right at the shoes, like the style of the late 1990s/early 2000s.
In recent years teams that wear throwback uniforms usually outfit themselves with stirrups or knee-breaches, to simulate the look of a particular era. In addition, some teams began to wear stockings with stripes. Examples include the Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...
sporting Columbia blue and white striping on their navy stockings, the St. Louis Cardinals with navy and white stripes on their red stockings, and the San Francisco Giants in black stockings with orange stripes.
Graphics and logos
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
s were used to identify teams. Often an Old English letter was worn on the chest. This style survives with the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
and their gothic style "D" on their home shirts. Road jerseys were more likely to identify the city, as with the Tigers wearing the word "Detroit" on their road shirts. The Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
currently have an Old English "A" on their caps and their alternate gold jerseys.
As official nicknames gained prominence in the early 1900s (in contrast to media-generated and unofficial nicknames of prior generations), pictorial logos began emerging as part of the team's marketing. Some early examples include a small red tiger on the black cap of the 1901 Detroit Tigers, as they were officially the Tigers from the beginning; and a bear cub logo on the Chicago Cubs shirts by 1907, as that unofficial nickname was then adopted officially by the club.
In another famous example, the Boston Americans (an unofficial designation that merely distinguished them from their across-the-tracks rivals) adopted the Nationals' abandoned red stockings in , and have been the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
officially ever since then.
By the 1930s, nearly every team had distinctive logos, letters or the team nickname on their home shirts, as part of the team's marketing. The trend of the city name on the road jerseys continued. In recent years, with team nicknames being so strongly associated with the clubs, logos that were once only used at home also turned up on road jerseys, in place of city names.
See also
- Baseball clothing and equipmentBaseball clothing and equipmentBat : A rounded, solid wooden or hollow aluminum bat. Wooden bats are traditionally made from ash wood, though maple and bamboo is also sometimes used. Aluminum bats are not permitted in professional leagues, but are frequently used in amateur leagues. Composite bats are also available,...
- Alternate jerseyThird jerseyA third jersey or alternate jersey is a sports team's alternate and/or throwback design for the previously established other two jerseys, the home and away outfits. Alternate jerseys are used in all four of the North American major professional sports leagues as well as college sports, semipro...
- Throwback uniformThrowback uniformThrowback uniforms and jerseys are one-time or limited-time variations on a sports team's uniforms styled to resemble uniforms from that team's past. They have proven popular in all major pro and college sports in the USA, not only with fans, but with the teams' marketing and merchandising...
- History of baseball team nicknamesHistory of baseball team nicknamesThis is a summary of the evolution of nicknames of the current Major League Baseball teams, and also of selected former major and minor league teams whose nicknames were influential, long-lasting, or both. The sources of the nicknames included club names, team colors, and city symbols...
(includes further detail about major league team uniforms and colors) - Major League Baseball#MLB uniforms
External links
- History of the Baseball uniform at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
- Baseball Cleats
- Baseball Cleats
- ESPN: A pain in the butt(on) - history and potential nuisances of the baseball jersey