MLB Uniform Power Rankings: Part 1
By Gideon Turk
Last week, ESPN Playbook and Uni Watch released their rankings for North American Sports uniforms. The list was from 1-122, and included all teams from the NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL. I thought I would do my own rankings for just the MLB teams, and I will post them through out the week here at CTTP. Part 1, which will feature teams 30-21, will be posted now. Part 2 will feature teams 20-11 and will be posted on Thursday. And finally, Part 3 will be posted next Monday, presenting teams 10-1. I hope you enjoy them, and feel free to post your own rankings in the comment section.
30. New York Yankees- I don’t understand why everybody likes the Yankees uni’s so much. Their home style is just pinstripes with the “NY” in the corner, and their away jersey is plain gray with New York written across the chest. Nothing fancy, and personally I don’t like it. It reminds me of the early 20th century, which it is supposed to do, but it has no modern feel. The pinstripes aren’t leaving, but maybe try something with the Yankees primary logo on it, so it isn’t so plain and classic Yankees.
29. Cleveland Indians- To go along with a racist logo, the Indians also have some ugly jerseys. ESPN pointed this out as well, but why have two jerseys with plain lettering, and two with cursive lettering? Make up your mind, and choose one. Personally I like the plain lettering, and would like to see Cleveland make the Cream jersey their home color, and gray their away one. Make an alternate jersey with the Indian logo, and add a new logo for the home/away jerseys I suggested.
28. Minnesota Twins- Staying in the AL Central, we go to Minneapolis where we find a whole lot of jerseys. 5 to be exact. Really? Who needs to have 5 jerseys? My problem with the Twins is the lettering on the gray and cream jerseys. I hate both of them, and would scrap both jerseys right away. Then, change the front numbers on the blue jerseys (both of them) to red, like the lettering, and not white. Boom. Now you have decent jerseys.
27.San Diego Padres- Our first NL team, or I guess our last NL team, was ranked dead last #30 by ESPN, but I decided to move them up a few spots, thanks to my hatred for the Yankee pinstripes. Let me start off by saying this. The Padres’ camouflage jersey is 100% the worst jersey in the league. There is no need for it. If you want to pay tribute to the troops, do it some other way, like all other 29 teams that play Major League Baseball. Why embarrass yourselves (Well I guess they embarrass themselves anyway) wearing those things when you don’t have to? Get rid of the camo, and change the home design so it doesn’t include the lines down the middle. It makes the player look like he is wearing a tuxedo.
26. Chicago Cubs- Why does ESPN have the Cubbies at #2? In my opinion, which is one that does not like pinstripes, all 3 jerseys of theirs are pretty dreadful. The home jersey is better than the Yankees pinstripes because of the logo it embraces, but it still has pinstripes, which I don’t like. The road jersey isn’t bad, but it is not the best either. ESPN seems to like the alternate, but I think it looks like a BP jersey. I can’t be the only one. It is plain blue with a logo on the left chest. A standard warm up/BP style.
25. Miami Marlins- Not as bad as most people think. This is a classic case of the media blowing something way out of proportion. The new jerseys aren’t too bad, although I could do without the Black and Orange shirts. The white home look is pretty nice in my opinion, and I don’t think the logo is too flashy. It represents Miami very well. I would have liked to see a teal jersey for the alternate instead of the orange and black because the main color of the Marlins should have to do with water.
24. Colorado Rockies- I have problems with all 4 jerseys here. First, if you are going to have pinstripes, do it right, don’t have a team name stretched out across the front ruining the look. Have a logo on the top left, and that’s it. Next, the road grays and 1stalternate.
Why is purple a Rockies color? It makes no sense, and it is very, very ugly. Design a new road gray jersey without purple, and throw away the purple alternates. Lastly, I thought it was 2012, not 2002. Get rid of the black vests, and get with the times. Vest jerseys were prominent in the early 2000’s, and aren’t now, Simple as that.
23. Houston Astros-Don’t worry, new jerseys are coming soon. The Astros will be returning to the orange and blue color scheme from their past when they make the switch to the A.L next year, and it should look pretty nice. They are following in the Blue Jays footsteps when it comes to bringing back the old logo, but modernizing it. It worked for the Jays, and from what has been rumored so far; it looks like it will work for the Astros.
22. Chicago White Sox- What is with the White Sox wearing Red? Scrap the Red alternate uniform, and sadly, that is all you can really do with the White Sox. Their past logos were pretty ugly, and their current logo makes sense for them. Not much you can do when it comes to the south siders.
21. San Francisco Giants- To wrap up part 1 of this, I’m going to express my feelings about the Giants alternate uniforms. 2 to be exact. The first one, the one that is orange, reminds me of the Oakland A’s Yellow jersey, and you probably know where I am going from here. It isn’t nice, and the same thing should be done too it that I believe should be done to the Marlins orange jersey. The Giants Grey alternate (Logo, no lettering) is one of the nicest jerseys in the league in my opinion. I would love to see it become their permanent away jersey, especially because their current road gray is pretty bad. The black lines going down the middle of the road gray (non-alternate) ruins the lettering of San Francisco, and by doing so, it messes up the whole jersey. I have no complaints about the home whites. It is a solid jersey.
Part 2 to be posted this Thursday.
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