The Mystery behind Baseball Uniforms

Since my family has been in the uniform business longer than many professional baseball teams have been around, I’ve always paid attention to what players wear. My first baseball memory was watching the Mets play the A’s in the 1973 World Series so I’ve seen a lot of frocks come and go over the last four decades but almost since its inception, baseball uniforms have been the most fussed over in American sports.
The NY Knickerbockers were the first team to have a uniform in 1849. Hardly made for comfort, they wore blue wool knickers, white flannel shirts and straw hats. They could have opted for cotton, which breaths, but instead chose to appeal to the noble class uptown that preferred wool.
Several teams started wearing lace-up shirts in the 1860’s but this trend gave way to button downs later in the century. Around this time, the Brooklyn, Detroit and Washington clubs wore pinstripes. This predates the Yankees who played their first season in 1903 and debuted the pinstripe uniform in 1912, a year before the team officially changed its name from the Highlanders. At the same time, a number of clubs including the New York Giants were decked out in checks.
From the 20’s until the 80’s uniforms were fairly traditional, save for the green and yellow that the A’s first donned in 1963. Their move from Kansas City to Oakland in 1969 ushered in an era of World Series wins and a new found brashness both in attitude and appearance.
By the late 70’s and early 1980’s, the Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres exceeded the A’s in the outrageous department. Here is Nolan Ryan sporting a pullover Astro’s jersey that was used from 1975 – 1986. Today, the public is sharply divided over whether these uniforms are truly ugly or brilliantly retro.
Baseball uniforms, like the ones worn by the Mets, have historical significance as well. In the 1958, New York lost its two National League teams to California. While Dodger blue moved to Los Angeles, the Giants, took their black and orange and relocated to San Francisco. Four years later, when the Mets franchise was born, they borrowed blue from the Dodgers and orange from the Giants, in honor of New York’s National League heritage.
However, it is the team across town that sports the most iconic uniform probably in all of professional sports. Yankee pinstripes signify, for many players, the pinnacle of class as it represents an unparalleled legacy. The 27 World Series championships are woven in with each thread. For a century, the look has barely changed.  Even the ‘away’ uniform, which is newspaper gray with simple, classic navy letters looks just about as good on a guy like Derek Jeter as a tux.  Whether playing in the Bronx or on the road, it is hard not to look at the Yankees without envy, if for no reason other than the tasteful and timeless uniform.