Baltimore Orioles: Glitzier unforms

You know that you’re getting consistency when you watch the Baltimore Orioles and other MLB teams in terms of uniforms. The home team wears white and the visiting team wears gray. Some teams have various traditions – such as the O’s wearing black jerseys on Fridays and orange on Saturdays. Some teams just throw on the alternates whenever they feel like it also.

But for the most part we don’t see much variation in MLB uniforms, and as a traditionalist I love that. There was the one year when they had the “turn the clock forward day” and each team wore futuristic-looking uniforms, but that was a one-shot deal. But am I in the minority on this? Should these things change?

I’m not amused by the NLF’s concept of the “color rush games,” where both teams seemingly wear bold uniforms – often in alternative colors. In my perhaps outdated view, the home team should wear bold jerseys and the visiting team white jerseys. Could you imagine the Ravens wearing all gold uniforms with purple and black trim? Or the NY Giants wearing red jerseys and red pants? Based on how the NFL is going, that could happen.

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That’s a far cry from the traditional image of the NFL, which in my view was crafted out of the great Johnny Unitas leading the Baltimore Colts to the NFL title in 1958 by beating the Giants. Heck, I’ve even heard an idea that the Green Bay Packers should invert their color scheme for a game and wear gold jerseys over green pants. Vince Lombardi would be turning in his grave.

So you can gather that I’m not a fan of this, and that I love the fact that baseball isn’t doing anything along those lines. But am I in the minority? You have no idea how many members of the so-called millenial generation who I’ve heard say that certain traditional aspects of society “just don’t relate well to them.” So is the glitz and bling of television and Hollywood actually the way of the future in MLB and all of sports – leaving mastedons like me as dust in the wind?

I certainly hope not! Some might argue that if MLB wants to market themselves to younger fans and thus stay relevant in their eyes, they might have to do something similar to the NFL’s color rush idea. The NBA has pulled similar stunts as well. However in catering to millenials, I think we’re forgetting something very important: they won’t be young forever.

Every generation is new, unheard of, and thus skoffed at when they start to hit their stride. Whereas my generation was probably the first to do chat rooms, the millenials have moved onto Facebook and IMing. So there might come a time when the millenials, who are apparently so obsessed with asthetics, mold into more traditional things as they get older.

Baltimore Orioles: Glitzier unforms – good or bad?

By Domenic A. Vadala | Nov 24, 2015