The Cleveland Indians have unveiled a new road uniform, and I think it’s pretty spiffy. A gray version of that sweet home alternate they’ve been wearing for the past couple of years. The block lettering and the colors — that deep red and dark blue combo — looks classic without being consciously retro. Just a humdinger of a uniform in my view.
Only complaints: they’re taking the navy block C cap they’ve been wearing with the home alternates and making it the road alternate cap and are introducing a red home alternate version. While there’s a neat St. Louis Cardinals road navy vibe to it all, I think the red cap looks too much like some fashion color cap you’d see at Lids or something. I’d keep the navy block C for both versions.
Oh, and I’d make both alternate versions the full-time uniform, because they’re approximately 100 times cooler than the regular uniforms they’re keeping. Those things look so 90s now. Like pleated khaki pants and three-button suits. Oh well. Maybe they’re just doing a slow transition to the alternates over time and the script-lettering unis will be gone next year.
By the way: a couple of years ago over at my old Shysterball site I ran down the best and worst uniforms each team has ever worn. It was probably the most popular post I ever did back in the day, and I think it’s time for a refresher. It will take a bit of time to put it together, but I think I’ll drop that bad boy — probably on a division-by-division basis — sometime this week.
UPDATE: Quick! Someone get Paul over at The DiaTribe a consulting fee for those new roadies!