And we all got used to the New Era logo on the side of the hats, moving patches to the other side (even if the backwards flag still doesn't make any sense to me!), so I'm sure we'll all get used to the Nike jerseys, too. Although, I wish Nike had put the swoosh on the sleeve instead, where it's a lot less in your face (especially on the traditional uniforms that have nothing on the front and the ones where the wordmark starts on the left and the Nike logo is too close to the top letter).
Whenever a league changes its uniform provider, it gives teams a perfect opportunity to make changes to their look. Which is exactly what a number of teams decided to do. And, I must say, for a change, there isn't a single bad look in the bunch! Some are better than others, but there are no "What were they thinking?!" ensembles like the Jaguars' two-tone helmet or that ridiculous dark gray the Diamondbacks were wearing.
Speaking of the Diamondbacks, the dark gray and the equally awful snakeskin pattern on the shoulders are both finally gone! Instead, they've gone with a much more traditional look (including a normal shade of gray) that is a major upgrade. I'm still not sure why a team that's only been around for 20 years feels the need to constantly change its look, and, personally, I think they should go back to their original purple, green and gold (which they eventually will at some point) color scheme, but their 2020 uniforms are definitely an improvement over 2019.
The Rangers are moving into a new stadium, and they had to do something to celebrate. So they introduced new home whites and a powder blue alternate. The uniforms themselves are fine, but I'm not crazy about the home and road uniforms having completely different fonts and scripts. It's par for the course with the Rangers, though, since they can't seem to decide whether their primary color is blue or red (which has annoyed me about this franchise for a while). I'm also not crazy about the powder blue hats (it'll be A LOT of powder blue when they use the Father's Day bats), but maybe they'll look better on the field than they do in the still photos.
For the first time in years, the Reds will have an alternate jersey this season. And it's a beauty! Nice and simple. You'd expect nothing less from tradition-rich Cincinnati. Plus, it's got Mr. Redleg on the sleeve! I'd imagine these will go flying off the shelves, and we'll probably see them a lot on the field. Overall, a solid addition to an already solid uniform set.
This is the Twins' 60th season in Minnesota, and they're celebrating by bringing back powder blue as an alternate uniform. It's very similar to the road uniform they wore throughout the 70s and into the 80s, which isn't a bad thing. Powder blue is definitely making a comeback around the Majors!
Another team that has revived baby blue as an alternate uniform is the Toronto Blue Jays. And they're gorgeous! Just like when they updated their uniforms a few years ago with a modernized version of their original logo, they absolutely hit a home run with these! And they made the primary blue darker, which makes these stand out even more. Overall, a great addition to their repertorie.
After wearing blue jerseys for the entire 2019 postseason, the defending champion Nationals will have an alternate white uniform that's very similar this season. The curly W is still their primary home jersey, but they've taken that "Nationals" script from their blue jerseys and put it on a white one for a very nice alternative. The interesting part is the hats, though. There are two alternates, neither of which has the curly W, but both hearken back to ones the Senators wore way back when.
Pittsburgh's home uniform is one of the nicest in baseball. But that didn't stop the Pirates from changing their road uniforms back to a modernized version of the script "Pittsburgh" they sported when Barry Bonds was leading them three straight NLCS in the early 90s. They took it a step further and added it to the black alternates, where it doesn't look nearly as good. (At least they resisted the urge to go with the Marlins' illegible black-on-black.) I can't say it's an improvement, but it's tolerable.
Finally, I saved the best two for last. These two are both throwbacks that fans have been begging to see return almost since the day their teams changed got new logos/uniforms to begin with. And you can see why. Because they're both classics that deserved to be resurrected!
How is it possible to not know that the logo is an M and a B forming a baseball glove? (Seriously, it's like not seeing the V in the negative space on helmet in the Golden Knights' logo!) It's one of the classic logos in the history of sports, and I'm so glad it's back! The Brewers did everything right with its revival, too. Just like the Blue Jays, they found the perfect way to modernize their classic look. My only issue is the script "Milwaukee" on the blue alternate, but the other three are simply beautiful! (Although, full disclosure, I'm one of the few people who actually liked the Brewers' old logo.)
Of the 123 franchises across the four major sports, only two are primarily associated with the color brown. One, of course, is the football team whose name IS the color! The other is the San Diego Padres. They rocked the brown from their founding in 1969 until switching to navy in the mid-90s. And they didn't just rock the brown, they OWNED it! Even as they were wearing navy for the last 20 years, everybody was wondering when the Padres would bring the brown back. When they brought it back as an alternate, the calls for it to return as the primary became even louder. Now it finally has! And they even took it up a notch with the light brown road jerseys! As Ron Burgundy said, "Stay Classy, San Diego!" In these glorious uniforms, the Padres will do just that.
Wow! That was a lot to get through! I can't recall an MLB season with so many uniform changes, especially so many that are massive improvements over what they wore the previous year. So, Nike logos aside, these teams will be looking good when they take the field in 2020.
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