MLB's Best Uniforms, Part 2: Road Uniforms

Glamorous?  No.  Stylish?  Probably not.  Unique?  Yes.  This is Major League Baseball, where all 30 teams wear monochrome gray uniforms on the road, dating back to a no-longer-necessary routine that began over one hundred years ago.

Why do baseball teams wear gray on the road?  Way back in the day, teams on the road sometimes had trouble finding places to wash their uniforms, so they needed to use a color that wouldn't show dirt easily in the event of not being able to wash the uniforms for the next game.  In today's society, teams don't struggle as much to get the stuff washed.  At all.  But the gray color just became a dominant tradition, and there's no breaking of one of those in baseball.

Like most baseball traditions, it has caught on probably for a very long time, despite many teams going for the powder blue in the 70s and 80s and the Padres being all rebellious for most of the last decade.  But as of 2011, all teams are back in the ol' grays.  So here are the top 10 road uniforms in MLB right now:

10. Cleveland Indians

A new addition for 2011, the Indians did it right on this one.  This uniform is almost sort of a throwback, but the style still fits.  Going from the red script and more modern looking jersey to the simpler version is similar to what the Red Sox did in 2009.  But overall, the main idea with this jersey is that it's not too flashy for a gray uniform.  The Indians are strong contenders this season - now we know why.  Sort of.






9. Pittsburgh Pirates

Surprised to see this one on here?  Few give the Pirates respect for hardly anything that they've done right in the last decade because of their infamous futility on the field.  But at least their uniforms are a big win.  In fact, if they would still wear this uniform, they would probably top my list.  But just like winning, it hasn't been seen since the 90s.  In today's league full of an overload of red and blue on so many teams, the Pirates have black and yellow all to themselves.  That definitely makes this uniform all that more sharp.    





8. St. Louis Cardinals

Even when they did go powder blue in the 70s and 80s, the Cardinals never changed the template of this uniform.  The classic script with the  two Cardinals perched on the bat is one of the most recognizable scripts that this sport has produced; the main reason for why is the consistency the Cardinals have shown to it.  I don't have any records on this, but I'm pretty sure the Cardinals have been wearing something very similar to this uniform for over half a dozen decades.  The blue cap is also a nice contrast to the red overload that the home uniform is.



7. Oakland Athletics

The good old green and gold.  The Oakland A's have been playing ball for over 100 years, mostly in Philadelphia, for a while in Kansas City, and for a while longer in Oakland.  But the one constant has been that green and gold.  The A's aren't the most respected team around the league, but this uniform is one of the best because of the green.  Luckily they haven't replaced it with black like so many other teams have for their primary colors.




6. Los Angeles Dodgers

Introduced in 2007, the Dodgers road uniform is one of the few in Major League Baseball that doesn't have a white outlining on the letters and numbers.  In fact, there's no white to be found anywhere on this uniform at all, except for the cap logo.  But the Dodger blue and red combination is enough to make it stand out.  No alternate necessary; this stands alone for the Dodgers.





5. New York Yankees

Well of course, there's no forgetting the Yankees.  Like that's possible in today's league.  But in all seriousness, the Yankees deserve to be on this list, too.  The underwhelming, subdued nature of the simple 'New York' script has become more than just a uniform script; it's become a part of the branding of New York character.  Then of course, the midnight blue that colors the script, cap, and sleeves is just cool and couldn't be more surprisingly in style today.  The Yankees are the only team in MLB whose road gray uniform doesn't include the player name on the back, and rightfully so.









4. Atlanta Braves

In recent years, the Braves have favored their road alternate for the most part.  And it's a real shame.  The Braves shouldn't need to boost merchandise sales with a gem like this.  What other team ever has or ever will feature a tomahawk?  The answer, hopefully, will always be zero.  Braves tradition, like the tomahawk chopping at home games, is some of the most interesting tradition to be found in baseball.  This uniform represents it well.




3. Kansas City Royals

They're not called the Royals for nothing.  The blue in this uniform, in case you haven't noticed, is quite royal.  Much like the Pirates, you probably wouldn't have thought of this uniform right away because the Royals aren't exactly the talk of the league very often.  If their farm system is as good as its supposed to be, you'll probably be seeing this uniform around a lot more often and soon.  And that's definitely a good thing; after all, royal blue is classy.




2. Detroit Tigers

From one AL Central team to the next, the Detroit Tigers made the list as well.  The Tigers' main colors are definitely orange and navy, but there is no orange at all on the home uniform.  Thankfully, orange does appear on the road uniform.  The numbers and script are outlined by orange, then white.  This just results in an awesome combination.  The orange looks powerful in the reserved role, and the navy is classic.  Plus, the Tigers are a winning ballclub, certainly a plus on the popularity scale.



1. Washington Nationals

Yep, a team that didn't exist eight years ago and a uniform that didn't exist a year ago just beat road uniforms that have been in place for over 100 years.  Introduced in 2009, the Nationals made a few edits for this season and overall couldn't have done a better job designing this uniform.  In fact, they even snuck the logo into the script.  How rare is that?  For a road uniform, extremely.  For 2011, the tan-colored drop shadow on the name and number on the back were both removed and a red bill was added to the road cap.  The results, albeit minor, made a noticeable difference.  For a team that has been known for its perennial mediocrity, there's absolutely nothing mediocre about this.








Coming Soon: posts about MLB Realignment and how to fix the All-Star Game!