At Piratefest, the Pittsburgh Pirates showed off a new retro styled uniform that will be worn for every Sunday home game for the 2013 season.
The hat features a gold crown, with a black P, button, and brim. The jersey is a pullover, with wide yellow-white-black sleeve and collar striping, and features a block number font. Unlike the jerseys these were modeled after, they do feature a NOB. Although they were not featured, the pants are said to have waistline striping that matches the sleeves and collars.
The jerseys are based on the look worn by the team from 1970 to 1976. The Pirates won the World Championship in 1971, defeating the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.
The team also was the first to show off their new batting practice hat. The hats, 59fifty styled for the first time, features a lighter and more breathable style, but more specifics about the construction are not available.
Michael Waldrop is a co-host/producer of the world's only sports design podcast, The Logocast, in addition to writing for sportslogos.net. You can reach him at @Michael_Waldrop on twitter.
Discrim
Friday, December 14, 2012 at 21:53sweet. I always liked that cap, and the fact that they left it as a pullover unlike a certain crew I know is a bonus *coughbrewerscough*
Marcus
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 03:34There are some retro things that do not work, but this is one I actually like.
Aaron
Friday, December 14, 2012 at 22:25Love the fact the buccos are going retro with the cap and uniform. But if they're doing this for every Sunday home game, the jersey should have buttons. Otherwise, great job.
Jared
Friday, December 14, 2012 at 22:47Has a Pirates fan I think they look great, its nice to see them go back to a Sunday alternative. Now they'll wear three different jerseys each weekend home series. I hope they'll go all out and have the socks and actually batting helmet to match, unlike their other throw back unis I.e. when they honor the Negro leagues.
ingmar66
Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 01:17Nice and classic. That hat is timeless.
Max
Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 01:49matching helmets a MUST here.
Aaron
Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 09:39Agreed!
cm62198
Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 02:49They wore throwbacks like these a couple years ago and I still have like the same exact cap.
Mr.Miller
Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 20:08Im glad the batting practice caps are 59/50 instead of the 39/30
Jason
Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 13:21Great to see the 1971 pullovers back for Sunday games. I believe the Pirates were the first to introduce the double-knit fabric jersey during the 1970 season (ushering in an epoch of pullover uniforms that featured monochrome and powder blues for the rest of the decade and beyond). Even though, most teams abandoned this style of uniform (Cincinnati being the last after the 1992 season), the uniform should not look out of place next year in 2013. Hopefully more teams either reintroduce throwback uniforms or create new pullover tops in the near future. Great job Bucs, now lets finish above .500 for the first time since-hmmm-a team wore double knit pullover uniforms.
Aaron
Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 14:17Actually when the Pirates were winning divisions in the early 90's, they wore button down jerseys.
Jason
Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 21:51I think there was confusion on my last post. I was making a reference to the 1992 season when the Pirates had their last winning campaign, which is also the last season a MLB team wore pull over jerseys as their primary uniforms. The Cincinnati Reds switched to pinstripe vests for the 1993 season. The Pirates were wearing button down jerseys for several seasons prior to the 1992 season.
Chawls
Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 22:59I didn't know pullovers were still allowed. I like it.
Chris Creamer
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 10:31Yessir, they're still allowed, but I believe the players are not fans of playing in them. The Blue Jays had a pullover as an alternate as recently as 2010 and there will be another team announcing a pullover alternate for 2013 in the coming weeks.
Marc
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 10:19"Unlike the jerseys these were modeled after, they do feature a NOB"......I'm lost. What's a "NOB"?
Chris Creamer
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 10:29NOB is an acronym for "Name on Back"
Mike Mark Sopp
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 11:21AWESOME!!! When they rolled those out a couple of years ago in a game vs the Orioles, i was so hoping they would make them a regular alternate/throwback jersey (ala the Brewers Harvey Wallbanger era jersey)!!! The first Pirate teams i followed wore those jerseys and that hat - brings back great memories!
F19
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 11:27Love it when teams can do a throwback uniform, or retro-styled new uni, and it still fits right in with their current look. All the kudos in the world go to the Pirates, Yankees, Red Sox, Cards, Dodgers, Giants, Phillies etc. for keeping with their traditional colors and look over the decades.
Aaron
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 12:42Kudos indeed to all those teams. However the Phillies did wear crimson during the 1970's to 1992. You're forgetting the Reds. Now it's too bad the Padres, D-Backs and Marlins didn't follow suit. At least the Blue Jays and Astros had the good sense to go back to their original colours. The only teams I can think of where a drastic change was necessary are the Mariners and Rays (formerly Devil Rays) Although with the Rays, they probably could've worked their last colour scheme around. I'll give some props to the Padres because they've had more success with their navy blues and the D-Backs even with their red and black are still a dominant team.
Deej
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 12:44Another team releasing a pullover alt? People on the boards saying the Rays will release an alt hat we have seen before. I think we can connect the dots here.....
Father-John Hissrich
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 13:41I love those uniforms, primarily because they take me back to my youth - back when the Pirates were one of the strongest teams in the game. Beat 'em, Bucs.
KDub
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 14:49AWESOME. One of the best throwbacks ever.
Cammie Nelson
Monday, December 17, 2012 at 21:49Really!?!?
Ben Foster
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 01:56Yes, really.
A. Smith
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 10:41I may be partial but I loved the pullover jerseys.
Doug
Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 08:56Maybe they should go retro on the field and start winning again.
Jab
Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 14:48Damn I love pullovers and the matching waistbands, finally a retro look done right! Matching helmets too please lol
FJOJR
Friday, December 21, 2012 at 01:36Awesome look. Glad the Pirates are reaching back to better times and maybe they'll finally break into the playoffs. The Marlins 20th anniversary and 2003 10th anniversary is 2013 and they are not doing anything other than resigning Juan Pierre and trying to make the Blue Jays champs like in 1993.
Charles Mertens
Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 03:32Love the pullover. Love the gold crown. Definitely need to pick up a cap.
Mike
Sunday, January 6, 2013 at 23:18They OK, but wish they'd ditch the NOB for these.
painter33
Friday, February 1, 2013 at 12:08Nice picture of one of baseball's greats and the all-time Pirate great, Roberto Clemente. A hero off the field as well as on it, he exemplified humility and grace. Losing him in a humanitarian effort was somehow fitting but very, very painful. The uniforms they might have used were the 50's sleeveless with black knit baseball shirts beneath them. It would honor the '60's team.