In 2016, minor league baseball teams at all levels will trot out alternate uniforms featuring the likes of tacos, asparagus, zoo animals, and Saul Goodman, to name just a few recent examples. In the face of these increasingly wacky promotional duds, the Durham Bulls have done an about face with their elegant “Bull City Blues” uniforms, which are meant to reflect the team’s storied past, as well as its present and future. Even the unveiling of the uniforms themselves, posted on slate.adobe.com, is classy.
The uniforms, which the team will wear during Saturday home games as of May 21, feature shades of orange and blue the team has not worn before. Per the team, “First, a bold new orange represents the progress and bright future of Durham. The city’s vivacity, from its innovative spirit to its diverse culture, is symbolized in this fresh, robust orange. Second, the navy blue is not only a tribute to the Bulls’ Major League affiliate – the Tampa Bay Rays – but is also a symbol of the community’s urban roots, and pays homage to the blue-collar history of the tobacco industry that helped Durham grow into the city it is today.”
Perhaps the best part of the new uniforms is that they include knicker-style pants, which the team calls “an ode to 1868.” They explain, “In 1868 the knickers-style was adopted by baseball teams, which was an idea borrowed from cricket.”
The high pants show off the orange, blue, and white striped socks included in the uniform. (It is the considered and long-held opinion of this author that high pants and awesome socks should be standard elements of baseball uniforms.)
The Bull City Blues uniforms are meant to be minimalist. To that end, they break with the team’s other jerseys by not including names on the back.
The Bulls have been around for more than a century, but not so their Major League parent club. A Tampa Bay Rays sleeve patch serves as a reminder that the Bulls are the only Triple-A affiliate the Rays have ever had—going on 19 years now.
All told, this new look is a breath of fresh air for minor league baseball. I’ll admit that I love the wacky promotional uniforms as much as anyone, but they’re starting to feel a bit formulaic. To see a team go the other direction, with simple, elegant alternates is refreshing.
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