Pirates Bring Back Pillbox, Complete 1979 Look for New Uniform

Pillbox caps are returning!

After the so-close, yet so-far misfire that was the 2015 All-Star Game caps we just assumed such a thing was impossible in this modern age of universal cuts and templates.

No more excuses, it can be done, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are the first to bring them back.

Announced yesterday about a month after they were accidentally leaked, the Pirates showed off their new 1979 inspired alternate uniform. The gold pullover top complete with beltless black pants and the aforementioned pillbox cap will be worn for Sunday home games in 2016 and replace the white pullovers in their uniform lineup.

It’s being touted as the “Game 7” look, named so for the fact this uniform was worn during the last World Series game the Pirates have ever played, a game 7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in 1979.

The three horizontal stripes on the new cap are stitched on, not sublimated, see the detail below:

And a few close-up looks at the front and back of the new jersey:

As mentioned earlier the jersey will be worn with black pants, creating a unique look (in today’s baseball world, anyways). No team has worn a pair of pants other than white or grey, regularly, since the San Diego Padres wore khaki (officially “sand”) coloured pants from 2004-10 and the Toronto Blue Jays powder blue throwbacks from 2008-10. The Arizona Diamondbacks have announced they will wear dark grey pants for road games in 2016, but they’re still grey.

Compare it with that Game 7 look from 1979:

What’s missing? The “Stargell Stars”. Little star pins given out by Pirates great Willie Stargell for standout performances by the players. Little to no chance we’ll see these on the field in 2016 (although that would be great), as MLB has put bans on any non-uniform addition to player caps or jerseys.