Throwback Uniforms as Tigers, Cardinals Remember ’68 Series

They say don’t wear white after Labour Day, the Detroit Tigers are taking that advice to heart this afternoon at Comerica Park.

The Tigers are taking the field in road greys at home as the club honours their World Series-clinching game from the 1968 Fall Classic against the St. Louis Cardinals, the same club they’ll face today (with a slightly different roster).

Detroit will be wearing a design based off the away set worn by Denny McLain, Al Kaline and the rest of the championship team fifty years ago, the Cardinals will counter with their home whites from the same season.

A casual fan wouldn’t notice the difference in the Cardinals uniform (assuming the throwbacks they’re wearing are accurate), just a minor change in the design of the cardinals perched on the bats across their chest. Detroit’s uniform will replace the scripted blue-and-orange wordmark with a no-nonsense single-coloured 1960s arched city, no name on the back and each player’s number on their sleeve.

The 1968 season was notable for being the year of the pitcher, with McLain winning thirty-one games during the regular season and Cardinals ace Bob Gibson posting a ridiculous ERA of 1.12. Following the season the pitcher’s mound was lowered in an attempt to give hitter’s more of an advantage. Detroit won the World Series that October, rallying back after going down three-games-to-one winning three straight, including Games 6 and 7 in St. Louis to give them their first title in 23-years.