Pirates to Honour Homestead Grays With Throwback Uniforms Friday

The Pittsburgh Pirates tonight will pay tribute to the legendary Homestead Grays ballclub during their game against the St. Louis Cardinals by wearing throwback uniforms based on what was worn by the club.

It’s a white jersey with navy blue piping down the front along either side of the buttons. The blue piping extends around the collar and continues down either sleeve. Across the chest “GRAYS” is laid out in arched, navy blue Tuscan-style lettering. Caps are navy blue with a single white “G” on the front.

SHOP: Pittsburgh Pirates Homestead Grays Throwback Cap

The Grays, named for the location of their original home ballpark in Homestead, Pennsylvania (located just across the river from Downtown Pittsburgh), played for 38 seasons from 1912 to 1950 as a member of several of the Negro Leagues. The team played exclusively out of Pittsburgh until 1940 when they began to split their home schedule with Washington, D.C. during which they went on an incredible run of nine consecutive league titles between 1937 and 1945.

Twelve members of the Grays went on to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame including Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, and Cool Papa Bell.

It is not yet known if their opponents the St. Louis Cardinals will join in on the Negro League throwback theme of tonight’s game, I will update this post if/when we get that information.

Major League Baseball teams have paid tribute to the Grays numerous times in recent seasons by way of throwback uniforms. Both the Pirates and Washington Nationals have worn Grays uniforms including a game on May 3, 2008 when both clubs wore Homestead uniforms in the same game while facing each other.

SHOP: Pittsburgh Pirates Homestead Grays Throwback Cap