New Phillies Uniforms...They're OK.

Call me old fashioned but I say if there's nothing wrong with it, then don't fix it. Unfortunately just the opposite tends to be the case when it comes to professional sports teams. What more evidence do we need than the alternate jersey?

You see this in every sport now as many teams can not seem to stick to a single identity, two if you count home and away as separate entities. I do not. I don't mean to copy anything in the style of Uniwatch, believe me, but I say that amongst the best jerseys in sports are the classic ones; New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Red Wings, etc. Classics. I hate when I turn on a game and can't tell who is playing because they are both wearing alternate jerseys. Terrible.

The Flyers introduced a black jersey years ago, and now it is the home uniform. The Eagles also brought out a black uniform, which they haven't worn this season. The Sixers now have a red jersey, and in recent years they had a blue uniform.

But the Phillies always kept things simple, something that has run through the entire organization from top to bottom. Why spend extra money? But today they unveiled a new uniform, an alternate uniform that will be worn for day home games.

Observe, if you have not already...






Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels were kind enough to dress up in this garb. They are not bad and a lot better than what I had anticipated. I had heard rumors of the jersey saying "Philadelphia" on the front which would have been ludicrous. The images don't do it justice, but the pin stripes are removed, and the lettering and numbering are outlined in blue, the same shade as the new alternate hat. The blue hats are pretty much the same kind of hat the Phillies tried wearing for day games back in 1994. I was a sucker; I bought one. In 1995 it was back to red hats all the time.

Overall I like the uniform, although I think it looks better on Rollins than it does Hamels. It is also a design that pays homage to the late 1940's teams, an era of Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts. I still do not like alternate uniforms, but I am ok with this design, although now the Phillies are a three hat team; regular red hat, new alternate blue hat, and that god awful "inter league" hat. Hopefully they will ditch the inter league hat and use the blue hat if anything.