December 11, 2008

Red Sox Show Off "Retro Roadies"

Ian Browne, MLB:
The Red Sox will have a new look to them going forward, particularly on the road. At a news conference on Thursday night in Boston, the tradition-laden franchise unveiled new primary and alternate road jerseys for 2009.

The club will also go with the "Hanging Sox" as the new primary logo, and it will be displayed on new caps that the Red Sox will wear with their alternate jerseys at home and on the road.

For long-time fans, the new road jersey will be a trip down memory lane, in that it will resemble the road grays worn in the 1980s ... The "retro roadies," as the Red Sox referred to them in a press release, will feature the word "BOSTON" in blue lettering across the chest. ...

The alternate road uniform will be a combination of white pants and blue jersey with "BOSTON" in red lettering across the chest.

No changes have been made to Boston's primary home uniforms. The alternate home red jerseys will still be used, and will now be accompanied by alternate hats which feature the new "Hanging Sox" logo. The alternate caps will also be worn on the road with the alternate blue tops.
All of these minor changes seem fine -- I like the 1980s road grays a lot -- except for the alternative caps. I don't mind the club selling caps with the two socks on it -- in fact, I could see myself wearing one -- but the players should wear nothing but the B.

17 comments:

laura k said...

It's all cool. Nothing that looks too weird or non-traditional, no strange colour combos, no attempts at the elusive "youth" (i.e. bad taste) market.

I love the hanging sox logo. I'd also prefer if the players didn't wear a hat with that on it, and only wore the B. But it's not a travesty. Waaaay better than many other looks they could have unveiled.

Too bad they didn't use this as an occasion to get the names off the road unis.

9casey said...

Hey I am all for merchandising and all but the hanging sox , always reminded me of testicles.....

Joe Grav said...

Phew.

I was nervous about this stuff, but it's all fine by me.

I'm not a big fan of the road unis [the navy blue lettering was before my time] but they'll grow on me.

AdmHpkns said...

5 Comments:

1) I am so with you on this one. I Definitely like the switch back to the blue lettering on the Road.

2) I didn't see mention of this, but are they leaving the names on the back of the road jerseys? Or did they take them off? It'd be nice if they did, but I doubt it.

3) Sort of ambivalent to the "Hanging Sox" in general. I much prefer the "Cricle Sox" logo that they are calling their secondary logo.

4) I HATE the Hanging Sox hats. That just looks moronis on the players. Fine when someone buys one from the store, not my place to judge. But, as a Sox fan, what are we if we don't judge our team? Therefore, let me repeat:
I HATE the Hanging Sox hats.

5) Anyone up for starting a petition or letter writing campaign to tell the Sox how stupid the alternate hats are? I hope we don't see those too often.

AdmHpkns said...

Okay, two more comments because I didn't see this before:

6) http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/12/red_sox_unveil.html
Not a fan of the arm patch. Way too big. This is not football.

7) The biggest news this offseason is new uniforms. What a riveting couple of months since the end of the season. Can't wait to see what is in store. Maybe the next big story will be that the team purchased new tarps for the field featuring the Hanging Sox logo.

Anonymous said...

9casey said: "...the hanging sox , always reminded me of testicles....."


I've been trying to find something to say...but I'm coming up empty...

laura k said...

5) Anyone up for starting a petition or letter writing campaign to tell the Sox how stupid the alternate hats are?

You don't need anyone's help to start a petition.

AdmHpkns said...

L-girl

That was my thought. But I don't have the time or energy to promote it. But if someone else does, I'll be the first to sign.

tim said...

Not bad. Definitely in agreement about the hats, even that silly B they had with the stars and stripes in it on July 4 was too much.

I agree, I would probably buy this hat but it should not be worn on-field for a game. I also don't like the thick blue border on the 'hanging sox'.

I like the blue lettering on the road unis, before my time but it still looks cool and retro. I don't like that sox patch on the sleeve though and do wish they did away with the names on those jerseys. I hope the numbers will stay in the same font and they won't be like the numbers/lettering on the sample jerseys (which looks cheap).

I feel this is a big of a post on the uniforms that I need to make. Red, blue or green this team is going to kick ass. It's just a matter of how foolish or good they look while doing it.

Geoff said...

I like the change with the road uniforms. They bring back some good memories...like Hendu blasting that homerun in '86 against the Angles.

I'm glad they didn't mess with the traditional home uniform, and I hope they never do. In fact I would love it if they got rid of the alternate home uniform.

And finally I am in agreement with most of you that the players should only play with a B on their hats.

CaKeY said...

In depth discussion at Uni Watch: http://www.uniwatchblog.com/2008/12/12/it-wasnt-broke-but-they-fixed-it-anyway/

John Ryan said...

Yeah, I don't really like them. Well atleast the away one. If it were a lighter shade of gray and black instead of navy blue for the lettering, I would like it. Oh well

Zenslinger said...

Reports are that AJ Burnett's going with the Yanks to the tune of 5/$82.5m.

Now I'm not a guy who celebrates when an athlete is injured. Definitely not. And I don't truly wish ill on any given person -- not in sports, and hopefully not in the rest of life either. But I'm thinking that at some point, maybe not even in 2009, but at some point, the Yanks will be looking at a CC + AJ = DL kind of equation. And I am not going to feel bad for them at that point.

9casey said...

Zenslinger said...
Reports are that AJ Burnett's going with the Yanks to the tune of 5/$82.5m.


If they are the "Yankees" and everybody wants to be a "Yankee" , why do they have to keep overpaying for second rate ballplayers.....

allan said...

Yep, looks official.

1/4 of a billion dollars for 2 pitchers.

That's a lotta dough.

Straddling the Border said...

I'll be the contrarian. What a lot of conservatives on the socks logo on the cap! Which is funny, because I'm actually the conservative. But I love the logo and was thrilled a couple of years ago on a visit back to Boston and Fenway to see that cap for the first time. It shows the socks on the front and a cute little "B" logo at the back. I'm eager to see Dustin and Youk and Pap wearing it once in a while!

9casey said...

Straddling the Border said...
It shows the socks on the front and a cute little "B" logo at the back


UGH........