Tribe Weekend Review: Scalding Hot
April 11, 2011NFL Draft: Browns to Play Host to Wide Receivers Green and Jones Among Others
April 11, 2011Friday night the Tribe’s twitter universe was buzzing about the team, but also about the new road uniforms. It was the first time the majority of Clevelanders got a good look at them, and the reaction was very positive. (Of course it helps when the team has a double digit lead.) The all gray uniform returned, but with a new script on the front.
The subtle and somewhat understated ‘Cleveland’ is in blue block lettering with red trim. The font is a sans font, which I typically am not wild about, but the size of the script is perfect, and looks great on television. The sleeves have a small blue piping on them, and a Chief Wahoo patch on the left sleeve. The Bob Feller commemorative patch is on the right sleeve, and honestly looks like it was part of the uniform’s design from the start. A stellar tribute and blends beautifully with the new top.
The pants have the blue piping down the leg, and the dark blue stirrups really add to the overall look. Too bad not many players choose to wear them.
The red hats on the home uniforms have gotten a ton of criticism (and rightfully so in my opinion) because the blue ‘C’ has nothing to set it off from the red hat. It needs an outline desperately. (The fact that the red makes no sense with those cream uniforms is beside the point.) The new road look has the navy blue hats with the red ‘C’. There is no trim or outline on these hats either, but the red ‘C’ pops off the dark hat much easier than the home look. The hat is successful with the uniform, even though it doesn’t really make the look better.
Which makes me wonder, why is the navy on the road uniforms so much darker than the blue in the traditional home Wahoo hats? Shouldn’t the uniform colors be, well uniform?
Since I don’t believe in just adding to the problem without trying to be part of the solution, I’ll throw a suggestion out there. I love the blue and white hats that are part of the Cooperstown collection here. There are three different designs, but I think that some variation of this cap would work. Would the white be too different from the script on the front? Possibly.
I would really like to see a look based off of these hats. The Tribe wore throwbacks last season that I loved with the white stripes and white block C on the chest. Those were a great look for a throwback, but I think the team could make something on a permanent basis that would look sharp and modern at the same time.
What do you think of the new road uniform? Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
46 Comments
rick, i’ll take your solution and raise you one.
see new avatar at left. (yes, i too am all in.) remove circle and ’19.’ picture it as a white silhouette against that navy cap. i give you the indians new logo and baseball’s answer to air jordan.
in a word, iconic.
i’d buy such a cap.
whoops, i updated my twitter account, but not here, with:
^^that’s what i meant. i love this as a logo. (and… just figure out the copyright issue.)
I like the new road unis. The block letters for ‘Cleveland’ remind me of the old 80s jerseys.
I too am perplexed by the red cap look for the home jerseys. I think if you’re going to go with red caps, you just need to go all the way and wear all-red uniforms, like the crazy Pittsburgh Pirates’ old all-yellow jerseys from the Clemente era.
How about it? Could you watch 9 running ketchup bottles take the field for your Cleveland Indians?
I’m definitely on board with the road unis…other than maybe adding a white outline of the ‘C’ on the hat. As for the home, I like the cream with the block Indians but would go to this hat (http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2030519&cp=1452349.1452728.1168749) as opposed to the all red. I do agree that the blue from uni to uni doesn’t seem the same. Pick a blue and stick with it. Finally it seems that they are slowly pushing Chief Wahoo out of the picture. As long as he is kept on the sleeve, I guess I could buy into the block ‘C’ as the new overall look. Maybe go with the blue script “Indians” as the alternate home jersey.
I might be alone here but I seriously dislike the new road unis. It looked like an entirely different team. The problem is there’s not enough red. That in addition to the boring ‘C’ on the caps, make this otherwise hot team look dead.
If it were up to me, I’d bring back the script ‘Cleveland’ and Chief Wahoo on the caps. It makes the team distinctive.
Love the new road uni’s too! The block lettering CLEVELAND just stands out so much better than the script.
And agree about the red hat with the cream home uniforms. What were they thinking?
@Zach, I like that hat you posted! That would really work well with the home uniforms.
wow. sure had a nice comment going before ‘safecount’ blacked out my window because of an urgent need to understand my jewelry buying habits.
(wfny guys — seriously? i’m not sure it’s possible to get more lard into one URL. hope you’re evaluating new web hosters.)
anyway:
1. i think the ‘feller rock’ logo is in my new avatar. i just think it’s the bomb.
2. wanted to register an old man bitch about baseball pants as pajamas and a provide a (rare) george hendrick observation, but i just used up my old man bitch quota for today.
3. at c-bus, wrt ketchup bottle unis: been there, done that. http://www.thatsmyboy03.com/images/clepowell810.jpg
http://www.thatsmyboy03.com/images/clepowell810.jpg
I’m as big of a Chief Wahoo guy as you’ll find, but I dig both the red lids as well as the entire road uni.
The road uni’s are great but that red cap is horrible.
Aren’t we 0-2 in the red cap and 7-0 when not wearing red cap?
I wasn’t able to watch the first 3 games only listen so I’m not sure when they wore the red.
“wfny guys — seriously? i’m not sure it’s possible to get more lard into one URL. hope you’re evaluating new web hosters.”
Not sure what you mean – feel free to email over any issues you’re having.
I’m on board with the road unis too, because they give me a reminder of the 80’s unis I grew up with. Even though those teams didn’t win too many, it’s good to throwback a little in a way that doesn’t look ancient. Also HATE the red caps, and I’ve never been a fan of the alternate home unis of the last couple years. Since they only typically wear them on weekends and holidays, and that’s when I am most likely to get to the ballpark, I’ve had to see them over and over.
I am very annoyed at the obvious attempt to gradually phase out Chief Wahoo. I like the chief on my home unis with a red bill and a blue bill on the road. The current road unis are nice but I picture them with a Chief Wahoo hat and they are perfect.
I, too, am a huge Chief Wahoo fan. If they really are phasing him out as another person suggested, I will not be happy. I really, REALLY like the road grays, and an all blue cap with the Chief grinning on it would be great IMO. I don’t hate the navy blue/red “C” cap, but it doesn’t do anything for me either. The red lids, though, are an abomination and should be jettisoned as such.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing Chief Wahoo go. As much as I understand the tradition behind it, it is an incredibly offensive logo to a lot of people and sooner or later, it’s going to meet it’s death.
I’ll put it this way. If Cleveland gets to keep being the Indians than I wouldn’t mind Chief Wahoo being put to death.
The Chief’s days as the primary logo were numbered as soon as they debuted the script I cap. I love the road uniforms. I’ve been looking for the replica version of the new road jersey and so far I haven’t had any luck. I like the color scheme and think it looks great with the cap. I think the 1950’s navy hat with Chief Wahoo inside the C would look even better.
The red hat would look better if they were wearing red sleeves with the cream jersey but they are still sporting blue under them.
My beef with the Indians is they shouldn’t have messed with success. The white home uniforms they rolled out when the Jake opened were great. Instead they decided to tinker and add silver to the mix for a few years then went back to white trim. They have too many looks going on now and their uniforms just aren’t very well, uniform.
This concludes my Indians Project Runway rant. They can wear the all red uniforms from the 70’s again for all I care as long as they keep playing like they have.
I hate Chief Wahoo and would like to see the “mascot” go away completely. I understand that will never happen, so throwing it on the sleeve is about as good as it will get.
The uniform configuration in this post’s picture is great. I like the C on the hat and I prefer “Cleveland” on the uniform instead of the script “Indians”.
I’m not a fan of the red hats, either.
no red hats!
Zach i like that hat.
Love the road uni’s, shouldn’t change them at all and should wear them for all 81 road games. I like the cream home uni’s, but not as a base, maybe more as an alternate for sundays, prime time games and holidays.
I love the road jerseys, and I love the navy cap with the red block C…but I hate how the fonts are different on the two items.
The road uniform’s are very close to perfect in my opinion. I think the front is a little plain though. With only the Cleveland wordmark. I think if they added the player number on the front bottom left side in red this would make the jersey perfect.
The Red hats….ehh they could go. I wouldn’t mind a blue hat with red brim and a block I to go with the cream jerseys.
I might be the only one in the world but I think the script I should stay and use it with the script uniform.
My biggest plea is to get all the blue in all the uniforms more….uniform. there is to much shade differences in them.
@ DocZeus and Robbie:
Yes – let’s get rid of Chief Wahoo. I love the new home and road uni’s and have been buying anything I can get my hands on that has the “I” and “C” logos.
LOVE the new road unis, still can’t stand the red hats. IMO that’s not how we roll. The Tribe looks way better in blue caps, hands down.
indifferent on the new road uniforms. they look fine enough, but remind me of the old Tigers road uniforms. plus also remind me of the losing teams of the 80’s
I really, really liked it when they did the throwback 1948 uniforms a couple years back. I think they should model the alternate unis after those. I think the script font is a much classier, appealing look than the bland block letters. Much prefer the script “I” to the block “C” also.
when it comes to uniforms, i think about what i want to see them wearing when they are celebrating a world series victory. if they cant measure up to that visual or moment, then what’s the point?
God help me if the Tribe finally wins the Series without Chief Wahoo around. It’s already bad enough Feller won’t be there.
I actually dig the red hats, I would wear one. But with that said it completely clashes with the cream colored jerseys. It might work if the hat were a darker shade of red, and matched the red lettering on the cream jerseys.
Another thing that might be cool, as others have suggested, is to wear the red hats with a red jersey. Even in that case though, I think a white “Block C” would probably look nicer.
All in all, I like the red hat as a gift shop novelty, but not in the uniform.
As for the “Cooperstown Collection” hats, I think they would look great with a white jersey and old school blue lettering, something similar to this.
Absolutely LOVE the new road uniforms and the navy blue “Block C” cap, I think it looks great!
http://www.the-review.com/images/media/20070620/photos/572ccb80b0bcae4ff5dfb29bae01dd96df0ce384_YoungCy1898Clev2768E4.jpg
The current Pope selected the name “Benedict” to redeem the name from its attachment to recent namesake failures.
In this vein, I love the new road uniforms, and their homage to the failed ’80s teams. I think we should do the same at home, in the understated style depicted on the road.
And while I have fond memories of Chief Wahoo, I think it’s time for him to go. He can stick around the team in the same capacity that Brownie the Elf hangs out with the Browns (i.e., “unofficially”), but I’m ready for his formal retirement pow-wow. (Can I say that and still be taken seriously? It was just too easy to pass up.)
Count me as another who loves the road unis and hates the all red caps. I have an Indians hat I received as a gift a few years back that I love and think would look great with any of the uniforms. It is an all blue hat with an interlocking white “C” and red “I”. The eyelets are also red. I’ve looked everywhere online to find a pic of it but can’t find it anywhere. It’s a classy look… too bad I can’t prove/show it.
@24 – I am with you 100%.
The new road grays are perfect! I like the blue block C caps. If I had my way, the grays and the cream whites would be the main unis, and the throwbacks they wore last year would be the weekend home unis.
At the risk of getting lit up, I have a suggestion for the issue of Chief Wahoo being offensive.
I suggest…deep breath here…that the Indians change their name. I’m not from the overly PC camp, but if the concept of Indian themed sports teams is about to meet it’s end, why not get ahead of the curve with a pre-emptive name change.
Personally, I wouldn’t be against the Cleveland Spiders. The name has history in the city. I’m being serious. Cy Young pitched for the Spiders. It doesn’t get more historically significant than that in baseball terms.
I’m with you on the hat, Rick: I think getting rid of the red outline on CLEVELAND and going grey/navy on the jersey, navy/white on the hat would be quite choice.
Still, these jerseys are pretty awesome.
Definitely like the road uniforms.
As for those who don’t like Chief Wahoo, on Uni Watch the other day someone cooked up a suggestion that’s actually kind of interesting if the Indians ever wanted to change their name it’s the second item here: http://tinyurl.com/43ulshr
wow…red hat haters abounds. i am actually all for the red cap; so much so that was the first piece of “sportswear” i have bought in two or so years. i’ve gotten alot of compliments on it wearing it out as well.
as for the gray road uniforms, the best i have seen in awhile. love the block lettering vs. the script and the piping around the neck, arms and down the pant leg class it up versus the cream and red bland as can be home jersey.
wow…for this being a sports blog we all are certainly opinionated in fashion.
If the Indians have to change their name, then the Blackhawks, braves, fighting Irish and illini and ….
@c-bus
it’s funny you mention that..a buddy and i were discussing the exact same thing this weekend watching the saturday night game.
we both voted that we would return to the “Spiders” or the “Naps” if we had to drop the Indians moniker.
Chritopher: I also like the red hats. Not as much as others here hate them, but … And love the road unis. But if the tribe is decent all year they could wear Cavs colors from the Bobby Sura era and people would be happy. I think.
I remember reading once that the Tribe still holds the rights to use the names Blues and Spiders…now I can’t find it anywhere on the net.
@Titus Pullo
As much as I don’t necessarily hate the idea of becoming the “Cleveland Tribe,” I don’t think that name would necessarily fix the primary issue that people have with naming sports teams after Native Americans.
Now I don’t necessarily subscribe to the PC idea that you shouldn’t name sports teams after “people” as with any of the various ethnic groups used across the country. However, I get and totally understand the fever pitch around Chief Wahoo and while I’m not opposed to him staying, I’m also not opposed to him getting put in the dirt.
For the record, I’ve always liked the “script I” that the Indians have used for the last decade.
The College of William & Mary in Virginia used to call their teams the “Indians”, but changed it to the Tribe a few years ago. Apparently they did some research and found that the nickname wasnt nearly as offensive as “Indians” to the Native American community.
“William & Mary Tribe” works though, not so sure about “Cleveland Tribe”, just doesnt roll off the tongue. Id rather have Cleveland Spiders or Cleveland Blues if they ever did change the name, which I doubt will happen.
@29, love your idea about the uniforms. That idea would be just about perfect if they made some changes to the red hat. I think a darker shade of red would make it work.
@jimkanicki – i have always been opposed to change of the Indians moniker / chief wahoo logo. however, if we were to change to that logo and be called the ‘Cleveland Fellers’ well then I am all aboard.
The Cleveland Fellers? Um, no.
LOVE the road unis. This is the best they have looked ever. Wahoo gots to go. I dont like him on the sleeve, but am OK with it as a second logo I suppose.
Yeah the Chicago Bulls didnt change their name to the Jordans or incorporate MJ as their logo. I guess they figured a statue outside the arena would suffice, just as I think the statue of Feller outside the Jake will do the same.
Cleveland Fellers? No–a thousand times no. And the script I is terrible. The road unis have it right–Chief on the sleeve, block C on the hat. And let’s keep the Feller logo–it’s a good look. Coordinate the blues between the home and away kits (who are we, the Cowboys?) and lose the red hats and all will be well.
Oh, and this “winning” thing is pretty neat, too.
ditch the red hats