I Can't Believe What I Just Saw!—UCLA Bruins baseball uniform

Holy smokes kids! I don't even pay attention to college baseball due to the complete trainwreck it became in the 70's and the advent of the softball pullover jersey. College baseball never recovered and any time I take a peek, it's still the same trainwreck. BUT, I caught wind of the UCLA Bruins baseball uni and, yeah, you guessed it, I Can't Believe What I Just Saw! Beautiful script on home and away. No name on back of the jersey (now THAT'S old school!) The 'B' on the helmet and cap is a throwback of the old Brooklyn Dodgers. Block numbers, not too thick, not too thin. The baby blue is a true UCLA blue, vs. that crappy blue the football team tries to pass off as UCLA blue. The black cleats! Real stirrups (not the fake ones that are just socks)! The piping! This uni is a classic throwback to the days when a uni was a uni! Even the one with pinstripes works (last picture). Enjoy the show!!

 Old school pig pile!!

Golden Age vs. Modern day_NFL addition

The great Deacon Jones recently died. He played Defensive End for the Los Angeles Rams during the Golden Age of unis. The Rams had (notice I said "had") one of the best unis in football before the 70's came along and ruined it. First came the white cleats, then the colored facemask and then the move to St. Louis and the train completely derailed. The 2 pics below epitomize the contrast of the 2 eras. I could on this for paragraphs, but a picture is worth a thousand words as they say.

and a few others to show the embarrassing state the the Rams uni since the Golden Age of The Fearsome Foursome.

The Fearsome Foursome. Wearing one of the greatest unis of The Golden Age.

MLB unis-The present

The Golden Age of unis, the 50's and 60's, somehow held the principles and guidelines of design close to it's heart. All the sports did it right. MLB unis looked great (as seen in my last post). The 70's came along and the trainwreck that it brought was embarrassing. Ouch. The early to mid 90's began a renaissance in MLB unis and I am happy that as of 2013, MLB pretty much has it's crap together (vs. the NFL, NBA and NHL who seem to keep going backwards). Yes, there are issues. The saggy baggy elephant style is still prevalent, but I see signs of unis getting a bit more fitting again. The low pants just kill me (thanks to my own George Hendrick who spawned the idea way back in the late 70's and early 80's.). PLEASE MLB, make high pants and stirrups mandatory! There are now players who will sport the high pants look on occasion. My own Cardinals now do high pants Sundays where they all show the traditional Cardinals stirrups and or socks (yes traditionalists, socks. Yuck. I hate the sock, but I can live with it vs. wearing the pants at the ankle).

The list of teams that need to blow up their uni and start over is not that big in MLB. Here it is: NL-Diamondbacks, Rockies, Marlins AL-Mariners and Rays.

List of teams that need to ditch their current uni and go back to the Golden Age look: NL-Brewers, Padres, Reds (note-the 2013 Reds DID go back to black cleats! Very nice. Now ditch the black drop shadows and outlines you dorks!!) AL-None. Aside from Seattle and Tampa, the AL unis have their crap together. The Rangers and the Angels are a bit over the top, but at least they don't look like they did in the 70's, 80's and 90's!

The best uni in MLB: The Cardinals of course. NOTHING tops it. Yeah, I'd like to see them go to the 1960's look that they currently do for home Saturday games when they wear the St. Louis jersey (cream uni, red piping on jersey and pants), but show the stirrups and go back to black cleats.)

The top unis in each league in order of preference: NL-Cardinals,  Dodgers, Giants, Mets, Nationals, Phillies, Cubs, Pirates, Braves. AL-Tigers, Orioles, Twins (when they wear the Kilabrew era look) Red Sox, Royals, Yankees, Blue Jays, Indians, Astros (nice job with the old school look. As much as I hate the Astros, they did the uni right.), Indians (change your nickname for god's sake!), A's, White Sox, Angels, Rangers.

Enjoy the picture show! More to come this summer as I go in depth on the great unis of MLB.