3rd February, 2013

BaseballA Presentation on Sportswear (Baseball) Uniforms

The Creation of Baseball

✤ Baseball was first invented by Alexander Cartwright in 1845. The sport was created to escape their office lives and get some exercise after a long days work.

Baseball was first played on informal teams in the early 1800s

Pittsburgh and Boston played the first World series in 1903. Boston won the nine game series 5 games to 3

Baseball is the second most played sport in America

Early Uniforms

✤ Baseball uniforms typically consist of a numbered jersey, baseball pants, caps, socks and shoes.

✤ In 1845, the New York Knickerbockers became the first organized baseball club in American history. Four years later, the team adopted the first official baseball uniform. This uniform consisted of a white flannel shirt, blue wool pantaloons and a straw hat.

✤ In 1868, the Cincinnati Red Stockings exchanged their baggy baseball pants for knickers, which allowed for freedom of movement as well as showed off the team's new, red stockings.

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PRE-1900 UNIFORMS

✤       The history of baseball uniforms is evolutionary and the uniforms of 1900 are a continuation of 1899 but the story of earlier uniforms is even more difficult to develop and we will reserve that information for future additional research.

✤ An important finding of such research will be establishing the starting point of use of separate uniforms at home and on the road, which was standard for all major league teams by 1900.

1868The Cincinnati Red Stockings are the first baseball club to wear knickers rather than pants.

1882The major leagues

experiment with multi-colored uniforms that

correspond to player positions.

1888Three major league teams become the first clubs to don pinstriped uniforms.

1889The Brooklyn

Bridegrooms (also known as the Trolley-Dodgers) become the

first big league club to wear checked uniforms.

1897The National League Boston Beaneaters are the last major league club to wear a shield-front jersey.

Timeline

Timeline1906The New York

Giants introduce the

collarless jersey.

1909The Chicago Cubs are the first club to wear uniforms with “military” or “standing” collars.

1916The Cleveland

Indians are the first major league club to

wear uniform numbers.

1940The Chicago

Cubs introduce the

sleeveless jersey.

1950The Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars experiment with shorts instead of knee-length pants.

Timeline1970

The Pittsburgh Pirates are the first major

league team to wear a cotton-nylon blend featuring pull-over shirts and beltless

pants.

1976The Chicago White Sox are the first major league team to wear shorts.

1993The Reds and

Marlins reintroduce the

sleeveless jersey, last seen

in the big leagues in 1971.

2001In the wake of the tragic events of September 11, all major league teams don small U.S. flag patches on their jerseys and caps.

Fabrics

•Uniform fabrics in 1900 were either 100% wool flannel or a blend of wool and cotton.

• The weight of these wool and cotton flannels was gradually reduced in half by the 1940’s but the problems of durability and shrinkage had not improved much.

•The advent of synthetic fibers in the post-WWII era (NYLON, DACRON, ORLON) paved the way for improved blends. The most successful of these was the WOOL / ORLON blend in the sixties — seemingly the "ultimate” material for baseball flannels.

•The double-knit fabrics introduced in the early seventies provided so many more attractive and practical features over flannel: lighter, cooler, more comfortable, more durable, etc. etc.

Fabric Patterns and Colors

✤ Home uniforms for all clubs at the turn of the century were white, while road uniforms were either gray or a darker hue.

✤The Giants in 1916 provided the ultimate —an almost “plaid” effect with a crossing of multiple fine lines of purple.

✤ A popular alternative to the gray-colored travelling suits in the 1900-1915 era was a solid dark blue or black material with white relief — often a “negative” image of their home whites.

✤ Charles 0. Finley’s Kansas City A’s in 1963 challenged the entire tradition of home / road colors with a stunning gold and green combination. By the 1970’s, light blue was in common use in place of the gray color on road suits.

JERSEYS AND UNDERSWEATERS

•Till 1900 the jerseys were much flannel pullover “shirts” with a standard fold-down collar and a buttoned or laced front.

•Even the sleeves were often full length with buttoned cuft and a left-breast pocket was common.

•The first radical change in shirt design in the decade was when they introduced the “collarless” jersey

• The fold-down collar was definitely on its way out but its popular replacement was to be the short, stand-up “cadet” style — first worn by the Cubs in 1909.

•The shirt pocket had disappeared forever by 1915.

•By the 1970’s, the flannel fabrics were lighter and more comfortable with shorter sleeves, but the development of the revolutionary double-knit fabrics doomed the flannels forever.

Trousers and Belts

•Built-in protective padding was a standard part of nineteenth century baseball pants and this ‘quilting” survived on a few of the post-1900 uniforms.

•Separate sliding pads on the inside soon became the preferred choice.

•Belts were considerably wider and were furnished in a variety of colors and materials. Belt tunnels on the sides came into being after 1900 and are a standard feature even on many of today’s double-knits.

•Piping down the sides of the trousers existed in the early 1900’s, even before piping became a popular jersey trim feature.

Stockings

•Stockings in 1900 were made of heavy wool and were of one-piece full-length (above the knee) construction. The foot covering part below the ankle bone was white or natural wool and often created the illusion of stirrups.

•The popularity of striped or multi-tone stirrup stockings ebbed and flowed in cycles, becoming widely used around 1910 and less common by the late teens.

•As pant legs became lower and stirrups were stretched higher and higher over the following decades, the stockings became a neglected component in the overall appearance of the uniform.

Trim Colors and Graphics

• Although trim colors were abundant in uniform schemes, the selection was limited to BLACKS, DARK BLUES, MAROONS or REDS, & BROWNS and seldom in combinations .

• John McGraw introduced VIOLET in 1913 as a trim color. The Cubs in 1916 added a second color red to dress up the navy blue trim and a wave of patriotism in the WWI years encouraged a more generous display of red, white and blue on some major league uniforms.

•By 1930s As for graphic symbols, almost every club by this time had displayed some pictorial version of club identification at one time or another.                    

Numbers and Names

•The first attempt to identify individual players with numbers affixed to their uniforms occurred with the Cleveland club in 1916. In this early experiment, the numbers were attached to the sleeve, not the back.

•For reasons unknown, the idea faded away and was not seen again until 1929 when the New York Yankees boldly took the field with large numbers on their backs, an idea that initially did not escape ridicule.

•The new system met approval by the fans and this time it was here to stay. By 1932, all major league teams were “numbered”. The sixties saw numbers appearing on the sleeves and by the seventies, even the trousers could not escape number identification by some clubs.

• Another feature which was probably inspired by increasing TV coverage, was the display of the player’s last name on the back of the uniform.

Sweaters, Coats and Jackets

✤ Double-breasted, fingertip length with large pearl buttons and 2-tone trimmings on the sleeve ends, pocket flaps and collar .

✤ The big heavy sweaters became more the standard wear for cooler days and pitcher’s arms by 1910. But even the color schemes of some of these sweaters evolved into bizarre “Indian blankets” and colorful plaids by the late teens.

✤ By the twenties the sweater colors subsided and were soon giving way to shorter "windbreaker" style jackets. In the twenties and thirties, many of these jackets were combinations of high-grade felt, suedes and colored leathers.

✤ The windbreaker style with stretch waistband and wrists is still the popular trend, but newer fabrics (i.e. nylon) have displaced the leathers and felts.

Popular Baseball Apparel Brands

AdidasUnder Armour Nike

Easton Majestic

Mitchell & Ness

Rawlings

✤ Full- Button Vapor Jersey

Double- knit fabrics

100% Polyester

Trims: Nike Team Sports jock tags and Swoosh design embroidery.

Sizes: S, M, L, Xl, 2XL, 3XL

•BP Game Jersey

Dri-FIT double knit flat back mesh

Two button front placket, self- fabric piping and contrast self fabric under arm

✤Sizes: S, M, L, Xl, 2XL, 3XL

Apparel Details

• Dri-Fit Game Top

Double- knit fabrics

100% Polyester

Trims: Nike Team Sports jock tags and Swoosh design embroidery.

Sizes: S, M, L, Xl, 2XL, 3XL

•Stock Elite Henley

Dri- FIT single knit pique short sleeve game jersey

100% Polyester

✤Two button front placket

Embroidered swoosh design on left sleeve

✤ Phenom Players PantPoly warp knit fabric

100% Polyester

Reinforced knees for durability

Brass zippers, two metal snap closures, two back pockets

Sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL ✤ Youth Integrated Sliding Pant

Poly warp knit fabric

✤100% Polyester

Reinforced knees for durability

Brass zipper, two metal snap closures, two back pockets and a seven belt loop system

Integrated padding to help in sliding during game play

Embroidered swoosh design at lower left hip

Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL

✤ Team Tech Fleece Crew

Fleece fabric

Trim at neck, sleeve and hem

Unique armhole design and rib side panels

Embroidered Swoosh design on center front

Sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL✤ NPC Hypercool Short Sleeve

Fabric: 84% Polyester/ 18% elastane

✤Dri-FIT top with engineered stretch fabric on boy and open hole mesh panels on back panel and underarms

Fitted for more comfortable fit

Flat seam construction for more comfort and reduction of abrasion

Swoosh design trademark heat transfer at neck

Sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL

Size Charts

✤ The fabric utilization for both is mostly 100% polyester with elastane blend in some styles.

✤ Nike is more inclined towards sublimation uniforms.

✤ Adidas has more design and colorways variety in terms of knit trims, lettering and patches.

✤ Nike is more expensive.

✤ Nike has minimalistic designs with least variations in style but are high on utility while Adidas designs consist of more variations in the form of panelling, etc.

Comparative Study between Nike and Adidas

✤Thank You!!