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Saturday, November 29, 2008

Top Ten Braves Uniform Enhancements

The Braves are pretty well set in the uniform department, and team management knows it. They aren’t going to mess with a good thing. But they also know they need to introduce new product to keep the marketing revenue stream flowing.

Here’s ten Braves uniform suggestions to keep the team looking sharp:

Wear “Braves” on the road. Atlanta never looked quite right. For decades they wore “Braves” on the road, without complaint. Just because other teams wear the city is no good reason to follow suit. The Braves are special.

Numbers on the front. Another traditional baseball look, often worn in the past by the Braves.

Darker greys. Most every team wears the same shades of white and grey. It makes the exceptions look all the better. In the old days the Braves and other teams wore a darker shade than the bland shade used today.

Off-white home uni. Like the Giants, the Braves used to wear off-white. A great time to go back to that look, to further set the Braves apart.

Striped socks: From time to time the Braves break out the unique striped stirrups familiar to fans. Time to make it a permanent look.

Dark tomahawk: The tomahawk has become a permanent fixture for all fans. But it hasn’t always been red. The old dark tomahawk was a great look.

Red names (or none). The names looked great until 2007, when the vertically-arched lettering was ditched in a cost-saving move. It was hard to keep a uniform look when new players kept coming through the door. Lousy excuse. Check out Frenchy’s rookie year…a great look. Here are two alternatives: Back in the early 60’s the Braves wore huge red names, trimmed in black. A traditional baseball look worn by several other teams. Or NO names. Think about it, they’re no longer needed. Every stadium has huge video screens these days, and TV graphics let viewers at home know who’s who.

Ditch the red jerseys (and blue). The blue road jerseys were a disaster, purely a moneymaking scheme. A great new idea is sweeping baseball: instead on alternate jerseys worn on a certain day, instead wear a throwback uniform set that day. The Brewers, Phillies, Twins, Blue Jays, Indians, Padres, Royals, Rangers, and others look great. The Braves could wear the ever-popular feather unis, the early 80’s powder blues, the late 60’s pinstripes, or even the late 70’s red pinstripes. After a year or two, they could switch.

Navy road cap. One success from last year were the navy alternate caps. Wear them on the road, or at least every road Sunday, or something.

Patches. Just about every year there’s a reason to wear a patch. That’s a good thing! Patches are part of the fabric of baseball. If there’s good patch, the American flag (or even the Georgia state flag) would work.

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