Sunday, August 25, 2013

ESPN Ranks Dodgers' Uniform Fifth-Best...Or Possibly First

ESPN did its little ranking of all 122 uniforms in the big four American leagues. The Dodgers ended up snagging fifth-best uniform in MLB (behind the Cardinals, Cubs, A's, and Phillies), and 14th-best overall:

Ever notice that the Dodgers' white pants look extra-white, whiter than white? What's their secret -- extra bleach in the laundry? Nope. It's because the Dodgers are one of the three MLB teams whose pants don't have any pinstripes or side piping. (The other two: Oakland and St. Louis.) Their basic look, essentially unchanged for 60 years, looks as fresh as ever. Now if they'd just take the "LA" logo off the sleeve and replace it with a round patch of some sort.

ESPN then invited some of its pundits to weigh in on the "Uni Power Rankings," and Jim Caple went to bat for the Dodgers:

I can see picking the St. Louis Cardinals' uniform as baseball's best. I loved those jerseys so much that, as a kid, I tried painting my own replica T-shirt. I was 6 at the time, so my effort more closely replicated spilled tomato soup.

But I cannot understand ranking the Los Angeles Dodgers' uniforms fifth below the Cubs, Phillies and Athletics. The Dodgers' uniform is the most beautiful in baseball, even better than the Cardinals'. And I say that as someone who grew up rooting for the Giants and hating the Dodgers.

You can sit on any beach in the world on the most gorgeous of summer days and you will not see a sky as vibrantly blue as that of the Dodgers' cap. Likewise, the white of the uniform is as clean and pristine as a wedding dress. And both colors are made all the more striking by the dazzling red number below the script Dodgers. That uniform is simply as crisp, clear and pleasing as Vin Scully's voice. [...]

Here would be my top 10:

1, Dodgers; 2, Cardinals; 3, Tigers; 4, Yankees; 5, Royals; 6, Blue Jays; 7, Giants, 8, White Sox; 9, Astros; 10, Pirates.

As you can see, the Cubs, Phillies or Athletics don't even make my top 10, let alone the final four. I have nothing against those uniforms (and I love Oakland's elephant shoulder patch) but I don't consider them particularly outstanding. In fact, the Cubs would fall somewhere into the bottom half of my rankings.

I agree with Caple, at least for #s 1-2.

image (of frowning Dodgers, no less) swiped from ESPN

Dodgers tickets

2 comments:

Mark Johnstone said...

Sorry, I need to go with the Cards' uniform(s).

Mark Johnstone said...

Sorry, I need to go with the Card's uniforms.