Major League Baseball Uniforms
History and Trivia about MLB Jerseys, Caps, and Uniforms
From the Knickerbockers' pantaloons, ties, and straw hats to the Pittsburgh Pirates' pullover double-knits, the baseball uniform has been anything but uniform.
Major League Baseball Uniforms have changed dramatically over the past 160 years.
The first professional team, the New York Knickerbockers, officially adopted team uniforms for the first time in history when their owner, Alexander Cartwright chose white flannel shirts with a black collar, blue wool pantaloons and straw hats for his players to wear. One can only imagine that the straw did not adequately offset the intense heat produced by the wool and flannel uniform in the dead of a New York City summer. But those materials would remain the fabrics of choice for baseball uniforms for over 100 years.
Changes and Developments in MLB Uniforms
- In 1868, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first team to wear knickers rather than pants. The reason: believe it or not, it was to show off the team’s high red socks, which had been designed by the owner's wife.
- In 1906, the New York Giants were the first team to introduce the collarless jersey. After almost sixty years of wearing uniforms that resembled bankers’ outfits, Major League players were finally freed from the eternal annoyance of the collared shirt.
- In 1912, the New York Yankees first switched to a pinstriped uniform. It has since become the most famous uniform in all of sports.
- In 1929, both the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians introduced numbers on the backs of players’ uniforms. The Yankee numbers were designed to correspond to their starting players’ positions in the batting order; hence, Babe Ruth was No. 3 and Lou Gehrig was No. 4. By 1932, every Major League team had also placed numbers on their uniforms, a practice that remains to this day.
- In 1939, the Yankees became the first team to ever retire a player’s number, when they sent Lou Gehrig’s famous number 4 out to pasture. Since then, well over 200 players have had their numbers retired by their teams. Most notably, In 1997, Jackie Robinson’s number 42 was retired throughout the entire Major Leagues.
- In 1960, the Chicago White Sox were the first team to place a player’s name on the back of his jersey.
Essential Trivia about Major League Baseball Uniforms
During the communist “Red Scare” of the 1950s that was led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the Cincinnati Reds actually removed their team’s name from their uniforms.
In 1976, the Chicago White Sox wore shorts during the opening game of a doubleheader. Players hated the shorts so much that the entire team switched back to pants for the nightcap.
In 1993, the Reds and the Florida Marlins brought back the sleeveless jersey, something that had not been seen in the majors since 1971. Since then, over a half-dozen clubs have adopted this sleeveless, comfortable look.
During the 1998 New York Yankee season, pitcher David Wells bought a cap that babe Ruth had worn while playing for the Yankees in the 1920s. Wells wore the cap while pitching the first inning of a game, but removed it before he returned to the mound at the order of manager Joe Torre.
The highest price ever paid for a MLB uniform was $451,452. The uniform worn by Lou Gehrig during his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium sold for that amount at an auction in 1999.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of throwback baseball jerseys. Companies such as Mitchell & Ness of Philadelphia custom make copies of such popular jerseys as the 1927 Yankees, the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies.
