Best Baseball Uniforms of 2018

You can thank our own @TheThinGwynn for lighting the proverbial fire under the rear for this post.

I was browsing and carousing about Twitter when I stumbled across this fine take from Mike Costa of some radio station I don’t listen to since I’m all the way across the mountains. I think it’s the one that refuses to stop talking about FORMER FOOTBALL TEAM. I digress. Here’s the take that really rustled my jimmies:

If you take a walk over to Google and toss “best MLB uniforms” into the search bar you’ll get varying lists and takes on best uniforms, of which many may indeed feature the Cardinals up towards the top 5-10 range. I agree that the currently visiting Cards have a timeless look that they’ve done well to stick by and keep. I’ll also argue that their current home uni isn’t even the best in their archive (that label belongs to the cream St. Louis scripted version).

I’ll be damned if some derision and a uniform take from an old media personality is going to go by without a rebuttal from a cap collector and tripper of the light aesthetic.

The term “best uniforms” feels more like a fluid concept; I honestly believe that the best uniforms in baseball vary season by season based on what teams roll out. Just because a team decides to stick to a time-tested design does not make their uniforms a continual best in show for the year; they can be uprooted by new looks and classic retreads. Such is the case for my personal best looks of the year so far.

Yes, these are biased. Yes, you are certainly entitled to your own opinion on what constitutes a best uniform and I’d love to read what you think. If you really think I’m off base then I can’t wait to read your rebuttal-of-a-rebuttal article about it.

Let’s get to it in no particular order:

San Diego Padres 1998 Throwback Home

Our own Padres will be dusting off these classic uniforms for Saturday’s game against the Cardinals in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the National League champs. Of course for many Padres fans this is the quintessential Padres look and many have argued the team should go back to this if they decide to constantly eschew the brown. No argument from me: these have aged incredibly well and probably carry a lot of intrinsic value based solely on the success the team saw donning these duds. Even though this look will only see action a handful of times this year I’d solidly place it among the top for the season.

San Diego Padres Friday Alternate

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Do I really need to argue this? The fact that most of our players don’t roll with matching accessories is an article for another day, however...

Oakland A’s 50th Anniversary Friday Alternate

Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images

The Oakland A’s are celebrating their 50th anniversary this season and decided to roll out these beauties for Friday home games. While I generally like the A’s dark green/yellow attire, this kelly green/yellow set is an incredibly strong look and really pops on the field. The plain kelly green caps are the figurative Italian chef kissing fingers. The Athletics should really consider a palette switch to this colorway.

Philadelphia Phillies Thursday Alternate

Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images

I’ve always believed the Phillies should go back to the more unique maroon colorway. These uniforms pair that awesome maroon colorway with the road powder blue the team wore during the “powder blue” 70s era of sansabelts and double knit poly uniforms. The team actually experimented with wearing this road uniform at home; they lost that one game and shelved the idea completely until this year.

I have a few reservations on this modern take: the original featured a zipper while this is a button-up. The original also featured vertical arching for last names rather than the inferior radial arching commonplace today. Outside of my nitpicks the powder blue concept has aged very well in a modern era where nostalgia sells.

Toronto Blue Jays Home Jersey

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Speaking of nostalgia selling, how about the turnaround of the Blue Jays from the 2000s everyone-has-a-black-uniform to this classic look with a modern touch? The Jays (much like the Astros and Orioles) did right by their fans by reaching back into their logo catalog and bringing back this Jay logo and refreshing it for a modern uniform. The letter and number font is ubiquitous Blue Jays. The caps are solid. The Blue Jays alongside the aforementioned teams (Astros, Orioles) are great examples of what retro can do for you...RIGHT PADRES!? RIGHT!?

Seattle Mariners Sunday Alternate

The Associated Press

Yeah yeah yeah, miss me with that natural rivalry stuff for a sec, ok?

One of the easiest ways to get my attention is to roll with a cream uniform and this Mariners alternate does the job. The blue/yellow colorway is backed by history with the Seattle Pilots tie-in. Both Father and Son Griffey wore this colorway (though not with this logo set). While I think the colorway the Mariners currently roll with is very apropos with their geography, I still can’t help but think this blue/yellow look is superior.

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So what do you think? Do you have any top uniforms you think should be tops for the season?