Evolution of a Uniform Model

Last night when Phillyist was looking up some baseball stats, we found this cool link to a database of major league baseball uniforms. The database allows you to search for the uniforms of desired teams by league, city, and range of years, and then displays the home and road uniforms of the team for each year in the range.

Until 1995, each uniform is displayed on this unaffected cutout-type model: faceless and flat with off-white skin (until 1947, at which point brown and tan colors are introduced as skin colors – a nice touch) while one hand holds a bat over the right shoulder and the other hand rests on the waist. Charming, unpretentious, and straightforward: it was very easy to see the basic design and colors of each uniform. Each of these images is credited to Marc Okkonen, who included them as part of his book, Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century: The Official Major League Baseball Guide.

Starting with 1995, the uniform model changes: from 1995 to date, each image is credited to Major League Baseball. Who knows what Major League Baseball was thinking, because the uniform models from 1995 to 2000 look like steroidal-freak wannabes. Unlike the faceless model created by Okkonen, these thugs have smug, unforgiving expressions. Also unlike the models by Okkonen (who simply duplicated the same model to show the home and road uniforms), the MLB home model is different from the road model. While the home model holds out his left hand like a racketeer demanding money, the road model looks like the racketeer's enforcer, resting his left arm kingpin-style on a baseball bat that looks like it was meant to tenderize large sides of beef. Adding to the poor post-Okkonen quality is the fact that the 1995-2000 models have some black shading (to emphasize their drug-enhanced physiques?) that distracts from the uniforms' color and design - the black looks like it is part of the uniforms' colors.

In 2001, MLB changed the models again, replacing the two hitmanesque models with one slimmer, less intimidating model. The 1995-2000 model is improved by the 2001 (to present) model, who has a semi-clueless expression (imagine a young Charlie Manuel), a more relaxed posture, and less black shading. Still, Phillyist yearns for the old Okkonen model, which didn't interfere with the style of the uniforms or infuse the uniform model with bizarre personalities.

Image credit: www.baseballhalloffame.org