Though they have yet to make significant roster changes for next season, the Washington Nationals and Cleveland Indians have already made changes to their on-field fashions. Both teams recently finished with less than stellar seasons and hope that these new looks will be the starting off point for a successful 2011.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
The Washington Nationals will take the field in new uniforms, making this the third time in the last five years that they’ve revamped their style. The official unveiling took place last night, during an invite-only fashion show at National Park. Runway models were replaced with Nats players including Ryan Zimmerman, Tyler Clippard, Ian Desmond, Drew Storen, John Lannan and Jordan Zimmerman, who showed off the team’s new uniforms.
Among the new gear is a white jersey (primary home), gray jersey (primary road), red jersey (alternate) and a navy “patriotic” jersey to be worn on special occasions (Memorial Day, July 4th, September 11th).
The most significant change is the addition of the “Curly W” on the front of the home and alternate jerseys, replacing the team name, “Nationals.” The uniform number will also be displayed on the right side of the jersey. This change is probably a good idea for the Nats, in an effort to avoid another incident like this:
According to the team, here are some additional uniform features:
- On the back of the jersey, the names and numbers are red with blue outline, while the gold trim was removed from the numbers.
- On the left sleeve, the new primary logo of Washington Nationals organization will replace the former logo with block lettering.
- While wearing the red alternate uniforms on Saturday and Sunday during home games, the hat changes to a darker blue with a red bill for the road, which is the same as the road uniform hat.
- The road uniforms will remain grey with the name Washington" on the front, but the hat will change to darker blue with a red bill.
"We spent the entire season getting the feel for what the experience means [to the fans], what the brand means, how it would be developed and the uniforms that came out as a part of it," said Andrew Feffer, the COO of the Nationals. "You are not only going to see the Curly W as part of the uniforms. It will be part of the scoreboard, the game presentation, marketing materials, merchandise. "
Hopefully for the Nats, the "Curly W" will help lead to some gametime W’s next season. For now, fans can pick up the new merchandise at www.nationals.com.
CLEVELAND INDIANS
Just like the Nats, the Indians are fresh off another disappointing season, with 93 games recorded in the loss column. Whether or not they can rebound next year remains to be seen but at least they’ll look great trying. The Tribe has also unveiled “enhanced” new unis for next season. And they look good.
The Indians will wear four sets of uniforms, two for home games and two for road games. It’s the first time the team has changed the uniform since 2008. And for 2011, they are going retro with gear including vintage looking caps and a road jersey modeled after the Indians uniform from 1901.
According to the team, here are some additional features:
- The home alternate uniform will showcase a new home alternate red cap with a midnight navy block "C" that is vintage Indians baseball. The uniform will still include a red player number on the back with navy blue outline and does not include the player name.
- The new traditional road gray uniform will showcase a new block "CLEVELAND" lettering on the front of the chest, to replace the previous script "Cleveland". This will be combined with the midnight navy blue cap with a red block "C." The uniform will include a blue player name and number on the back with red outline. This uniform is reminiscent of the uniform of 1901.
- The traditional home white uniform and blue "Wahoo" cap with red bill will remain.
- The alternate road navy uniform with "Script Indians" will now be combined with the navy blue "Wahoo" cap, previously worn with the traditional road gray uniform.
The new gear is available at www.indians.com.
- Glam Gal -