New Uniforms

Yes, the new ones have the SF Giants' "G" from the 1970's. Or something closely resembling it, anyway. But they appear to have more of a 3-D effect than any of the SF Giants' uniforms I'd ever seen. They look pretty good.

Seibu also revamped their uniforms. They have a two-tone blue-grey that looks very nice.

I thought that one more team had made new uniforms, too, but it escapes me right now.

> I thought that one more team had made new uniforms,
> too, but it escapes me right now.

Yes, Hiroshima has added red pinstripes to their home uniform.

Carp have added pinstripes to their away uniform too - see http://www.carp.co.jp/topics/topic_f_2.html.

Without sounding like Mr. Blackwell, I have to say that the Giants' new practice unis are horrible. The black ones are a rip-off of the SF Giants' black unis and the white ones make them look like pandas, according to Hideki Matsui. He said that as a joke, but it's true.

I have to disagree with Mr. Westbaystars about the Lions' new road uniforms. They're ugly in my opinion. I've never seen anything like it in baseball. They look like the Toronto Raptors' road uniforms in that they're two-tone, but the front and back are different colors. They're ugly as heck. The home unis didn't change much, but thank God Seibu decided to ditch the white belts in favor of a blue belt.

I liked Hiroshima's old uniforms which I thought were classic looking, but then they've decided to copy the Cincinnati Reds again and go with pinstripes. They're already using black in their warmup jackets, so it's only a matter of time till they adopt black as one of their official colors just like the Reds.

Also, NPB has copied MLB by placing the logo of NPB on the back of players' caps and on the back of the collar of the uniforms. This is getting ridiculous. Does Japanese baseball not have any originality anymore?

I agree. The NPB unis are awfull. All they do is copy MLB unis. The Carp uni for example is almost identical to that of Cincinatti's. In that respect, Giants uni looks unique. Dragons' uni= Dodgers, Yakult uni = Mets. etc. My favorite is the Tigers uni. I think its unique. We used to have unique unis like the old Kintetsu Buffaloes uni designed by an eccentric artist, Taro Okamoto. I actually enjoy more watching the High School championships because their unis are of classic design (some with Kanji!!!).

> I agree. The NPB unis are awfull. All they do is
> copy MLB unis. The Carp uni for example is almost
> identical to that of Cincinatti's. In that respect,
> Giants uni looks unique. Dragons' uni= Dodgers,
> Yakult uni = Mets. etc. My favorite is the Tigers
> uni. I think its unique. We used to have unique
> unis like the old Kintetsu Buffaloes uni designed by
> an eccentric artist, Taro Okamoto. I actually enjoy
> more watching the High School championships because
> their unis are of classic design (some with
> Kanji!!!).

Ah, but Tigers' new road uni is just a copy of the Yankees road uni.

Personally, I stick by my choice of Orix's uniforms as the best of NPB. Both the old version with the pull-over shirt, and the new button down uniforms. I particularly like the shade of blue and gold on the new uniforms...

Of course, I don't suppose it's a surprise that all the unique uniforms in NPB are in the Pacific League...

I don't think that Hanshin's road uniforms are a copy of the Yankees' road unis. They are somewhat similar, but they aren't fascimiles of each other. Hanshin's greys have piping around the collar and down the front and they also have a patch of their left sleeve. The colors are the same, but the Yanks' duds have stripes on the sleeves while Hanshin's only has piping on the sleeves. The no-name on the back part is similar, but as far as I can see, that and the colors are the only things that are similar to the Yankees' road unis.

Also, not all Pacific League uniforms are original. Nippon Ham obviously ripped off the Twins, and the Marines, with their black tops, obviously ripped off just about every team in MLB.

I have to correct Seiyu-san. Yakult ripped off their working agreement partners, the Indians, not the Mets with their navy blue tops. They even went with a two-tone cap 2 years ago but it looks like they've ditched those caps.

Personally, I don't like Orix's uniforms, especially the road uniforms. The home unis are alright, but I don't like the way the numbers and letters are written on the uniforms of the Blue Wave. Their cap is also very bland and should be revamped.

Personally, I think Kintetsu has the best unis in either league. Very stylin'. Yes, the Tigers' are similar to the Yanks', but not to the point where they're a copy. The only unis I really detest are Seibu's (and the road jersey for Yokohama). The Dragons and Carp could use a bit of originality, though.

I agree with you about Yokohama's road uniforms. They're the worst-looking uniforms in all of NPB and MLB combined. They look like slow-pitch softball league uniforms. Their home unis aren't much better either. The numbers on their uniforms are written so small that you need a microscope to see what numbers the players are wearing!
The Buffs do have good, original uniforms. Thier caps are stylish. I wish they still wore those red unis as an alternate uniform though.
I like the Marines' home uniforms the best though. They would look good on anyone.

The worst unis in NPB is the CARP. No originality + its just ugly.

As for Hanshin. I dont see them as a copy of NY Yankees. Some similarities but Hanshin uniforms are swetter than Yankees.

I got to disagree with Yokohama

I noticed yesterday that Hanshin's road uniforms underwent a subtle change. The tiger patch on the left sleeve was a very drab black and white last season but this year it's in color (yellow, just like the patch on the home unis). I'm starting to think that Hanshin's road uniforms and the Marines' home unis are the 2 best uniforms in NPB, but the Giants' home and away unis aren't too far behind.

First of all, every uniform is copied somewhere down the line. At least the Carp (Reds), and the Yankees... I mean Tigers road uniforms are copies of the Yankees they announced it taht way last spring. There isn't much originality left to do, unless you want those ugly future things the MLB uses once a year. If you gonna copy some team at least let it be the Reds, Yanks, Dodgers. Teams with more history than anything Japan has ever thought of. It could be worse they all could be wearing those ugly late 70's-early 80's Astros uniforms.

> Teams with more
> history than anything Japan has ever thought of. It
> could be worse they all could be wearing those ugly
> late 70's-early 80's Astros uniforms.

They've already done it - check out the Fighters uniforms from the 80's - early 90's.

Yeah, those Fighters' uniforms in the '80s were uglier than hell.

Another hideous uniform that was copied by was the loud yellow and green unis of the 1970s Oakland A's. The Taiyo Whales copied those uniforms like it was nobody's business.

I still don't see why people keep insisting that the Hanshin Tigers' road unis are a copy of the Yankees' road uniforms. Yakult's road uniforms are more similar to the Indians' alternate uniforms than Hanshin's are to the Yanks' unis. The Yankees' road uniforms have no patch, nothing around the collar, and 3 stripes on the sleeves. Hanshin's uniforms look nothing like that. Plus, Hanshin's uniforms have a stripe down the side of the pants while the Yankees have nothing on their pants. What gives?

> I still don't see why people keep insisting that the
> Hanshin Tigers' road unis are a copy of the Yankees'
> road uniforms. Yakult's road uniforms are more
> similar to the Indians' alternate uniforms than
> Hanshin's are to the Yanks' unis. The Yankees' road
> uniforms have no patch, nothing around the collar,
> and 3 stripes on the sleeves. Hanshin's uniforms
> look nothing like that. Plus, Hanshin's uniforms
> have a stripe down the side of the pants while the
> Yankees have nothing on their pants. What gives?

It's the same color scheme (down to the shade of gray) and the same nameless jerseys. No, the trim is not an exact copy, but I'd bet a week's pay the designer worked from the Yankees' design.

The Fighters Uniform that used from 1982 to 87' were
copy cat of the hideous uniform of the Astors of the late 70's to early 80's. Most of the Japanese baseball
uniforms were imitations of MLB anyway. I think the Yomiuri Giants' uniform that were worn from 93'-01'uniform was better than the SF Giants.

After seeing the new Dragons' road duds, I have to say that they are exactly that-a dud. I don't like them, but I guess they're still better than those ridiculous purple pinstripe sleeveless things that they wore for one season a few years back.

I wonder why Japanese teams copy MLB uniforms, but they don't copy the marketing strategy of MLB? They should use alternate uniforms (and alternate caps) more often and then they should sell the authentic jerseys and caps everywhere-not just select shops. The Buffs, the Dragons, and the Marines all had alternate uniforms or caps at one time or another in the last few years, but it hasn't become a staple in NPB like it has in MLB.

The fact that you can't just go into a store at the ballpark and buy an authentic Matsui #55 jersey, for example, is just mindboggling to me. They would make so much money if they did that.

The San Diego Padres uniforms of the 70's to mid 80's the ugliest uniforms in the history of baseball or any sport.

Taiheiyo Club Lions of the 1970's: From left: Frank Howard, Don Buford, Osamu Higashio, Mitsuo Motoi.

They changed uniforms every year from 1973 to 1976. 1976 is the worst.

• 1973
• 1975
• 1976

[Format edited by: westbaystars on Apr 9, 2002 11:03 PM]

My vote for worst uniform in Japanese baseball history goes to the Daiei Hawks' uniforms from 1989 to 1992. They looked like the old San Diego Padres' uniforms, only they had pinstripes and stupid helmets to boot. The lettering on the front of the uniforms were double stacked, making the unis look worse than slow-pitch softball uniforms.