Tune in this week to watch Yasiel Puig or David Ortiz in high-def, then check out these throwbacks: Jackie Robinson stealing home in a grainy newsreel, Ted Williams swinging in a black-and-white photo.
See something familiar?
That flowing blue “Dodgers” script across the front of the jersey that followed them from Brooklyn. That pointy, ornate “B” on the Red Sox cap.
Same style, now and then.
Pretty much true for the Cardinals and Tigers, too. The classic “birds on a bat” logo sported by Carlos Beltran and his St. Louis teammates, the Olde English “D” worn by Miguel Cabrera and his Detroit pals — find a picture from the 1934 World Series between those teams and you’ll recognize the jerseys.
In an era when clubs frequently change their look and often wear more than a dozen uniform combinations, kind of neat to see the four remaining playoff teams dressed up in duds that date back 70 years or so.
“They’re all definitely the top jerseys in the game. You probably don’t need to change them,” Cardinals reliever Kevin Siegrist said.
“It’s just the history of the game. It’s crazy. These organizations have been around since when the game first started so it’s awesome to have all these big teams in there. It’s fun,” he said.
There have been some changes, of course. The bat in the Cardinals logo is now yellow, rather than red or black from way back. The Tigers “D” on the hat was orange at Fenway Park, instead of white.
Still, close enough.
“Uniforms have changed so much, it’s nice to wear one that hasn’t changed a lot,” Red Sox infielder John McDonald said.
McDonald has put on plenty of them — he’s played for seven teams in the majors, including Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh this season alone.
“My dad used to take me to watch baseball games a lot, I’d go to New York, Boston, a lot of places. I really started to notice the older uniforms when I was in Pittsburgh earlier this year,” he said.
And now, baseball’s playoff club shares a bond.
“It’s cool. There’s a lot of tradition with the teams that are left and a lot of history. That makes it great for baseball,” Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter said.
