Indians New BP Jersey Review

Mar 22, 2013; Gooodyear, AZ, USA; Cleveland Indians right fielder Nick Swisher (33) walks back to the dugout after the end of the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Update to BP Jerseys Leaves a Lot to be Desired

You gotta love marketing. Well, you don’t really have to love it in the literal sense, but you have to love marketing’s persistence to shove new team paraphernalia down the throats of fans on an almost yearly basis. In that sense, you have to give them an A for effort even if the execution is sometimes an F.

This… This might be one of those times.

Major League Baseball has once again made updates to each team’s batting practice (BP) jerseys. We can debate the merits of BP jerseys all we want, but the fact remains that they exist and Major League Baseball expects fans to buy them, no matter how ugly or garish they may be.

If you recall, the Indians standard BP jerseys over the past few seasons have looked like this on the front and like this on the back. They were good but not great and what you could basically expect a batting practice jersey to look like. They also fit well into the Indians color scheme where blue is the dominant color with red serving mainly as an accent to provide some pop.

Well, that’s all about to change. MLB has kept the same basic template on how the new BP jerseys are assembled. Teams were given the opportunity to make tweaks in regards to the type face or logos used on the front. That is a given in any redesign. The Indians will roll out with the Block C on the left breast and go away from the bold Indians type face across the front.

However, the drastic change comes in regards to the colors and their usage. Teams were granted the opportunity to maintain a solid one color scheme. The greater majority of teams opted to go this route. However, the second and seemingly less popular option was to go two toned on the front and back. Teams opting to go this route were the Braves, Rockies, Nationals, Royals, Rays, Marlins and Indians. You can see all the changes being made in the image below.

Credit: MLB.com

Yes, the Indians opted to go two-toned. The front appears solid blue while the back is predominantly red. From the looks of the image that began circulating around the internet above, it’s hard to really understand just how bright and garish the redesign would be. Red and blue are not to colors that blend well together and when put against each other are not very pleasing to the human eye.

Well, with the start of spring training just days away, we’re beginning to get better views of the new BP jerseys. Recently, the new BP jerseys were added to the Indians team shop page.

Credit: Indians Team Shop

First impressions, that’s a lot of red. Like, A LOT of red. Of course, this is probably not helped by the fact that there is no name or number on the back to help break up the red. Until we see how the back looks with the full accoutrement of a name plate and numbers, it’s hard to say just how bright this new design really is and just how many retinas will be burned when a player turns his back to the stands.

Well, this past week we got our first look at just how the new BP jerseys will look on the field when a picture from the Indians clubhouse started making the rounds.

Credit: Unknown

The image quality is not that great, but what it does show us is that there is still a lot of red space on the back of these uniforms. And while the white outline of the letters and numbers will certainly help aid in making the design more pleasing to the eye, it doesn’t necessarily help make this a good design. Designs like this come off as very novelty like and are hard to take seriously. If a team wants a blue jersey, have a blue jersey. If they want a red jersey, make a red jersey. Don’t try to mash-up the two like some sort of Frankenstein’s monster. It only come across as indecisive.

Of course, we have yet to see just how these will look on the field while being worn by players. That is the true test after all. Hanging on a hanger is not the proper manner in which any jersey is meant to be viewed. And while I don’t see my opinion of these new BP jerseys changing any time soon, there are probably a number of fans who will enjoy this new design and rush out to buy one.

To each their own I guess.