A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Cathedral: March 2019

I cannot wait for the start of the 2019 baseball season. It officially kicks of this Wednesday when the Mariners and A’s play two games in Japan. Everyone else starts next week. While some divisions seem to be easy to pick, others are up for grabs by 3-4 teams. Of course, there is always the surprise team (like the A’s last year). Let me make some predictions that are sure to be way off by the end of the season:

American League

East

Boston Red Sox (the defending champs have enough to win an interesting division)

New York Yankees (still some questions about their starting pitching, though their bullpen is scary)

Tampa Bay Rays (unexpectedly good last year, good enough for third again)

Toronto Blue Jays (cannot wait to see the impact of Vlad Guerrero Jr. and if Bo Bichette is called up)

Baltimore Orioles (potentially the worst team in baseball)

Central

Minnesota Twins (going on a little limb, I really like their offseason additions-Nelson Cruz, Marwin Gonzalez, etc.)

Cleveland Indians (I am really confused, they should be good yet they’re trying to trade their starting pitchers)

Chicago White Sox (the rest of this division probably will not be good)

Kansas City Royals (Merrifield, Mondesi, and a few good parts to not make a whole)

Detroit Tigers (full rebuild mode)

West

Houston Astros (if they don’t win the division, and by a lot, something has gone terribly wrong)

Los Angeles Angels (no Ohtani pitching means they are very weak there)

Oakland Athletics (some really good players-Chapman, Olson- and some hope for the future)

Seattle Mariners (Mitch Haniger and not much else)

Texas Rangers (who will trade for Leclerc?)

National League

East

Phillies (the most difficult division to pick, I’ve switched this pick many times, but I’m going with the additions of Harper, Segura, and Realmuto)

Braves (potential to be great, also potential to have some massive slumps from Acuna and Albies, plus too many questions with their rotation)

Nationals (love the top three starting pitchers, the rest is a lot of question marks)

Mets (see Nationals)

Marlins (with the Orioles, the other choice for worst team)

Central

Brewers (I’m fairly confident because I don’t trust any of the other teams in the division)

Cardinals (love the Goldschmidt pickup, but not sure about the pitching)

Pirates (few will rank them this high, but I think they are a sneaky good team and could contend the whole season)

Cubs (they have some big names, but too many of them are getting old or have injury histories or both)

Reds (they made some potentially positive steps this offseason, but I’m not really sure why because it’s unlikely they will contend)

West

Rockies (I’m a believer in their pitching staff plus a potent offense)

Dodgers (Kershaw and Jansen, two huge pieces, will struggle this year)

Padres (still a year or two away)

Diamondbacks (threw in the towel before the season began)

Giants (not only is the Major League team weak, apparently their Minors are bare; Bumgarner will be traded before the deadline)

Playoffs:

AL Wild Card: Yankees over Indians

NL Wild Card: Braves over Dodgers

ALDS: Astros over Yankees

Red Sox over Twins

NLDS: Braves over Brewers

Rockies over Phillies (can no longer pick a Harper team in the playoffs)

ALCS: Astros over Red Sox (this time the umps don’t screw up two major calls)

NLCS: Braves over Rockies (the kids are all right)

World Series: Astros over Braves (payback for the 90s)

AL MVP: Mookie Betts

AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole

AL ROY: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

NL MVP: Nolan Arenado

NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom

NL ROY: Luis Urias

With the American League down, let’s look at the National League uniforms.

National League:

Atlanta:

Grade: C+

Let’s get this out of the way: I do not like the cap logo. That “A” is too similar to Alabama (though I do know the difference). The only jersey I really like is the home white with the “Braves” over the tomahawk. I have never really like the alternate blues, especially since it is blue on blue.

Best: 1953-1962

The Braves started wearing the script “Braves” with tomahawk back in Boston in 1946, and they stuck with that until 1962. This look was re-introduced in 1987 and has remained the same since. I picked these uniforms because Milwaukee is always superior to Atlanta and these are the Aaron/Spahn/Matthews days.

Worst: 1976-1979

Usually I like pinstripes, but not these. I am also not a fan of the road uniforms, the script “Atlanta” is a bit too big.

Miami:

Grade: F

What are they doing in Miami? They have never really had good uniforms, but the new 2019 uniforms are hideous. Some of them you cannot read the lettering, some of them are just garish. Thank goodness they are so irrelevant as a team.

Best: 1995-1996

The Marlins have never had great uniforms. At best these teal uniforms would be around a “C”.

Worst: 2019

They haven’t really worn them yet and they’re already terrible.

New York:

Grade: B+

No biases here: the Mets “NY” is better than the Yankees’. The Mets’ home pinstripe whites are fantastic, some of the best in baseball. The other jerseys are basically average, which is why the overall grade is lower, though the blue alternate home jerseys are pretty nice.

Best: 1985-1986

The Mets have had somewhat similar uniforms throughout their history, and pretty much all of them are nice. I was tempted to say the 60s version was best, but I can’t help it, I like the stripes down the sleeves and pant legs. In 1987 they switched to a script “New York” on the road uniforms, but I actually prefer “Mets” in this case.

Worst: 2001-2011

It might be hard to tell, but during these years they had black road caps. That’s the only thing distinguishing these as “worst.”

Philadelphia:

Grade: C+

I think I like the alternate home whites a little more than the pinstripes, but that’s because for once I am not a huge fan of the home pinstripes. Maybe if they used a little more blue, like the alternate whites, I would like these more. The caps are fine, nothing special.

Best: 1973-1988

I can’t help it, when I think Phillies, I think Mike Schmidt and these uniforms. I like both the home pinstripes and the road blues.

Worst: 1942

Maybe they went basic for the war, I do not know, but these uniforms are just boring. They also did away with red in their uniforms during the war years, which is not right for the Phillies. I also am not a fan of just “Phils” on the road jersey.

Washington:

Grade: B-

For one thing, the Nationals have way too many alternates. My biggest problem is that I don’t particularly like any of the jerseys, except maybe the alternate blue home with script “Nationals.” This is why I kept wanting to buy a Bryce Harper jersey but could never decide on which version to get, because they are pretty much all okay but none of them stand out. I do like the script “W” logo for the caps (but again, too many alternates).

Best: 1980-1991

Maybe I am cheating a little bit, but these Expos jerseys are some of the best in baseball history. I love the red/white/blue caps. I love the red and blue piping. I also love how their logo, which is the second-best in baseball history, dominates the jersey and cap. Amazing.

Worst: 2005-2010

The first rendition of the Nationals jerseys were quite ugly. I do not like the large block lettering on the jerseys. It’s like they were the last of that trend from the late-90s/early-00s. (Most specifically, these are the worst "Natinals" jerseys.)

Chicago:

Grade: A+

I am not a Cubs fan, but I have to say if there are perfect uniforms, these are them. The home jersey with the pinstripes and the logo on front is fantastic. The alternate blues are great. Even the road grays are good with the blue name and red numbers. Just great all around.

Best: 1997-present

I gave it a perfect grade so I have to stick with these as the best. The Cubs’ uniform history is pretty interesting, and not nearly as “uniform” as you might think. That being said, the home jersey has been nearly the same since they introduced pinstripes in 1957.

Worst: 1918

I am not sure what is going on with these road uniforms. I really don’t know what to say. And green socks? Yeesh.

Cincinnati:

Grade: C

You can probably guess why I have these ranked this low. The home whites are boring. The alternate reds are ugly. The road grays are boring. To be honest, the Reds don’t have a great history of uniforms.

Best: 1958-1960

I am not really a huge fan of any Reds uniforms, but these are the best because of the cutoff sleeves and the fact they make me think of Frank Robinson.

Worst: 1972-1992

Jeez they wore these for a long time, throughout the Big Red Machine and past the 1990 World Series. These are the worst of the 70s pullover jerseys. You just look at them and think “polyester.”

Milwaukee:

Grade: B-

The worst thing about these uniforms are the caps with the “M”. I definitely prefer the alternate dark blues, but the others aren’t bad. Of course, all of the new uniforms pale in comparison to those from the 80s, which at least are alternates.

Best: 1978-1984

I all of the pre-1994 Brewers uniforms, but these are the most iconic. The home jerseys are the perfect pinstripes and the blue cap, which was worn through 1993. The road blues with the script “Milwaukee” and the blue and yellow cap are clearly the best they’ve ever had. And, of course, that logo is the greatest in the history of sports.

Worst: 1994-2000

They changed from blue and yellow to blue and green and they got rid of the iconic logo, to name just a few things they did wrong. In 2001 they switched to what they were now, which is a slight improvement. They never should have moved away from their best uniforms, but at least they wear them as alternates now.

Pittsburgh:

Grade: A-

I am a big fan of the black and yellow (and I love that all Pittsburgh teams use it, makes it easy to be a fan). The home whites are really nice, and I also really like the alternate blacks. The font makes it all really work.

Best: 1957-1969

The Pirates wore blue and red until 1948 when they switched to the black and gold that looks so good now. For some reason a lot of people like the 70s look now, but for me the Pirates peaked with the sleeveless look of the Clemente days.

Worst: 1997-2000

I was tempted to go with the late-70s/early-80s garish look, but there are two big problems with these years. First: the gray cap for the away uniforms. Second: the pinstripes with the gray away jerseys is not a good look.

St. Louis:

Grade: A

More great, classic uniforms, these are really close to the Cubs for best. I love the “StL” logo on the hats, but the birds on the bat are outstanding. My minor quibble: I wish the road grays had “St. Louis” in script like the alternate creams. Speaking of which, I am not a huge fan of those, which also knocks them down just a tad. I do like that they are bringing back blue road alternates this year.

Best: 1949-1950

The Cardinals have been wearing the bat and birds on their jersey almost continuously since 1922. That means they have almost always been good. I realize that since they are the Cardinals they should have more red, but I actually like it better when there is the blue mixed in. These years they wore the blue caps. Plus, these are prime-Musial years.

Worst: None

I can’t really pick anything because any that I do would be nick-picking.

Arizona:

Grade: F

So many choices, all of them hideous. I don’t really know where to begin. They went full modern and, for me, that was a huge mistake. Most of them at least have a similar feel, except the two alternates with teal, which are the worst. I also don’t like the red they use to begin with, which is similar to the brick red the Astros used, which I also did not like. Yikes.

Best: 2001-2006

This is kind of relative because I don’t think any of theirs has been particularly good. These get the sentimental bump, if nothing else, for the World Series win in 2001.

Worst: 2016-Present

See above.

Colorado:

Grade: D

The Rockies, surprisingly, have had the same uniforms for their entire history (only that from 2000-2011 they had pinstripes on the road grays). I say surprisingly not only because most new franchises have changed frequently but also because they are incredibly boring. They are just so plain. Only the alternate purples are somewhat interesting.

Los Angeles:

Grade: A

Similar to the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Cardinals, etc.; classic, nearly perfect. For some reason I feel like the road grays could be a little better, but I’m not sure exactly how. Maybe if it ain’t broke…

Similar to the Yankees, it’s not really worth it to do a Best/Worst. The uniform has essentially remained the same since 1938, changing only from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. There were not any particularly bad uniforms before then.

San Diego:

Grade: D+

The Padres had great uniforms for most of their history until they changed to the blue and white uniforms about 15 years ago. Now they are incredibly boring. At least the camos that they have made regular alternates are interesting, a nod to the naval presence in town.

Best: 1995-2001

This is actually tough because, unlike most people, I really like the brown and yellow jerseys of the 70s and 80s. I also really like the brown pinstripes of the late 80s. This one, though, was the Caminiti years, and I really like their blue and orange (surprise, surprise).

Worst: 2004-2010

That road sand color…yuck. I get it, San Diego, beaches, sand, but not on a uniform. And even the lettering on those is bad. At least they went away from those for the current uniforms.

San Francisco:

Grade: B-

The regular home whites and road grays are definitely better than their alternates, which are mostly misses (well, maybe the alternate grays are better than the regular ones). This is one time when I think I prefer the single color caps over the orange brim caps.

Best: 1906

In the first 50 years of the 20^th century, the Giants uniforms were all over the place. Some were quite nice, some were not. I have to give them credit for this most of all. How awesome to walk into every game proclaiming you are the best. (San Francisco best: I like the 1983-1993 version with just the “SF” on the road jersey.)