When you think about it, the current design of the uniforms the Phillies have been sporting since 1992 are getting a little old and stale. Actually, they are catching up in age to those hard maroon unis the team wore all through the 1970s that just seemed to scream, "DISCO!"
The shirts they wear now just whine, "We don't have any other good ideas."
Sometimes the best ideas are the ones that are already out there. Take for instance the one the Phillies came up with for their "new" alternate home uniform, which the team will wear for day games at the Bank. Yeah, well, it's exactly like the shirts and pants the team wore in 1946 to 1949. Guess what? It works.
Really, they are blue and red (with a cream-colored base). How could that miss when blue and red go together like chocolate and peanut butter?
In fact, those uniforms look so good that perhaps the "alternate" uniforms should be the ones they have been wearing since 1992. Let's not kid ourselves, the Phillies' look is stale and needs to be freshened up a bit. Not only do they need a third baseman, a center fielder and a few pitchers, but a new wardrobe would surely get the local nine feeling a little better about themselves. Doesn't a new snazzy shirt or a slick pair of pants make everyone feel better?
Pitcher turned runway model Cole Hamels told reporters that he liked the new/old look.
"It's nice to have something different. All the teams have been coming up with new uniforms, and you want to be part of it," he said. "I know it's going to help out with the marketing campaign because it brings something new and fun to the stadium."
Wait... this uniform thing is a marketing campaign? Would the Phillies do such a thing just to sell shirts at their team store for $189.99 and caps for (probably) $25? With a recession looming, ticket prices as high as they are and the Christmas season in full swing, wouldn't the Phillies just want to give away that kind stuff to help drum up support for the hometown team? They didn't unveil the new uniforms just 25 shopping days before Christmas on purpose did they?
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Speaking of new looks for the Phillies, forget about a trade with the Orioles for Melvin Mora. According to general manager Pat Gillick, the Phillies believe Mora is a good player, but they are sure what the team would have to offer back to the O's.
Speaking of the Orioles, I always liked that smiling bird cap they used to wear in the ‘70s and ‘80s. It made Eddie Murray and Earl Weaver look like a really friendly dudes, you know.
In the interest of full disclosure, I felt that my American Legion baseball team sponsored by the local Elks club should have had smiling elk caps as an homage to those juggernaut Orioles' teams. I even tried to design one, but it came out like something Deitch suggested for a new uniform patch for the Phillies.
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Von Hayes is still the manager of sandlot independent league Lancaster Barnstormers and I promise I will write something about it as soon as figure out a way to do it tactfully. In the interest of full disclosure, ol' Von is a good hire for Lancaster and he beat out Gary Carter, Wally Backman and the team's ex manager Tom Herr for the gig. But then again, people I talked to (yep, I talked to real live people about it) say anyone other than Herr would have been good. That guy, one person said, has the personality of a toilet seat...
Oh yeah, tact. I'll work on it.
*** Rumors and crap Just as quickly as rumors sprung up regarding a potential trade between the Orioles and the Phillies for third baseman Melvin Mora, they were squashed by general manager Pat Gillick. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies' GM says the team is focused on acquiring pitching. Nevertheless, Gillick indicated that the Phillies would have plenty of money to spend on the right player(s) though he noted that "This is not a good free-agent group."
With center fielder Aaron Rowand expected to sign elsewhere for the 2008 season, the Phillies are rumored to be amongst the teams looking at Brewers' slugger Geoff Jenkins as a player to bolster the outfield.