As previously posted, the whole PETCO Park (woof!) staff had fun with the throw-back game the Cardinals and the Padres played last Friday night in San Diego.
Having an intimate knowledge of baseball cards over the past 30 years, I was certain that the God-forsaken mustard yellow jerseys worn by the Padres were from the 1970s. As is the case with most turn-back-the-clock events, the jerseys worn by both clubs are from the same time-frame. However, seeing the Cardinals jerseys prompted me to dive deeper into the history of the St. Louis uniforms.
Excluding the baby blue duds worn in the 80s, the Cardinals main attire has changed very little - which is a clear indication of a not messing with a good thing. Because of this fact, it's easy to forget about some of the minor changes in the Cardinals uniform attire over the past 30 years.
Never fear: the Baseball Hall of Fame website has a handy little reference called "Dressed to the Nines" (hat tip: Fungoes.net) that documents minor/major changes in uniform attire. The reference comes accompanied with a cartoon player that "models" each and every uniform for every Major League ball club since 1900. In my search for Cardinal uniforms over the past 30 years, I noticed a humorous little subliminal message from the pinnacle of baseball excellence.
For 95 years (1900-1994), the uniform database uses the same "model".
All of sudden, in 1995, they use a different model - one that is bigger, beefier, and bulkier. Hmmmmmmm....
Perhaps the lead artist for the website passed away in 1994. Perhaps this was baseball's way of swinging with the modern times and making their graphics look modern. Perhaps they just wanted a change...after 94 solid years.
Or...perhaps even the world of athletic cotton wants to segregate the infamous Steroid Era from the rest of history.
