Today was The Official Day--Our Washington Nationals unveiled their 2009 Uniforms before a packed audience at The ESPN Zone in Downtown, Washington DC. Radio Broadcaster Charlie Slowes was on hand to usher in The New Era along with Our Manager Manny Acta and Outfielder Lastings Milledge. Due to a scheduling conflict--Outfielder Elijah Dukes could, unfortunately, not make the event.
Charlie & Manny got the festivities underway with a brief chat about the off-season, then Our Number 14 got off this zinger when Charlie asked him about whether the freshness of new uniforms can help a young team."I don't really care what uniform I am wearing," stated Acta, "all I want are some more Curly W's. That is what really matters to me"(to a huge roar from the assembled fans).
But everyone in attendance did come to see those new uni's and shortly thereafter the Runway Program Began.
First Up:
The Home Whites will remain basically the same, except now gone are The Nationals Park Inaugural Season Patch on the left sleeve and The "DC" Circular Patch on the right, replaced on the left sleeve by a larger "DC" Logo in white and gold trim standing alone--similar to The Los Angeles Dodgers "LA". Worn with The Red Curly "W" Cap.
The New Red Alternate was next. Red Based White Curly W (with Blue Accents) Jersey with White Piping around the sleeves, collar and down the jersey front. Number to be placed on the front lower right side with White & Blue Accents. "DC" Logo in White with Gold Trim to be worn on the left sleeve--just like the home whites. White Letters with Blue Accents on the back. White Numbers with Gold, Red & Blue Accents on the back. Worn with The Red Curly "W" Cap and White Pants with Blue & Red Side Piping.
The third jersey unveiled was The New Alternate Blue with "DC" and Wavy Stars & Stripes DC Logo on the left chest. White Number on the right lower front with Red Accents. White and Red Piping around the sleeves, collar, and down the jersey front. Washington Nationals Patch to be worn on the left sleeve. White Letters with Red Accents on back. White Numbers with Gold & Red Trim Accents on the jersey back. To be worn with the new Two Tone blue with red brim matching "DC" Stars & Stripes wavy cap and White Pants with Blue & Red Side Piping. This Uniform Combination WILL ONLY BE WORN ON VERY SPECIAL OCCAISIONS, Charlie Slowes mentioned 6 to 10 times per year--at most. The Press Kit lists July 4th, September 11th (10th in 2009) and Military Appreciation Days as Scheduled Games this Patriotic Look will be worn.
Finally, The New Gray Road Curly "W" Script Washington Jersey. Curly "W" and "ashington" in script with Blue & Red Accents. Red Number on the lower left rib cage with Blue & White Accents. "DC" Logo on the left sleeve. Red Letter on Back with White & Blue Accents. Red Numbers on Back with Blue, Gold and White Accents. To be worn with Navy Blue Curly "W" Cap (the same from previous seasons) and Gray Pants with Red & Blue Piping down the sides.
I really like the Curly "W" Script Away Jersey. Both Manny Acta and Bill Ladson from Nationals.com (who covered The Expos in Montreal) both agreed this uniform reminded them of the last Away Uniform worn by The Expos before they moved to The Nation's Capital.
The New Blue Alternate with Stars & Stripes is fine with me. They are better than some of those camo Uniforms other teams wear every now and then. And with White Pants, they should stand out. The Cap is different and more importantly, this uniform is to represent Our Country and Our Nation's Capital. Nothing wrong with that. I like what this uniform represents.
It was hard to get a feel for The Red Curly "W" alternate without all the trim and decoration added. The Ladies modeling the uniform tops were wearing replicas without all the extras--and The Red Curly "W" was the only one not shown in it's entirety.
After the presentation ended, I asked Charlie if the Blue "Washington" Away Dugout jacket will change with the Script Away Uniform--he was informed a New "Washington" Script Dugout Jacket will be worn in 2009.
Avid Nationals Fan Jeff was the very first person to actually buy The New Road Jersey. He headed over to The Nationals Team Store before the ESPN Zone Event, purchased the New Script "W" Away Uniform, then had Manny and Lastings sign it as a commemorative.
Original Section 320 Faithful Abby was on hand, with not only her parents, Becky & Mike in Tow, but along with her four week old baby brother--Joey. Even Our Manager Manny Acta got into the act of holding A Brand New Nats Fan--starting him young.
There was a Autograph Session after the uniform unveiling for anyone wishing to partake. 2008 Team Photos were handed out to everyone in the autograph line.
More coming later. I chatted with Phil Wood on his thoughts about Our Washington Nationals New Uniforms. And also, The Media sat down with Manny Acta and Lastings Milledge for about 15 minutes to talk after the conclusion of the Uniform Event. Not only the new uniforms were discussed, but also a little baseball. I just need some time to transcribe that availability.
Thanks for the pics and report.
ReplyDeleteGreat report, thanks SBF.
ReplyDeleteBut the red, white, and blue "DC" on the shirt and hat are hideous. Hi.De.Ous.
It looks like something out of the era of Jimmy Carter, the polyster Padres uniforms of the 70s, or disco. I plead, repeat plead, with the Nats to get rid of this design.
I don't know what it is, exactly, but red, white, and blue have this way of looking absolutely awesome and dignified on the American flag, but tinny and Madinson Ave-ey everywhere else.
I am ask the Nationals to get rid of this doomed uniform, as it is destined to be laughed at for decades.
Consider this the obligatory "I appreciate all you do to cover the Nats and how much they mean to you" line.
ReplyDeleteYOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON IN THE ENTIRE BLOGOSPHERE WHO LIKES THE BLUE ALTERNATES!!! Really? Could the Nats possibly have come out with a Uni that would have disappointed you. Even the normally mild mannered Chico Harlan panned them.
/Rant
What I really want to know is what could the Nats have unveiled today that you would have said "I think that looks bad and was a really bad decision on their part. I hope they never wear it."
What I will miss is the Red "DC" Alternate Jersey. I always liked it. The Logo on the Cap & Left Chest just stood out. The Blue with Gold Trim Number on the lower right front. I always found it distinctive. Something I don't see in the replica Alternate Red Curly "W" ones. I am also not sure about the white piping coming down the front of the jersey.
ReplyDeleteNot to be a conspiracy theorist, but did it strike anyone else as odd that our new red jersey looks amazingly similar to the Cinci Reds red jersey with that white piping? Hmm...
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if other teams are going with the stars and stripes logos like with last year's special caps.
ReplyDeleteThe stars and stripes are well intended, but it is just too busy a design.
I really like the red alternate jerseys. Clean, not too busy, and a good use of both logos commonly associated with the team. As I tend to make it to more Sunday games than any other day, I hope to see these often.
ReplyDeleteAs for the blue alternates, the less I see of those the better. Based on the other post and Manny Acta's chat at the Season Ticket Holders event this season, I've found that I tend to completely disagree with Acta on baseball aesthetics. No problem with that though. I do agree that they are better than camo uniforms.
The road greys are fine. I like the use of the curly W in the wordmark. Unfortunately my current road jersey (it was a gift) is now obsolete.
Colleen,
ReplyDeleteI noticed the same thing - that the Red alternate looked like the Reds jerseys.
How about for the home uniform, we invert it, with a white jersey, red curly W and #? Then we get the uniforms of the Big Red Machine Cinci teams from the early - late 70s!
Road Uniform: Love it - let's ditch the DC and primary logos and just use curly Ws, though. It's one of the best in baseball.
Blue Alt: can't say a lot positive - that it's not as bad as the camo uniforms is the highest compliment I can think of. I do like the blue hat and red bill, but I'd like to see the DC replaced with a white curly W.
Let me be one of many to say those blue ones are hideous. Enough with the uberpatriotism stuff in baseball. We live in America. It's a great place. But I'm tired of having this stuff shoved down my throat.
ReplyDeleteYou guys that say the road uni's are, and i quote "hideous" are misinformed meatheads who obviously lack a sense of style. trust me, you know nothing about design. you really shouldn't even post. you probably wear sweat pants and champion tshirts that cover your beer swilling bellies and shaved heads.
ReplyDeleteAHEM, now my assessment of the design...
The new road uni's are classic. the script WASHINGTON lettering and new RED numbers will look absolutely great on the road. CLASSIC baseball design. the old block lettering was painful and un-pleasant to the eyes.
the red white and blue alternate jersey's aren't bad .
if we can get SCRIPT lettering on the home jersey's all would be well in the district.
you want hideous? check out the Wizards uniforms. absolutley PAINFUL to look at. horrible colors, poor, unpowerful imagery... quite simply, the eyes RECOIL at the sight of those "test pattern" wizards uniforms...
i am excited to see the owners have looked past trends and gone classic baseball. check yourself meatheads. you don't know fashion, mmmm kay? it ain't your wheelhouse of knowledge...
NOW if we could only get Budrick Von Selig to inforce dress codes so the players have to pull there socks up? people might just go and watch baseball again.
I am very sad today with these new uniforms.
ReplyDelete1) I don't like the new DC patch. My favorite patch we had was the 2005 season road uniform patch. That was a sharp looking patch on the left sleeve. Even the '06-'08 DC patch was better then just the DC without the circle.
2) The new away jerseys look terrible. Way to much red in them, so the navy blue hats looks weired on them. They also looks so much like Montreal's road jersey before they moved here, that it just makes me sad we are using some of the Expos idenity. We still need to be creating our own idenity.
3) The new red Alternate jersey looks way to much like the Reds alternate jersey, again lack of individual for the Nats.
4) The Blue jersey is hidious and sales of the hat and jersey will lack so bad, we will be rid of this jersey hopefully by the end of the '09 season.
Overall, I hate sounding like a complainer but after this AWFUL season, the worst in history of the franchise since moving here.
I just hope we can get back the old Nats from '05-'07 back. These new Nats of 2k8 and present I just dont feel I have any connection with.
I am in Iraq right now and the new DC hat with the flag embedded is awesome. I would wear it here when games come on LATE at night or EARLY EARLY in the morning. When I get home, the new hat will go well with my Sean Taylor All-Star jersey when I am at Skins games. Go DC!
ReplyDeleteI ilke the new jersees!! I'll def buy the red one. I miss following the W's, lol. The models are cute too
ReplyDeleteThe white uniform is perfect, the gray away uniform is perfect, the red uniform is perfect, however the color of the National Team jersey ought to be Federal Blue.
ReplyDeleteThe D.C. blue uniform w/blue D.C. hat is not good.
The blue uniform should be the National home uniform with the "w".
I like the new roadies with the new cursive lettering but, they need to drop the gold from all unis. Think the gold outlines makes them look tacky. Simple red, white and blue would do nicely. Maybe a road hat that is red with a blue bill and the white curly W.
ReplyDeleteAnd what was wrong with last year's sleeve patch. Like the white DC in the blue circle with the stars outline. New one looks too much like the Dodgers.
The alt W is not bad but, thought the DC one was better. Do like the W and numbers now matching in white though.
As for the Stars and Stripes, still not sure how I feel. Like the idea behind it but might be better if you left the DC white instead of trying to add the stars and stripes.
Was hoping for cursive on the home unis but, would cost too much to renovate the scoreboard after only 1 year.
Like the new road uni with the script lettering rather than the block. Also like the red over the blue. Maybe the road hat should be red with a blue bill and the white curley W.
ReplyDeleteAm OK with the red alt jersey but did like the DC one better. As for the stars and stripes, I want to like it because of what they are trying to do. Not sure my eyes are following my brain yet.
Would have liked script lettering for the home whites but that probably would require changing the primary logo not to mention the brand new scoreboard.
One thing that must be done is drop the gold trim from all uniforms. It makes them look tacky, Vegas like. And bring back last years DC patch, the one in the blue field outlined with the stars. The new one looks just like the Dodgers sleeve patch.
Like the new road uni with the script lettering rather than the block. Also like the red over the blue. Maybe the road hat should be red with a blue bill and the white curley W.
ReplyDeleteAm OK with the red alt jersey but did like the DC one better. As for the stars and stripes, I want to like it because of what they are trying to do. Not sure my eyes are following my brain yet.
Would have liked script lettering for the home whites but that probably would require changing the primary logo not to mention the brand new scoreboard.
One thing that must be done is drop the gold trim from all uniforms. It makes them look tacky, Vegas like. And bring back last years DC patch, the one in the blue field outlined with the stars. The new one looks just like the Dodgers sleeve patch.