I’ll be the first to admit that at first, I loved it when they brought back the old 1982 uniforms for weekly “Retro Nights”. It’s easy to get bored with your usual uniform, especially when the current garb was more closely synonymous with 90-loss seasons than postseason appearances. I thought the updated ball-and-glove pinstripes looked sharp, and the look differentiated them from quite a few teams (how many clubs are wearing navy blue these days?).
But it got played out. Once a week was a bit much, which is why I was thankful to see the team scale it back to the first Friday home game of every month last season. Frequent enough to not be forgotten, but not so frequent that they allow some people to think they were bad luck. Add in the few times a year they wear the “Cerveceros” and Negro League uniforms (another favorite of mine), and there was a nice blend of new and retro. But we were still seeing the same two or three alternate uniforms.
That’s why I was so glad to see today’s announcement about the team’s plans for the 40th anniversary season.
A weekend wearing the original uniforms from the ’70s with the plain gold “M” hats? With the Phillies wearing their powder blue retros!? Sign me up!
Another weekend wearing the usual ’80s garb? Okay, fine. But Robin Yount and Paul Molitor on hand for pregame festivities and autographs? That’s pretty cool. So is Seattle wearing their road blues from the early ’80s.
Hell, I’m so excited about the variety that I’m happy to see the otherwise forgettable “MB” uniforms from the 1990’s being brought back. They’ll wear those in a weekend series against the Nationals, which is kind of a bummer. Couldn’t they at least choose an opponent that was around in the ’90s? Or even make the Nats wear an old Expos uniform from that era?
They’re also doing a “2000s Retro Weekend,” which seems a bit pointless since both the Brewers and the Pirates will be wearing their current uniforms. Couldn’t we make the Bucs bring back the vests for a series to re-live that 2000s fad?
It looks like the 40th anniversary series will also include a bobblehead capturing a key moment from every decade, which sounds like a cool idea. Included are Hank Aaron (755th HR), Cecil Cooper (game-winning RBI in the ’82 ALCS), Robin Yount (3000th hit), and CC Sabathia (wildcard-clinching out in 2008). All in all, sounds like a cool marketing campaign. Personally, I’d like to see the Brewers bust out some road retro uniforms, but I’d be willing to settle with “modern” road threads that just say “Milwaukee” on the front instead of “Brewers”.
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