By John Ekdahl
Tampa Bay will wear their “fauxbacks” against the Cubs today. At least one sports commentator is not amused:
ESPN’s Keith Olbermann, who is friends with Sternberg, nevertheless named the Rays the “worst persons in the sports world” for “denying their Tampa Bay Devil Rays history” and putting “Rays” on the fauxbacks. Sternberg said “somewhere down the line” they’ll do something Devil Rays-related but “not enough time has passed.”
Anyway, these road fauxbacks were designed by Stuart Sternberg.
The new road “fauxback” uniforms the Rays will debut for today’s ’80s Day game against the Cubs were designed by principal owner Stuart Sternberg, who admits he was inspired by the 1978 Padres. “Pure ripoff,” Sternberg said. “With a little, you know, here and there.” The pants (beltless, by the way) and most of the jersey are light blue, with the sleeves, trim and socks yellow. Sternberg, who also designed the original Rays logo and the first fauxbacks, was quite pleased with his latest. “The retro uniforms I’m in love with,” he said, “and clearly the rebranding and logos worked out beautifully.”
The New York Times has a great article about Rickie Fowler’s toned down style this week.
Rickie Fowler wore purple for the third round of the 96th P.G.A. Championship. A few years ago, the purple might have had a brilliant fuchsia hue or maybe something magenta. It would have been something eye-catching, for sure.
Perhaps amethyst, mulberry, orchid or lavender.
But Saturday his pants and shirt were just a standard purple, with a lot of plain white accents and a tiny flash of muted yellow mixed in.
The shoes? White. The hat? White.
How our little Rickie is growing up.
This isn’t exactly Uni-related, but big news out of the racing world. Tony Stewart hit and killed a driver who had gotten out of his car to confront him while on the track. Bizarre indecent, we’ll see what develops.
Olbermann should probably know that the Rays wore Devil Rays throwbacks in 2009. Besides, why would they wear Devil Rays throwbacks for an 80s themed Turn Back The Clock day?
Because they were the Devil Rays first? Why would a team formed in the 90’s play in an 80’s themed throwback game to begin with?
By repeatedly throwing back to fictional “Rays” uniforms that use the current color scheme, it does seem like they’re trying to cover up their real history. It’s like they regret being the Devil Rays and want people to forget about it.
The weren’t very good when they were the Devil Rays. You need more time to get nostalgic over a bad team with bad uniforms.
The fauxbacks look so good, the question is, why not throwback to the 80s? The cap should have stayed in the fictional past, though. Their other fauxback cap is much better.
They’re not covering up their real history, they’re having fun.
The uniforms are great, the hats need yellow front panels instead of white (a la mid-1970s Milwaukee)
Sure, they’re having fun… but they could do that and still use the team’s original name and colors. The team formed as the Devil Rays. Their pretend history as a team presumably founded in the 60’s is kinda dumb when it uses the current name and colors. They’re basically saying that the entire Devil Rays era was a fluke, kinda like the blue/white/red Detroit Pistons’ teal era. Rather than embracing a proud faux-history as the Devil Rays, they act as if the superior original team name was a mistake.
If you’re arguing that this is as interesting and fun a look as what they’re doing, then I’m not with you
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It seems to me what they’re saying is that its fun and they don’t care if its authentic in any way.
There’s a reason the Astros throw back to the rainbow guts and not blue and gold. It doesn’t mean that the latter never existed, just that it wasn’t memorable or interesting and throwing back to it isn’t fun. I don’t read any more into it than that.
Stuart Sternberg is having some fun. Well, so is Olbermann, I suppose, but I do like the playfulness of the fauxbacks and their spot-on authentic inauthenticity.
I wish the Rays would were these as the road uniforms
Typo – should be “bizarre incident”
… in the Tony Stewart story. Sorry.
I’m as shocked as anyone about this! I can’t believe what I’m reading but I have to…
Pure ripoff
At least he admits it.
I’d like these fauxbacks a lot more if they weren’t recolored lifts from the back of the Padres’ closet.
I really enjoy that Olbermann so frequently brings these items to his show. Aesthetically the set is beautiful and the Rays with Maddon are easily the most fun team in MLB.
Re: the Rays/Devil Rays kerfuffle… Cincinnati briefly changed their name from the Reds to the Redlegs during the McCarthy era to sound less communistic, and then changed back. Who’s to say the Rays in an alternate uniform… I mean alternate universe, didn’t start as the Rays, became the Devil Rays, and changed back?
Possible “pillbox” type hats at the 2015 MLB All-Star Game?
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Some of those ideas are excellent (it never occurred to me to have multi-colored stripes on a Marlins pillbox cap until I saw it; it makes perfect sense). Some, less so (red stripes on a Dodger cap?) Others, you’d never see (you wouldn’t see the Smiling Indian on a Cleveland pillbox cap).
Those Rays road fauxbacks would look better with navy sleeves instead of yellow. The Yellow would look good at the end of the sleeve and the gold numbers would “pop” with nave trim.
Hopefully the Rays will go high-cuffed instead of pajama pants, unlike most of the other visiting teams during the Cubs throwback games
Though I never cared for them it would really be cool if both teams wore the “two-in-ones”.
The Jays are wearing their red Canada jerseys today against Detroit to celebrate “Canada Baseball Day”. I don’t know what that is, other than part of a promotion where 20,000 fans got replica BP caps.
I like that the Rays are wearing sansabelt pants today, but I wish that this new “fauxback” would have been based on something other than the ’78 Padres. The 1981-86 Mariners or ’80s Mets would have been cool. Give me racing stripes!
link they should have used for today’s game.
You had to pick THAT picture. You sure know how to stab an old Expos fan in the heart.
link?
Throw in Brian Holman and you have a deal.
And a player to be named later?
Once again, Majestic makes the pants too short. Show me a pic of Dawson or Sandberg with pants that high.
It’s not so much a length issue as a tightness issue for me but in fairness to Majestic the players are equally to blame. Rather than bunching them up under the knee they need to be wearing them completely unbloused.
^
Those Expos uniforms would have been so much better if they were athletic wear. Buttons ruin everything. They did then and they do now. I hate them.
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