Project Runway- Mississippi State Baseball Style

In light of Tyler Bratton’s recent tweet about MSU getting some new uniforms that will in his words, “debut shortly”, I felt like this was a good time to talk about what’s to come for MSU baseball uniform wise and also what I would like to see MSU wear.  I’m fairly open to most anything uniform wise, and if I think it looks bad- like the uniform MSU wore at the end of the Ron Polk era- well, you can rest assured that it’s bad.  Basically, look “traditional”- futuristic just doesn’t mesh well with baseball uniforms, see the Tampa Bay Devil Rays original uniforms, nor do bright gaudy colors- see the Houston Astros of the early 80’s and the Florida, ahem, Miami Marlins.  Also, nothing cartoonish like the Anaheim Angels of the mid to late 90’s and nothing that looks like it has been bought out of a gas station or Wal-Mart- again, see the MSU uniforms at the end of the Polk era.

We’ll talk about Tyler Bratton’s tweet first, and above is the picture he tweeted.  I’m liking what I am seeing from the jersey.  It’s very retro, and that font is very unique to Mississippi State, and it recalls MSU of the mid-80’s when Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro played.  What I’m unsure of is whether this is a uniform that will be consistently worn- which I hope is the case, or whether this is a “turn back the clock” game jersey.  The gray shoe is interesting, and I know a lot of people don’t seem to like it, but I would have to see it with the rest of the uniform to make a call- and I’m assuming that is for an away uniform.  And yes, that is a green hat, which is obviously for St. Patrick’s Day, which I like because that has become a huge holiday in Jackson where I’m from, and Mal White, the founder of the St. Patty’s Day Parade, had a daughter that went to MSU.  Back to the white jersey- I love it and if I were MSU, I would wear that for Friday night games against SEC West opponents and Super Bulldog Weekend as well as other special occasions such as opening day.

Next up, we have the lovely Ron Polk.  This is a classic MSU baseball uniform- it reminds me a lot of the Detroit Tigers.  Not a bad franchise, pretty simple uniform.  I say wear it against SEC West teams on Friday nights and non-conference teams on Friday nights.  And then we have this uniform’s cousin- the sleeveless version as below.

I like this because again, it is simple, and it’s sort of like the Cincinnati Reds when they had sleeveless jerseys.  I also like it because it can be versatile.  For example, it would very simple to use a green t-shirt for St. Patrick’s Day, a camouflage t-shirt for Military Day or the first day of hunting season, etc.  I would use this for most midweek games and obviously, promotional type games.

And now, everyone’s favorite!

Yes, those are pinstripes!  I love this because it says New York Yankees, and who doesn’t want to be like the Yankees?  Oh, yeah, it looks awesome too.  Very simple, very clean, and all it needs is the MS on the chest.  Pretty much what we wore when Pat McMahon was the coach.  This would be my go-to uniform on Saturday’s at Dudy-Noble Field, because that is usually when most of the college baseball games are televised.

These are my current favorites right now.  I love the fact that they are retro, and darn it- they just look good.  This is what we should wear every Sunday home and road, and when we play at Trustmark Park.  Of course, on the road, just wear gray pants instead of white. And with that, let’s talk about the road uniforms.

This has become pretty classic for MSU, or some variation thereof.  I think it looks pretty good, it’s unique, but at the same time, it respects tradition.  I could go with this on Saturdays on the road.

The road uniforms were a little tougher for me than the home.  But I like this top- this is clearly a home game, but I think this would work pretty well on the road on Friday nights.

And then, we have black.  I know a lot of MSU fans don’t care for black MSU uniforms in general.  At least this is not too bad.  I’m not exactly sure when we would wear it, though.  I have pretty much every day of the week covered.  I think this would be good for the road, and maybe certain SEC home games.  I would not use it very often.

Finally, I’m going to talk about some miscellaneous uniforms that I think we should do and maybe some we shouldn’t do.  I love the idea of honoring the military at least at some point during the season.  Especially when you consider MSU’s history with the ROTC.  I would venture to guess that most teams do that at least once a year.  The St. Patrick’s Day uniform idea- I like that.  I don’t believe that has ever been done before at MSU.  However, I’m not sure that I would be for an all-green MSU uniform.  Of course, we do play the ‘baseball Egg Bowl’ at Trustmark Park, and I have thought about a gold uniform- but I hope it never comes to pass because the Governor’s Cup is made of crystal- and is not gold colored.  So, a gold uniform like the Egg Bowl football uniforms- just doesn’t make as much sense.  There has been talk of some silver with the football uniforms as well- I just can’t see silver working with a MSU baseball uniform.

Of course at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the Bulldogs wear as long as they win.