The Cubs franchise is one that has always been tradition bound. Change occurs slowly and rarely. After all, they have played in the same ballpark for 93 seasons. They were the last franchise to get lights (it only took them 40 years after the second to last team). And then there is their 100 year old tradition of not winning the World Series.
The home uniform are something else that has seen little change in the last 50 years. Since 1957 it has been the blue pinstripes and the Cubs logo on the chest. Changes over the years have been minimal. You can see the lack of change with these cards.
This card of Mike Tyson is from Fleer 1981, which would mean the pictures were taken in 1980. They are in their doubleknit pullover tops. The Cubs logo on the chest and the cubbie bear logo is on the left shoulder. The pants are the style with the blue waistband.
Five years later, Fleer 1986, and we have the Penguin in the exact same uniform.
And at the end of the decade, from Fleer 1990, nothing has changed. A ten year run with the exact same home uniform.
The road uniforms are a different story. They have been changed several times over the past 50 years.
When the 80's started the Cubs were wearing their ugly light blue with white pinstripes uniform. We called them the pajama uniforms. Unfortunately, the Cubs often played like the were asleep. These were the worst looking uniforms in the majors, or at least tied with the White Sox for worst.
In 1982, with new ownership in place, the Cubs went to a different road uniform. They now wore blue tops with the Cubs logo on the chest and white pants. I was never too crazy about these either. They looked like a softball team, not a major league franchise, better suited for a 16" game at Grant Park. It always bothered me that they could have such a classic look at home and look so ugly on the road. The softball uniforms lasted all the way through the rest of the decade, finally getting ditched in 1990.
The Cubs uniforms of the 80's, classic at home, crap on the road.
The softball look is a plague upon baseball now. They all need to quit it.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
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