Major league baseball has been around for over a hundred years now, and many changes have occurred since its inception. For one, there have been many more players who are trying to trump older records and are making a name for themselves. For another, the look of major league baseball has changed. It has become commercial and has become a great way to endorse products and services. It has also changed in terms of baseball uniforms: the very first team uniforms were worn by the New York Knickerbockers, and players wore white shirts made of flannel, and topped with a black collar; pantaloons of blue wool; and, for extra protection, straw hats. Wool and flannel, however, would keep the New York players extra toasty in the summer, and it is hard to imagine how those fabrics persisted for over a century!
When 1868 rolled along, the Cincinnati Red Stockings marked their opening with knickers instead of pants. They aimed to show off their new red socks, and not so much get up to speed on their game. At the turn of the 19th century, the New York Giants socked the collar and started wearing looser, open jerseys. Pinstripes came along a few years later when the Yankees took on a new uniform, one that has been famous in the sporting world. It took about two decades to bring forth the players' numbers, and we have the Cleveland Indians and the Yankees to thank for that. The numbers were designed to match the batting order of the players.
In another decade, the Yankees marked yet another period of baseball history when they retired Lou Gehrig's #4. It took three decades yet before baseball players decided not only to wear their numbers, but, thanks to the Chicago White Sox, their names on the backs of their jerseys.
It is interesting to note how history, and even the importance of color, shaped major league baseball uniforms. For instance, when the communist witch hunts began, the Cincinnati Reds had to actually remove the "Reds" names from their uniforms! There are surely new developments coming up for better major league baseball uniforms. For instance, many more companies nowadays are concerned with environmental issues, so we can expect more environmentally friendly materials to go into major league baseball uniforms. This can include better threads that are processed using Green methods, or paints and dyes that are not harmful to the environment.
