San Diego Padres: The Evolution of the Unforgettable Uniforms

Peering over the corner, Spring Training lays a mere two months away, as we welcome in the 2012 Major League Baseball season. This year's San Diego Padres  have manufactured significant locker room rearrangement this off-season, bringing in new faces and, yes, yet again new adjustments to the uniforms.

We will save discussions regarding the newly acquired Padres for a later time.

As a loyal fan to both the city of San Diego and the Padres, in my short 21 years of life, I have seen it all. From the faded banana-peel yellows, to the course grained "sand" of San Diego, the evolution of the Padres uniforms has covered the extremities of the color palette.

I like to consider myself to be a uniform guru. Unlike their crosstown sports partner, the San Diego Chargers, the Padres have found themselves in more than quite a few predicaments in their time. I am not going to even begin to get into their World Series titles, or lack thereof.

Simply put, I am referring to the history behind their unlawful uniform arrangements.

So what, they're just uniforms, right?

Wrong!  When you wind up on the losing end of the spectrum, being tumultuously voted the worst uniforms in the Major League, I believe there is good reason to prompt an artistic review for the organization. 

Uniforms represent history and can tell a story by the colors alone. So where does all the history retreat if we are religiously exchanging out color combinations? Recognized uniforms, like the classic pinstripes of the New York Yankees, or the vintage Dodger blue across the clean white chest are a part of history.

I know it is unhealthy to dwell on the past. However, this is a discerning topic that needs to be addressed before it can be fully swept underneath the bleachers of Petco Park.

Being a small market team, the San Diego Padres front office needs to recalibrate their intentions for the team. Are we to spend on players or updated uniforms?

Let us just hope that this newest fix is the last.

Banana Splits

"It's peanut butter jelly time, peanut..." Wrong lyrics, let me try that again. "It's bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!" Now that's more like it.

I have heard it many times before, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I understand. However, can this be an exception?

As an expansion team, the Padres joined the National League in 1969. Very subtle yet worthy of attention, their very first uniform was a solid white jersey top and bottom, with the signature brown lettering highlighted by a yellow trim.

The uniforms were nothing to brag about nor knock down for style points. But the season, a disturbing last-place finish of 52-110, now that is something to talk about.

However, capping off their second season, the Padres climbed up the win column, finishing with an improving record of 63-99. On the upside, the Padres did come away with a noteworthy baseball moment...or at least they got to watch one.

On June 12th, 1970, the Padres succumbed to a no-hitter by the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis. 

Relevance: After the conclusion of the one-sided contest, Ellis commented that he did not remember anything because he was on a hallucinogen from the commencement of the ballgame.

I am curious as to how the 1970s era of hallucinogens slowly transpired into the modern drug of choice: steroids.

Nonetheless, all signs point to the unforgettable 1972 "banana peel" home uniforms. I'm not pointing fingers, but I can make the association that LSD may have been a useful tool behind the construction of these unforgettable uniforms.

Thank goodness these only lasted an elongated three seasons.

If Its Brown, Flush It Down!

Upon entering the 1976 season, the Padres figured it was only appropriate to alter their road uniforms once more. Swapping out the banana-peel top and bottom for a more more conservative brown to complement the signature yellow shoulders.

Yet another new look, and yet again the same results.

The Padres finished an improved 73-89. Fifth place in the books, but improvement nevertheless.

Individual Awards: Despite turning in a pathetic team finish, starting pitcher Randy Jones capped off an emphatic season of his own, winning 22 games, a feat that earned him the coveted Cy Young award.

After winning a Cy Young, I too would want a barbecue named after myself. Cheers, Mr. Jones!

I Salute You

Sports teams across the nation have recently begun to wear a Sunday uniform. The Los Angeles Lakers and their plush white uniforms are one example.

As for the Padres, as a way of thanking the courageous members of our military troops, they designed a camouflage jersey to complement their white pants. However, like the home and away uniforms, the evolution of this high-minded concept got lost somewhere in the wrong color printer.

Beginning as a casual navy green with spurts of light and dark brown, it now has entered the digital age.

A strange mixture of an off yellow combined with a khaki results in an uncharacteristic-like brown solution. I respect the concept, but I will never give in to the horrid attire.

As for now, it is inescapable as it currently remains Sunday's home attire.

Last Note: "Digital, digital, get down!"—NSYNC, 1999

Sand Needs to Be Banned

Yellow on yellow...check. Sand on sand...interesting. We have not delved into that one yet. Why the heck not!

For all Major League Baseball fans and players alike that had to endure the pain of viewing or playing against the Padres in these uniforms, I am terribly sorry.

Thought Process: The incorporation of San Diego's encompassing environment into the uniforms sounded like a great idea...at first. The implementation of the sandy beaches to accompany the ocean- blue lettering could be summed up in two words...epic fail.

Nobody wants to roll in sand from head to toe. It not only does a disservice to the representing players, but the level of attraction is greatly diminished as well. Tally up the losing uniform column once more.

Fortunately, the era has come to a close.

It was hard to see them come, but I loved to watch them leave.

Back to Basics

26 versions later, the Padres believe they have come to conclusions with the revamped logo and coloration of the uniforms.

Say goodbye to the wave-style insignias that hovered around the old lettering, because this is the final destination of the evolution of the Padres' uniforms.

The Padres' major league uniforms in 2012 will feature the team's signature blue-and-white colors while going to more traditional and bolder numbering and lettering. Both the home and road uniforms will be trimmed in contrasting piping.

Change can be both positive or negative, and in this case, staying true to the San Diego blue and swingin' friar emblem is tradition; a tradition that will never graduate.

An added bonus with the Padres' new uniforms is that they will be uniform. Wait, what? The new blue tops can be used both atop the white home pants and the gray road pants.

Standing out: The addition of the piping around the collar and down the chest of the jerseys and the sleeves will give the Padres a distinctive look.

Overall: No more looking like the Milwaukee Brewers, and no more retreating to the controversial brown. These are here to stay!

The Padres have a bright future ahead of them. Superstition, no more.

By the looks of these, the Pad Squad might be rolling the tidal wave off of the bat of Carlos Quentin, all the way through the NL West.