by Jeff Sullivan
The San Diego Padres aren’t at the forefront of many things, but in large part as a consequence of their location, they’re probably the most military-friendly organization in baseball. They have for well more than a decade employed a Padres director of military affairs, they’ve offered upper deck seating to local Marines, and for every Sunday home game – and on Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Independence Day – they’ve worn special camouflage uniforms.
These camouflage uniforms have had a few different editions over the years, and as noted by Padres blog Gaslamp Ball, they’re set to get another update in 2011.
On Tuesday, during the Military Appreciation Luncheon kicking off the Farmers Open at Torrey Pines, the Padres will introduce a new design — based on the digitally designed Marine desert brown camouflage — to the camouflage uniforms they wear for Sunday home games.
Below, some images.
At one point, the Padres wore this:
(via)
This is the most recent image I can find from last season:
Now, the Padres are making another change. Jersey images haven’t been released yet, but Wikipedia has the expected pattern:
And here’s the new hat:
One notices a move away from the flat greens and yellows and towards a more appealing olive foundation. I’m not a fashion critic and have never played one on TV, but just from looking at the new hat and pattern, I get the sense that the new uniform will be a great deal more “buyable”, which is enough for me to declare this update a success. That hat – that’s a sharp hat.
Josh Fitzgerald Baseball 