Ranking baseball’s best and worst looking uniforms

15. Los Angeles Angels
Another nice set that has arguably become the franchise’s defining uniform. The one issue is their alternate, which uses red lettering on a red jersey; not exactly a great look. It’s still a solid set, though it’d be funny to see them try to fit ‘Los Angeles of Anaheim’ on the road jersey. They’ll probably keep the ‘Angels’ wordmark instead.

14. Kansas City Royals
It gets hard to separate teams in this section, since all of them have perfectly good uniforms that aren’t outstanding but also don’t have much wrong with them, either. The Royals fall into this category, though they get bonus points for their powder blue alternate that is a nice callback to the George Brett era with a modern day twist. Plain but effective.

13. Oakland A’s
Green is a nice color, which makes it surprising that the A’s are the only team to feature it prominently. They’ve done a great job keeping their look traditional, as the home and road jerseys haven’t changed much at all in 30 years. The yellow alternate they recently introduced is fantastic, but the green version of it misses the mark. They’d be better served going back to the green jersey with the full ‘Athletics’ wordmark rather then just the ‘A’s’ version. Still, a very strong set.

12. Pittsburgh Pirates
After years of messing around with their look, the home and road jerseys are flawless. They’re representative of the Pirates’ history while keeping them modern, something that isn’t always easy to pull off. The black alternate jersey is just okay, and they wear it so often it takes away from their overall look. And like the Mets, the Pirates have added a camo jersey for some reason which drops their overall ranking. Ditch the camo and wear the black less often, and this is a top five set.

11. Detroit Tigers
One of the best home jerseys around, even if the old English ‘D’ doesn’t match the one on their cap. But it’s a classic look that’s been around for as long as the Tigers have been around, and it’s one of the best in the game. Their ranking has more to do with their road jersey, which has never been able to match the home jersey in terms of prestige. And it doesn’t help that the Tigers have changed it a number of times, either, going from block to script, changing the striping on the sleeves and around the neck, using triple colored lettering unnecessarily, etc.

10. Chicago Cubs
Like the Tigers, the Cubs have a great home jersey and a boring road jersey that they’ve tinkered with over and over again but just can’t get right. The home version is pretty fantastic though, and their alternate jersey with the walking cubbie bear logo is about as classic as alternates get. If they could only get the road grays right.

9. Chicago White Sox
If you grew up in the early ’90s, you probably remember all of your friends wanting a new White Sox cap. It was fresh and bold then, and not much has changed now. The ‘Sox’ calligraphy logo is still one of the best in the game and their jerseys still look crisp. If you had to find fault somewhere, it’d be a team called the White Sox uses an awful lot of black in their uniforms. That’s a minor quibble, though: this is still a great set.

8. Los Angeles Dodgers
Not much has changed since the Dodgers moved west in 1958. The home uniform still looks like the one Jackie Robinson wore in Brooklyn, and while the road jersey has gone through a few changes they finally settled back with the ‘Los Angeles’ wordmark rather than ‘Dodgers’ and that makes a huge difference. They did bring back the ‘Dodgers’ gray jersey as an alternate last year and the team seemed to wear that more than the primary road, and that’s a concern. Still, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these uniforms.

7. San Francisco Giants
The Giants use all of their jerseys to pay homage to their history: the home and roads are throwbacks to the 1960s, the orange alternate with the ‘Giants’ cursive wordmark pays respect to the ’70s, and the ‘SF’ road alternate is straight out of the ’80s. All of them are very nice, though they added unnecessary piping to the road jersey a few years ago that brings it down a few notches. And with news of a new, black alternate jersey being added this year, the Giants are quickly falling into “too many uniforms” territory. But is too many uniforms a problem if all of them are nice?

6. Toronto Blue Jays
When you see the blue and white split lettering, you immediately know it’s a Blue Jays jersey, which makes it all the more curious the Jays went away from that for so long. No matter, since they corrected the mistake and went back to their defining look. Maybe it’s nostalgia talking, but it’s one of the best uniforms in baseball. The home and road looks are great, and the alternate is even better. Here’s hoping they don’t screw it up again.

5. Baltimore Orioles
The return of the smiling bird logo put the O’s over the top. There was nothing wrong with their ’60s inspired full bird logo, but it was stiff and kind of boring. Bringing back the smiling bird finished off what was already a great uniform, with bold wordmarks that aren’t overly flashy and great use of the orange and black color scheme. It’s also nice to see ‘Baltimore’ on the road jerseys again. A fantastic, timeless look that they should stick with for a long time.

4. Boston Red Sox
They finally came to their senses and ditched the boring road jersey with the ‘Boston’ wordmark in single color blue, going back to the version that has ‘Boston’ in red outlined with blue. That makes a huge difference and compliments the rest of their set, which was already one of the best. Their home uniform is perfect, right down to the way ‘Red’ and ‘Sox’ are spaced on either side of the buttons down the middle. The red alternate jersey can probably go away, but it’s not that bad and doesn’t bring the entire set down like some other alternates would. These are just plain great uniforms.

3. Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies’ uniforms are always underrated, and it’s hard to see why. Another modern take on a classic look, it’s tough to find fault in any part of their uniform– even the pinstripes work for them. The numbers on the sleeves are also a nice touch, something that is unique to the team without feeling like a gimmick. And their cream colored throwback alternate jersey is beyond fantastic.

2. New York Yankees
What can you say? The jerseys have barely changed in 100 years and they won’t for the next 100 years. Even if you don’t like the pinstripes, you have to respect the history and tradition of the Yankees’ uniforms. The road jersey is still a thing of beauty, simplicity at its best. And there’s something to be said for them not giving in and adding an alternate jersey all these years.

1. St. Louis Cardinals
The best uniform going today, from their crisp home whites to the road grays, and especially their cream colored alternate. Everything about the Cardinals uniform is top notch and it’s hard to find fault in their look. It’s a classic that doesn’t look or feel outdated, and like the Yankees one that will last for another 100 years. The perfect uniform.