Good Saturday Morning, Uni Watchers! Hope you’ve all enjoyed a great week.
A couple of weeks back, we showcased a fantastic series of crossover concepts from graphic artist Danny Kaufmann, where he envisioned Major League Baseball teams as soccer clubs, complete with soccer uniforms. We started with the American League. Today, we’re completing the set with the National League, diving into more creative Soccer Uniforms For Teams.
Before we proceed, it’s important to note, as mentioned previously, that each jersey design includes an advertiser logo. While this might be a point of contention, these logos are thoughtfully chosen and relevant to the teams. This isn’t an endorsement, but acknowledging the prevalence of sponsors in soccer kits for decades, the designs are presented as intended. Let’s look beyond the ads and appreciate the creativity in these “What If” scenarios. Please focus your comments on the soccer uniform designs themselves.
Here’s Danny with the NL concepts:
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NL East
Atlanta
For Atlanta’s soccer uniforms for teams, I opted for a predominantly red home kit, reflecting their usual home color in baseball. The secondary design pays homage to Hank Aaron, emulating the 1972-75 style with distinctive silver hammers, a unique touch for these soccer uniforms for teams.
Miami Marlins
The Marlins’ soccer uniforms for teams address their secondary color dilemma. Moving away from black-on-black issues, I elevated light blue to the primary color for the home shirt. The away kit blends the team’s salmon shade with a Miami Vice-inspired palette, creating vibrant soccer uniforms for teams.
New York Mets
For the Mets, the pinstripes are transformed into broader stripes for their soccer uniforms for teams, maintaining a classic feel akin to their baseball jerseys. The road kit takes a bolder direction, using black while staying true to the iconic blue and orange New York color scheme, resulting in striking soccer uniforms for teams.
Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia’s soccer uniforms for teams are designed to be straightforward and timeless, mirroring their baseball counterparts. The retro colorway is naturally used for the away kit, offering classic soccer uniforms for teams with a vintage touch.
Washington Nationals
The Nationals’ soccer uniforms for teams emphasize civic pride in both designs. The home kit incorporates the two red stripes from the city flag. The away kit is essentially a soccer-style replica of the Nationals’ City Connect baseball uniform, creating distinctive soccer uniforms for teams.
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NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Instead of pinstripes like other teams, the Cubs’ soccer uniforms for teams feature a blue base with a broad white stripe. The shirt is detailed with a red art deco fan pattern, and the socks are inspired by those from the late 1920s to mid-1950s. The pattern takes center stage on the road kit, combined with a collar and hooped socks for a classy look in these soccer uniforms for teams.
Cincinnati Reds
The Reds presented a challenge, as their name, logo, and uniforms are strongly associated with the color red. For their soccer uniforms for teams, I replicated the exterior of their ballpark, using slightly transparent lines to keep red as the focus. The away kit adopts a 90s Puma template, enhanced with a black-lined gradient for a retro feel in these soccer uniforms for teams.
Milwaukee Brewers
The design concept for the Brewers’ soccer uniforms for teams revolves around the wheat present in several of their logos. An existing Adidas pattern that subtly resembles wheat was used. For the away kit, Bavarian diamonds, nodding to Milwaukee’s German-American heritage, are “stamped” across the jersey in team-historical colors, creating unique soccer uniforms for teams.
Pittsburgh Pirates
A roundel logo is again utilized for the Pirates’ soccer uniforms for teams, while keeping the overall design fairly standard. The bones motif works on a pirate theme and also references the city’s USL team, the Riverhounds. Red was incorporated to prevent the away kit from being a simple color swap, with the graphic evoking a pirate’s map in these soccer uniforms for teams.
St. Louis Cardinals
Reflecting St. Louis as the “Gateway to the West,” the Cardinals’ soccer uniforms for teams feature a pattern symbolizing crossing paths. The away kit illustrates the Mississippi River with fleurs-de-lis from the city flag, crafting symbolic soccer uniforms for teams.
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NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks
Unsurprisingly, snakeskin forms the base pattern for the Diamondbacks’ soccer uniforms for teams, a design element that translates better to soccer than baseball uniforms. The zig-zag from their ‘A’ logo is expanded into a sash. The away kit recreates the uniform worn by the D-backs during their 2001 World Series victory, offering commemorative soccer uniforms for teams.
Colorado Rockies
Using a specific shade as the base, Colorado’s soccer uniforms for teams sport a Hechter stripe, with a horizontal version on the socks. Inspired by the Rockies’ City Connect baseball uniform (especially with white pants), green is incorporated, using a lighter shade for contrast and a more detailed mountain pattern for these soccer uniforms for teams.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Initially, the Dodgers’ soccer uniforms for teams were planned as plain white with blue sleeve cuffs. However, the idea of a checkered jersey for the change kit led to incorporating a subtle checkered pattern into the home kit as well, resulting in stylish soccer uniforms for teams.
San Diego Padres
A cross design was unintentionally incorporated into the Padres’ home soccer uniforms for teams but was deemed fitting. Mint green from their City Connect uniform was chosen to highlight the palm fronds, creating unique soccer uniforms for teams with a fresh color accent.
San Francisco Giants
As a Giants devotee, I was initially hesitant about the City Connect execution but appreciated the concept. For their soccer uniforms for teams, the Golden Gate bridge beams are placed on the sleeves with fog underneath. Chinatown’s significance in San Francisco inspired the dragon pattern, making these soccer uniforms for teams deeply connected to the city.
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Thanks again to Danny for these imaginative soccer kits for baseball teams! A truly fun set of concepts for both leagues. Readers, what are your thoughts on these soccer uniforms for teams? Share your opinions below!
