God, some of these Spring Training / batting practice jerseys are hideous. I noticed the Yankees finally broke tradition and are wearing the new ST/BP hats. Some players, like Eric Gagne of the Rangers, is already sporting the new gameday hat (since he likes to wear the same hat all season) and teams generally re-issue hats up 4 times or more per season. And now, the American League version of perferred color schemes for teams.

A.L. West

Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles >> California Angels – navy blue, red with a hint of silver or gold. I think the name change is the first thing to do, here. Despite its modern makeover on a retro Angels look, I like it. Tho the thing that always bothered me, was the red caps. The crown needs to be navy blue. I’d also make the alternate jersey navy blue, and come up with some kind of retro-esque ‘state of California w/ city location star’ sleeve patch like they did from ‘70-’85. I don’t understand why they chose silver over gold, but if you must use a dreaded metallic color, it should be gold in this case.

Oakland A’s – kelly green & old athletic gold. This is another no-brainer. Darkening the kelly green they’ve worn since ’63 while still in K.C., the A’s made a mistake darkening it in ’81, tho Topps baseball cards show you otherwise until the 90s. Green and yellow look great together, if not the best color scheme there is. But the A’s current forest green is just way too dark. Plus the home jersey should be plain white, kelly green “A’s” trimmed in yellow on the left side of the chest, green placket piping and the Elephant On Baseball patch on the left sleeve, with a sleeveless version w/ green undershirt. I wouldn’t mind seeing a yellow or green alternate jersey, either. And I’d keep the stirrup green, the sock yellow and the shoes white.

Seattle Mariners – navy blue and green. While I prefer the royal and yellow ‘77-’86 looks, navy and green are Pacific Northwest colors. Tho what they use right now is a “Northwest green”, but it really looks more like a blueish light teal. I’d probably bring back the old home navy crown & green brim cap.

Texas Rangers – royal blue & red. The Rangers don’t need any black in their cap or jersey, which they started adding in ’03. The Rangers looks are a combo of retro and modern. The all-uppercase text is from a jersey worn only year in ’83, the cap logo with a dropshadow consistent of the original ‘72-’82 home jersey, and two caps reflecting both royal versions of the past (white T, red accent / red T, white accent). Of course, almost everything stinks about this team that still has no identity. While a regionally relevant name, there was already a well-known team named the Rangers, who sported the royal and red first. Honestly, the Rangers should just change their name to “Longhorns” and go with a burnt orange & white look. Just kidding. Or am I?…

A.L. Central

Minnesota Twins – navy blue & red. The Twins right now are painfully stuck between two uniform & cap eras, with the M & TC caps and the home sleeve patch meshing both old-and-current primary Twins logos. They should just go back to the ‘61-’71 era jerseys: home navy pinstripes, navy cursive script / red outline. Road grey with same script. Both jerseys with navy caps with the interlocking white T & red C. Tho I do have a soft spot for the red crown / navy brimmed cap, so that’d be your alternate cap with a navy jersey. I can’t wait to see the Twins play outdoors in the snow in April against the White Sox when they open their new outdoor stadium sometime around 2011.

Kansas City Royals – royal blue, white & powder blue. Management wised up last year and realized they didn’t need black cluttering up their c l a s s i c royal look, plus black looks horrible with blue. The only change I’d do is adding a powder blue home alternate jersey, with white script outlined in royal, with royal / white / royal sleeve & collar trim. This would only be worn at home, ‘cause the powder blue would look awkward with the road grey pants. I’m also toying with the idea of matching the powder blue jersey with a powder blue cap w/ a white KC on it. Tho I wonder if a royal KC would better.

Cleveland Indians – navy blue & red. I personally found the addition of silver pointless and almost unnoticeable (it’s the outline around the red jersey scripts & the Chief Wahoo on the caps). I’d drop the “I” alternate cap along with all of the silver, also.

Detroit Tigers – navy & orange. The home is perfect, I wouldn’t touch it. The road, I would strip all the orange off the uniform and preferably, the white outline too. If single-navy works at home, why not on the road?

Chicago White Sox – kelly green & white. St. Patrick’s Day everyday! I prefer their green version over the bland black & silver (black is not a color!) and I think it looks so much better with the green grass and the dark green wall & seats. Plus this whole point is to bring more color to baseball. Of course, the current Sox home look in the past dating back from ‘49-‘75 was in a black / white version, black / red version, a navy / white version, a royal blue / white version and a red / white version. I think maroon / white would work, along with orange / white, dark purple / white, hell even brown / white. And if this kelly green / white combo needed a third accent color, it’d be orange. The White Sox haven’t changed their look (minus alternate jersey tweeks) since ’91 (hence the extremely dated fat stripes & trim on the road jersey), and it’s driving me crazy. They went thru 6 changes between ‘64-’87. They were known for change. What I’m saying is, “it’s time for change”. And if you couldn't tell, I prefer the old silhouette batter logo, the one in my profile, used from 1976-90.

A.L. East

Boston Red Sox – navy blue & red. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Baltimore Orioles – orange & black. One of the worst owners in all of sports. The Orioles really don’t need to do much, but I’d go back to the old smaller & narrower script used from ‘55-’88, add orange stirrups / socks, and put “Baltimore” back on the road uniforms. I’d get rid of the “O’s” alternate cap, and go with an orange alternate jersey. And as for the cap, I’d like to go back to a happy cartoon birdhead logo, a different version than the one used from ‘66-’88, on a black cap with an orange brim.

Toronto Blue Jays – royal blue, red with a touch of powder blue. Oh man, this team is in serious need of help right now. Their colors of black, “Metallic Graphite”, “Metallic Sliver” and greyish blue seriously blow. The colors are just awful, there’s no Toronto royal or Canada red, the cap logo is way too big, they call themselves the “Jays”, and the font is horribly clunky, huge and ugly. Plus the names on the back of the jersey are way too big. Last midseason they ditched the home graphite grey caps, the players citing “they were bad luck” and hence, their banishment permanently starting this season. Seriously, if you’re called the Blue Jays, you really need to wear blue. For the Blue Jays, I’d design a full-body logo of the blue jay, to show off all those blue, powder blue and white stripes & spots (do a Google image search of blue jay and you’ll see what I mean). A royal cap with the blue jay head on it. And for the uniform script, I’d go with either a fancy cursive script in royal blue outlined in powder blue, or go with vertically arched block letters spelling “BLUE JAYS” in alternating royal and red letters, a la Molson Canadian’s Beer label. And of course we’d have to incorporate the red maple leaf, too.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays >> Tampa Rays. There is a change coming..was supposed to happen in ’06, they ran out of time, then for ’07, ran out of time, and now it’s ’08 that the Devil Rays will be getting a new name, logo and team colors. The whole idea of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was flawed from the beginning. First, the use of “devil” in a region of old farts is never good. Secondly, colors were a mess, basically using black & the gradient rainbow, and gear started popping up in ’95. Then in ’01, they cleaned up their look, but it still looked too dark and dreary. Tho today, the easiest choice is Rays after Sun rays, and the colors would be red & old athletic gold, with a possible orange thrown in (ties to the old Tampa Bay Buccaneer colors). It wouldn’t be too hard to come up with some Sun logos (perhaps put a red-lined face in it) and make it tri-colored. That holds up with the team plan of making the next look “new and bright future”. As for colors, I’d go with a red cap & a yellow brim, with an interlocking white / orange outlined TR. No ideas about what kind of script. Of course, I’ve had other mascot ideas like the Tampa Terrapins w/ green & royal, much better than the old Minor League Tampa Tarpons, who were red and name looks too close to "tampons". Or maybe one of my personal favorites: the Screaming Beavers. Tho that does sound more College Football-esque.

New York Yankees – navy & white. You wouldn’t dare touch the home. But the road? Would you get rid of the white outline on “NEW YORK” and drop the sleeve & collar trim that made its first appearance in ‘73? I think I would.

So this is open to discussion, so if you have any thoughts or ideas, let's hear them.