Ever since the 2005 Red Sox pioneered the use of gold-trimmed uniforms to begin the season after winning the World Series, almost every defending World Series champion has done likewise. The only exceptions have been the 2006 White Sox, the 2008 Red Sox, and the 2010 Yankees. There’s been no reason to believe the Rangers would buck that trend, and now we have confirmation that they will indeed be going for the gold this spring — but possibly with a twist.
That word comes from a trusted source in the retail industry who I heard from earlier today. They said:
Was checking some incoming inventory for my store and noticed that we are getting the Rangers’ gold championship hat, but it is saying the color is navy. Thought that was weird, considering the Rangers normally have royal blue caps.
My source sent along this screen shot from his computer:
That does seem odd, doesn’t it? The Rangers have never worn navy!
Wondering why the screen shot shows broken images instead of thumbnail photos? So was I, so I asked my source about that and got this response:
When we get these new style numbers in, they have a hard sell date, and usually that means they won’t show the picture until a day or two before. For example, we have hard sell dates for the new clubhouse hats, spring training hats and the St. Patrick’s Day hats, and they all show the same broken image thing when I type a style number in.
Interesting!
Meanwhile, if anyone knows more about this navy Rangers cap, and/or about the corresponding gold-trimmed jersey that will presumably go along with it, feel free to be in touch. Anonymity assured, of course.
Update: Reader/commenter Tom Raimonde points out that the team’s City Connect cap is navy (although it’s really, really dark, almost black). So maybe the gold-trimmed cap is based on that..?
I feel like how you are rolling out these MLB stories is your BEST WORK!
The City Connect cap is navy. Maybe a gold trimmed version of that?
Good point! I just added that to the text (and credited you, of course).
Paul, I’m sure you know grammar better than I do. However, the wording threw me off for a second “…to begin the season after winning the World Series in 2005” since they didn’t win the world series in 2005. I know you meant the debut of the gold trim in 2005 though! I would have felt clearer if it said “to begin the season in 2005”, but I’m open to be schooled on this!
Fair point. Wording now adjusted!
Wow that was fast. Admittedly, as a White Sox fan, I probably was reading this differently :)
I wouldn’t call (or even consider) the CC cap to be “navy” — midnight blue, maybe (think Yankees, Bears, Tigers). So calling it “navy” does seem odd.
Does your *cough* trusted source have any information on the Rangers upcoming uniforms from the Style Guide?
One-offs like gold-trim champ unis are not shown in the Guide.
Actually I was wondering if the Guide showed the team changing to a navy cap (or any navy trim…or navy anything) for any of their 4+1 unis.
Ah, I see. That hadn’t even occurred to me! But I’ll see what I can learn.
That looks like it is going with either the CC uniform or with a new navy top. I cannot imagine Texas switching all royal blue in their uniforms to navy, but from a Texas flag point of view that would make sense.
Common sense would suggest that the gold-trimmed cap would be their everyday cap. It also just so happens that their CC cap is hideous. Not sure why their regular cap would be navy though.
Our fans have embraced our CC stuff. It actually has a decent story behind it as well as being part of our first championship season. Gold trim would go well with it.
I would die for Peagle
So, now the continued uni-confusion broadens. Are the Rangers a red team, a royal blue team, or a navy blue team?