Skip to content
 

Grading the Women’s College World Series Uniforms, Part I

Posted in:

Good morning, Uni Watchers! I hope everyone had a pleasant Tuesday — and I want to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to all those who posted encouragement and kind words in my first second article, post-Paul. You guys are great!

As I mentioned yesterday, some of the best pieces on Uni Watch come from the Uni Watch community, and today I’m pleased to continue featuring reader-submitted and reader-generated stories. I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

I’d also like to pre-emptively say that while I am certainly most guilty of using the term “softball top” derisively to describe MLB alternate jerseys, I’m doing so in the beer league sense, and most certainly not the women’s softball sense. As you’ll soon see, some of the uniforms worn by top NCAA teams are gorgeous, and could look good on some MLB teams!

In addition, longtime readers know we don’t often feature women’s sports uniforms here on Uni Watch, and that’s something that I’d like to change. That’s more of a function of neither Paul nor I having anywhere near the expertise/passion to truly delve into the women’s athletic aesthetic — but I’d venture a good number of you do. If you’d like to work with me on an article highlighting those uniforms (or leagues), I’d love to feature it (drop me a line at: phil.hecken@gmail.com).

Today’s featured author is Andrew Hermeling, and he’s going to bring you an in depth look (and ranking) of the NCAA Super Regional schools for this wear’s Women’s College World Series. For each featured team, Andrew has included multiple uniform combinations (ranging from as few as three to as many as six) worn in the tournament. In order to keep it manageable, I’ll post a single photo inline, followed by a small gallery showing all teams’ cominations. Here’s Andrew…

• • • • •

Grading the Women’s College World Series Uniforms, Part I
by Andrew Dyrli Hermeling

Longtime Uni Watch readers know that the term “softball top” is often used pejoratively here to describe a look that many traditionalists–myself included! — hate to see in MLB uniform programs. As far I am concerned, MLB uniforms should be white at home and gray on the road (although as a St. Louis fan who fell in love with baseball in the 80s, I’ll always have a soft spot for road powder blues!)

However, while I’m not going to change my tune about my preferred approach to baseball aesthetics, I do think the use of “softball tops” as an epithet is rooted in an inherent bias that privileges baseball over softball, a bias that is itself a product of the general sexism of American sports fandom. But seeing as we’re in a moment of broader reassessment of what exactly relegates women’s sports to the margins (because it certainly isn’t a lack of quality competition!) I think it is time to examine softball aesthetics on their own terms, giving them equal voice within the broader venn diagram of diamond aesthetics, rather than as a less-distinguished counterpart.

As such, what follows is my assessment of the 16 college softball teams that qualified for the Super Regionals (with one bonus team that was already eliminated but who qualify for this breakdown as a “too good to exclude” at-large bid.) While we are running this post after the conclusion of the Super Regionals, the teams who didn’t make it to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City will remain in the breakdown so as to give a better assessment of the breadth of college softball uniform design. We’ll drop the first 8 teams today and the final 8+1 teams tomorrow.

However, before I move onto a team-by-team breakdown, I think it is worthwhile to also talk about what makes the softball side of diamond aesthetics so appealing, even as they make certain design choices that would cause me to bristle were they implemented on the baseball side of the equation. As I see it, there are three themes that make college softball one of the better looking competitions in sports uniform design:

• Unlike baseball, all softball players wear uniforms that properly fit. There is no such thing as a softball pajamaist.

• Pants are always high-cuffed with hosiery, often stirrups.

• Use of color is largely high-contrast. Often, tops and pants are contrasting colors, and when they are matching colors, they are broken up with contrasting belts, striping, and/or hose, with a unitard look being rare.

No baseball player looks good swimming in their uniform, but contrasting colored tops or the colored pants that are often featured within the City Connect program look especially cheap when they are also ill-fitting. Likewise, while softball uniforms are much bolder in their use of color, they rarely fall victim to Cincinnati-style monochrome nonsense.

However, I also think we should give credit to softball uniform design on its own terms. Softball teams simply own the look. So in this sense, perhaps it is more of an attitude adjustment that is needed, not just the shedding of light on something often left unseen. In other words, “softball tops” don’t look as good on the baseball diamond because they belong on the softball diamond. It’s not because they are worse designs, it’s simply because softball has always done it better. So stay in your lane, baseball! Leave the softball tops to the masters.

As for assessment, I am a teacher by trade, so I am opting for grading on an A through F scale with a bit of narrative explaining my assessment. I am rooting my assessment in on-the-field uniforms, choosing to ignore any media-day staged presentations. Likewise, I will be assessing their whole 2024 uniform program, not just what they have chosen to wear in the championship tournament, where teams are understandably primarily running out their best looks. Finally, one general downside to many NCAA softball uniform programs, like so many other NCAA sports, is that they wear far too many different uniforms. As such, see these assessments as thoroughly impressionistic rather than exhaustive.

Without any further ado, here is my breakdown, organized according to the official NCAA bracket, beginning with the 8 teams on the left side.

__________

Texas: B

Texas as an institution is starting with a strong colorway. Moreover, the Longhorn logo is simple and easy to deploy across their uniform program. The burnt orange pinstripe look is their best, and I am especially fond of the chest script that is unique to that uniform. Unfortunately, while I also like the block letter tops, Texas is a consistent exception to the no unitard look, eschewing contrasting belts, stripes, and hosiery. There is a power in simplicity, but contrast really makes that simplicity pop. With a few contrasting tweaks, Texas’s grade would rise considerably.

__________

Texas A&M: C

Texas A&M has one of the most bloated uniform programs among the final sixteen. Their pink set is particularly egregious, violating one of the core principles of effective uniform design: making sure your team is instantly recognizable at first glance. The same is true of the BFBS uniform, especially considering it does not even feature a team-identifying color in a secondary role. That being said, they do have some strong looks in their collection; the white pinstripe set they’ve been wearing during the tournament is particularly good! Plus, who can argue with those striped stirrups? However, they also tend to lean into football-style design elements, like the Texas outline logo on the side of their helmets. Similarly, the large chest logo feels more appropriate for a hockey jersey. Softball should have its own voice in diamond aesthetics, but I’m not a fan of borrowing heavily from the design approaches of other sports.

__________

LSU: A-

As a guest here at Uni Watch, I want to make sure to honor our outgoing editor-in-chief. But consider me pro-purple. And I especially love the contrast of purple and gold. LSU does a good job of balancing some uniforms in their program that emphasize school-wide design elements, like the stylized “LSU” on their gold jerseys, with more traditional diamond designs, as exemplified by the gold “Tigers” script on their white tops. Like many teams, they include a hip logo, in this case a tiger’s head, that adds another bit of visual interest. However, the inclusion of the full purple unitard look keeps them from receiving full marks. And while I don’t mind the helmet numbers, I should probably take off at least one point to be consistent with my borrowing from other sports policy.

__________

Stanford: B

On the one hand, there is very little that is bad about Stanford’s uniform set, and I do applaud them for not falling into the trap of so many NCAA programs, as they tend to stick to core looks. The block ‘S” with the tree lends itself well to a softball helmet, and they deploy striped stirrups well. However, their mono-cardinal red look is begging for a white belt, and the GFGS uniform is completely unnecessary. I am also not a fan of the truncated pants stripe included across all their uniforms. I also wish they would include some small Palo Alto green elements, rather than render the tree in the block “S” in white. Doing so would help differentiate them from the many other cardinal/crimson/maroon and white teams. Considering Stanford is home to one of the nation’s premier design schools, it would be nice to see them make a few more bold yet well-considered uniform design choices.

__________

Oklahoma State: A

As I mentioned in my introduction, I do think much of our assessment of uniforms is tangled up in gender-issues and sexism. I especially find the need to throw the term “Lady” in front of otherwise gender-neutral team nicknames to be obnoxious within the NCAA sports landscape. However, in the case of Oklahoma State, whose nickname is gendered, I find the feminization of the name to be a plus. Both the white pinstripe look with lots of effective orange contrast and the all-orange uni with the script “Cowgirls” are very strong. Moreover, while I don’t find it to be their best look, black is a primary color at OSU, so the black with orange pinstripes doesn’t get negative marks from me. And the turquoise blue alternate, which is made in partnership with Nike’s Indigenous outreach “N7 Project” adds a bit of visual surprise while still reading as a Cowgirls uni, all while honoring Indigenous people in a way that feels much more in the spirit of partnership than Indigenous mascots. Good on an institution that, to quote OSU itself, is located on the “territorial lands currently inhabited and preserved by citizens of the 39 sovereign tribal governments within Oklahoma.”

__________

Arizona: A-

This will be my second and final rule-of-thumb disagreement with our outgoing editor-in-chief. As has often been mentioned when assessing the uniform program of teams like the Texas Rangers, there are some who do not care for a team that cannot decide if they are a “blue” team or a “red” team. And that is definitely the case here for Arizona! However, that has never bothered me, especially when the brand identity/logo is so balanced between both colors, as is the case with the Arizona “A.” That logo is particularly good as a helmet/visor element, and their use of contrasting sleeve and pants stripes is very effective. And look at the height of those stirrups! The only negative is a totally unnecessary dark GFGS look that knocks their grade down a notch. Also, congrats to the Wildcats, one of two surprise Super Regional qualifiers, especially as they knocked out Arkansas whose uniforms are largely indistinguishable from the glut of maroon and white teams that dominate college softball.

__________

Baylor: A

Baylor is the other surprise team to qualify, again giving us a stronger look than the favored Louisiana. More importantly, Baylor is our sole green and gold team in the top 16, which is especially good since our other option was the fully Nikefied program at Oregon. The gold tops with green pants are their strongest look, and I’m particularly fond of the matte finish helmets, as they go well with the matte uniform fabrics. (Also proof that with a little effort Nike can match colors across different diamond uniform elements!) The interlocking “BU” hip logo is a great touch, although they are docked a few points by their GFGS set and a lack of stirrups. But the green and gold is so strong that I’d grade them a 92.6%, which this teacher at least is willing to round up to an A.

__________

Florida: B+

Oh Florida, so close to perfection. They have so many advantages. Blue and orange is such a great color combination. I love white front panel visor/helmet designs. The recognizable “Gators” script logo firmly locks them into the broader Florida brand identity while still looking totally at home on the diamond. The faux gator skin texture on the numbers is a bit much but at least it makes sense and is only noticeable if you look closely. And those stirrups! But that faux-football look is…terrible. For me, this is like a student who is acing a class all term only to turn in a final paper without apparently reading the prompt. Sure, the rest of the work prevents Florida from bombing the whole class, but this set could easily have been my favorite. If only…

__________

We’ll tackle the other side of the bracket tomorrow so stay tuned!

Thanks to the readers who pointed out that Oklahoma State’s blue uniforms were not powder blue but in fact turquoise and part of Nike’s “N7” Indigenous partnership program. The post has been updated to reflect this!

• • • • •

Thanks Andrew! Really fantastic rundown. Looking forward to Part II tomorrow!

 

 
  
 

Guess the Game from the Uniform


Based on the suggestion of long-time reader/contributor Jimmy Corcoran, we’ve introduced a new “game” on Uni Watch, which is similar to the popular “Guess the Game from the Scoreboard” (GTGFTS), only this one asked readers to identify the game based on the uniforms worn by teams.

Like GTGFTS, readers will be asked to guess the date, location and final score of the game from the clues provided in the photo. Sometimes the game should be somewhat easy to ascertain, while in other instances, it might be quite difficult. There will usually be a visual clue (something odd or unique to one or both of the uniforms) that will make a positive identification of one and only one game possible. Other times, there may be something significant about the game in question, like the last time a particular uniform was ever worn (one of Jimmy’s original suggestions). It’s up to YOU to figure out the game and date.

Today’s GTGFTU comes from Bart DeBlaise.

Good luck and please post your guess/answer in the comments below.

 

 

Guess the Game from the Scoreboard

Guess The Game…

…From The Scoreboard

Today’s scoreboard comes from Frank Stubbs.

The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).

Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date and location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):

Please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.

 

 

Uni Tweet of the Day

It’s a couple days old, but still perfect. H/T to Sean Walsh for this one!

 

And finally...

…that’s it for the early morning article. Major-plus-thanks to Andrew for his thorough review of the Women’s College World Series schools — and we’ll be back with Part II tomorrow.

The Ticker returns today, with Anthony back at the helm, so stay tuned for that. And I will have at least one additional post today, so do check back in later!

Thanks again to everyone for being so supportive as we begin Uni Watch post-Paul.

Peace,

PH

Comments (59)

    Good stuff, Andrew! I am a very committed softball fan (and former coach) and I agree that the proper fit goes a long way towards helping softball players look better compared to MLB players in baggy outfits. But I think it is important to note the design of the various makers–of the big three (Nike, Addidas, Under Armour), Nike and Addidas seem to have the biggest market share in conferences like the SEC, Pac12, etc. And they have design elements that, I think, respectively HELP and HINDER.

    Nike’s pants are an excellent example of doing the little things right. You’ll notice that on pants with piping up the legs, the piping is NOT centered on the leg, but instead it is moved FORWARD a bit, creating an optical illusion of sorts that is generally flattering on almost all players. The top picture of Stanford kind of shows this, where the Stanford player’s piping is obviously moved forward, and the sliding player in the UA uniform has centered piping.

    Addidas, on the other hand, have a really weird zipper on their pants that on just about every player but the smallest ones, is almost always visible (not covered by the placket). So Nike makes everyone look like they are wearing well-fitting athleisure wear, but Addidas makes almost everyone look like they are bloated and can’t close up their pants all the way.

    I look forward to the rest of your bracket, and to seeing more softball and other women’s sports coverage in UniWatch.

    Thanks for that insight! I am frankly pretty new to women’s softball, so I am coming into this work as an outside, which in a sense I think is a strength, because I’m just calling it like I see it, so to speak! But those insider tips are certainly missing from my review!

    Andrew…great look at NCAA World Series unis…looking forward to your next installment!

    I could be wrong, but the pants appear to be made out of a thinner material than standard baseball pants, which I think improves the look overall – especially since all the players are going high-cuffed!

    Great article Andrew!

    Forgot to add – the one downside of softball uniforms that comes to mind is the lack of hats. To me, it looks weird to see someone on a diamond without a proper cap.

    Agree. The visor would be fine if everyone wore it. It doesn’t look “uniform” when some don’t.

    It’s strange because otherwise everything else about softball uniforms is _very uniform_. I don’t mind the visor itself because they’re easier to wear than traditional caps because of the sort of variable hair situation going on here. But as you say they should be a requirement, not an option.

    I also wish they would include some small Palo Alto green elements, rather than render the tree in the block “S” in white.

    Rendering the tree in green is limited to University applications, according to Stanford’s brand rules. For athletics, it must be only Cardinal and white.

    Good note! However, in this sense I would then argue that my recommendation extends further up the ladder!

    Oklahoma State’s blue uniforms are actually turquoise and part of Nike’s N7 partnership, which promotes youth sports within Native American communities. OSU’s basketball teams (and I think softball?) have been participating in the program for a decade-ish now, so kinda some additional local flavor and not just PBFPBS (powder blue for powder blue sake).

    Good catch! I wish I’d known that as that actually makes me like them more! A much better example of what it means to honor Indigenous people!

    One thing I think of when it comes to softball uniforms is what my wife always says. “why are they so damn tight”. Now my wife played softball competitively from a kid until her 20s, so when she comments on the sport she knows what she is talking about. So for her to question the snugness of the uniforms always gives me pause when we watch a game. Which we do because our daughter plays softball and we will throw games on for her to pick up on things some of these women do on the field.

    Point of order: Ok State wears turquoise alts, not powder blue. A tribute to the Native Americans, similar to Florida State, New Mexico and maybe a couple others I can’t remember.
    Otherwise, great piece.
    Didn’t like Florida’s white/orange look, witho

    … without the royal blue, there isn’t enough contrast. They look too much like conference rivals Tennessee and Texas from afar.
    As for your other points, I like the more conforming tendency against pajama pants and for proper fits. Softball uniforms look uniform. My big issue is the clutter of the helmets – front logos, side logos, numbers, stripes… addition by subtraction would help here.

    I thought the term “softball uniforms” was more a reference to weekend beer league softball, not a slur towards women’s competitive softball. Am I wrong? I never took it as anything against a women’s sports.

    To be clear, I certainly do not mean to imply anything about individuals here, and I am confident that many people have used the term in reference to beer league softball. However, I think my read is still a possible read and therefore I stand by that I think competitive softball should get to own it as a positive.

    Absolutely. I am almost certain that most Uni Watchers know the term is meant as beer-league softball tops. I literally have never once considered anyone to be referring to women’s softball being inferior when talking using the term softball tops.

    To be clear – I’m not saying people don’t think of women’s softball when referring to softball tops. I meant I never once even considered that some people might think of women’s softball, as most of us know women’s softball looks fine, and the tops we usually refer to look like a jersey that would be worn in beer-league softball.

    Honestly I appreciate the clarification, I’ve not had any direct or indirect association with beer league softball. So to be honest I did somewhat assume it was a bit of a slight against women’s softball. Maybe I’m too young to know about beer league softball or I’m just not in the right place regionally for that to be a thing.

    Yeah, that might be it. This is what refer to when saying something looks like a softball top –
    link

    Case in point, you can see the resemblance and the inference here –
    link

    That pic of Brett Favre was from the NFL’s 75th Anniversary season on Oct. 2, 1994. The Patriots beat the Packers 17-16 that day.

    this was awesome, thanks Andrew. I love the shade of green and gold with Baylor.

    I’m also not a fan of the term “softball top” basically for the reasons outlined in the second paragraph. To me, it takes on a sneery connotation (as in, traditional baseball colors are superior) since I’d always thought of it as referring to this softball, not rec league softball. After all, this is the one that’s on TV and that people are much more likely to see.

    That aside, I’ve wondered to myself several times why more UW readers don’t appear to watch softball (since it’s not in the Ticker a ton and this is the first article on it in a while) especially because of how much the community prizes visible hosiery in MLB. I think it’s a really good-looking sport when combined with the colorful uniforms that we can see here. Good piece!

    Honestly, that was my thinking exactly! I deleted a paragraph in the first draft about how I came to care about this topic. I was staying in a hotel and swimming in the pool with my daughter and last year’s World Series was on a TV in the adjacent fitness room. And I kept thinking to myself how much I LOVED the uniforms and thinking about all the times I had said “softball tops!” I then did a search on the blog and found that there wasn’t a regular breakdown every year. And as the proverb says, I decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world!

    Funny how most of these are a couple large numbers away from appearing to look like a football uniform. I like Arizona’s sets the best.
    Has Uni-Watch ever covered the ever changing “uniforms” of the Swedish band The Hives, who broke out their finest outfits for this most recent record/tour? The music video for the song Bogus Operandi even features their switch to the new duds. Great band, fun concept..

    I guess i am the only one that likes when multiple sports at a university all match.

    Is the scoreboard game from Ankiel’s first outfield start and homerun? If so, i WAS at that game.

    I think my issue is when it feels forced versus when it feels natural.

    Nice work, Andrew. If I were to pick my highest rated uni of the bunch I’d easily choose the ‘home’ whites worn by the Florida Gator hitter. The tri-colored helmet isn’t something I see often in softball and it’s a nice touch.

    I actually enjoy watching college softball more than college baseball. It’s a great sport.

    I welcome the inclusion of more women’s sports!!! Softball is a great example!!

    This article came at a good time because we are currently designing my daughter’s All Star softball unis for the state tournament. The jerseys are decided on. We just have to decide on the pants, belt, and socks.

    Absolutely love that players have to go high cuffed – wish MLB would institute that rule! Totally agree that teams mimicking the schools football uniforms is a bad look – especially Florida with those huge numbers on their chest.

    I love Florida’s faux-football jersey…*especially* paired with the orange pants!
    But I also loved the Atlanta Thrashers hockey sweater with the numbers on the front, so what do I know.

    I’d love it if the Cincinnati Reds copied that Stanford look from the lede photo. They are the RedLegs, after all.

    Red pants look terrific on the Reds in MLB and Stanford softball…on KC NFL – not so much.

    Some of those uniforms would be even better if they wore contrasting sanitary socks, but many teams have stirrup and sanitary colors that are the same. Can you imagine LSU wearing gold sanitaries or Oklahoma State with orange? { Chef’s kiss }

    I agree with you. Contrast matters. Also, the swoosh on the “sanitary” is an eyesore and takes away from the esthetics of the stirrups.

    we don’t often feature women’s sports uniforms here on Uni Watch, and that’s something that I’d like to change

    Since college volleyball is one of my personal “Big Four” sports, I’ll be glad to include that on the weekends!

    My how things have changed…Purple gets positive treatment.

    ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡ -)

    I have always considered the enmity toward purple to be a “Paul thing”, and not a “Uni Watch thing”. It would be disingenuous to continue the policy without Paul’s participation.

    Thanks for the softball coverage. I wish the women’s collegiate sport was referred to as “fastpitch’ to differentiate it from beer league slow pitch softball. I like that seemingly all teams are high cuffed. I like uniforms like Texas with no stirrups or those like Arizona where the stirrups are high cut and you see more of the sanitary socks and not the top of the stirrup. I really like seeing Texas going full on white. But for baseball, I like the pajama pants look more. Just personal preference I guess.

    The only nit I have are where the stirrup and sanitaries that are the same color (Texas A&M and Stanford, examples from above)

    I like the combinations:

    Any Color other than whit Stirrup/White Sanitary
    Green Stirrup/Yellow Sanitary (Oakland A’s link )
    Brown Stirrup/Yellow Sanitary (Padres circa 1984 link )

    Great preview Andrew! I’m excited to see more women’s sports content on UniWatch.

    “I’m excited to see more women’s sports content on UniWatch.”

    Me too! If you’d ever like to do a post exploring any women’s sports unis, drop me a line!

    Great write-up, Andrew! Thanks for sharing this! I’m looking forward to the second part tomorrow. It’s amazing how much better uniforms look when they are properly fitted to the athlete. Even with the bolder colors then one finds in traditional baseball uniforms, many of these softball uniforms look significantly better than their baseball brethren because of the fit.

    Why DO they wear visors instead of caps? Never got a good answer. My daughter wore a baseball cap when she played and she looked sharp (of course I’m a bit biased…).

    The only reason I can think of is because they’d need to wear “Trucker” caps (or really, any cap with a “hole” in the back for their ponytails to go through). But I don’t see why *that* should be a problem.

    When I played softball in high school, visors and caps were both permitted, as long as all team members wore the same color and logo. I can’t recall anyone ever wearing a cap though. (I would have, but that was never an option when we ordered visors, socks, undershirts, etc. and at the time I never really thought to get one customized.)

    Call me dense, but I’m actually not sure which Florida uni is the “faux-football” one. Is it the orange-over-blue combo (last in the gallery)? I really like that one. It’s bold colorful without looking ridiculous.

    I also appreciate Oklahoma State demonstrating how virtually any color combination looks good on a powder blue canvas ;-)

    *bold AND colorful

    Any hope of ever being able to edit comments on here? Haha

    The white-over-orange look. The pants are not at all what the football team wears, but the jersey is a fairly close approximation.

    It is true the striping is wrong and they did not wear white over orange this season they have in the past and did during this years spring game.

    GTGFTS Aug 9 2007 Cardinals 5 Padres 0. Rick Ankiel his first home run as a position player.

    One one hand I do think the faux-football aspects of these uniforms are somewhat off putting, I do think it verges into so bad it’s good territory. I find it somewhat amusing that some colleges cannot escape the fact that they are “football schools”. For example I love the fact that every team that includes a helmet is gold for Notre Dame, or that all Michigan helmets have those weird stripes for sport regardless of whether or not it really makes sense.

    Quick comment related to belts. It tends to be a functional decision to go with beltless pants as players are coached to dive head first when sliding. Speaking for my daughter, she never wants to go back to belted pants after spending a season with the head first dive approach to base running.

Comments are closed.