The Red Sox have a pressing need: New alternate uniforms

I am going to preface this entire post by stating exactly how much tradition means to me when it comes to Boston sports. It means a lot. I promise. I am wholeheartedly obsessed with Fenway Park and I hope that the Red Sox play baseball there for the rest of my days on this earth. I love that it’s nearly impossible to locate a difference between the home and away uniforms the Red Sox, Celtics or Bruins wear today and the ones they wore 20 years ago. There are few things in this world that I am more prideful in than the rich history behind each Boston sports team. All that being said, it’s time that the Red Sox begin weighing options for a new alternate uniform.

If you consider those all-blue jerseys (or the even worse all-red ones) to be true alternate uniforms, I have to disagree with you. Sure, they are alternate uniforms in the sense that they are different from the traditional white and gray uniforms the Red Sox have donned for so many years. But this day in age, with the NBA legitimately forcing it’s teams to adopt City Edition uniforms while the NFL did the same in the form of Color Rush, I just don’t consider the blue or red jerseys as true alternates. Cliff Corcoran of The Athletic agrees apparently as he recently ranked the Red Sox 30th in his MLB uniform rankings. Correction: The Red Sox were 13th.

It’s hard not to love the classic feel of the current home and away uniforms, which speak to all that the Red Sox have been through over more than a century of baseball. Before beating the Dodgers this year wearing the blue alternate, the Sox had capped off each recent World Series win in the original white (2013) or gray (2004, 2007) jerseys. The ball went through Buckner’s legs while he wore a gray jersey very similar to the one the Red Sox wore more than 60 times last season. Jason Varitek punched A-Rod in the face while wearing his home whites. There’s simply too much history for a re-design of any kind. And I am definitely not saying I want them to go all Diamondbacks on us and create a math equation worth of uniform combinations.

I’m also not an artist so I don’t have any sketches for you. I honestly have no idea what I am even looking for in a new alternate uniform, but I think it would be good for the Red Sox to look to the Celtics for inspiration. The C’s have done a great job holding close to tradition with both of their first City Edition uniforms. This year’s version pays homage to warmups worn in Larry Bird’s prime, while the gray sleeved jerseys worn last year featured the famous parquet floor and were a tribute to legend Red Auerbach. The Red Sox have played 118 seasons of baseball and the creative department can’t think of anything better than turning the home white jerseys red or dying the road grays navy blue?

Even discussing the need for a new alternate seems fruitless, because we know change is likely not on the horizon. Boston as a whole seems to like to keep things the way they are. Maybe the Sox fear a negative reaction from the fans or can’t find a good opportunity to inject an exciting alternate option into the uniform rotation or simply don’t see the need to. I guess it’s not really a necessity after all. Coming off a World Series win and the contract extension of Nathan Eovaldi, I am sure Dave Dombrowski hasn’t considered alternate uniform options recently. With uniform creativity increasing in professional sports every day, I just want the Red Sox to join the party. Is that too much to ask?