Should the team keep the Athletics nickname or come up with a new one? It would be nice for a Portland francise to have a new identity of their own, but the Athletics francise has a lot of history and tradition in it.

Rick...WELCOME ABOARD! Post #1 for you - great!

We were just discussing this the other day on this thread:

Just wondrin'.... (Portland Athletics thread)

I think the concensus is that we would have a fresh name for just about any team (whether relocated or expansion, even though exp. is unlikely for years yet). The only exception to that would be to go ahead and stick with "Athletics" if it ends up they move here. The name has just too much history to give up and, after all, they didn't change the name when the Philadelphia A's moved to Kansas City, and they didn't change it after the move to Oakland. Why change it now?

I think the other piece of concensus was to start some things fresh about the franchise save for the name. Colors would probably be something to consider changing.

Anyway, you can read up more about this topic over on the other thread.

_______________________
Pokey (aka: Tim Marttala)
Director of Operations
Oregon Baseball Campaign

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Fixed URL. --Admin.

[This message was edited by Dodger Matt on APR-10-01 at 03:30 PM.]

Athletics is not exclusive to Oakland, as you may know, the Athletics were originally in Philly, then on to Kansas City..then to Oaktown.

Any other name would need changed to better suit our area.

I can see this could be a hotly debated subject, but I agree with Rick, Pokey and Sherwood Matt. Teams with a long-standing tradition should be left alone. I don't know about all the other people logged into the forum here, but I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to baseball. Its history is one of the hallmarks of the game and should be treasured....

With that in mind, a team like the Expo's fall out of that realm in my mind (sorry senior circuit fans) as opposed to the Athletics. Just out of curiosity... What was the last team that went for a complete name change in the "Bigs"?

The last team to move- the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers.

For my own part, any team name that has lasted a century (or darn close) oughta stay put.

If it's a name of local significance, like the Devil Rays, or Expos or especially Twins, it ought to be changed.

The A's should definitely keep their name, I'm with the group here. I also think their colors should remain as well. Just swap out "Oakland" with "Portland" (hey, four letters, that will save money!) and you're good to go.

In every other instance, it's a new team. The Expos have nothing to lose by changing their name and colors, so long as they keep Vidro and Guerrero.

I am partial to blue for the team colors in Portland.

Ya, you know where I'm coming from on the "keeping the colors". Many happy UofO fans. OSU fans go ballistic. Charlie O' brought in the colors but they still look great!

Baseball Quote of the Day:

Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time.

Lou Brock

Couldn't disagree with you more, Teddy. Green and gold are good colors for football. They're lousy colors for baseball.

I happen to believe that all of Charlie's color schemes should be ditched.

I rather like Pokey's(?) idea of burgandy and wheat for the Portland A's, myself....

you've got to be kidding me New Yorker.

Looking through yesterday's Portland Tribune, they had a nice piece on PIL (Portland Interscholastic League - aka "Portland High Schools") baseball featuring Wilson High School's prospects for the league championship.

Anyway, Wilson's colors are Forest Green, white, and a bit of scarlet red trim.

I never pictured that combo working very well - I always pictured the Univ. of Miami's (Florida) strange Dark Green and Orange combo which I think is UGLY - but on Wilson's uni's the look was very sharp. Made especially so by their use of "old time baseball" lettering for the school name on the jerseys, etc.

Basically, the uni's were white with forest piping and letters, with a fine red piping around the letters. The hats were forest with a white W (for Wilson) with fine red piping around the W.

That combo was SHARP and got me to thinking that my "Local" colors of Forest (green), Wine (red), Wheat (tan), Snow (white) and Basalt (DARK grey - almost black) would probably work together pretty well after all.

Snow uni's with Forest piping...Forest letters with Wheat and Wine piping or trim...Basalt highlights (shadowing, likely) around the letters.

Forest hats with a Snow letter (initial "P" or traditional Athletics' "A's"), Basalt shadow from the letter and Wheat and Wine trim around the letter.

_______________________
Pokey (aka: Tim Marttala)
Director of Operations
Oregon Baseball Campaign

BTW, I think I've spotted a couple of folks who attribute a burgundy and wheat combo to me...

I don't think I'd be too thrilled with that combo...it looks too USC Trojans (Univ. of So. Calif.) to me for some reason. Basically just changing their gold to tan, and I think that's too plain.

Make the burgundy (or "wine" as I call it above) more of a trim color along with the wheat and basalt, with the primary colors being forest green and snow white, and I like that pretty well.

BUT...I may change my mind again and/or somebody's argument might change my mind, too.

_______________________
Pokey (aka: Tim Marttala)
Director of Operations
Oregon Baseball Campaign

Wine, wheat, basalt, forest green, snow white? Aww, TOO MANY many colors! Sorry, Pokey, but I like simple. Two colors, one main color and one for trim, on home whites and road grays, is just right (IMO) -- but I could be wrong, too! I like the forest green and red idea (but will people think it's too "Christmasy"?). Oh, well, can't please everyone.

Can anyone explain the, what seems like, 4 or 5 different uniform coloring standards that the MLB has laid down? I know that there's white and grey, but I see black sometimes, and of course we've got the "Old Timers" uni's, not to mention spring traing, and batting practice duds. Don't tell me this isn't the biggest appeal scheme yet. Hey I'm 39 and into younger fashion, but let's get real! The best caps and uniforms still are the old classics!

Okay, here we go...

All teams wear white jerseys and pants at home.

All teams wear gray jerseys and pants on the road.

Teams may add an additional alternate jersey in their primary team color. Black is the most popular of these. There are some teams (like the Mets) who have a home alternate jersey with the team name across the chest, and an away alternate jersey with the city name across the chest.

There is also the spring training jersey you mention, which is made of a lighter, more breathable cloth and is frequently either the alternate design or a very simple design (cap logo). These are never worn during regular season games. The batting practice jerseys are similar in construction and design and are likewise only worn during BP, never during games.

In addition, there is also the phenomenon of the alternate cap. This is usually worn with the alternate jerseys. It is not to be confused with the BP cap, which is frequently the alternate cap design but on a cap constructed out of the airy "jersey" material and not wool.

Clearer? This is why I love the Yankees. None of this nonsense.

And, as you mention, the classics are really the best. Which reminds me- there's also the "Turn Back the Clock" games in which teams wear old school uniforms, some of which they shouldn't have given up in the first place. The White Sox have a special thing they're doing this year- a TBTC uniform for Sundays. Every Sunday they wear this cap, styled after the one the team wore in 1917:


Jersey pic to come....

Sorry, Pokey, didn't mean to speak for you. Don't remember who proposed it but I thought the logo mockup they posted looked pretty sharp.

Count me among those who would limit the colors at two (not counting white). I really don't like the "busier" color schemes. Okay, three if one of them is gray or maybe (as with the Giants) tan. Then it isn't really a team color per se, more of an accent. Anything more than that is just too complicated for me.

[This message was edited by New Yorker on APR-11-01 at 03:47 PM.]

Thanks much "New Yorker" for clarifying this. It's been a source of confusion for a few years now for me...

As for the fine cap image....

I get the catalog from Cooperstown that has the occasional "classic" styled hats, and Lids, Inc. had a Cooperstown collection of which I purchased the 1906, and '22 Yankee, 1946 Dodger, 1916 White Sox, and I believe 1906 Tiger hats, but that was several years ago. Where are you finding these great hats you're posting? Are they for purchase?

Once again thanks!!
Maury Brown
Portland

You can see contemporary caps on
www.neweracap.com
(where I get my best pics).

The best source for Cooperstown Collection caps is
www.brooklyn-dodgers.com

You might also try
www.minorleagues.com
if you're looking for caps.

Pine green, brick red, and cream white. Those are the colors I've been pushing for a while as "Portland colors".

The pine green and forest green are essentially the same, but I prefer brick to burgundy. True burgundy is a reddish purple; brick is going to look very much like the red in the word "FORUM" on this page. Hey, the very dark green in the left column looks a little like my pine green too. And whaddya know! The beige color in this forum is not TOO different from my creamy off-white! And that dusty rose color accent, all these colors look terribly similar to the color scheme I have propounded! What a coincidence!

One thing that makes the (current) A's unis so nice is that they ARE the only green in MLB. Yeah, I know there are a lot of "purists" who like to see red, white, and blue on baseball uniforms, but I want to see a little variation. A dark green with a RED highlight (as opposed to that sick yellow Charlie O. put on the Athletics' socks) would retain a quasi-traditional classic look without appearing like those barfy teal/rainbow Floridastate unis.

Portland in the National League.

Agreed. I'm a purist, but that doesn't mean that all teams have to look alike (although I would love to see my Brewers adopt the navy and red scheme of their glorious predecessors). It's not the green itself that I have a problem with, it's the green and yellow.

I could get behind your "Pine green, brick red, and cream white" scheme. It's simple, not too complicated, and is still unique in the majors.

Okay, Teddy, here's the promised pic of the new Sox Sunday uniforms:



I'll have to wait and see how accurate this uniform really is. I seem to recall that the 1917 Sox unies had pinstripes as well as the black collar and cuff bands (the pinstripes on the hat might be influencing my memory just a teensy bit). And the stripes on the pants don't seem right. Still, I rather like the big bold "SOX" on the breast.

Okay, back to Portland A's talk....