Auburn Baseball: Mix and Match

As I was preparing for my preseason baseball posts, I went through countless photos of last year’s games. The one constant thing that I noticed is that the uniforms were anything but consistent. Nearly every picture I saw consisted of random jersey, pant, and hat combinations. There were very few combinations that were always set in stone. The first year of the Golloway era has, thus far, seen absolutely no mixing of uniform aspects. Or so I thought. This past Tuesday night, in a game against South Alabama, we saw our first mix and match of Auburn baseball uniforms.

Zach Bland

Tuesday night was the last baseball game of the season that I was able to attend. So I got there early to enjoy even more time in the great weather. The first thing I noticed (of course) was that Auburn was wearing the blue tops again. I tweeted that this was the first time we had seen the combo in a while that consisted of the blue tops and white striped stirrups, but boy was I wrong. I then noticed that they were wearing the plain blue ‘rups. It took me probably 10 minutes later to realize that they were not wearing the white pants. As one of the players walked out of the dugout I realized that they were actually wearing the pinstriped pants. If you remember my Baseball News post from January, you’ll remember that the baseball players really liked the blue tops paired with the pinstripe pants.

It is odd that Golloway would decide so late into the season that it is acceptable to start playing with the uniform combinations. When he came in, I was under the assumptions we’d see about the same number of different combinations as the previous year. I’ve been rather surprised how much he’s stuck to the same combinations. Personally, I would have rather seen some hats rotate before going with the blue top, pinstripe pants look. I would love to see the white hats return with the all white look, even if for just one game.

Zach Bland

If you look at some pictures from the game, you’ll also notice something different with the stirrups. This season, the entire team has been wearing the standard 3-inch cut stirrups. Tuesday night I spotted a few players going with the higher 7-inch cut ‘rups and I loved it! Ryan Tella was the one that caught my eye first wearing these. A quick look back shows that he’s been wearing the higher stirrups since the South Carolina series. Go Tella! I know there’s a lot of people that would love to see the 11-inch stirrups return, but that’s a bit much for me. I wouldn’t mind seeing some more 9-inch ones, but anything bigger would be a little too high for my liking. Gotta keep room for the stripes!

The look overall was pretty good. It was nice to see something different, even if Golloway hasn’t been into mixing this season. I’m just hoping we don’t see much more of it. There are most combinations that should not be worn than those that should. I’d rather not see the orange (like in the past) or white tops paired with the pinstriped pants…I’m just curious to see what the team does to finish out the season. Do they continue to wear the same standard combinations or do they start changing up the sets? Time, and win/loss records, will determine that.

I hope to have a really interesting new piece up next week. I’m really excited for it and hope everyone enjoys it!

War Eagle!
+Auburn Athletics