Uni Watch World Series Preview: A Deep Dive on the Phillies’ Uniforms
Amaze (or at least annoy) your friends with these fun facts about Phillies uniforms, past and present.
The World Series is about to begin (or, depending on when you’re reading this, has just begun). That means it’s time for my annual Uni Watch World Series Preview, where I run down interesting facts and figures about the uniforms of the two teams facing off in the Fall Classic.
Or at least that’s what I do under normal circumstances. But this is not a normal year — in the American League, the Astros are back in the Series for the fourth time in six seasons, and I am frankly tired of writing about them. I’m tired of pointing out how their home jersey’s chest lettering is badly lopsided, or that their NOB lettering is almost as big as their chest lettering. I’m tired of writing about manager Dusty Baker’s gloves, wristbands, toothpicks, and “Jr.” I’m tired of writing, “Wouldn’t it be great if they brought back the tequila sunrise uniform for the World Series?” I’m tired of anything I write about the Astros being greeted with jokes about asterisks and trash cans.
So with apologies to Houston fans, this year I’m going to focus on just one World Series team — the Phillies, who are in the Series for the first time since 2009. They were little more than an afterthought when the postseason started, so you may not have given much thought to them or their uniforms, so here are 10 major phun phacts fun facts about the Phils and their uniforms, plus a dozen additional items in the “Honorable Mention” category. Memorize all of this and you can amaze (or at least annoy) your friends while watching the Series.
Ready? Here we go.
1. The Chain-Stitching
If you look closely at any Phillies jersey, you’ll see that the script isn’t rendered in flat fabric like most teams use. Instead, it’s comprised of neat rows of looped thread. This is chain-stitching, a gorgeous style of textured embroidery that used to be semi-common on baseball uniforms but has now largely fallen out of favor. The Phils are one of only two MLB teams that still use it. (The other is St. Louis.)
