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The two jerseys on the outside should look familiar, but the two on the inside are brand-spanking-new and will see their on-field debuts in the 2011 season.

Second from the left is the new alternate home for the Indians. It comes in an odd creme color with a sans-serif font. To me, it looks like an older style uniform, although it doesn’t appear to be a throwback to any older Indians uniforms. The closest Indians uniform to the new one is this, from 1972, and the only thing similar there is the lettering. The new design also features a new hat, with a navy block “C” on a red background.

Next to that will be the new road grays. This is a pretty classic look, very similar to what the 1954 Indians wore away from home. Perhaps coincidentally and perhaps not, that 1954 team reached the World Series. This design uses this hat, the original version of the color swap used on the home alternates.

Personally, I think the creme alternate immediately becomes one of the worst uniforms in baseball today. The letters are too big, the creme color is awful, and the blue-on-red hat design doesn’t work at all. The away uniforms, though, are nearly perfect. If I had my druthers, the Chief Wahoo logo would just go away, but alas, it does appear on the arm patch of this jersey (as well as the other three). Other than that, though, it’s a great and classic look that hearkens back to a great era for the Cleveland franchise.

For some reason, I find uniforms fascinating. Although I don’t think I quite qualify as a scholar of “The Obsessive Study of Athletic Aesthetics” like the fantastic Paul Lukas at Uni Watch, I do consider myself an interested observer and a student when it comes to jersey design, and I certainly find myself with strong opinions on jerseys in all sports, including baseball.

For example, the Toronto Blue Jays of the 1980s and 1990s had some classic uniforms and perhaps my favorite hat logo of all time.

Now, though, the Jays use this hat logo, which I’ve seen referred to as a “rat,” and much like the lettering on the jersey, the “J” on the logo is a bit heavy on metallic gray and beveling for my tastes. The current uniform design looks boring and, to me, corporate. Particularly disappointing is the use of black as a primary color on these alternates.

What to do? Going back to the old uniforms might work, but I feel like their time has passed. The lettering in particular on the jerseys from the 80s and early 90s belong in that time period. The Jays need a re-design that can work in 2010 while using the color scheme to the fullest. The Jays tried to use their blue in the late 90s, but the use of blinding red ruined these jerseys from 2003. However, I do think they had a few good things going.

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