Third jersey

A third jersey or alternate jersey is a sports team's alternate and/or throwback design for the previously established other two jerseys, the home and away outfits. Alternate jerseys are used in all four of the North American major professional sports leagues as well as college sports, semipro leagues, and other sports leagues throughout the world. Though they are termed "third jerseys", the alternate uniform can also include other elements of the uniform or kit, such as pants or socks.

For home and away jerseys, teams often use white (or another light color such as yellow) as the main color for one jersey and the team's primary color as the main color for the other jersey. "White home" is the convention in baseball (MLB), basketball (NBA, NCAA basketball) and college hockey, while "white away" is the convention in football (NFL, NCAA football) and NHL. However, the conventions are not rules, and often the home team has the right to choose which jersey it will wear, with the visiting team forced to choose a contrasting color. For this reason, teams often create a third jersey, usually with a secondary team color, to ensure that they will always have an appropriate selection for the game. The term "third" or "alternate" typically refers to this specially designed jersey. Throwback jerseys can be considered additional alternate jerseys, but they are generally only used for special team games and not for the "third" purpose.

Currently, third jerseys are primarily used in the United States and Canada , although "third kits" are also commonplace in European football and alternate guernseys or jerseys are common in Australia's two biggest domestic leagues, the Australian Football League (Aussie rules) and National Rugby League (rugby league). One notable incident occurred in 1996, when Manchester United changed into their blue third kit at half-time, with manager Alex Ferguson blaming the grey away kit for several sub-par performances.[1]

Contents

Major League Baseball

See also: Major League Baseball uniforms

After decades of wearing the same uniforms, Major League Baseball teams began to experiment with numerous designs in the early 1970s, ranging from popular designs (such as the Oakland Athletics' pullover jerseys that most MLB teams later adopted) and not so popular (such as the Chicago White Sox wearing shorts, or the Cleveland Indians wearing all-red).

Among such designs that were also tested were third jerseys, to break the traditional mold that baseball teams wear white uniforms at home, and gray on the road. This began in 1972 when the A's flamboyant owner, Charles O. Finley, introduced new uniforms to the team. Taking after the lead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the jerseys were pullover spandex that would later catch on in MLB (though this would be phased out by the early 1990s in favor of the more traditional button-down jerseys), but by going one step further than the Pirates, the A's introduced alternate gold and green jerseys. The gold jerseys, lighter in color, were considered "home" alternates while the darker green jerseys were considered "away" alternates.

Soon, many teams caught on with different colored jerseys. The Pirates even went as far as to having a rotation of which jerseys to wear, matching white pinstriped, gold, and black pants to wear with jerseys of the same color. The white pinstripes were later phased out in favor of solid white.

The New York Yankees are the only team in MLB never to have worn a third jersey. Third jerseys otherwise remain popular in baseball today, either as an alternate design or as a throwback known as "Turn Back the Clock Night." The Milwaukee Brewers, for example, have worn a variation of their 1978-1993 home uniforms for every Friday home game. In 1998, the Seattle Mariners hosted the Kansas City Royals for a game where both teams wore "futuristic" uniforms meant to represent the year 2027 (what will be the Mariners 50th season). The promotion was so successful that it was copied the next year by 20 MLB teams, this time representing the year 2021 (due to sponsorship by Century 21), however the jerseys were roundly ridiculed and have not been seen since.

The Toronto Blue Jays change from their traditional blue and grey jersey to a red alternate jersey every Canada Day (July 1) to help celebrate the National Holiday. In 2007, the Jays announced that as part of the team's popular "Flashback Friday" promotion, the team would use replica uniforms based on the powder-blue road uniforms used in the 1980s at all Friday night home games, starting with the 2008 season. To complete the look, the Jays also wear the original blue and white caps, with their traditional logo on the front of the uniform as well as on the caps. The Tampa Bay Rays wore a black alternate in the 90s' when they were the "Devil Rays." From 2003-2007 they wore green alternate jersey worn both at home and away on selected games. When they changed their name to the "Rays" they introduced an alternate navy blue for home and away games to go along with their white and gray uniforms. In 2010 they added light blue jerseys to be worn only on Sunday home games. The Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves wear a red jersey for every home game played on Sunday, while the Washington Nationals wear red for all weekend home games, and in 2011 have done so for most weekend road games as well. The Pittsburgh Pirates wore a red alternate for every home game played on Friday during the 2007 season, even though red is not an official team color. Since 2009, the Boston Red Sox wore a red alternate jersey for Friday night home games and a blue alternate jersey for Friday night away games. Also since 2009, for every afternoon home game, the Kansas City Royals wear powder-blue jerseys almost reminiscent of the old jerseys they wore in the 1980s (and in 2010 introduced new powder-blue caps to be worn with these jerseys). During Sunday home games, the San Diego Padres sport special camouflage-colored jerseys (with green caps to match). In 2011 the camouflage jerseys were changed to a brown/tan "desert camo" and tan cap. The San Francisco Giants wear orange uniforms during all Friday home games. Most recently the Mariners revived their teal jerseys from the mid-1990s, to be used on Friday and Monday home games.

In contrast, the Chicago Cubs frequently wear a blue alternate jersey, whether at home or on the road, and not according to the day of the week. This jersey is worn based on the decision of the starting pitcher (particularly when ace Carlos Zambrano is pitching), thus explaining why it is worn more often than other third jerseys.

After the death of Harmon Killebrew in 2011, the Minnesota Twins decided to wear their cream-colored third jersey - a direct throwback of the uniforms used for most of Killebrew's career - for every home game for the rest of the year.

Among Major League teams, the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins have the most alternate uniforms, with three. The Astros, Brewers and Twins have two alternate uniforms with the same color, with one featuring the team nickname and used on home games; the other featuring the city name and used on away games. The Rockies have a sleeveless pinstriped uniform with the team initials on the left, a purple alternate uniform, and a sleeveless black alternate uniform.

National Hockey League

In the National Hockey League, each team has its own distinctive jersey design (hockey tradition usually refers to jerseys as "sweaters," since hockey players actually wore sweaters on the ice until the 1960s). Prior to 1995 (save a few isolated instances), each team only had two jerseys — one for home use, and one for the road. One jersey was dominantly white (or in a few instances, a light color), and the other dominantly a dark color. The white jersey was originally the road jersey with the dark jersey being home, but this was reversed from 1971 to 2003.

With the introduction of the third jersey, teams were allowed to use a completely new style for their jersey, (and in some cases, corresponding alternate socks, helmets and other uniform elements). Every team in the league except the Detroit Red Wings and the New Jersey Devils have introduced a third jersey at one point since the program began. However, Detroit used a "throwback" jersey for the 2009 Winter Classic (which was used again against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 11, 2009) and New Jersey used "throwback" Green and Red Jerseys against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 17, 2010, including a replica helmet worn by goaltender Martin Brodeur that was made to look like the original helmet he wore in his first game with NJ back in 1992. Montreal introduced several "throwbacks" in 2009 to celebrate their centennial season. Following the NHL's lead, the NBA and NFL also use third jerseys. The National Hockey League suspended the Third Jersey Program after the 2006–07 season because of logistics problems involving the new Rbk Edge style NHL jerseys, which were unveiled at the 2007 NHL All-Star Game. An exception was made during the 2007–08 season for the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic, where the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres wore throwback uniforms for the game. After the one-year absence, third jerseys returned to the league for 2008–09.

Usage

Once a team has been granted permission by the league to use their new design, they will request and be allowed ten to fifteen games during the season in which they may use their third jersey. They may continue to use the third jersey in subsequent years as well. This alternate design allowed the team's appearance to flirt with radical designs which have occasionally gone on to become the new looks for some of the participating teams, though they can also be quite garish. An infamous example is a third jersey planned to be used by the St. Louis Blues: an over-the-top mix of trumpets, musical notes and staffs, it was rejected by then-coach/GM Mike Keenan, who reportedly banned the jersey from use.[2] Sales of third jerseys to fans have also provided significant additional income for cash-strapped NHL teams.

Chronology

Several teams have had multiple designs of their third jersey.

National Football League

The NFL was the last of the major professional sports leagues to adopt the third jersey rule in 2002, with the only exceptions being the 1994 season, when teams issued a throwback uniform in honor of the league's 75th Anniversary. Initially, the NFL rule stated that a team may wear their third jersey only once a year, however, after one year this restriction was increased to twice a year. There are currently no rules on wearing alternate pants. Teams are also permitted to wear alternate jerseys as often as desired in playoff games (except the Super Bowl, where teams must wear their standard uniforms); the only team to do so (other than in 1994) was the 2008 San Diego Chargers.

Some teams will generally use one of their third jersey allotments against a particular division opponent each year. For instance, the San Diego Chargers always wear their popular powder blue third jerseys at home against the Oakland Raiders, while the Houston Texans are known to wear their "Battle Red" third uniforms at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Pittsburgh Steelers are known to wear their throwbacks at home against the archrival Baltimore Ravens. The New York Giants were known to wear their red third jerseys at home against the Dallas Cowboys until the red jerseys were retired in 2009.

When wearing their third jerseys, especially if the team is wearing a throwback uniform, the team may theme the field around the uniforms. When the New York Jets, for instance, wear their 1960-1962 "Titans of New York" throwbacks at home, they will paint the field in the Titans blue-and-gold color scheme with the Jets current logo. (The Jets' current color scheme is green and white.) In addition, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dressed the field up in Orange when they wore their Creamsicle throwbacks in 2009.

Teams will generally wear their third jerseys at home, though the Carolina Panthers are known to wear their Carolina blue third jerseys on the road (especially in Tampa) if the home team opts to wear their white jerseys against the Panthers and the weather is very hot. The Jets have also worn their Titans throwbacks once in 2007 against the Miami Dolphins at Dolphin Stadium in Miami.

Because the football helmet is such a significant and visible part of the football uniform, some teams will also wear alternate helmets when wearing their third jersey. This is particularly true for throwback uniforms, such as those worn by the Steelers (yellow), Jets/Titans (yellow), and Buccaneers (white).

In alphabetical order, the teams that have used third jerseys heading into the 2011 season:

College Football

Although uniforms are much less regulated at the collegiate level compared to the NFL, alternate uniforms - and even regular uniform redesigns - are generally less common due to many teams' respective histories and traditions surrounding a particular jersey color or uniform combination. Recently, however, many teams have begun to experiment with alternate uniforms and helmets, especially teams whose uniforms are provided by Nike.

One of the more famous third jerseys is that of the University of Notre Dame. The team wears either white or navy blue for most games, but occasionally special kelly green jerseys with gold numbers, evocative of the "Fighting Irish", are chosen for a major contest. Such as the game against Number 1 ranked USC on October 15, 2005

National Basketball Association

In the NBA, the only teams that have a third jersey as a "home jersey" are the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and the Indiana Pacers. The only team in the NBA with a color jersey as an official home jersey is the Los Angeles Lakers. They now have a white jersey, in addition to their usual purple (away) and yellow (home), that is used exclusively on Sunday and holiday home games.

Other examples of third jerseys in the NBA include the Chicago Bulls, who aside from their standard white (home) and red (away) jerseys, have a black alternate jersey which is worn on the road and at home on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Bulls started wearing black alternate uniforms in the 1995-96 NBA season, the same season they won an NBA-record 72 games en route to capturing the NBA Championship. Teams in cities with rich Irish heritage celebrate St. Patrick's Day: both the Bulls and New York Knicks have special green jerseys, while the Boston Celtics use their traditional green jerseys but with gold lettering instead of the normal white. The Miami Heat have red and black away jerseys in addition to the white jerseys they wear at home. The Detroit Pistons have a red alternate jersey in addition to the traditional blue road jersey. The Orlando Magic introduced a blue road alternate jersey in the mid 1990s to accompany their white home and traditional black road jersey. A few years later, the Magic ditched their black road jersey and made the blue uniform their primary road jersey. They did not don an alternate uniform until they reintroduced the black alternate jersey in the 2010–11 season.

The Phoenix Suns have used an orange alternate jersey since the 2003–04 season, both at home and on the road. They also had a black alternate jersey during the late 1990s. The New Orleans Hornets introudced a gold alternate jersey the same season, trimmed in teal and purple, keeping with New Orleans' Mardi Gras tradition. The Hornets usually wore their gold jersey for road games, but they also wore the jersey at home for two or three games per season. For the 2008–09 season, however, the Hornets introduced new home and away uniforms, and bid farewell to the gold alternate jerseys. They did reintroduce a gold alternate in the 2010–11 season, featuring the abbreviation 'NOLA' and pinstripes on the jersey. The Minnesota Timberwolves wear blue jerseys on the road and white jerseys at home, but from 1999 to 2008, they occasionally wore an alternate black jersey for road games; they resumed wearing black uniforms in the 2010–11 season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have red and navy blue away jerseys. During the 2006 and 2007 NBA Playoffs, including the 2007 NBA Finals, the Cavs solely wore their navy blue jerseys at away playoff games. During the 2006–07 season the Washington Wizards began using a gold jersey in addition to their white (home) and blue (road). That same season, the New Jersey Nets started wearing red alternate uniforms for both home and away games in addition to their normal white (home) and navy blue (road); they dropped the navy blue in favor of the red uniforms for regular away use in the 2009–10 season. The Nets had previously worn silver alternate jerseys from 1999-2005. They solely wore these silver alternate jerseys at away playoff games during the 2002 NBA Playoffs, including the 2002 NBA Finals. The previous season (2005–06), the Sacramento Kings introduced a gold alternate to go with their traditional white and purple jerseys. In this same year, the Boston Celtics added an alternate road jersey with black trim and black text with a different style text. The Portland Trail Blazers have worn their red jerseys, previously their alternate road jerseys, as their full-time road uniforms. In the 2007–08 season, the Indiana Pacers introduced a gold third jersey. The team previously wore a gold third jersey until the 2004–05 season, when new uniforms were introduced.

Per NBA rules, teams will only introduce a new third jersey at least two years after unveiling a new logo and uniform set.

Here are NBA teams wearing the "third jersey" through the years:

(*)- As the Seattle SuperSonics, the Sonics wore amber alternates from 1999 to 2001 and gold alternates from 2004 to 2008.

National Rugby League and Australian Football League in Australia

In recent years the third jersey has appeared in the NRL, with every team having a 'home' jersey, an 'away' jersey and a 'heritage' jersey. The AFL does not have a third jersey; "clash strips" are an away jersey.

NRL

The NRL does not currently require third or alternate jerseys, because most clashes can be resolved with away jerseys or using modified under-20s jerseys.

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "St. Louis Blues 3rd jersey features Arch, leaves out trumpets". Yahoo!. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/St-Louis-Blues-3rd-jersey-features-Arch-leave?urn=nhl,109094. Retrieved 2008-09-19. 
  3. ^ Anderson, Shelly (May 29, 2010). "Heinz 'in' place to be Jan. 1". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://post-gazette.com/pg/10149/1061717-61.stm. 
  4. ^ http://www.uniwatchblog.com/2009/07/17/uni-watch-field-trip-an-afternoon-at-the-meadowlands/
  5. ^ http://www.newyorkjets.com/news/articles/show_permalink/titans-throwback-day-set
  6. ^ http://news.steelers.com/catalog/product/91379/
  7. ^ Collier, Gene (September 30, 2009). "Absence of Steelers' Polamalu palpable". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09273/1001838-150.stm. 
  8. ^ Bires, Mike (September 28, 2010). "Steelers Notes: Batch will start again; Throwbacks coming soon". Beaver County Times. http://www.timesonline.com/sports/sports_details/article/1424/2010/september/28/steelers-insider-batch-will-start-again.html. 
  9. ^ Big Seahawks news: Green jerseys retired!

External links