Aug. 29—BOSTON — If you’ve watched the Red Sox a lot this season, chances are you’ve seen a lot more color than you’re used to.
Like most clubs in 2021, the historically traditionalist Red Sox have embraced the alternate uniform revolution and in recent years the team’s red and blue alternates have become much more prominent.
Once worn exclusively on Fridays, the colorful alternates can now be seen every day of the week, and if it seems like the Red Sox are wearing them almost every night, you aren’t imagining it.
Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic first wrote about the trend back in 2019, and at that point the Red Sox were wearing their alternates roughly a quarter of the time. This season? They’re wearing the alternates nearly two thirds of the time, and the blues have functionally replaced the classic greys as the team’s default road uniform.
As of Saturday, the Red Sox had worn alternates in 84 out of 131 games compared to just 47 for the traditional home and away sets. The team has gone with a roughly even split at home, wearing the classic whites 31 times and the reds 33, but the difference between the blues and the road greys has been enormous. Boston has worn the blues in 48 out of 64 road games, and the team hasn’t worn the greys more than three times in a single month since April.
The alternates have been used even more frequently as the season’s gone on too, and the difference was most pronounced in early July when the Red Sox wore alternates in 10 straight games between June 30 and July 10.
The trend certainly isn’t exclusive to the Red Sox or baseball — just ask Celtics fans about the laundry list of alternates they’ve cycled through recently — but for fans of the classic look, the shift might seem jarring.
OWNING NEW LOOK
The red alternates were first introduced in 2003 shortly after John Henry’s ownership group took control, and the blue alternates followed in 2009. For many years, the alternates were worn only on Fridays, but starting around 2018 they began appearing more often, with the team notably wearing the blues three times in the 2018 World Series.
This year the Red Sox also introduced new yellow alternates inspired by the Boston Marathon as part of MLB’s City Connect series. The team wore those twice in mid-April, along with the “Boston Strong” home white alternate on Patriots Day.
These days the uniforms are chosen by each game’s starting pitcher, many of whom seem to have gravitated towards the more colorful options. Eduardo Rodriguez was an early adopter and has regularly worn alternates on his start dates for years, and this year Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Richards and Martin Perez have all followed suit.
Is there a story behind the alternates’ increasing prominence? Does the team think they’re lucky? It doesn’t seem to be anything like that, at least according to several players asked about the trend.
“I noticed it too, we didn’t wear as much grey or white after a while but I don’t think it was anything except starting pitcher preference,” relief pitcher Adam Ottavino said recently.
“For me, it’s kind of day to day,” said starter Nick Pivetta, who wears the classic uniforms more frequently but still opts for alternates about a third of the time. “It’s kind of — I wake up that morning and when I walk into the clubhouse what do I feel like wearing that day? How is that making me feel? So no real rhythm to it, just kind of randomness.”
There does seem to be some disagreement over whether the uniforms feel different. Rodriguez has said in the past he prefers the feel of the alternates and outfielder Alex Verdugo said he thinks the reds fit a little better than the whites, but Pivetta and fellow starter Tanner Houck said the uniforms are all the same.
Regardless, the team has obviously embraced the colors to a degree we’ve never seen before.
SHIFTING COLOR BALANCE
The good news for more traditional-minded fans who prefer the classic white and grey uniforms is we’ll likely see a shift back to those over the final weeks of the season. Why? When the Red Sox switched up their starting rotation earlier this month they swapped out two pitchers who preferred the alternates with two who have typically opted for the classics.
Since his return, Chris Sale has worn the home whites in all three of his starts, and Houck has worn classics in six of his eight starts. By comparison, Richards wore 14 alternates to eight classics, including alternates in 11 of his last 12 starts, and Perez wore 17 alternates to five classics, including alternates in his last 10 starts.
We’re already seeing the change reflected in the monthly splits. In July, the Red Sox wore alternates in 20 games and classics in just five, while in August the ratio is 14 to 10, with the home whites overtaking the reds seven to five.
Even with that being the case, the long-term trend lines are clear. Across the sport, traditional franchises like the Red Sox are moving with the times, and like them or not, these alternate uniforms are here to stay.
Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.
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2021 Red Sox Uniform Tracker
Curious which pitchers have worn which uniforms most often? How about the team’s record wearing each? Throughout the rest of this season we’ll be keeping a comprehensive Red Sox uniform tracker that includes all of those details and more. Check it out here.