Cleveland Indians Update Color Scheme

Color Scheme Change Brings Uniformity to Indians uniforms

Raise your hand if you were aware that a Cleveland team made a minuscule change to their color template for the upcoming season. OK, keep your hand raised if you thought said change was necessary. Odds are you just put your hand down because you assume I’m talking about the Browns and yesterday’s “major” announcement.

If that’s the case, then you would be mistaken.

While the Browns made headlines yesterday by passing off their old logo as a new logo and debuting a new orange color that “is brighter and richer and matches the passion of our fans and city” (seriously, that’s their corporate marketing mumbo jumbo, not me making something up to sound ridiculous), it was the Indians who made an entirely different and much more necessary change to their color scheme.

But as one might expect, it was the Browns who grabbed all of the headlines. That will happen when your track record is 15 consecutive and embarrassing years of losing combined with bad draft picks, bad trades, bad signings, and even worse management. After all that, the only thing left to be excited for is a minor tweak to the hue and saturation of the primary color after years of research and data collection.

But enough about the

Clowns

Browns.

As the resident uniform guru here at Wahoo’s on First, I have been preaching for years about the lack of consistency when it comes to the shades of blue being used they the Indians. I even went so far as to inquire with the team in regards to the inconsistencies with the navy blue. I never got an answer, but it appears my concerns have finally been addressed.

Starting this season, the Indians have ditched the lighter shade of navy blue they had been utilizing for their home alternate uniforms and home Chief Wahoo caps in favor of the darker, truer shade of navy blue that is used in the road color scheme, most notably the Block C cap.

As you can see below, the colors from the MLB style guide indicate a specific change away from the lighter shade of navy blue, aka deep cobalt, for the much darker shade, “blue nights.”

But why is this so important? Why is this minor change more important than the unnecessary change made by the Browns? What this does is bring uniformity to the Indians uniforms. Rather than having a split identity defined by two very different primary colors for the home and road, everything ties together much better. The darker blue also ties together with past eras of Cleveland Indians history. I know, it’s a crazy concept.

The change also makes for a much cleaner and crisper look. the deep cobalt never seemed to allow for enough contrast from the bright shade of red used with the home caps. The end result almost allowed for a purplish hue to enter into the picture if the light hit just right. Simply put, it didn’t provide enough contrast and never really looked right. The dark navy provides that missing contrast by allowing the brightness of the red to pop and eliminating the strange purplish look. When paired with the helmets, which have always been a darker shade of navy, the differences became even more glaring.

I have to give credit where credit is due, though. This was such a low-key change made by the Indians, I wasn’t even aware that it had happened until these Tweets from beat writer Jordan Bastian.

The second Tweet serves as the best example of the change made by the Indians. It’s subtle, but it looks much better than previous editions of the same cap. After a little further research, I was able to find the best available comparison of the change.

You can say what you want about the change and whether or not it was necessary. For most, this is a moot point. Colors worn on the field do not translate to wins and losses so the importance of the change will be lost. For others, such as myself, this minuscule change signifies a transition for the Indians. Will this change lead to bigger and more drastic changes further down the line? Who’s to say?

What is certain is that as long as the Indians continue to be in the conversation as legit contenders, changes like this will remain in the background where they belong.