Why does the manager wear a uniform in baseball

At some point, league officials just throw up their hands and let the players or, in this case, the managers do what they want. I definitely prefer to see a manager in his full uniform. Just wear slacks and sneakers, or something like that. I think a manager wearing a uniform is silly.

Football and hockey uniforms, for example, have all sorts of padding and specialized gear, so it would be silly for a coach to wear those, but a baseball uniform is just clothing. Similarly, basketball uniforms are designed for ease of movement and lots of back-and-forth running, so it would make no sense for a coach to wear that — but again, a baseball uni is just clothing.

I see nothing wrong with a manager wearing it. Brooklyn Branches first-anniversary raffle: Yesterday marked exactly one year since Branch Rickety — the big, loose branch that had been swinging from the higher reaches of a tree across the street from Uni Watch HQ — crashed to the ground.

Ron says the Branches project was one of the highlights of his The winner will have their choice of either a Branches T-shirt your choice of home white , road grey , green alt , or brown alt or a Branches-themed Uni Watch membership card.

This will be a one-day raffle. No entry restrictions for the membership card, but USA mailing addresses only for the T-shirt. To enter, send an email with your choice of either a T-shirt or a membership card to the raffle in-box. One entry per person. Good luck! Cap update: We continue to sell through our remaining cap inventory.

Thanks to a few returns and exchanges, a few sizes that were sold out are now available again. Available here while they last. They both received custom No. Football News : Rams OT Andrew Whitworth said on a podcast that the new Rams unis coming out next month will be a yellow throwback of some sort from multiple readers. According to the article linked, Tito was still the skipper of the Red Sox in , when the wardrobe compliance check was performed.

The comment says Terry Francona was Cleveland manager in , but he was with the Red Sox during the incident. I hate managers in hoodies. Francona was manager of the Red Sox in when he was subject to the uniform checks.

Text implies he was Cleveland manager. Satin jackets need to be a thing again. My younger self rocked an Expos one and a Mariners one.

I even got my mom to put my name on the back of the Expos jacket, just like the players had. I hate it. Nothing unique whatsoever. Especially the pullovers that have all the stupid slogans depending on the time of the season…ugh. Guys like Torre and Cox often wore their dugout jackets on field or off.

Sure they had jerseys on underneath but is irrelevant when the issue is the outward appearance. Different trends come and go and alter the game, but some things, like uniforms, remain constant. The fleece pullover was, and is, a nice article of clothing. Sleek and simple, and you could wear it on all but the coldest of days. You can wear it before games, or after games, but not during games. You have to have your uniform top at all times. I dont know when the carve out for the jacket happened, how that jibes with managers in tweed and straw hats, pullovers, whatever.

If the pullover had a zipper down the middle would that satisfy as a jacket? I disagree on the team issue jackets being worn over the uniform. Certainly not irrelevant when it comes to appearance. First time I remember a uniform-less baseball manager in the post business suit era was a California Angels manager not sure whether it was Fregosi, Mauch, or McNamara who, whilst being introduced in the pre-game on ABC for the playoffs, wore a pullover with an outline of the state of California on the back instead of a number.

That clip takes me back. I can remember every Oriole in the starting lineup as elite or to be feared. I met Pat Kelly once in Baltimore at a fundraising banquet. Nice guy. A shift like that is most likely engineered and not organic.

Those designs would then carry over to the next regular season. It feels like the NFL has it best pending weather , with the coach wearing slacks and a golf shirt. I can buy the idea of a NHL coach wearing a blazer given the the temperature of the arenas, but again, slacks, a blazer, and no tie seem more appropriate, or perhaps a sweater? I think NHL coach in a suit is the way to go. Looks professional. If they are going to wear a blazer should have a tie.

They look good when they need to address the media afterward. Sharp-dressed man taking it too far. And I think he got fined. Any idea when the alternate tops on managers began? I first noticed them on Mike Hargrove when he was Orioles manager He wore a black pullover that I took to calling a maternity shirt because it had that sort of fit.

But in photos I found, he did appear to tuck them in. Jim Fregosi would often would wear something other than a jersey throughout his managerial career. The first one I remember was Pete Rose. Sometimes he raggedly cut off his long sleeves. As a White Sox fan and staunch Yankee hater, I kinda like the grooming standard they have for no reason. The thing that has always struck me as odd, is why are they assigned numbers?

As you state the jersey is just clothing. If the backs were left blank no name or number would that really be that weird? Many, many times. More importantly, who is Mike Shildt to claim a single-digit number on the Cardinals?

Speaking of single-digit managers, the Reds in the 60s used to have a numbering system where catchers had single digits, infielders , outfielders , and pitchers 30 and up.

In that system the managers and coaches also had single digits. Sparky himself broke the system by wearing Same with the Cubs of that era.

Single digits for manager, coaches, and catchers. Teens for infielders. There were exceptions: e. I wonder how he kept from overheating. I always thought it was a rule that anyone in fair territory on the field was required to wear a uniform. Obviously, its not enforced if managers are wearing hoodies and wind breakers. Also, training staff is exempt. Paul, are you still expecting a major announcement today? Just wondering if we should be checking back later today.

Waiting for confirmation from other parties. Sorry for the tease! Baseball dugouts are dirt-adjacent dustbowls so the specialized uniform seems appropriate.

You mentioned about windbreakers, hoodies, etc not meshing well with uniform pants. What do you think would be a good solution for someone in uniform wearing something over their uniform to legitimately keep warm, such as in the dugout, or a pitcher running the bases?

Or do you even take issue with uniformed personnel in the dugout wearing a non-uniform top with uniform pants? A standard dugout jacket has served nicely for many decades.

That works for me! Football coaches always have the team gear alongside that large set of headphones screaming at the quarterback, but there is no comparison to the tight spandex of baseball pants. Think about other professional sports like hockey, basketball, soccer: pretty much all of the coaches wear a suit and tie.

So why do baseball coaches suit up in the same uniforms that their players do when every other sport seems to have a clear distinction in the uniforms of the players and coaches or managers?

The answer is based on the origins of the game and the superstitious beliefs of being prepared for anything on the diamond, no matter how improbable. That includes doing things the same way for over a hundred years, even if it is no longer needed or times have changed. Even for players, the leisure of the time was hard not to get caught up in. However, that may not have always been the choice. Upper management may have had a say in the uniform look for even coaches, orchestrating the look of the team from behind the scenes and forcing issues like players wearing matching garb and coaches leading in style with the same uniform as their players for advertisement and marketing purposes.

If we fast forward to the s Oakland Athletics, we are given one of the most extreme top-down protocols from the upper management of any sports team probably in history. Charlie Finely or Charlie O, was the owner who experimented with colored uniforms, neon-colored baseballs, and rode a horse out onto the baseball diamond, all in the name of ratings and always with a business mind.

He also ran roughshod through nearly one manager a season on his way to creating a perfectly balanced world series caliber team for several years.

This owner not only asked his players to look their best and experimented with colors and designs to stand out, but demanded it. These types of situations of commanding owners and players and coaches to be treated like commodities is a theme throughout the history of professional baseball until up to the arbitration deals and players organization the Major League Baseball Players Association MLBPA started in But, even up until the s, the MLBPA has organized strikes by the professional baseball players in the union to fight back against unfair treatment, that ended the season.

Despite these strikes and a more magnanimous coaching, management, player relationship, coaches continue to wear the uniforms today and, although they may not be players, the history of the team captain has been absorbed by this position of manager or coach.

One by one, those team captains would dish out their criticisms and respect based on how they chose each team. Historians who know the history of baseball state that in the early 20th century, a baseball manager was someone who made sure that the team made it to the trains on time, and who managed bills and payments.

Back then, the person responsible for making decisions was called the captain. He had the same responsibilities a manager has today, but he also played. Then early in the 20th century the person who managed the team, made the batting lineup and made changes during the game, stopped playing and only managed.

A player may be appointed manager. Nowhere in the definition for manager does it require him to wear a team uniform. In the early days of the game, a player was elected as team captain, and managed the team on and off the field. All players on a team shall wear uniforms identical in color, trim and style, and all players uniforms shall include minimal six-inch numbers on their backs. Even this earlier section of the rule book fails to specify what the manager must wear, and historians and amateur followers of the game have come up with theories about why managers wear uniforms.

In the first place, the role of manager used to be held by someone who both played and managed. Another theory holds that managers often go onto the field to talk to the pitcher, make pitching changes and argue play calls with umpires, and as such wear the uniform players wear on the field.

The one section of the official rulebook that comes close to explaining manager uniform is Section 4. When a manager, player, coach or trainer is ejected from a game, he shall leave the field immediately and take no further part in that game.

One of the great baseball historians, Paul Lukas, who is routinely consulted by the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, was asked why he believed managers wore team uniforms. Almost every coach in the game was once a player himself, and his function on a baseball team is of critical importance.

Each team in major league baseball has nine to eleven coaches on the team. Coaches report back to the manager and provide useful information, such as how well a pitcher looked during warmup and how well or poorly batting practice was for players. A batting coach can help a batter who is in a slump, and help him get out of it by observing an incorrect batting stance and changing the way he stands at the plate.