213 Miles From Shea

Cuba comes back to the 2013 Classic after a disappointing showing in 2009 after being the runners up in 2006. Cuba maintains mostly the same the uniform set with a similar, if not identical hat, and a similar, if not identical, “Cuba” script on the new Jersey design:

Anyway, I’ve always been a fan of Cuba’s uniforms. A nice, classic script, that is the right size (unusual in this WBC) and their red/blue combination goes well since its a unique red/blue. This is also one of the few uniforms that I like the home white more than the away colors. The red underarm on the white goes well with the blue writing. If it matched (Red/red or blue/blue) it would not have been nearly as nice.

A new comer that was going to allow Jewish Americans to play for the team, Israel took an early exit to the tournament this year after being upset in the final match of the qualifier by Spain. Israel’s uniform featured a small script on the front, common in the WBC this year, something that I have complained about a lot, but also featured a nice unique typeface that complements the style work we’re used to seeing out of Israel which was nice. There are plenty of pictures of the jersey in action here. The hat, which was also nice due to its uniqueness, is pictured below:

The Netherlands are back for another go in the classic sporting their orange and black look again:

Their hat is fantastic, especially when compared to Germany’s and Great Britain’s. Personally I would make two changes to their uniform set. First, the script should be larger. Second, instead of home whites, maybe an inverse of their way uniforms, orange base with a black accent, like the Oriole’s two BP uniforms. I do enjoy the crown on the name, since they are the “Kingdom of the Netherlands”

The Czech Republic was another team that didn’t make it out of the qualifier round, and no surprise there, I think Canada was in their group. Anyway in the tournament they wore their navy blue tops, which you can see here. I was a fan of their uniforms mainly because unlike a whole list of other teams, the team name was in big letters on the front. Also because their hat design matched their uniform quite well:

Australia returns for another go in this year’s World Baseball Classic and they maintain their Green and Yellow look from the last several seasons:

I was a fan of their look last time around and I’m still a fan of their designs. My only complaint, which is once again a common complaint, is the the typeface for the country name’s seems small. Overall, nice set and glad they kept their “A” which is unique, especially when you look at some of the letters for hats for other countries.

Thailand was eliminated from the 2013 World Baseball Classic during the 2012 Qualifier rounds which forced teams that didn’t win a game in the 2009 Tournament to defend their spot from a group of new comers. In both games that Thailand played, they wore their road uniforms that can be seen in this image gallery. Their hat is below:

Aesthetically speaking, I’m not a fan of the hat or the uniform. The “T” on the hat looks odd with the white outline and the writing “Thailand” appears small and awkward on the Jersey front.

The 2013 World Baseball Classic is quickly approaching and rosters are starting to leak and uniforms are starting to be sold. As pictures go online for a team’s full uniform set, we’ll cover it here. First up on our journey is Puerto Rico:

(Home)

(Away)

The hat is similar to what we have seen in year’s past, so is the country script on the uniforms. The main difference this year, as it is for all the teams, is the BP template and two tone nature.

One complaint you’ll see me make a lot as we go through the uniforms is the home whites with the two tone nature make a lot of jerseys look and feel the same if they have the same under arm coloring. However, a complement you’ll see me make a lot is the two tone nature of the jerseys looks nice on the color away’s. Both statements hold true here.

After the last post that had a picture of Joe Torre wearing what looks to be a new jersey for team USA, Dan, a writer for myKBO, a Korean Baseball Website sent me the following picture over twitter with the USA jerseys:

His sources are here and here.

Now that’s much better. I would personally like the white jersey better with the two tone BP look, mainly because I’m not a fan of the two tone BP look especially on jerseys where white is the base color. I actually don’t mind the two tone look on the Navy USA jersey, it gives it a little spunk.

Also that 2013 WBC patch looks great on white jerseys, not so much on color uniforms.

We’ve seen a few 2013 World Baseball Classic Uniforms in the early rounds of the tournament but the big teams, like the United States, haven’t played yet nor have they sold their uniforms.

I was assuming that their uniforms would look similar to last time, just like how this banner ad for David Wright shows:

However earlier today I saw a banner ad for Joe Torre as the team manager wearing a USA Jersey that is similar to the BP Jersey template used for the last couple of seasons:

Interesting. I’ve been looking for other pictures of the uniform but this is the only one I can find. Was this an soft revealing?