Cobbling Together the Best Chicago Cubs Uniform Combinations

[Jason Ross]

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Uniforms are an integral part of sports. It may not have started out that way, but today, a team's uniform fleshes out an entire identity. Some teams are able to transcend on-the-field success into off-the-field relevancy simply because of the uniforms they have created (e.g., the Oakland/Los Angeles/Vegas Raiders). Thankfully for us fans of the Chicago Cubs, the team not only has a long and rich history on the field, but lots of good looks to complement it. But what is the team's best look? Which years have given us the most visually impressive Cubs team?

For this exercise, we need a few rules. The first is that we must follow the MLB uniform guidelines for teams, in that they are allowed four total uniforms (a home, an away, and two alternates) as well a City Connect, for a total of five looks. I'm also going to limit myself to official-game and on-field looks only and not allow myself to choose fashion or batting practice apparel (no rocker bear hat, sadly). So with those rules in mind, what is the Cubs' best look?

Home Uniform: 1998 

 

For the keen-eyed uniform dorks out there, you may already know this, but the Chicago Cubs have not always worn pinstripes at home, introducing them in the summer of 1957. Prior to that year, the Cubs tended to wear a logo on the left breast (dabbling with a few alterations and changes) but remained without the iconic stripes most of the time. From 1957 on, there haven't been a ton of changes in the essential home look; a slight re-imagining of the Cubs' primary logo here or there, the addition of the sans-a-belt and pullover variations in the 1970s and the 1980s, and a few patches on the shoulders. Weighing all these details, I land on the Cubs' 1998 version as the ultimate basic look at home.

While the Cubs may not have invented the idea of pinstripes, we're going on 70 years of running with that look at home. Secondly, I couldn't in good conscience pick their uniforms today, with an ugly ad patch adorning the shoulder. The '98 look combines their beautiful vertical striping pattern with the introduction of the Harry Caray memorial patch, which I think balances out the uniform quite well. While there are some fans who enjoyed the Cubs going without names on the back (which they did prior to 1993, and then again for two years in 2005 and 2006), I like knowing who's playing. 

That season also feels like a safe choice here because they had success. This uniform (down to the Harry patch) was what Kerry Wood wore when he struck out 20 hitters, what Sammy Sosa wore breaking Roger Maris' home run record, and what the team wore when celebrating the victory over the San Francisco Giants in the Wild Card tie-breaker. Add it all up, and I don't think the Chicago Cubs have ever looked as good at home. 

Road Uniform: 1962

These are my favorite road uniforms in the history of the Cubs. I think they're almost perfect (I'll add one tweak I'd make later). First, for those who are less inclined to nerd out over baseball uniform lore, there is a proper way to make a baseball road look: it has to have the city on the front, not the nickname. Why is that? Uniform guru Paul Lukas (founder of Uni-Watch) explains here in an article for ESPN back in 2017, but the answer is simple. Back in the early days of the game, people didn't know where the visiting team was from, and this helped to identify them. This uniform certainly checks off that aspect, with a beautiful royal-blue "CHICAGO" across the front, and I love that it is outlined in red. 

Beyond just the naming conventions, what really sets the set aside for me is the addition of the Cubbie bear patch on the left shoulder. Prior to '62, the Cubs had already been using this standard set for years, but 1962 was the first year that they added the adorable little patch. Maybe you think it's too cutesy, but I think it adds a charm that uniforms once had, that we have lost today, as so many teams have tried to look tougher. 

My one tweak would be to give this set a front number! It just fills out the look a little bit. The Cubs did add that in 1969...but then dropped the red borders on the "CHICAGO", and I feel as though it's too blue-heavy. It's a good look, but give me those '62 beauties over them.

Alternate 1: 1984 Blues

 

The Cubs have been using a form of a blue uniform on-and-off sometime since 1978, when they first wore their blue-on-baby-blue pinstriped uniforms. In 1984, this look was their primary "road" look, and while I think they're a bad road uniform (it doesn't say where the Cubs are from on it), I do think they're a beautiful secondary/alternate look. They paired these with white pants, which make them a beautiful look to be worn at home, and that's where they'd go in my "perfect world". I'm even willing to forgive the "softball"/pullover look. I prefer a button down, but these hit a perfect balance of color and nostalgia for me. 

It's true that 1984 wasn't the first year the Cubs broke these tops out, but 1984 was the first year that they had sustained success in them. Despite the fact that this was the uniform they were wearing when they dropped a heartbreaking five-game set to San Diego, this version of the uniform is the one they went the furthest in. And as with the home look, I think it's important that a look has some history with it on the field if you can. 

Why not the current look that they won a championship in? I just like these better, on pure aesthetics. The current look is okay, but they feel like they're lacking some of that extra "oomph" these have. There's no color on the sleeves, nothing on the collar... they're just a bit plain. They won the World Series in them, which does give them juice, but not so much I can ignore that I just like these better. Fight me. 

Alternate 2: 1929 Home

 

Every team needs to have a proper "throwback" look, and while I think the top three could realistically look very modern, the 1930 set screams "back in my day, we walked uphill to school both ways". Starting with the socks, this kind of striped hosiery simply isn't seen nowadays, but absolutely pops on this set, giving it a very distinct feel. Moving to the top, look at the placket (the placket is the section where the buttons sit) and notice how the piping cuts off about 90% of the way down the front; also something we just don't see today. It's a little weird, a little funky, but history is a little weird and funky! 

If you think these oddities and weird aspects make them bad, I just won't agree. C'mon, these things are beautiful; have some whimsy! The Cubs even threw back to these in 2014, and they looked so good on the field. The off-white color and the socks really stood out. I wouldn't wear these every day, but give me this look five to ten times a year, please.

City Connect: Current

(Ok, technically, these aren't City Connects. But they replaced City Connects, and they come with a bunch of branded storytelling like the City Connects, and we're absolutely not leaving them out.)

So, that's it, that's the definitive best-looking Chicago Cubs team I can come up with. There's a little mix of present and past, some history of winning and some cutesy charm thrown in for good measure. There are some arguments you could make adding one uniform over another, but I think generally speaking, it's hard to get better than this set of options overall. Most importantly, I feel it's cohesive and creates a brand. The Cubs are a historic team and need to be treated as such. 

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Do you agree? Disagree? What's your best look? Fight me in the comment section and argue for your favorite uniform. 

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[Clark Addison]

Jason, I agree with most of your choices. However, I liked the “Cuba” road unis of the late 90s. The script version of “Cubs” looked like the uniforms of Cuba’s national team. And that didn’t fly post Cold War, so they abandoned the look after a couple of years. However, it still shows up occasionally in Cubs iconography.

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, Clark Addison said:

Jason, I agree with most of your choices. However, I liked the “Cuba” road unis of the late 90s. The script version of “Cubs” looked like the uniforms of Cuba’s national team. And that didn’t fly post Cold War, so they abandoned the look after a couple of years. However, it still shows up occasionally in Cubs iconography.

But that's the issue; it doesn't follow the correct uniform conventions! If you're the road team it doesn't tell you where they are from. It's the one of the only times in Chicago Cubs history where CHICAGO was not listed on the road uniform. You can do a script Chicago, but the White Sox kind of own hat look on the road. Script "CUBS" both ignores the city-name-on-road rule and becomes a bit illegible as reading CUBA is possible (not that I really have an issue with the Cold War thing, but the illegibility thing).

I could find a repurposing of the blue-80's roads as a home alternate but with the gray look, those are road-only. 

I'll give you a preview of the sister article to that; it's up for the worst Cubs' road uniform, IMO. 

[Clark Addison]

A few years ago I was in Cuba and found a national team replica jersey in a store. It was in the Cubs colors and had the number 10. The price was a tiny fraction of what MLB jerseys were going for. Needless to say, it spoke to me. I’ve worn it proudly on countless occasions. 

[Jason Ross]

15 minutes ago, Clark Addison said:

A few years ago I was in Cuba and found a national team replica jersey in a store. It was in the Cubs colors and had the number 10. The price was a tiny fraction of what MLB jerseys were going for. Needless to say, it spoke to me. I’ve worn it proudly on countless occasions. 

Honestly, color balance the Cubs/Cuba look isn't bad! I think a script CUBS/CUBA look at home works in theory (if they weren't so ingrained with patch on left breast). 

[Clark Addison]

Two of my favorite Cubs unis were in the 1930s. I liked the road uniforms with “Chicago” script, similar to the White Sox today. 
The home uniforms of 1937 through 1939 are my favorites. They resurrected the 1911 classic logo which is used today. The stripes and colors gave them an art deco look in keeping with the new bleachers and scoreboard. 

[Arlen]

The classic Cubs uni's from the 1960's were great. (Frowning cub is OK too.) Two-tone is for softball. All dark blue was cool, but even cooler if it really were all dark blue, with slight white touches. Caps should be monochrome blue.

The light-blue pajama uniforms are... can we still say effeminate without getting canceled? 

Edited February 21 by Arlen