The team won't officially be dropping "Florida" from their title until the new ballpark opens in 2012, but in preparation for the switch, the Marlins' 2010 road unis are undergoing a bit of a makeover.
With the New Marlins Ballpark opening in 2012, the Florida Marlins today announced a change to the team's road uniforms starting in the 2010 season. The gray uniform top will now identify the team as "Marlins" across the chest instead of "Florida", as the team prepares to officially become the Miami Marlins in 2012.
The new road uniform tops will feature a black, silver and teal Marlins script across the chest with matching names and numbers on the back. The patch of the team's "F" logo formerly located on the left sleeve will be dropped.
"This is just the first of many re-branding initiatives that will be introduced during the transition to the new ballpark in Miami," said Marlins owner, Jeffrey Loria. "We believe this change will better reflect the team's commitment to the South Florida community and will provide an enhanced look to the Marlins brand that fans will embrace."
Is it too soon to be relieved that the new road uniforms will still feature the black, silver and teal color scheme? Ever since Mr. Loria declared that "teal is a color for the 90's" (he obviously doesn't follow fashion very closely), I live in deeply unsettling fear of what he might deem a more "current" hue.
I doubt many fans will have a problem embracing the new Marlins brand, so long as said brand isn't stripped of all traces of Fish history. And the teal, however distasteful to some, is a big chunk of that history.
For now, I choose to ignore the terrifying idea of "many re-branding initiatives," and will instead just be grateful the team didn't unveil an all new road uni in a lovely shade of Orange Sunrise. For now.