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Phillies Triple-A affiliate takes page from NFL’s book with uniforms

By John Town

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 07: The Philadelphia Phillies grounds crew rolls out the tarp as storm clouds roll in during the game against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park on July 7, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 07: The Philadelphia Phillies grounds crew rolls out the tarp as storm clouds roll in during the game against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park on July 7, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /
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The Phillies Triple-A team, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, are taking a page from the National Football League with their jerseys for Friday’s game.

Minor League Baseball is known for some exorbitant jerseys, and the Phillies minor-league affiliates are no exception. Double-A Reading will wear Whoopie Pie jerseys next month and Triple-A Lehigh Valley wears a bacon-themed jersey for Saturday home games.

While Lehigh Valley’s newest jerseys aren’t particularly wacky, they are still a bit different than what you would typically see on a baseball field.

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs along with the Rochester Red Wings unveiled their “Color Rush” jerseys for a pair of games. The first game will take place Friday at Coca-Cola Park in Lehigh Valley, the other will take place Aug. 3 at Rochester’s home stadium, Frontier Field.

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A press release from the club described the jerseys and their significance to the history of the area:

"The IronPigs’ Color Rush uniform consists of an all-black combination – a tribute to the Lehigh Valley’s unparalleled steelmaking history — in a return to the on-field look worn by the club during the 2014-15 seasons.The IronPigs were the first team in professional baseball history to wear an all-black uniform combination. The uniform also features the IronPigs’ popular black “Molten” cap, a jet-black jersey with steel-plated chrome lettering and all black pants with IronPigs’ Steel piping.The molten IronPigs cap logo, which appears to be literally dripping with liquid metal due to the white-hot heat necessary to forge pig iron, embodies the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania which is world-renowned for this process. The black jersey’s chrome lettering and numerals are meant to pay tribute to Pennsylvania’s iconic blast furnaces – including those of the Bethlehem Steel Corp. — along with the generations of men and women that poured their heart and soul into the steel manufacturing process. Steel from the Lehigh Valley is a part of this country’s most prominent landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State building."

The National Football League has their own series of Color Rush jerseys that teams wear for Thursday Night Football Games. They span the entire spectrum, from vomit yellow for the Jacksonville Jaguars to white and gold for the New Orleans Saints. Like the IronPigs, the Philadelphia Eagles wore all-black uniforms, albeit with some midnight green accents.

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This new trend from the IronPigs and Red Wings could spread throughout the minors and perhaps even to the majors. Imagine the Phillies in an all-red jersey or the Mets in all-blue or all-orange. Wait, maybe this should stay in the minors.

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