Tag: red Sunday jersey

Twins to bring back the “red jersey” for another try

They say that “time heals all” but we will have to wait and see if that applies to Minnesota Twins baseball jerseys too. The Twins introduced their “new” red home alternate jersey that they play to wear on Friday nights during the 2016 MLB season.

2016 infographic redesign

Back in 1997 the Twins tried a red jersey for Sunday home games and that didn’t work out so good as the players deemed the uniforms as being unlucky. Over the years the Twins have worn red jerseys five times and they have won one of those games. In 2009 I did a piece about those 1997 red jersey’s that were called the DQ jersey by some due to their resemblance to a Dairy Queen ad that ran in the Metrodome and you can see that story here.

We will have to see how the new red jersey appeals to the players and the fans. Reading some of the comments about the red jersey on Facebook you can’t help but get the impression that a lot of fans feel that it is just another money grab by Jim Pohlad’s soldiers and that the Twins would be better off investing their money in additional pitching versus new uniforms. Personally I am not a big fan of the color red because when i see a lot of red in the seats I think of the Cardinals, Red Sox or the Angels. I just don’t think of red as a Twins color.

Twins 1997 Home Red Sunday Jersey

June 21, 2009 – In 1997 the Twins broke out a new home red Sunday jersey. The jersey was red with navy trim and the Twins logo, player’s name, and numbers were white with navy trim. The uniforms were used for the first time on Sunday, April 6. Brad Radke started the game for Minnesota and was the losing pitcher when the Kansas City Royals trounced the home team by a 12-2 score. The uniforms were again used on their very next Sunday home game on April 27 against the Texas Rangers and again Brad Radke was the starter. The Rangers scored 5 runs in the eighth inning and held on for a 7-3 win. ESPN announcers quickly nicknamed the Twins red uniforms as the Dairy Queen design because the colors closely matched the Dairy Queen advertising signs behind home plate. After just two games, both defeats, the uniforms were deemed to be bad luck by the players and were retired never to be worn by the Twins again. Since the jersey was used in 1997, it had the Jackie Robinson “Breaking Barriers” patch on the right sleeve. You can see what the uniforms looked like by clicking here.

Update – The Twins used the red jersey’s again on August 1, 2014 at US Cellular Field against the White Sox and came up on the short end of a 10-8 game.

Update – The Twins were in a funk and Twins starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey decided it was time once again (August 7, 2015) for the red jersey and this time the Twins beat Cleveland 10-9 with a home run in the ninth inning at Progressive Field. Their first win wearing the red jersey. The Twins tried them again the following day and got whipped 17-4.

The Twins record in red jersey’s stands at 1-4. When they will come out again, who knows?