OC Register, December 31st 1992

 A losing team that's had fans seeing red is changing its look to use more blue.

The California Angels will unveil new uniforms at the Fiesta Bowl parade in Tempe, Ariz., today.

The two most noticeable changes?

The logo's steeplelike red A and its large golden halo are gone, replaced by an intertwined red C and A with a small silver halo.

And they've taken the red out of the athletic shoes and stirrup socks. The shoes are now black and the socks navy. The better to slide into bases, maybe? Not.

Nostalgia is one of two reasons for the change, said Bob Wagner, California Angels marketing director. In a "turn back the clock" match with the Oakland Athletics in August, both teams wore uniforms from previous decades. The Angels liked the experience enough to borrow touches from the 1965 uniform for their 1993 season.

The other reason: "We're rated 22nd out of the league's 28 licensed teams in merchandise sales," Wagner said. "We had over 2 million attendees this year, one of the largest markets in baseball. But there's apathy among the fans. You look in the ballpark and you don't see anyone wearing Angels caps or T-shirts. With the new uniforms, we're trying to create more energy and pride among the fans."

The Angels' marketing and sales office collaborated with the Major League Baseball Properties' design-services department on the look of the new uniforms.

Among the changes:

A player's number is no longer displayed on the front of the white jersey. No special reason except style.

Thin blue piping replaces the red stripe flanked by blue stripes on the ribbed edge of the jersey's sleeves, collar and down each side of the pants.

The belt is navy, not red.

A thin blue stripe goes around the collar and continues down the front of the jersey.

The new C and A logo is on the player's left sleeve, replacing the baseball logo patched on the old uniform.

The road jersey and pants are gray with blue letters rimmed with red. The old road uniforms were white with red letters outlined in blue.

The road cap has a blue brim instead of a red one.

One thing hasn't changed: the uniforms are still in 100 percent polyester. In general, the league hasn't caught up with technologically advanced synthetics.

This is not to say polyester is bad, but it breeds fuzz balls, not fastballs.

While the new duds in no way guarantee better dudes on a team that's had a less-than-heavenly season, who knows what might happen next year?

Angels have been known to bring miracles.