LA Times February 12th 1997

 Now that the Angels have redesigned their uniforms, fans will crowd the ballpark on opening day to see the latest All-American sports fashion statement to grace Southern California. And if you believe that, I have a stadium to sell you.

There is a certain charm to the Angels' new look. The old, simple, bordering-on-boring Y-necked uniform in white has been replaced by a pinstriped outfit with a logo worthy of a superhero. ANGELS, with a flying baseball binding the wing to a big A, seems ready to soar right off a player's chest and into the outfield with all the force of a line-drive double. An emblem on the sleeve has a halo around a big A with ANAHEIM emblazoned across it. A patch of crossed bats under another red ANGELS is slapped on the back of a warmup jacket. By letting their logos multiply and grow, the team seems to be following the lead of such name-dropping sportswear designers as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Mossimo.

Baseball isn't the first sport to return to tradition. While snowboarders carve up the slopes in futuristic designs and fabrics, ski clothes have taken a backward look, turning to styles that were hot when Sonja Henie skated in Sun Valley.

Similarly, the Angels' new uniforms look distinctly, and deliberately, retro. Purple, teal and international-distress orange, the sort of loud colors preferred by expansion teams in the last few years, have been (mercifully) avoided.

As with any clothing, the players' uniforms are only as attractive as the bodies within them. So, speaking for female spectators who have long noted that track and field and bicycling produce the best physiques, we won't be truly happy till the boys of summer start wearing pants baggy enough to obscure ample rears and the contours of protective cups.

We applaud the Angel management for making a change. After finishing at the bottom of their division last season, a new look could be just what these guys need.