Lapointe: Goofy uniforms are the least of the Tigers’ problems

Since the start of May, the Tigers have struck out on three figurative pitches.

First, this bedrock American League baseball franchise announced a periodic replacement for its traditional home uniform, interrupting more than a century of elegant uniformity for a mere merchandising gimmick.

Next came a blackout over yet another cable television squabble. This makes the Tigers invisible for a significant portion of their local audience right after hiring a rising star in the TV business to be their play-by-play announcer.

Bracketing these events, they’ve lost seven of nine games through Sunday to flatten out the fizz of their effervescent start and leave them at 20-20 after 40 games, the approximate quarter mark of the season.

For those keeping memories at home, Sparky Anderson’s 1984 Tigers — only 40 years ago — astounded Major League Baseball with a start of 35-5 en route to Detroit’s last World Series championship.

The new, alternate uniforms were worn for the first time on Friday and Saturday nights at Comerica Park when they opened a home stand with the Houston Astros.

Blue and even darker blue are the dominant colors with “MOTOR CITY” in white letters on the front of the shirts and “DETROIT” in white letters on the front of the dark blue caps.

The entire outfit gives the fashion vibe of a police SWAT team. Mostly missing from the jarring, new look is ye olde English “D,” their classic logo for most of their 124 years.

You can find it only in miniature at the top of the road sign on the right sleeve. The road sign looks like a baseball diamond. Its insignia boasts both the number 1 (for Woodward Avenue) and the “313” (of the local telephone area code).

To see all this, you must look only from a certain angle. Yes, it is complicated. Down the side of each leg of the dark blue (almost black) pants are long stripes of light blue that make the trousers look like those worn by marching bands.

On the shirts, the mesh of black tire tracks over a blue background adds a Spider-Man touch to the overall look that is, well, interesting, if a bit busy. They promise to wear these outfits only on Friday night home games this season.

Some local fans remain under the impression the Tigers have never worn any home uniform for an entire season except for the white shirts with the old English “D” on the front. But they wore only “DETROIT” shirts — at home and on the road — in their inaugural season of 1901.

Some current fans might recall the 1960 season, when their home white shirts were graced with a scripted “Tigers” on the front that was underlined. They changed it back to the fancy, current “D” the following season and the home suits have looked basically the same since then.

And a look back through photo archives on the web site MLBCollectors.com shows different versions of the Tigers’ home clothing, particularly in the first half of the 20^th Century.

In some years, the home uniforms included pinstripes or a “block” D (different than the “English” font) on the front. Some years had both. In 1927, they replaced the “D” on the front of the shirt with a picture of a tiger.

Their current novelty costumes lack that touch, but they do include extra doodads like a “vehicle identification number” (that recalls World Series championships) and all those racing-stripe accents.

Perhaps these might help fans overlook the advertising clutter beginning to creep across sports uniforms, including those of the Tigers, who promote Meijer stores on their left sleeves. Before long, most athletes may dress like racecar drivers.

One purist lamenting the current desecration of the Tigers’ home tuxedos is the veteran baseball writer Tyler Kepner, a former New York Times colleague who now writes for The Athletic. He called the new Detroit duds “a monstrosity” and he scolded the Tigers online.

“Not you, Tigers,” Kepner wrote. “Not you, who have the most brilliantly simple, elegant home uniforms. Sigh.”

Another change around the ballpark this season is the hiring of Jason Benetti to announce their games on most telecasts. Quick-minded and witty, Benetti’s commentary is an improvement over the vacuous platitudes heard over most telecasts on Bally Sports Detroit. We’ll see if his edge wears well.

Before long, most athletes may dress like racecar drivers.

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But many fans won’t know because Comcast cable this month dropped Bally, which shows the Red Wings and the Pistons along with the Tigers. Bally says Comcast wants to keep Bally but only on a premium pay tier. Bally wants to stay on basic.

Bally’s parent company, Diamond Sports Group, has entered a calculated bankruptcy because cord-cutters have weakened the “cable bundle” business plan that supported the industry for decades. The business is churning and evolving and soon will be more costly and more confusing for consumers, especially sports fans.

Consider even the small slights, like the announcement last week by the Tigers that an unidentified television company has suddenly acquired the rights to the Tigers’ game against Toronto on Sunday, May 26, at Comerica Park.

That unnamed television company demanded the game time be moved from 1:40 p.m. in the afternoon to 11:35 a.m. in the morning. That’s almost two hours earlier. How convenient is that for fans who’d hoped to go to church before the game or for the Ontario fans driving across from Canada that morning?

On the American side that day, fans wishing to watch the Tigers and the Blue Jays had better buy either a ticket at the ball yard or pay for the extra TV “tier” or “stream” or “app” that is made available for your purchase on your viewing platform. Or drive across the river to see it on Canadian TV in Windsor.

With three-quarters of the season remaining, there is plenty of time for the Tigers to climb out of their current mediocrity and contend for their first playoff appearance since 2014. All they need is for Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene to keep doing what they’re doing and not change a thing.

Because, eventually, Spencer Torkelson will hit a few more home runs after finally getting one Sunday. And Colt Keith eventually will hit above .200. And so will Javier Baez. And the bullpen will again close out victories. And the in-fielding will steady itself. And the warring TV parties will settle their TV dispute. And, eventually, these curious uniforms may find a safe space in the Comerica closet.