An Astros Fan’s Top-15 Jerseys in MLB History

As many of you know, I consider myself the jersey historian here at Climbing Tal’s Hill. Today, I’ll be ranking my top-15 jerseys in MLB history.

This is just my opinion, feel free to tag me on Twitter and tell me what I missed. Most of the history I used in this article comes from MLBcollectors.com, as it has a great record of information and pictures of club’s jersey changes throughout the years.

It took forever to comb through this information and all of the jerseys, so please share if you enjoyed the list. So, let’s start with some honorable mentions.

These are phenomenal jerseys in their own right but did not quite crack the top 15: The Colt .45’s’ home jerseys (1962-64), the Montreal Expos’ powder blue (1969-92), the Minnesota Twins’ powder blue (1974-84), the Texas Rangers’ uniform revamp (2020- Present) and the Detroit Tigers’ white Jersey with old English “D” logo with its multiple versions.

10. Kansas City Royals All “Powder” Blue

This is the uniform popularized by the iconic George Brett incident from 1983, with the Royals bringing this jersey back for this upcoming season.

9. Houston Astros “Shooting Star”- Orange Logo Version

Ah, finally a Home Team jersey. This is the original jersey the team wore when moving into the Astrodome, and it lasted from 1965 to 1970. It was followed up by the same jersey, but with the logo in blue, which personally I do not think was nearly as good.

8. St. Louis Cardinals Powder Blue

This jersey was originally worn from 1976 to 1984, with the Cardinals and Nike bringing it back in 2020 (for good reason). Personally, I think this is the best powder blue jersey that ever was released. Cardinal red and powder blue are just perfect.

7. Boston Red Sox White Jersey

One of the most iconic jerseys in baseball history, the Red Sox have worn a version of this jersey since 1909. It’s simple and easy on the eyes, while also portraying the hard-nose spirit of the city. There is a reason it hasn’t been changed very much in over 100 years.

6. New York Mets 1980s

As the 1986 Mets are one of the most memorable World Series Champion teams, for good or bad, this jersey has become a staple in MLB jersey lore. It is very similar to the Mets jerseys that came before and after it, but the shoulder and sleeve piping is what sets this version apart. The New York club wore this jersey from 1983 to 1990.

5. Houston Astros Rainbow Shoulder

The original rainbow jersey is an absolute staple, which changed the sports jersey landscape forever. It was so unique that the Houston Astros wore it for both their home and away jersey. However, if we really look at the rainbow jersey from an unbiased perspective, there is way too much going on.

The owner’s wife agreed, so the team debuted a grey version of the jersey with rainbow piping, and the white version would follow in 1981.

This white jersey with rainbow piping and sleeves, while still keeping the Astros script and star from the rainbow jersey, is by far the greatest jersey in Astros’ history, and could easily be No. 1 on this list for me on certain days of the week. The team would wear this jersey until 1993.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers White Jersey

I cannot stand the Dodgers, but these jerseys are easy on the eyes. The club has worn a similar version since 1939. The best version was debuted in 1952, which includes the red front number, which was added for TV purposes, and has been worn basically unaltered since, besides the addition of side patches.

3. New York Yankees Pinstripes

I also cannot stand the Yankees, but there’s no doubt that the “Evil Empire” has one of the most iconic looks. The pinstripes with the interlocking ‘NY’ debuted in 1936 and have been worn ever since. My favorite version is the one from the 1950s.

2. St. Louis Cardinals “Off White” Alternate

The original version of this jersey seems to have debuted in 1957, but earlier than that many of the Cardinals’ white jerseys would fade over the season and become more of an off-white or cream color.

I consider the real debut to be at some point in the 1932 season, when they started having numbers on the back of the white jersey, and the white jersey featured the “St. Louis” script interlocking with the bat and birds.

This logo would get more modern looking over the years, and the best version of this logo and jersey released in 2020 and is currently one of the Cardinals’ alternates.

1. Chicago White Sox “Field of Dreams”

Originally debuting in the 1910s, this pinstripe White Sox jersey had one of the coolest logos of all time: a large old English ‘S’ with an ‘O’ and an ‘X’ in between it. The club had a jersey with some version of this logo until 1939.

It seemed like this iconic logo was forgotten, until the 1989 hit movie Field of Dreams was released, which featured a version of this iconic jersey. The logo was not worn on field by the White Sox again to my knowledge until 1990, when the White Sox had a Turn Back the Clock Night. During MLB’s Field of Dreams game in 2021, the jersey would return once again and take its place in history as the best jersey of all-time in my opinion.