In what was quite possibility the most insane season in Mississippi State's baseball history, Andy Cannizaro "resigned" three games into the season, Gary Henderson became interm head coach, and the Bulldogs somehow parlayed a 2-7 start in SEC play into the program's 10th College World Series and a third place finish that is tied with 1985 for the Bulldogs' second best finish ever.
The Bulldogs wore 8 uniform combinations in 2018; 4 of those saw action in the NCAA Tournament:
White "State" Pinstripes: 2-0 NCAAT Record
Gray Pinstripes: 3-1 NCAAT Record, Regional Championship
Black 85 over Black: 2-1 NCAAT Record, Super Regional Championship
Maroon 85 over White: 1-2 NCAAT Record
The Bulldogs wore 8 uniform combinations in 2018; 4 of those saw action in the NCAA Tournament:
White "State" Pinstripes: 2-0 NCAAT Record
Gray Pinstripes: 3-1 NCAAT Record, Regional Championship
Black 85 over Black: 2-1 NCAAT Record, Super Regional Championship
Maroon 85 over White: 1-2 NCAAT Record
In all, Mississippi State wore 8 combinations in 2018. This was more than the 6 worn in 2017, but still less than the 9 worn in 2016.
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2018 Uniform Combinations:
Maroon 85 over White Maroon 85 over White Pins Maroon MS over White Pins White 85 White "State" Pinstripes Gray Pinstripes Black 85 over White Black 85 over Black |
2018 Additions:
Maroon 85 V-neck Pullover White 85 V-neck Pullover Black 85 V-neck Pullover 2018 Maroon MS Jersey Black Pants Black Hat |
Subtractions from 2017:
Inverted White 85 Jersey 2015-2017 Maroon MS Jersey |
Read more below for a more in-depth look at Mississippi State's 2018 Baseball Uniforms
On-Field Recap
It can't be said enough how wild of a season 2018 was for Mississippi State baseball. The season started with the Bulldogs being swept at the hands of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles down in Hattiesburg. That weekend series was just weird, even from a uniforms standpoint: white pants on the road all three games, no gray pins, Maroon 85 over White on Saturday (this was the only non-Friday game all season on which that combo was worn), and full white uniforms on the road on Sunday. Add getting swept by a C-USA team and your coach texting in the dugout, and you've got both a weird and rough start to the season.
It couldn't get much worse than that, right? How about if your head coach for a year and three games, Andy Cannizaro, gets canned on the Monday following the USM series for having an affair with a staffer, being addicted to his phone, and just overall ceasing to do his job as head baseball coach? That might make it worse. State stayed afloat but looked to be headed towards a 2015-like season on April 1st, when interm HC Gary Henderson and the Bulldogs were 14-15 and 2-7 in SEC Play. But that wasn't the end of the story....
Hitting coach Jake Gautreau did an amazing job with Mississippi State's young hitters, and the Bulldogs' offense went from anemic to competitive mid-season. State took 3 out of 4 from nationally ranked Ole Miss. State swept nationally ranked and eventual national runner-up Arkansas. And to close the regular season, State swept the #1 ranked Florida Gators to finish 15-15 in SEC Play, good enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament as a 2 seed.
As a 2 seed, the Bulldogs traveled to the Tallahassee Regional. After dropping the opening game to Oklahoma by a score of 10-20, State stormed through the loser's bracket. With the Bulldogs down to their last strike, Elijah MacNamee hit a walk-off 3 run home run to eliminate the home town Seminoles; the Bulldogs defeated Samford and then Oklahoma twice over the next two days to advance to their third Super Regional in as many years.
Mississippi State traveled to fellow SEC 2-seed Vanderbilt for a Super Regional, winning game one on another MacNamee walk-off homer and losing game 2 on a walk-off. The Bulldogs won game 3 in all black, on Vanderbilt's field, in extra innings to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2013.
In Omaha, the Bulldogs won their first two games; they defeated Washington in the White Pinstripes and North Carolina in the Gray Pinstripes. That was the end of the road, however. The Bulldogs dropped two in a row to the eventual National Champions, the Oregon State Beavers. It was tough to see the season end, but it was hard to be disappointed with a third place finish when the season started the way it did.
It can't be said enough how wild of a season 2018 was for Mississippi State baseball. The season started with the Bulldogs being swept at the hands of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles down in Hattiesburg. That weekend series was just weird, even from a uniforms standpoint: white pants on the road all three games, no gray pins, Maroon 85 over White on Saturday (this was the only non-Friday game all season on which that combo was worn), and full white uniforms on the road on Sunday. Add getting swept by a C-USA team and your coach texting in the dugout, and you've got both a weird and rough start to the season.
It couldn't get much worse than that, right? How about if your head coach for a year and three games, Andy Cannizaro, gets canned on the Monday following the USM series for having an affair with a staffer, being addicted to his phone, and just overall ceasing to do his job as head baseball coach? That might make it worse. State stayed afloat but looked to be headed towards a 2015-like season on April 1st, when interm HC Gary Henderson and the Bulldogs were 14-15 and 2-7 in SEC Play. But that wasn't the end of the story....
Hitting coach Jake Gautreau did an amazing job with Mississippi State's young hitters, and the Bulldogs' offense went from anemic to competitive mid-season. State took 3 out of 4 from nationally ranked Ole Miss. State swept nationally ranked and eventual national runner-up Arkansas. And to close the regular season, State swept the #1 ranked Florida Gators to finish 15-15 in SEC Play, good enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament as a 2 seed.
As a 2 seed, the Bulldogs traveled to the Tallahassee Regional. After dropping the opening game to Oklahoma by a score of 10-20, State stormed through the loser's bracket. With the Bulldogs down to their last strike, Elijah MacNamee hit a walk-off 3 run home run to eliminate the home town Seminoles; the Bulldogs defeated Samford and then Oklahoma twice over the next two days to advance to their third Super Regional in as many years.
Mississippi State traveled to fellow SEC 2-seed Vanderbilt for a Super Regional, winning game one on another MacNamee walk-off homer and losing game 2 on a walk-off. The Bulldogs won game 3 in all black, on Vanderbilt's field, in extra innings to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2013.
In Omaha, the Bulldogs won their first two games; they defeated Washington in the White Pinstripes and North Carolina in the Gray Pinstripes. That was the end of the road, however. The Bulldogs dropped two in a row to the eventual National Champions, the Oregon State Beavers. It was tough to see the season end, but it was hard to be disappointed with a third place finish when the season started the way it did.
Biggest Uniform Storylines in 2018
85-style Pullovers Return to the Field
For the first time since the originals were taken out of usage, Mississippi State wore V-Neck Pullovers with the "1985" Mississippi State wordmark on them in 2018. As shown in the season preview, there have been several different versions of maroon and white jerseys with the "85" wordmark in recent years, but the 2018 versions are the most faithful to the originals; the number font is the only major difference.
In addition to the traditional maroon and white 85s, black 85s (that featured the same design as the maroon 85s but with all of the maroon replaced with black) were also worn in 2018. This, again, was not an entirely new concept, as similar uniforms were worn in 2015 and 2016, but with an inverted wordmark. Though initially worn with white pants and maroon hats, the black 85s were worn in a different combination the final 11 times they saw the field. That leads us to....
All Black Uniforms are Controversial but Successful
On a Wednesday Night in March against New Mexico State, the Bulldogs debuted a new uniform combination: black hats, black 85 jerseys, and black pants. It was the second time that Mississippi State had worn an all-black look; they did the same thing in a midweek game back in 2015. That year, however, all-black was worn once and only once. This year was a different story. The all-black combination was initially met with nearly universal criticism. The replies on Twitter to @HailStateBB's announcements the first few times we wore all-black were golden. However, public opinion started to change over time, and it wasn't because the uniforms started looking any better.
The second time all-black saw the field was game 3 against Ole Miss in Starkville. A rubber match, I'm still salty that we didn't wear White Pins in that game to create an all time great uniform matchup with Ole Miss's powder blues; plus, it could've saved us this whole all-black mess. Anyway, Luke Alexander hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to win the series for the Bulldogs, kick-starting a trend of the Bulldogs wearing black every single SEC Sunday for the last 7 series of the year.
85-style Pullovers Return to the Field
For the first time since the originals were taken out of usage, Mississippi State wore V-Neck Pullovers with the "1985" Mississippi State wordmark on them in 2018. As shown in the season preview, there have been several different versions of maroon and white jerseys with the "85" wordmark in recent years, but the 2018 versions are the most faithful to the originals; the number font is the only major difference.
In addition to the traditional maroon and white 85s, black 85s (that featured the same design as the maroon 85s but with all of the maroon replaced with black) were also worn in 2018. This, again, was not an entirely new concept, as similar uniforms were worn in 2015 and 2016, but with an inverted wordmark. Though initially worn with white pants and maroon hats, the black 85s were worn in a different combination the final 11 times they saw the field. That leads us to....
All Black Uniforms are Controversial but Successful
On a Wednesday Night in March against New Mexico State, the Bulldogs debuted a new uniform combination: black hats, black 85 jerseys, and black pants. It was the second time that Mississippi State had worn an all-black look; they did the same thing in a midweek game back in 2015. That year, however, all-black was worn once and only once. This year was a different story. The all-black combination was initially met with nearly universal criticism. The replies on Twitter to @HailStateBB's announcements the first few times we wore all-black were golden. However, public opinion started to change over time, and it wasn't because the uniforms started looking any better.
The second time all-black saw the field was game 3 against Ole Miss in Starkville. A rubber match, I'm still salty that we didn't wear White Pins in that game to create an all time great uniform matchup with Ole Miss's powder blues; plus, it could've saved us this whole all-black mess. Anyway, Luke Alexander hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to win the series for the Bulldogs, kick-starting a trend of the Bulldogs wearing black every single SEC Sunday for the last 7 series of the year.
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After the series win over Ole Miss, the idea of White 85s or Maroon 85 over White Pins being our "Sunday best" was thrown out the window. It was all-black. Every. Single. Sunday. The complaints kept rolling in, but they were fewer and fewer every week, as State kept winning. By the end of the regular season, State was 6-2 in the all-black combination- it's worth noting that both losses came in important rubber matches (against Texas A&M and Auburn), but neither loss was able to make the Bulldogs buck the trend.
The all-black uniforms were worn again in the regional in a win over Oklahoma; at this point people started to ask for them to be worn. A week later, they were worn at Vanderbilt as the Bulldogs clinched their 10th trip to Omaha. That's right- Mississippi State wore their opponents' primary color on their field in game 3 of a super regional. Utter madness. Now associated with winning (they had an 8-2 record at that point), the all-black combo was a fan favorite heading into Omaha. They even got a nickname, "nickelblack", to further endear them.
The all-black look was worn one final time in 2018, the Saturday winner-take-all bracket championship game against Oregon State. The Bulldogs lost, ending their season and giving the all-black combination an 8-3 record on the season. Did having the season end in them sour people's opinion on the all black uniforms? Probably not, at this point. The emotional goodwill has been built too high, for better or for worse.
I was not a fan of the all-black uniforms from the start, and their "success" really hasn't changed that- they still don't look any better. Black pants just don't work in baseball- unless you look at them as early 1900s fauxbacks, which I did later in the season to try and somewhat justify them. And as I maintained when they were first worn, the 2018 black 85s are the best black jerseys State has ever worn- the "85" design is excellent regardless of color, and while the lack of maroon sucks from a school colors perspective- maroon and black don't go together well at all, so excluding maroon is actually the best way to do black if we have do to it (we don't.)
The other major problem I have with all-black is that it was simply worn too much. Mississippi State wore black 12 times in 2018 and all-black 11 times. 7 of those were SEC game threes, and 3 were NCAA Tournament games. Prior to this season, Mississippi State baseball had never worn black in the NCAA Tournament, much less all-black, and much less in Omaha. By the end of the season, all-black was State's third most worn combination, behind only Maroon 85 over White and Gray Pinstripes. That means it was worn more than both the White Pinstripes and White 85s, which is near unacceptable.
The final issue with the black 85s is more of a practical issue: the jersey fabric, especially in the daytime, seemed to be a bit lighter or more washed out than the pants. That meant that it looked really, really cheap at certain angles during daytime games, which most all of those Sunday SEC games were. I saw this issue pointed out several times throughout the season, and I don't know if it's an Adidas issue or what. But the simple solution is this: if all-black does return next season, ONLY wear it at night (and preferably midweek nights); that way the jersey and pants will at least match.
Pinstripe Uniforms see Significant Usage
Both of Mississippi State's wins in Omaha came in pinstripes; the Bulldogs defeated Washington in the White "State" Pinstripes and North Carolina in the Gray Pinstripes. The #Winstripes were good to the Bulldogs in 2018.
The White "State" Pinstripes, in their second season of usage, were the Bulldogs' most successful uniform this season, at 8-2, slightly edging out all-black (8-3). The 10 appearances in 2018 were the most ever for the White "State" Pins; they wore worn 9 times to a 7-2 Record in 2017.
The Gray Pinstripes saw increased usage in 2018 due to the construction on Dudy Noble Field that resulted in more road games for the Bulldogs. Worn in 15 games in 2018, the Gray Pins finished a game over .500 at 8-7. Like the White Pins, the Gray Pins were worn more in 2018 than they ever had been before; the Gray Pins had previously been worn 11 times in 2016 (8-3 Record) and 9 times in 2017 (3-6 Record).
Maroon MS Jerseys Hardly See the Field; Used as BP tops in Postseason
As detailed in the season preview, the Maroon MS jerseys underwent a small makeover in 2018. The jersey fit was changed from two-button to Adidas's newest button-down template, and the Adidas logo was moved to be directly over a slightly-smaller M over S logo. Due to the second change, the updated Maroon MS jerseys simply didn't look as good this season, and as a result, they were worn significantly less.
After being worn 27 times in 2016 and 40 (!!!) times in 2017, the Maroon MS design was worn just twice in 2018, both in midweek wins over SWAC schools and both times with white pinstripe pants (which was a good call- the pinstripe pants helped break up the otherwise very plain look). This is nothing to complain about- Maroon MS jerseys had been severely overworn the past two seasons so it was time for a change of pace. The Maroon 85 jerseys, which were the Bulldogs' primaries this year, seeing the field 21 times, are better anyway, and work well in the weekend role while the Maroon MS jerseys work well in the midweek.
As we found out during the Bulldogs' NCAA Tournament run, the Maroon MS jerseys also work well as BP tops. In a role that the Maroon MS jerseys were perfect for, we got a look at some combinations that otherwise didn't see the field in pregames in Tallahassee, Nashville, and Omaha: Maroon MS over White, Maroon MS over Gray Pins, and even Maroon MS over Black.
The all-black uniforms were worn again in the regional in a win over Oklahoma; at this point people started to ask for them to be worn. A week later, they were worn at Vanderbilt as the Bulldogs clinched their 10th trip to Omaha. That's right- Mississippi State wore their opponents' primary color on their field in game 3 of a super regional. Utter madness. Now associated with winning (they had an 8-2 record at that point), the all-black combo was a fan favorite heading into Omaha. They even got a nickname, "nickelblack", to further endear them.
The all-black look was worn one final time in 2018, the Saturday winner-take-all bracket championship game against Oregon State. The Bulldogs lost, ending their season and giving the all-black combination an 8-3 record on the season. Did having the season end in them sour people's opinion on the all black uniforms? Probably not, at this point. The emotional goodwill has been built too high, for better or for worse.
I was not a fan of the all-black uniforms from the start, and their "success" really hasn't changed that- they still don't look any better. Black pants just don't work in baseball- unless you look at them as early 1900s fauxbacks, which I did later in the season to try and somewhat justify them. And as I maintained when they were first worn, the 2018 black 85s are the best black jerseys State has ever worn- the "85" design is excellent regardless of color, and while the lack of maroon sucks from a school colors perspective- maroon and black don't go together well at all, so excluding maroon is actually the best way to do black if we have do to it (we don't.)
The other major problem I have with all-black is that it was simply worn too much. Mississippi State wore black 12 times in 2018 and all-black 11 times. 7 of those were SEC game threes, and 3 were NCAA Tournament games. Prior to this season, Mississippi State baseball had never worn black in the NCAA Tournament, much less all-black, and much less in Omaha. By the end of the season, all-black was State's third most worn combination, behind only Maroon 85 over White and Gray Pinstripes. That means it was worn more than both the White Pinstripes and White 85s, which is near unacceptable.
The final issue with the black 85s is more of a practical issue: the jersey fabric, especially in the daytime, seemed to be a bit lighter or more washed out than the pants. That meant that it looked really, really cheap at certain angles during daytime games, which most all of those Sunday SEC games were. I saw this issue pointed out several times throughout the season, and I don't know if it's an Adidas issue or what. But the simple solution is this: if all-black does return next season, ONLY wear it at night (and preferably midweek nights); that way the jersey and pants will at least match.
Pinstripe Uniforms see Significant Usage
Both of Mississippi State's wins in Omaha came in pinstripes; the Bulldogs defeated Washington in the White "State" Pinstripes and North Carolina in the Gray Pinstripes. The #Winstripes were good to the Bulldogs in 2018.
The White "State" Pinstripes, in their second season of usage, were the Bulldogs' most successful uniform this season, at 8-2, slightly edging out all-black (8-3). The 10 appearances in 2018 were the most ever for the White "State" Pins; they wore worn 9 times to a 7-2 Record in 2017.
The Gray Pinstripes saw increased usage in 2018 due to the construction on Dudy Noble Field that resulted in more road games for the Bulldogs. Worn in 15 games in 2018, the Gray Pins finished a game over .500 at 8-7. Like the White Pins, the Gray Pins were worn more in 2018 than they ever had been before; the Gray Pins had previously been worn 11 times in 2016 (8-3 Record) and 9 times in 2017 (3-6 Record).
Maroon MS Jerseys Hardly See the Field; Used as BP tops in Postseason
As detailed in the season preview, the Maroon MS jerseys underwent a small makeover in 2018. The jersey fit was changed from two-button to Adidas's newest button-down template, and the Adidas logo was moved to be directly over a slightly-smaller M over S logo. Due to the second change, the updated Maroon MS jerseys simply didn't look as good this season, and as a result, they were worn significantly less.
After being worn 27 times in 2016 and 40 (!!!) times in 2017, the Maroon MS design was worn just twice in 2018, both in midweek wins over SWAC schools and both times with white pinstripe pants (which was a good call- the pinstripe pants helped break up the otherwise very plain look). This is nothing to complain about- Maroon MS jerseys had been severely overworn the past two seasons so it was time for a change of pace. The Maroon 85 jerseys, which were the Bulldogs' primaries this year, seeing the field 21 times, are better anyway, and work well in the weekend role while the Maroon MS jerseys work well in the midweek.
As we found out during the Bulldogs' NCAA Tournament run, the Maroon MS jerseys also work well as BP tops. In a role that the Maroon MS jerseys were perfect for, we got a look at some combinations that otherwise didn't see the field in pregames in Tallahassee, Nashville, and Omaha: Maroon MS over White, Maroon MS over Gray Pins, and even Maroon MS over Black.
2018 Uniform Trends/Stats
Trends:
Friday Games: Maroon 85 over White
Thursday/Saturday Home Games: White "State" Pins
Saturday Road Games: Gray Pins
Saturday Neutral Games: White 85
Sunday Games (2nd half of season): Black 85 over Black
Sunday Home Games (1st half of season): White 85
Thursday/Sunday Road Games (1st half of season): Maroon 85 over White Pins
Home Midweek: White "State" Pins, Maroon MS over White Pins, Black 85 over Black
Road Midweek: Gray Pins
Neutral Midweek: White 85
Stats:
Takeaways:
Trends:
Friday Games: Maroon 85 over White
Thursday/Saturday Home Games: White "State" Pins
Saturday Road Games: Gray Pins
Saturday Neutral Games: White 85
Sunday Games (2nd half of season): Black 85 over Black
Sunday Home Games (1st half of season): White 85
Thursday/Sunday Road Games (1st half of season): Maroon 85 over White Pins
Home Midweek: White "State" Pins, Maroon MS over White Pins, Black 85 over Black
Road Midweek: Gray Pins
Neutral Midweek: White 85
Stats:
- Combos:
- Maroon 85 over White: Worn 18 Times (8-10, .444)
- Gray Pinstripes: Worn 15 Times (8-7, .615)
- Black 85 over Black: Worn 11 Times (8-3, .727)
- White "State" Pinstripes: Worn 10 Times (8-2, .800)
- White 85: Worn 8 Times (5-3, .625)
- Maroon 85 over White Pinstripes: Worn 3 Times (0-3, .000)
- Maroon MS over White Pinstripes: Worn 2 Times (2-0, 1.000)
- Black 85 over White: Worn 1 Time (0-1, .000)
- Jerseys:
- Maroon 85: Worn 21 Times (8-13, .381)
- Gray Pinstripes: Worn 15 Times (8-7, .615)
- Black 85: Worn 12 Times (8-4, .667)
- White "State" Pinstripes: Worn 10 Times (8-2, .800)
- White 85: Worn 8 Times (5-3, .625)
- Maroon MS: Worn 2 Times (2-0, 1.000)
Takeaways:
- 8 wins was the magic number for Mississippi State's uniform combinations this season; the Maroon 85s, Gray Pins, Black 85s, and White "State" Pins each had 8 wins this season despite being worn an uneven amount.
- The White "State" Pinstripes were the Bulldogs' "most successful" uniforms in 2018, with an 8-2 Record and a winning percentage of .800, which is by far the best among combinations worn three times or more.
- There was a good amount of variety among Mississippi State's uniform selection in 2018; the Maroon 85 jerseys were the most worn at 21 times; this is much better than the maroon MS jerseys being worn 27 times in 2016 and 40 times in 2017.
- The White 85 jerseys were under-worn this season, while the Black 85 jerseys were over-worn. There is a direct correlation here; the Black 85s took the White 85s's Sunday home spot in the rotation half-way through the season. Hope to see the White 85s more in 2019.
- The only combination that the Bulldogs did not lose in during the 2018 season is the Maroon MS over White Pinstripes combo; it was only worn twice, each time against SWAC schools during the midweek.
- There were two combinations in which the Bulldogs did not win: Maroon 85 over White Pins, which was worn exclusively against SEC opponents (Missouri, LSU 2x), and Black 85 over White, which was worn only once (a loss to TAMU CC).
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2018 Uniform Rankings
After the season concluded, I ran a series of Twitter polls to determine the people's favorite baseball uniform worn by Mississippi State in 2018. The five initial polls were:
After the season concluded, I ran a series of Twitter polls to determine the people's favorite baseball uniform worn by Mississippi State in 2018. The five initial polls were:
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White "State" Pinstripes defeated White 85s 78-22
White "State" Pinstripes defeated Gray Pinstripes 76-24 Maroon 85 defeated Maroon MS 73-27 Maroon 85 over White Pins defeated Maroon 85 over White 51-49 Black 85 over Black defeated Black 85 over White 56-44 The results left three finalists for a final poll: White "State Pinstripes Maroon 85 over White Pinstripes Black 85 over Black The White "State" Pinstripes dominated the final poll, taking in 74% of the vote over 17% for Maroon 85 over White Pins and 9% for Black 85 over Black. |
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So, the scientifically proven** results are in: the White "State" Pinstripes are the people's favorite uniform worn by Mississippi State in 2018.
This actually differs from my personal favorite uniform- I give the edge to the Bulldogs' other all-white look: the White 85s. My ranking of the Bulldogs' 2018 uniforms:
This actually differs from my personal favorite uniform- I give the edge to the Bulldogs' other all-white look: the White 85s. My ranking of the Bulldogs' 2018 uniforms:
- White 85s
- White "State" Pinstripes:
- Maroon 85 over White Pinstripes
- Maroon 85 over White
- Gray Pinstripes
- Maroon MS over White Pinstripes
- Black 85 over White
- Black 85 over Black
Final Thoughts/ Looking Ahead to Next Year
There is an argument to be made that the 2018 baseball uniform set was, overall, Mississippi State's best ever. The White and Maroon 85s, along with the White and Gray Pinstripes, are all top notch college baseball uniforms. In my rankings above, I had Gray Pins as Mississippi State's 5th best combination; it'd be #1 for many college baseball teams. We have 5 top level combinations, and that's something to be proud of. The Maroon MS jerseys aren't bad either- move the Adidas logo back to the right chest and they're another top level look. The Black 85s are the only real "blemish", but they've been accepted by many fans due to them being worn in a few big wins. Yet again, Mississippi State had some of the best uniforms in college baseball. As it should be.
Looking ahead to the 2019 season, it will be interesting to see what, if any, affect new HC Chris Lemonis will have on the Bulldogs' uniforms. While Lemonis was at Indiana, the Hoosiers had a solid core set of uniforms; their most notable uniform is an all-red look that is most comparable to State's all-black combo.
I would expect all three 85-style jerseys to return in 2019, as well as the White "State" Pinstripes; the updated Maroon MS jerseys will probably still be available to wear here and there. The Gray Pinstripes, which would be entering their fourth year of use, are the most likely to be retired; if they are, it would make sense to bring back the classic gray script uniforms. Regardless of the details, 2019 should be another great season for the best uniforms in college baseball.
A few final thoughts to wrap up the 2018 season:
There is an argument to be made that the 2018 baseball uniform set was, overall, Mississippi State's best ever. The White and Maroon 85s, along with the White and Gray Pinstripes, are all top notch college baseball uniforms. In my rankings above, I had Gray Pins as Mississippi State's 5th best combination; it'd be #1 for many college baseball teams. We have 5 top level combinations, and that's something to be proud of. The Maroon MS jerseys aren't bad either- move the Adidas logo back to the right chest and they're another top level look. The Black 85s are the only real "blemish", but they've been accepted by many fans due to them being worn in a few big wins. Yet again, Mississippi State had some of the best uniforms in college baseball. As it should be.
Looking ahead to the 2019 season, it will be interesting to see what, if any, affect new HC Chris Lemonis will have on the Bulldogs' uniforms. While Lemonis was at Indiana, the Hoosiers had a solid core set of uniforms; their most notable uniform is an all-red look that is most comparable to State's all-black combo.
I would expect all three 85-style jerseys to return in 2019, as well as the White "State" Pinstripes; the updated Maroon MS jerseys will probably still be available to wear here and there. The Gray Pinstripes, which would be entering their fourth year of use, are the most likely to be retired; if they are, it would make sense to bring back the classic gray script uniforms. Regardless of the details, 2019 should be another great season for the best uniforms in college baseball.
A few final thoughts to wrap up the 2018 season:
- You can check out Mississippi State's baseball uniform history (back to 1966) at this link.
- There is also a page documenting Mississippi State's postseason baseball uniform history, including every SEC Tournament since 2005, Regional since 2000, Super Regional since the format began in 1999, and all 10 College World Series appearances in program history.
- This year, Mississippi State made the College World Series for the first time since 2013; I've been making roundel logos for every CWS team since that 2013 season, and was finally able to include Mississippi State again this year. Check those out here.
- For the final thought of the 2018 Season Recap, read this quote from now former Mississippi State head coach Andy Cannizaro, keeping in mind that we wore all-black uniforms that didn't feature a single drop of maroon 11 times this season. A man of truth he is not.
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