Great Move By Padres

[WhiffleBall]

Originally Posted by Jerko

Didn't MLB sue little leagues in Chicago for using their team names and unis?

MLB did sue. Very few suburbs still use MLB teams. Some just use colors, others use minor league teams, while others use college teams.

[Lip Man 1]

I'm assuming that because the Padres initiated this themselves there will be no legal issues.

Lip

[thomas35forever]

Would love to see the Sox do this. Good thing they couldn't figure out a permanent look for a long time or it wouldn't be possible.

[soxinem1]

Originally Posted by Steelrod

The Sox have been supporting little leagues and handicap leagues for ages. Building fields and donating$$
White Sox Charities has been around forever, and I would hate to think they would buy uniforms and cut other worthwhile donation.

If they can pay Rios, Peavy, and Dunn, they can donate some uniforms.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by Brian26

Of course, this works great in San Diego as a single-team market with a varied uniform past.

I'm not sure the Sox could ever pull this off in Chicago, a two-team market, without more hurt feelings than good publicity. I wouldn't want to be in the league with the psycho Cubs dad who wants to shut down the season because the '77 Cubs blue pinstripe away unis aren't represented.

This is what I was thinking. When I moved to Northwest Indiana in 1967, I found I was one of the only White Sox fans at my school, and picking up what they learned at home, there was hostility toward anything that had to do with the White Sox. Years later and thousands of miles away, I worked with a Cubs fan who told me that when he was a kid in Chicago, he got White Sox tickets for getting straight A's. He was proud (annoying proud) of the fact that when he took them home, his father tore them up.

The White Sox have been great about supporting youth baseball over the years. I think that if they were providing White Sox uniforms, many people would believe they were proselytizing and being jerks about it.

[LITTLE NELL]

Back in the day us little leaguers at Thillens Stadium wore replicas of MLB teams

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by Jerko

Didn't MLB sue little leagues in Chicago for using their team names and unis?

Yes because they were using unlicensed replica jerseys.

Originally Posted by WhiffleBall

MLB did sue. Very few suburbs still use MLB teams. Some just use colors, others use minor league teams, while others use college teams.

And most parks, like the one I played at, still use MLB team names and have MLB-inspired t-shirts and caps, they just buy licensed gear. The problem wasn't that Little League teams were using MLB team names, the problem was they were just printing t-shirts that said WHITE SOX on them instead of buying the merchandise sanctioned by MLB. That's the no-no.

[Oblong]

Holy cow what a genius move. The article couldn't be more correct when they ask what took so long. This is great on so many levels because it helps the kids, it helps the leagues, and it helps the Padres themselves beyond simple goodwill and tax advantages.

[soxfanreggie]

Originally Posted by Domeshot17

This is as much a branding and marketing move as it is a charity move.

And a brilliant one of both!

[Thome25]

Originally Posted by ohiosoxfan

Dealing with a major league team budget, the expense for this can't be that much and in a market like Chicago, where the northsiders tend to get the bigger share of the attention and media, this would be a great way to cultivate the youngsters attention and loyalty. We certainly have a number of uniform designs to recreate for the kids. MAYBE the gang members would quit embracing the caps and colors if little leaguers were wearing them!

Could you imagine the hissy fits thrown by idiot Cub fan parents who would protest their kid wearing White Sox stuff?

That would be priceless!!

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by Thome25

Could you imagine the hissy fits thrown by idiot Cub fan parents who would protest their kid wearing White Sox stuff?

That would be priceless!!

I played Little Leage baseball at several parks on the Northwest Side deep in Cubbie territory and every year, every age level had a White Sox team and I don't recall anyone ever having any sort of reaction to it.

[34 Inch Stick]

Originally Posted by doublem23

I played Little Leage baseball at several parks on the Northwest Side deep in Cubbie territory and every year, every age level had a White Sox team and I don't recall anyone ever having any sort of reaction to it.

Anything that lowers costs for leagues will undoubtedly be welcomed with open arms. If one team in this city does it, the other will have to follow suit and they will be fighting with each other to outfit various leagues.

[Hitmen77]

Originally Posted by WhiffleBall

MLB did sue. Very few suburbs still use MLB teams. Some just use colors, others use minor league teams, while others use college teams.

Our kids' little league used the actual MLB team names (Pirates, Yankees, etc.) until about 3 years ago. Now they just say "Boston" or "Cleveland", etc. No team logos, but the uniform colors match the MLB team (for example, "Pittsburgh" has black and yellow jerseys, "St. Louis" has red jerseys, etc).

Originally Posted by doublem23

I played Little Leage baseball at several parks on the Northwest Side deep in Cubbie territory and every year, every age level had a White Sox team and I don't recall anyone ever having any sort of reaction to it.

Our league has both Cubs and White Sox teams. They both just say "Chicago" with either black or "cubbie" blue jerseys. Not every age level necessarily has either Chicago team since there are something like 8 teams in each age group.