Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
By Henry Walters ’25
THE ROUNDUP
The Arizona Diamondbacks celebrated their 25th anniversary on the weekend of Aug. 11-13 by wearing one of their original uniforms, featuring a purple and teal color scheme. After seeing the uniforms in action for the first time since 2021, many fans called for the purple to come back full-time.
Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen voiced his support for a return to the purple color scheme, posting on X, “Purple> Red. We should wear these more (permanently lol)” on Aug. 13. He also posted a poll, asking Diamondbacks fans if they preferred “Dbacks Purple/Teal”, or “Dbacks Red/Black/Teal”. An astounding 91% chose the “Dbacks Purple/Teal” option with over 14,500 individual responses.
Zac Gallen is right. The Diamondbacks should switch back to their original color scheme. The colors look better, and there are multiple reasons why they do.
Ms. Abbey Withey, who teaches AP Studio Art and Drawing at Brophy, has an extensive history designing logos and merchandise for various corporations. When shown pictures of the current red Diamondbacks uniforms, and the original purple and teal uniforms, Ms. Withey said, “So I like the purple because I think that red feels a little bit too much like low hanging fruit. I think a lot of people choose red because it’s safe and it’s riskier to have colors that I think invoke some sort of reaction out of people.”
She also said she was in favor of a switch back to purple, because, “I would want to see what artists and designers are able to do with it nowadays. I would like to see some changes but I think that there’s great potential here, so I’m actually stoked on that.”
As Ms. Withey pointed out, red is overused and dull in the Major Leagues. The Diamondbacks are one of 13 teams who use it as a primary color. However, purple is only worn by the Colorado Rockies, with their hue being distinctly darker than the Diamondbacks’. This is one of the reasons that fans are so attracted to the uniforms – because they are a jump from the mundane combinations of red, navy, blue, and black.
The column Uni Watch has been featured in ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated and other publications. It describes itself as, “The sports world’s foremost (okay, only) column devoted to uniform design.”
Uni Watch Deputy Editor Phil Hecken wrote in the Aug. 16 edition of the column that he also believes that a return to purple is the way to go. “[Gallen]’s right of course — the throwback uniforms the Diamondbacks brought back last weekend, when the D-backs were celebrating the franchise’s 25-year anniversary, are certainly better looking than the team’s current set,” wrote Hecken.
The conversion has been made before. In 2020, the San Diego Padres switched from their navy and white color scheme back to a brown and yellow design that the team had used from their founding until 1990. Just like the Diamondbacks, Padres fans saw the uniforms brought back as alternates and successfully pushed for them to come back full time.
This means that there is a model for the team to follow, should they choose to make the change that 91% of fans want to see happen. There is no good reason for the team to keep the uniforms that a majority of the fanbase wants to see changed.
