From the time the San Diego Padres first joined the National League as an expansion franchise in 1969 through 1990 or so, they featured brown as one of their predominant uniform colors. For a number of years, the Padres paired brown with yellow in what informally came to be known as their "taco uniforms" of the 1970s ...
Padres really went all-in for brown when they added this road jersey for 1976 and '77. pic.twitter.com/XBjAtjn71d
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) November 30, 2015
The yellow eventually gave way to orange, and finally in 1991 brown almost totally disappeared from the Padres' look. These days, they're blue-dominant like, well, a bunch of other teams. What was once thoroughly distinct -- the Padres were the first team since the fittingly named St. Louis Browns to employ brown in their ensemble -- became conformist and uninspired.
So maybe it's time we doing something about that? Padres rooters have been vocal for years about a return to their formative look, and the club starting in 2016 tried to appease them by incorporating throwbacks into the rotation ...
And there was also a strong throwback tint to the 2016 Home Run Derby, which the Padres hosted in Petco Park as part of All-Star week ...
These, though, were but half-measures, and the vocal pro-brownists were not placated. Back in July, club executive chairman Ron Fowler indicated that a return to brown was likely, and now comes the strongest indication yet that the Padres will get back to familiar territory on the color wheel. Here's this from a Nick Canepa column in the San Diego Union-Tribune ...
While it's yet to be etched in rusted iron, unless some other actual color falls out of a magical Crayola box, expect the Padres to be wearing brown uniforms come 2020.
Ron Fowler reluctantly admits it.
...
"If I were a betting man, I'd say we're in brown uniforms in 2020," Fowler continues. "We're still in the middle of research, but that's what I believe.
...
"It's what the fans want," Fowler says. "The reality is we want people to be passionate about the team and they are passionate about brown."
The 2020 time frame for "Destination Brown Town" was one floated this past summer, and this is the strongest indication yet that the Padres' out-of-character blue uniforms aren't long for this world. As Canepa writes, Fowler doesn't like the brown uniforms, but he's yielding to public outcry. Perhaps they try to thread the needle by incorporating brown in a more contemporary manner rather than properly going Taco Maximus, but brown, it surely seems. is coming back to San Diego. Consider this to be blessed news.
So what should become the Padres' go-to throwbacks in the event that these current throwbacks resume being primaries? As is the case in all matters, the early 1970s are here to help ...
Padres wore solid gold w/ brown lettering at home and on road in 1972-73. pic.twitter.com/VKr2XGtJhg
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) November 30, 2015
Know this: We've lost things, but we're not losers.
