# Baseball players in shorts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 7, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738 "2006-05-07T04:48:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/1 "2006-05-07T04:48:01Z")
Basketball, Football, Hockey uniforms are all arguably conducive to athletes’ performances in their respective sports, Baseball uniforms aren’t. Sure, they aren’t made of wool anymore, but still. Surely shorts, optional hats (not counting batting helmets) would improve a player’s performance in certain (most) circumstances, has such a thing ever been considered? This is a summertime sport! When was the last time you saw a soccer or tennis player wearing long pants or a hat, come on! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/2 "2006-05-07T04:51:13Z")
Um…no. The idea of sliding into second while wearing shorts is not an appealing one. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/3 "2006-05-07T05:01:38Z")
The White Sox used shorts for one game in the late 1970s. Sliding was a definite problem. Unlike a soccer player who is sliding on grass, a baseball player is sliding on dirt. Which tends to have hard stuff in it that cuts you up. If you ever see a soccer game played on artificial turf, which doesn’t happen often, the goalies wear long pants because they often have to make long slides and they don’t want to cut themselves up. I don’t believe any of the other players on a soccer team can wear long pants regardless of the weather or field condition. Male pro golfers are still required to wear long pants. They finally allowed the caddies to wear shorts if it’s really hot. Some very restrictive golf clubs make the women play golf in skirts instead of shorts. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/4 "2006-05-07T05:04:08Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#): > > has such a thing ever been considered? Yes, for one day. On August 8, 1976, the Chicago White Sox played the first game of a double header in new uniforms featuring blue shorts and white shirts. It was the brainchild of - who else - Bill Veeck. Although Chicago beat Kansas City 5-2, mainly because their opponents were laughing so hard, they switched back to long pants for the second game. It was such a spectacularly bad idea, the uniforms were never used again. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/5 "2006-05-07T05:06:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yes, for one day. On August 8, 1976, the Chicago White Sox played the first game of a double header in new uniforms featuring blue shorts and white shirts. It was the brainchild of - who else - Bill Veeck. Although Chicago beat Kansas City 5-2, mainly because their opponents were laughing so hard, they switched back to long pants for the second game. It was such a spectacularly bad idea, the uniforms were never used again. They looked like a beer-league softball team. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/6 "2006-05-07T05:07:53Z")
[White Sox in short pants](http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online_exhibits/dressed_to_the_nines/timeline_1976.htm) ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/7 "2006-05-07T06:56:00Z")
90% of baseball is just standing around, waiting for the ball to come at them. They don’t do a lot of running, certainly no more than occasional 90ft sprints. So shorts aren’t as necessary as soccer, basketball, or track & field, where the athletes are running constantly. Hockey players don’t wear shorts, do they? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/8 "2006-05-07T07:02:39Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#): > > optional hats (not counting batting helmets) would improve a player’s performance Baseball caps DO improve a players’ performance! The long bill functions as an eyeshade, helping the fielders to see & catch fly balls easier. Possibly not as important now with domed stadiums in many cities. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/9 "2006-05-07T15:25:21Z")
The White Sox were Johnny-come-lately at this. In 1950 the [Hollywood Stars of the old Pacific Coast League introduced shorts as an experiment.](http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online_exhibits/dressed_to_the_nines/timeline_1950.htm) > [@](#): > > In 1950, the Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars (a farm club in the Brooklyn Dodgers’ system) unveiled one of the most radical alterations to the baseball uniform. In an effort to aid the speed and comfort of its players, the Stars took the field wearing shorts. Other clubs in the Brooklyn system soon followed suit, and by mid-season numerous teams were wearing the abbreviated pants. Though the experiment ultimately failed to catch on, the Chicago White Sox briefly revived the concept in 1976. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/10 "2006-05-07T15:30:47Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Baseball caps DO improve a players’ performance! > > The long bill functions as an eyeshade, helping the fielders to see & catch fly balls easier. > > Possibly not as important now with domed stadiums in many cities. Only two teams play in fixed domes, Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Every other team plays in an open air stadium or one with a retractable roof, so they get sun most days. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/11 "2006-05-07T16:39:23Z")
Women in their pro ball leagues of the 1940s and 1950s wore skirts. As shown in the film, A League of Their Own, (something Hollywood got right for a change) their legs got terribly bruised by sliding, diving, rolling, falling, collisions, and all the other things that happen on a ball field. They did it for simple sex appeal, the way women in tennis would later wear skirts that flew up to show their panties. In our society you’d have a tough time getting men to expose their bodies… to risk, just to flash some leg. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/12 "2006-05-07T17:16:26Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Hockey players don’t wear shorts, do they? The pants look short to me. [NHL Hockey uniforms database](http://www.nhluniforms.com/) The Flyers and Whalers experimented with long pants for a couple of seasons and they were told to stop. Mainly because they looked funny. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/13 "2006-05-07T17:50:13Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#): > > This is a summertime sport! When was the last time you saw a soccer or tennis player wearing long pants or a hat, come on! Rafael Nadal, who won the French Open last year, [plays in pants](http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/writers/jon_wertheim/01/24/mailbag.0124/p1_nadal_all.jpg). As for baseball, Major League games are played primarily at night. In April, May, and September in most cities, the temperatures are in the 50s or lower after the sun goes down. It was 37 degrees at [this game at Cleveland in early April](http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=260408105&date=20060408), as just one example. ---
**Author:** ![biometricks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@biometricks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biometricks)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/14 "2006-05-07T17:52:43Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Mainly because they looked funny. Here’s a link to the long pants: [http://www.nhluniforms.com/1980s/FlyersPants.jpg](http://www.nhluniforms.com/1980s/FlyersPants.jpg) That was easy to find… it just sounds like something that would have occured during the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/15 "2006-05-07T17:56:47Z")
I contend that the link to the Flyers long plants are NSFW. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/16 "2006-05-07T18:06:16Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#): > > When was the last time you saw a soccer or tennis player wearing long pants or a hat, come on! Also, meant to say that hats have become commonplace in mens tennis. [Andy Roddick](http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/images/helencowie/2005/07/07/100_0241.jpg) always wears a cap. So do other top players like [Leyton Hewitt](http://gblx.cache.el-mundo.net/elmundodeporte/especiales/2003/08/usopen/albumes/primerajornada/hewitt_afp.jpg), [Ivan Ljubicic](http://as.wn.com/i/77/ebe99732144afb.jpg), and [Andre Agassi](http://www.tennisfreunde-much.de/Impressionen/Tennisspieler-Bilder/Agassi-Andre/andre-agassi-usa_06.jpg). Personally, I think he trend has more to do with endorsement deals to wears caps with corporate logos than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/17 "2006-05-08T01:21:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Only two teams play in fixed domes, Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Every other team plays in an open air stadium or one with a retractable roof, so they get sun most days. Of course most games are played at night nowadays. I wonder how much the bill of the hat helps with the glare from stadium lights? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-players-in-shorts/355738/18 "2006-05-08T02:20:01Z")
> [@biometricks](#): > > Here’s a link to the long pants: [http://www.nhluniforms.com/1980s/FlyersPants.jpg](http://www.nhluniforms.com/1980s/FlyersPants.jpg) > > That was easy to find… it just sounds like something that would have occured during the 80’s. They were called “Cooperalls.”