When it comes to baseball, we can’t really forget about the legendary pinstripes that are marked as an identity in baseball jerseys. The look is so iconic that even some teams started to use the same design for their jerseys.

Are they truly mandatory in the sport? Well, it would be better if you saw it as a fashion trend. What was originally a method to differentiate teams has now become a distinctive model. The trend in using pinstripes dates back to the early 90s when the team had to differentiate their team members from the opponents using such a unique design.

In this article, we’ll tell you a brief history of the pinstripes along with the teams that have been wearing them.

A Brief History of Pinstripes

Pinstripes are a popular traditional choice for baseball uniforms in Major League Baseball. The pattern was introduced first back in the early 90s, and now some of the baseball teams still wear them in matches.

Back when there were no unique jersey designs to differentiate one team from the other, they used to have different socks to tell the team members apart. As the method was ineffective, eventually they opted for a better way, which was using different uniforms. For example, the white jersey is used at home, while black, blue, or grey is used on the road.

Entering the early 20th century, baseball teams began experimenting with jersey designs to help differentiate their members further. Some would use satin as material, especially for their reflective qualities.

The first time pinstripes were entering the mainstream began when Chicago Clubs applied them on their jerseys. Shortly after, the other teams followed their steps by making the pinstripes even more visible, a notable move from the New York Yankees. Since then, “the pinstripes” have become an iconic style of the Yankees.

Which Major League Baseball Teams Wear Pinstripes?

The visible pinstripes that were first used by the Yankees have now become a distinctive identity of baseball. In Major League Baseball, there are nine teams that are using pinstripes on their uniforms:

• Miami Marlins
• New York Mets
• Philadelphia Phillies
• San Diago Padres
• Chicago Cubs
• Colorado Rockies
• Chicago White Sox
• Milwaukee Brewers
• New York Yankees

Both Brewers and Marlins use the pinstripes on their alternative uniforms, while the rest of them feature the pinstripes on their home jerseys.

Other than the nine teams mentioned above, there were some former MLB teams that also wore the pinstripes, including the Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Red Sox.

Although most people would recognize the pinstripes coming from the Yankees, the team who actually wore them the very first time was the Chicago Cubs. The team has been featuring the pinstripes since 1907.

However, it’s also understandable that the pinstripes are rather iconic to the Yankees as they were the ones who made the design famous, especially with bigger, more visible pinstripes. And now, both the Yankees and Chicago Cubs are still wearing the pinstripes as kind of a long tradition.