ESPN

As fans of the comedy series "Portlandia'' know, the secret to merchandising is to slap a bird on it. And apparently, the same holds true for baseball uniforms.

After four rounds of voting, tigers, fish, elephants, snakes, astronauts, seafarers, gun-toting officers of the law, buccaneers, heavenly bodies, Native Americans, pinstriped Northeners and even two pairs of colored socks are all gone. Our Battle of the Uniforms will finish with the Battle of the Birds.

The No. 1-seeded Cardinals, who have as iconic a St. Louis design as the Gateway Arch or a bottle of Bud, beat their longtime rival, the Chicago Cubs, in the final round of the National League voting, 54 percent to 46 percent.

Meanwhile, the Cinderella team of the American League bracket upset yet another higher-seeded team in the AL championship. By a margin of 3,103 votes, fans declared they prefer the orange and black Baltimore Orioles over the traditional uniform worn by everyone from Babe Ruth to Derek Jeter. Or perhaps fans just hate the Yankees' pinstripes.

Whatever the reason, it's the Cardinals versus the Orioles for the title of baseball's best uniform. Bird watchers should get their binoculars out for this ornithological fight, though Toronto fans are probably wondering why their colorful Jay was found wanting.

This is serious business, so to make sure that everyone gets a chance to take a long, careful look at these two uniforms and judge the colors, logos, caps and overall style of both home and road uniforms, our polls will be open throughout the weekend. You can cast your vote up until noon ET Monday, when we will declare the winner.

So good luck Cardinals and Orioles. May the better uniform win. And remember voters, this isn't about who actually wears the uniforms but the uniforms themselves.

--Jim Caple

Note: Championship-round poll closes at noon ET Monday.

Mobile users: To vote, click here.

Battle of the Uniforms: Championship

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Battle of the Uniforms seedings

We've now reached the final four. Or, if you prefer, we've reached the league championship series.

Either way, the Battle of the Uniforms is now in the home stretch (or as a malapropism-prone boss of mine once liked to say, "the home run stretch"). In the American League, the Orioles are facing the Yankees, and the National League crown has come down to the Cubs and the Cards.

The seedings, done by Jim Caple and myself, have largely proven accurate. Three of the final four teams were seeded either No. 1 or No. 2 in their respective leagues, which means our uni assessments are largely in line with yours. The lone outlier is Baltimore, which was seeded 13th but upset the top-seeded Tigers.

I'll admit it: I was kind of hoping for a rogue uniform design to make it to the semifinals, just to make things interesting. The Diamondbacks, say, or the Marlins. And I was seriously rooting for the A's to upset the Yanks (they came thisclose). In the end, though, the classic designs have won. And that makes sense: The classics are classic for a reason.

The cool thing about the Battle of the Unis is that several on-field rivalries have been echoed at the ballot box. Wednesday we had the Yankees just eking out a victory of the Red Sox (whose fans were no doubt chanting "Yankees suck!" as they clicked on the Sox icon), and now we have a classic National League matchup, as Chicago and St. Louis face off for Senior Circuit supremacy.

So who's going to advance to the uniform World Series? You folks get to decide that. But I'll say this: I'm voting for the teams with the feathers.

--Paul Lukas

LCS-round polls close at 9 a.m. ET Friday, and the championship round begins shortly thereafter.

Mobile users: To vote, click here.

Jim Caple bracket: American League

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Paul Lukas bracket: National League

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Battle of the Uniforms seedings

Whew! That was a close one.

The New York Yankees -- wearers of pinstripes, owners of the most identifiable uniform in American sports, and so wealthy their sleeves should come with gold cuff links -- nearly went down to defeat at the hands of the budget-conscious Athletics, who gave baseball yellow and green uniforms.

Yes, it's true. The Yankees' famous NY logo was nearly beaten by the Athletics' elephant patch in a second-round matchup so close that Nate Silver could not have been able to call it. After a nip-and-tuck battle, the Yankees finally escaped with a slender 51-49 percent victory to advance to Wednesday's quarterfinals.

It was a tough day for Bay Area fans, who lost another squeaker when the Giants lost 51-49 to the Pirates. It seems the Bay Area needs to expand its population base just a bit.

The rest of the battles were won by fairly wide margins, including the battle of the Soxes (Boston beat Chicago). That sets up an interesting matchup with another battle in the never-ending Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Good luck, guys, and remember: Bloody socks matter only if the voters can see them.

That isn't the only matchup of teams with old-school classic looks, though. The No. 1-seeded Tigers, who still are dressed roughly the way they were when Al Kaline was in right field, take on the Cinderellas of the bracket, the No. 13-seeded Orioles, who handily beat the Royals.

Over in the National League, the No. 1-seeded Cardinals will take on the Pirates, with the Dodgers and Cubs going head to head. This has not been a great season for either Los Angeles or Chicago, but at least one of those teams will win this round.

Who will advance to the Final Four? That's up to you. Polls are open until 9 a.m. ET Thursday morning.

--Jim Caple

Mobile users: To vote, click here.

Jim Caple bracket: American League

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Paul Lukas bracket: National League

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Battle of the Uniforms seedings

As a wise man once said, "Vote early and often." And that's exactly what baseball fans did Monday, as the first-round balloting in the Battle of the Uniforms attracted an enthusiastic electorate and gave us some interesting results.

The Yankees' uniforms trouncing the Indians' look? No surprise there. Ditto for the Phillies over the Diamondbacks and the Giants over the Rockies, among others. Still, there were some mild upsets, such as the Twins beating the Angels and, in the biggest eyebrow raiser of the first round, the Nationals beating the Mets.

That Nats-Mets outcome was the closest race of the first round, with Washington prevailing by 55 percent to 45 percent. Most of the other contests were blowouts. Look at some of these numbers:

• Orioles over Astros, 79 percent to 21 percent.

• Red Sox over Mariners, 73 percent to 27 percent.

• Pirates over Marlins, 81 percent to 19 percent.

And so on. The biggest landslide? The Cubbies trounced the Padres by a whopping 86 percent to 14 percent, offering convincing proof that San Diego needs to go back to the drawing board and get some new uniforms (and giving beleaguered Cubs fans a little morsel of success to feel good about).

As for the second round, there are some intriguing matchups. In the American League, Boston faces off against Chicago -- a battle of the Sox! And in the National League, the Pirates and Giants will be reminding people that they were wearing black long before it became a trendy color.

The most interesting pairing in this round, though, finds the Yankees, the ultimate example of old-fashioned aesthetic tradition, facing the A's, whose green-and-gold look ushered in baseball's Technicolor era. It's old-school versus new-school. Too bad George Steinbrenner and Charlie Finley aren't around to witness it -- they'd likely be voting along with the rest of us.

--Paul Lukas

Note: Second-round polls close at 9 a.m. ET Wednesday, and the next round begins shortly thereafter.

Mobile users: To vote, click here.

Jim Caple bracket: American League

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Paul Lukas bracket: National League

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Battle of the Uniforms seedings

Jerry Seinfeld famously said that because of the way players constantly change teams and teams occasionally change cities, sports fans are actually rooting for clothes.

"You are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city," he said. "Fans will be so in love with a player, but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt, but they hate him now. 'Booo!!! It's a different shirt! Booo!!!!'"

Well, he's right about that. We do root for clothes. And against clothes. As well we should. If Yankees pinstripes or red socks or Dodger blue or, worst of all, those powder blue alternate Royals tops don't get your blood boiling, then you're not a true fan.

Which is why we're holding our Battle of the Uniforms. As Seinfeld said, what is most important is not the player but what the player is wearing. And no, we're not just talking about Kevin Youkilis, but that's a good example.

It's the uniform that is most important. After all, your team may stink. It may not have had a winning record in 20 years. It may not have reached the postseason in your lifetime. It may not have reached the World Series in your grandparents' lifetimes. But chances are your closet is still overflowing with your team's replica jerseys that you proudly wear to the ballpark, the office or the nightclub.

We can look at the standings and know which teams are on top, but which teams have the best uniforms? Which designs have stood the test of time, and which are as dated as the grunge look? Do you prefer the classic look of Detroit's old English "D" on the chest and the Yankees pinstripes? Or do you appreciate the South Beach neon look of the Marlins' jerseys? Should the bill of a cap be as profoundly curved as Christina Hendricks or as flat as the Marlins' offense? Should socks be visible to midcalf, to the knee, or tucked under baggy pants legs?

All this is for you to decide. We've seeded all 30 teams based on their standard home and road uniforms and placed them in a bracket. Throughout the week, you'll have new matchups to vote on each day until only one uniform is left standing. We'll announce the winner next Monday.

Until then, we'll also provide stories and lists about such things as what caused the god-awful '70s look, the rules for when and how to wear replica jerseys, and the good, the bad and the ugly of uniforms throughout the decades.

So check out the bracket. Read our style analysis. Vote for your favorite uniforms. Vote against the ones you hate. And keep checking back each day to see which teams advance and who ultimately tops your best-dressed list.

One request: We know people can get pretty passionate about uniforms, but please keep things civil. If the fashion police can't maintain order, we may have to call in the security in those Padres camouflage jerseys.

--Jim Caple

Note: Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals have first-round byes; first-round polls close at
9 a.m. Tuesday, and the next round begins shortly thereafter.

Mobile users: To vote, click here.

Jim Caple bracket: American League

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Paul Lukas bracket: National League

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Battle of the Uniforms seedings

 

Big-name players are put on waivers all the time, but when said big-name player is Joe Mauer, it's time to take notice. Mauer is making a lot of money and is the face of the Twins' franchise, but would it be better for the Twins to trade him?

• dubsworth9993: " This is ridiculous. It would be like Peyton Manning getting cut by the...oh wait."
• Dahmer990: "Are Twins fans really frustrated with his lack of power? I think Willingham is helping people forget about that. I'm happy with Mauer's production as long as he keeps his on-base above .400."
• MotorCityMagic28: "One of 3 players in the AL that has a 1.00 or higher BB/K ratio, which is very good. Also, has one of the better PA per strikeout ratio. He is still the best catcher in the game, but he doesn't get as much notice b/c his team stinks now. But no team is gonna spill out $23mil/yr for a catcher that will have to miss at least 15 games a yr to rest from age 30-37."
• rich22772187: "$23 million a year for a guy that hits for average with no power?? The Twins got duped big time by Mauer having that career year MVP season in his contract year. If somehow the Twins can just dump his salary, that would be a HUGE win for their organization. Use that money to get some free agent pitching."
• bsidewriter: "23 mill a year for an MVP, and local kid that is/was a fan favorite who plays a premium position seems moderately reasonable for the time other contract."

Join the conversation or respond by signing in or creating a profile and blogging.

 

Opening Day -- well, Opening Night, really, and we technically already had one of those in Japan, but who's counting? -- is finally here, as the Cardinals will take on the Marlins tonight in the first stateside regular-season MLB game. It's bound to be an exciting season with so many players having changed teams, but has the power structure been altered significantly?

Vote: Pick each division and pennant, and the winner of the World Series

Rank: Baseball's best teams? | Top players in the game?

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We can understand if you don't want to take the time to grade your tech-support help on the other end of the telephone, but when we're talking about the dollars and emotion you've invested in sports, we think it's worth the effort. It's time for ESPN The Magazine's Ultimate Standings, in which SportsNation grades organizations on everything from ticket prices and stadium experience to the talent on the field, court or rink. Which team will end up on top this year? It depends on what you say.

Take part in the 2011 MLB survey
2010 MLB Ultimate Standings
1. Los Angeles Angels (Overall: No. 3)
2. Tampa Bay Rays (Overall: No. 6)
3. Colorado Rockies (Overall: No. 13)
4. Minnesota Twins (Overall: No. 14)
5. Atlanta Braves (Overall: No. 15)

Take part in the 2011 NFL survey
2010 NFL Ultimate Standings
1. New Orleans Saints (Overall: No. 1)
2. Indianapolis Colts (Overall: No. 4)
3. Green Bay Packers (Overall: No. 9)
4. Arizona Cardinals (Overall: No. 19)
5. Baltimore Ravens (Overall: No. 20)

Take part in the 2011 NBA survey
2010 NBA Ultimate Standings
1. Orlando Magic (Overall: No. 2)
2. San Antonio Spurs (Overall: No. 7)
3. Cleveland Cavaliers (Overall: No. 10)
4. Dallas Mavericks (Overall: No. 24)
5. Oklahoma City Thunder (Overall: No. 25)

Take part in the 2011 NHL survey
2010 NHL Ultimate Standings
1. Pittsburgh Penguins (Overall: No. 5)
2. Detroit Red Wings (Overall: No. 8)
3. Washington Capitals (Overall: No. 11)
4. San Jose Sharks (Overall: No. 12)
5. Chicago Blackhawks (Overall: No. 16)

1. What kind of starter is Carl Pavano?

Isn't it nice when a player rebuilds his career? After several years struggling with the Yankees and Indians, Carl Pavano had his best season since 2004, going 17-11 with a 3.75 ERA for the Minnesota Twins. They've rewarded him with a two-year, $16.5 million contract. No doubt, as friend of SportsNation and head of the American Mustache Institute Aaron Perlut would say, it was all due to Pavano's 'stache. Is he for real as a starter?

• "Great move Twins. I've enjoyed having this guy on our team since he arrived. Definitely the guy to help solidify this pitching staff and the fans love him here." -- SN commenter mballard1983

1. Who would you rather have: Gardenhire or Black?

Neither of their teams advanced in the playoffs, but both Ron Gardenhire and Bud Black have been deemed Managers of the Year for their respective leagues. Gardenhire had to make do without Justin Morneau for much of the season, while Black had to contend with an offense that featured Adrian Gonzalez ... and that's pretty much it. Which manager would you rather have?

• "Bud Black took the Padres further then even the most hard core Padres fans thought possible. A well deserved honor for a job well done." -- SN commenter dbf320