From 1934 up to 2017, the Olde English D on the Tigers home jersey was distinctly different than the D worn on the cap, but in 2018 the team removed the iconic jersey D and replaced it with the cap logo. Tiger fans, I am asking for your support in changing the Detroit Tigers iconic home jersey back to its original form.

(The classic, iconic Detroit Tigers jersey logo. Photo courtesy of Cliff Corcoran and The Hardball Times: https://tht.fangraphs.com/old-english-d-a-look-back-at-tigers-uniforms/

For more information on why I desire this change and on the history of the Olde English D, I invite you to read my statement below. For a quick summary of the uniform change, please read the following article from the Detroit Free Press.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2018/01/25/detroit-tigers-home-uniforms/1063791001/

(Photo Courtesy of Cliff Corcoran and The Hardball Times: https://tht.fangraphs.com/old-english-d-a-look-back-at-tigers-uniforms/

From 1934 until 2017, the home uniform of the Detroit Tigers, among the most iconic in all of professional sports, consisted of a rounded Olde English D on the left chest, and a slightly more angular Olde English D on the cap. This uniform, with its two distinct Olde English D's, is the definitive look of the Detroit Tigers, having been worn for 96 of the team's 122 seasons and all but one season between '34 and '17. The rounded English D connects Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, and the 1935 and '45 Tigers, the franchise's first two champions, to Al Kaline, whose legend was firmly entrenched by the time of the dominant 1968 team, where Denny McLain won 31 games wearing the rounded D. 

(1935 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers pitching staff sporting the classic jersey logo. Photo courtesy of Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-detroit-tigers-pitching-staff-in-the-dugout-at-navin-news-photo/51884337?phrase=1935%20detroit%20tigers&adppopup=true

Its history extends to the 1984 Tigers, the franchise's last World Series winner, and finally connects us to the most recent era of Tigers baseball, where the team won American League pennants in 2006 and 2012, and Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera took home American League MVP honors between 2011-13 donning the rounded English D on their chests and the angular D on their caps. 

(Franchise icons Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker sporting the Old English D, 1984. Photo courtesy of Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/alan-trammell-and-lou-whitaker-of-the-detroit-tigers-pose-news-photo/82036838?phrase=1984%20detroit%20tigers&adppopup=true

At the beginning of the 2018 season, the Detroit Tigers decided to standardize the Olde English D, placing the cap D, which has only existed in its current form since 1968, on the jersey, removing the rounded jersey D that has persisted for 83 years. Apart from breaking the connective tissue that has held together every great era of Detroit Tigers baseball, the change is a big aesthetic downgrade. The thin, angular profile of the cap D, which works so well on a cap, doesn't translate nearly as well to a jersey, where its slight proportions get lost amidst the white background of the uniform. 

(Since the 2018 season, the Detroit Tigers have begun sporting an aesthetically inferior variant of their classic home uniform. The removal of the classic logo has coincided with a lengthy playoff drought and rebuilding period. Photo courtesy of Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/detroit-tigers-players-celebrate-the-opening-day-victory-news-photo/1232081499?phrase=2021%20detroit%20tigers%20opening%20day&adppopup=true

While it is true that Olde English D logo has changed through the years, the great majority of this change occurred between 1901 and 1934, in the team's early days. The rounded jersey D is the longest tenured logo in team history, present on the home uniform from 1934 until 1960, and again from 1961 until 2017.

Moreover, the Detroit Tigers and Major League Baseball have cited the need for one unified logo as the reason behind this change. But there is no reason why a team as rich in history as the Detroit Tigers cannot equally embrace the two different yet historically valuable logos. The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs all have slightly different logos for jerseys, caps, and batting helmets, and accordingly, they assign one logo as the primary and make the others alternate logos. If the Tigers were so intent upon streamlining their branding, why not take this approach?

(Different New York Yankees logos for different applications. Photo courtesy of Uni Watch: https://uni-watch.com/2021/10/06/a-close-look-at-the-yankees-various-ny-logos/

In fact, in 2014 the Tigers publicly voiced their support for this exact proposal. The team's vice president of communications told ESPN that "the two versions are part of our heritage, and they both symbolize our historic uniforms, so we plan to keep both of them," and that "both have equal value."

More fundamentally, why change at all? The Detroit Tigers wearing the rounded Olde English D on their jersey and the angular D on their caps is a proud reminder of baseball's tradition of idiosyncrasy. Baseball stadiums across the two leagues embrace quirky throwback features like irregularly shaped outfield walls and retro brick facades, homages to the sport's humble beginnings. 

(A great moment in Detroit Tigers history - Old English D included. Photo courtesy of Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/magglio-ordonez-of-the-detroit-tigers-rounds-the-bases-on-news-photo/72197167?phrase=2006%20ALCS%20Game%204&adppopup=true

I am asking Detroit Tigers fans to let the organization know that we want the team to restore the classic and rightful home jersey of the Detroit Tigers. Tigers fans protested when the team removed the Olde English D in 1960, and it was back for 1961. We protested when the team enlarged the proportions of the cap D in 2018, and the following season, the team responded by bringing back the classic cap. If we display our desire for the restoration of the Olde English D, as so many Tigers fans have been clamoring for on social media, perhaps we will succeed as we have in the past.

Go Tigers!

(Detroit Tigers manager Alan Trammell shows off the Old English D as he tells the audience how proud he is of wearing a Tigres uniform during a 20th anniversary celebration of their World Series championship June 27, 2004, in Detroit. Photo and caption courtesy of Duane Burleson, AP and the Detroit Free Press: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2014/11/03/alan-trammell-detroit-tigers/18409455/

For further reading on the history of the Olde English D, I strongly recommend taking a look at Cliff Corcoran's piece in The Hardball Times, which was of great assistance while assembling this petition:

https://tht.fangraphs.com/old-english-d-a-look-back-at-tigers-uniforms/

For the full ESPN story from 2014, click here:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/10927272/uni-watch-mismatched-mlb-logos