09 Seibu Lions Uniforms
Posted by japanstats on 2009 January 29日 Thursday
They have officially been unveiled in the camp opening ceremony held yesterday. The navy looks much closer to Nishitetsu black than the old Seibu sky blue. I like the simple design, though the minimalist simplicity of the home uniform (right) with just the L looks almost like a high school team uniform 😛 The away uniform (left) is pretty much straight up Nishitetsu throwbacks from last season. And here’s yet another team going to an off white (or light gray) colour for their road uniform (Giants ditched their ugly black tops and used their interleague off white unis as road uniforms for most of last season, not sure what’s happening with them this season). NPB’s gonna look a lot like high school baseball in 2009. What’s up with this trend?
Japan, Hockey, Baseball, etc. 
Alex said
I agree with you, I think Seibu did a nice job. I was fearful seeing how the logo was pretty bad, but it has grown on me. Yakult should’ve paid attention on how to make a new uniform.
That said, someone needs to tell the Japanese what the hell grey looks like.
npbtracker said
This no longer looks like the Seibu Lions. I wonder if they’re trying to sell the team.
simoncurrie said
Alex, yeah I’m glad that the weird new logo is only a small shoulder patch.
Patrick, hmmm, good point. Seibu Holdings have been selling off many of its assets (like their ski resort in popular Niseko, which they sold to Hilton) lately in a restructuring effort. They also will do away with their hockey team which has a budget of about 5-oku ($5m) per year.
David Watkins said
Mmmmm. Not bad, but pretty unremarkable. But that blue is absolutely not Seibu blue.
Alex said
Also: “I believe Lions”
I know 99% of their fans won’t notice or care, but that’s a pretty silly grammar mistake.
simoncurrie said
I think Seibu’s trying to move away from the tainted (but golden age) Tsutsumi era, and integrating their Nishitetsu past is one way of doing it. The lack of word “Seibu” on the front of the jerseys may be a telling sign that Seibu Holdings is trying to offload the team. They’ve been shutting down department stores in addition to selling off resorts and other cost cutting measures.
I rather like the simplicity of the uniforms, btw. Too many unis these days seem cluttered.
Kenzo said
I’d love to see a possible list of who might be interested in buying the Lions. Given that they won the JS last year, their value might be boosted a bit, but they won’t get full value in t his market.
Alex: Maybe the “I believe Lions” is meant to be filled in. For example:
“I believe Lions are scary.”
“I believe Lions live in the woods near Hakone.”
Ryushi said
I really don’t like it!!
It is soooooo not seibu!!