▁the ▁grey ▁away ▁sh irt ▁for ▁several ▁sub - par ▁performances . ▁Fer g us on ▁commented , ▁" The ▁players ▁couldn ' t ▁pick ▁each ▁other ▁out .[ ...] ▁They ▁said ▁it ▁was ▁difficult ▁to ▁see ▁their ▁team - m ates ▁at ▁distance ▁when ▁they ▁lifted ▁their ▁heads ". ▁ ▁Baseball ▁ ▁Major ▁League ▁Baseball ▁ ▁After ▁dec ades ▁of ▁we aring ▁the ▁same ▁uniform s , ▁Major ▁League ▁Baseball ▁teams ▁began ▁to ▁experiment ▁with ▁numerous ▁designs ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 7 0 s , ▁r anging ▁from ▁popular ▁designs ▁( such ▁as ▁the ▁Oak land ▁Athletics ' ▁pul lo ver ▁j er se ys ▁that ▁most ▁ML B ▁teams ▁later ▁adopted ) ▁and ▁not ▁so ▁popular ▁( such ▁as ▁the ▁Chicago ▁White ▁So x ▁we aring ▁short s , ▁or ▁the ▁Cleveland ▁Indians ▁we aring ▁all - red ). ▁ ▁Among ▁such ▁designs ▁that ▁were ▁also ▁tested ▁were ▁third ▁j er se ys , ▁to ▁break ▁the ▁traditional ▁m old ▁that ▁baseball ▁teams ▁wear ▁white ▁uniform s ▁at ▁home , ▁and ▁gray ▁on ▁the ▁road . ▁This ▁began ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 2 ▁when ▁the ▁A ' s ▁fl am boy ant ▁owner , ▁Charles ▁O . ▁Fin ley , ▁introduced ▁new ▁uniform s ▁to ▁the ▁team . ▁T aking ▁after ▁the ▁lead ▁of ▁the ▁Pitts burgh ▁Pir ates , ▁the ▁j er se ys ▁were ▁pul lo ver ▁span dex ▁that ▁would ▁later ▁catch ▁on ▁in ▁ML B ▁( though ▁this ▁would ▁be ▁ph ased ▁out ▁by