Throwbacks done right.

Friday’s game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will be beautiful sight for baseball uniform geeks like me. Both teams will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of their first ever meeting at Fenway Park.

As you can see from the above photo, both teams will be wearing throwback jerseys from that year in 1912. (I don’t know why the promotional image used for the Yankees/Highlanders jersey is white when the jerseys they will be wearing are gray.)

But the idea of throwbacks have gotten a made craze over the past decade or so and sometimes, if done right, it can be an amazing experience.

Of course, we all understand that part of the reason why we have seen so many throwback jerseys being worn by numerous teams from different sports in the past is simply to appease the merchandise sales.

Even with this throwback game, I hear the caps will be on sale to the public. Realistically, would you want to pay $35 for a plain white cap like the one the Red Sox will be wearing? It’s a bad deal but somebody’s going to buy it. I am pretty sure somebody bought these caps.

But for this case, at least there was a reason to wear the throwback. The same thing can be said a couple years ago when the original AFL teams wore throwbacks too. It was a celebration and I think that’s when throwbacks should come back. Whenever it’s time to commemorate an anniversary, let’s do a throwback game.

But sometimes, throwbacks aren’t necessary. Earlier this week, the Steelers revealed their 1933 throwback uniforms that will be worn twice this season. In terms of uniform accuracy, this set is pretty spot on. But once again, I have to ask, was it necessary to bring this throwback into the mix? The team has worn throwbacks in the past and I assume as long as people are buying throwback merchandise, they’ll keep having these kind of deals.

Maybe I’m too old school and I feel that so many teams now are recreating their uniform identity to replicate jerseys from their past history. Teams like the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, Toronto Blue Jays, Golden State Warriors are all wearing uniforms that are close to reproductions of their older sets. The value of a throwback has decreased with the constant desire for a team to dip into that well for their identity.

But when it comes to the Yankees and Red Sox, both those teams have made very little changes to their sets over the years. So when they hit the field on Friday night, it’s going to be special because they don’t often go crazy with throwbacks. (In fact, I can only remember one other instance in which the Yankees have worn a throwback since donning the pinstripes.)

I think I appreciate these throwbacks more because well, I don’t see it every other week. Friday’s going to be nice.

Let's play ball!