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Change in Rutgers Camden Baseball Uniforms through the 1990s
About:
Welcome to Pinstripes and Polyester, a gallery of Rutgers-Camden varsity baseball uniforms from the mid to late 1990s. This site displays a small collection of uniforms that overlap with the year of the univeristy's rebranding. In 1997, Rutgers-Camden rebranded their logo and mascot for athletics, shifting from the Pioneers to the Scarlet Raptors. We present four Pioneer uniforms from 1994-1996, and two Scarlet Raptor uniforms from the late 1990s, possibly worn between the 1997-2000 season.
Change in athletic presentation over the decade is observed through these uniforms. The design and branding choices represent the changing image Rutgers-Camden displayed through their uniforms. Through the late 1990s, the University repositioning themselves, through polyester and pinstripes, as a unique regional campus and individual division III program. This choice distinguished them from the athletics of the other Rutgers campuses at New Bruinswick and Newark. Additionally, if possible, the students that wore these uniforms are highlighted. This choice allows for visitors to see the demographic of baseball players at Rutgers-Camden. On a grainular level, the site provides insight into the specific athletes that wore the uniforms housed in Camden Special Collections.
This site was developed by Thomas DiGiovanni, a Public History graduate student, as a component of the Digital Camden Archive. Assistant Teaching Professor of History, Jesse Bayker, and Reference and Instruction Libraian, Bart Everts, advised the project and aided in research and photography of the uniforms.
Click through the links above to view uniforms, team photos and hover over the images to read analysis.
Methodology:
Site Designer, Thomas DiGiovanni, was introduced to the physical baseball uniforms by Bart Everts. While brainstorming ideas for a digitization project, a box of baseball uniforms, gifted to the archive from a retired professor, was mentioned as a possible project focus. Our main goal was to photograph and digitize the set of uniforms. The uniforms were photographed against a grey backdrop with a lighting kit consisting of one umbrella light and one stage light. The uniforms were draped over a mannequin that hung from a metal clothing rack. In some images, uniforms sleeves were stuffed with paper to achieve a filled out look, attempting to show the uniform as if it was being worn.
To date the uniforms and possibly identify the players that wore them, yearbooks housed in Camden Special Collections were used. Photographs of the baseball teams from the 1994, 1995, and 1996 yearbooks were analyzed and crossreferenced based on uniform numbers and design. These yearbook images appear in conjunction with the years and uniforms where they can be matched up. However, the page presenting uniforms after the mascot change, Late 1990s, does not feature accompanying yearbook photos. The yearbook stopped printing after 1996 so the students that wore the two Scarlet Raptor uniforms are unknown.