When I think back to my days on the amateur baseball diamond, the first thing that surfaces isn’t the crack of the bat or the rush of a close play; it’s the uniform I wore. Our team, the Lake Wilson Bison, once took the field in bright yellow, a shade so vivid it felt like staring directly into the sun.
The Yellow Era
Those jerseys were, in a word, ugly. They blinded teammates and opponents alike, turning every game into a visual assault. Our generation began to form strong opinions about the unattractiveness of the yellow, and even the players seemed to hold more passionate views about their attire than athletes in many other sports.
A Shift to Brown
The franchise eventually retired the garish yellow for a more subdued brown, paired with crisp white pants and subtle accents of yellow, black, and brown. The new look felt like a natural extension of the team’s namesake, evoking the earthy tones of the surrounding landscape. My friend Dan Ruiter, who had watched the team for years, agreed that these brown uniforms were the best the franchise ever had.
Team Brown
To honor that evolution, I plan to wear a brown hat to an upcoming game, staking my claim as a member of "Team Brown." It’s a small gesture, but one that I hope will spark curiosity about the town of Lake Wilson and the modest yet meaningful traditions of its amateur baseball scene.
Looking back, I realize that jersey preference is largely arbitrary; people will always gravitate toward the colors that speak to them. Yet, in hindsight, the brown uniforms proved to be the right choice — more in tune with the team’s identity and the community it represented.