I’m watching the Yankees play Toronto right now, and the Blue Jays’ left fielder, Reed Johnson, is wearing actual stirrups.

Hardly anyone wears stirrups anymore. There are a few exceptions, notably Jamie Moyer of the Phillies, and the great Paul Lukas at Uni Watch keeps a close eye on all of them. But stirrups have basically become as outdated as parachute pants.

I asked the Yankees’ clubhouse manager, Rob Cucuzza, if he even stocks stirrups anymore. He said he has plenty of them, but no players ever ask. Not a single Yankee wears stirrups, Cucuzza said, though some, like Alex Rodriguez, Andy Phillips and Kevin Thompson, roll their pant legs up to show solid navy socks.

There are, however, two uniformed Yankees who insist on wearing stirrups. Both are coaches who played in the 1980s, the heyday of stirrups: Ron Guidry and Don Mattingly.

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I’ve been wondering the same thing, ever since the current fad of knee-high’s began to gain traction.

I actually prefer the “lower” kind of stirrups, like the Red Sox used to wear (the ones that had blue and white horizontal stripes above the red body of the sock itself).

I guess I prefer today’s style of visible sock to the super-low pants that come to the tops of the shoes, though.

The whole thing started, it seems to me, with George Hendrick who if I remember correctly started wearing his pants down to his shoe tops, negating the need for stirrups. Then I remember Greg Maddux being one of the first guys to wear white “sanitarys” with the stripe on them already. I hated that and still do.

I am old enough to remember that the Frank Robinson Orioles started the trend of stretching the stirrups up way high-in fact for a while they had elastic sewn into the bottoms of them to get them stretched even further.

I always liked that look myself, but am glad more guys are wearing their pants high and showing sock-even if it is not stirrup.

I’m all for the required return to stirrups as it really part of the baseball uniform.

I keep waiting to see one of these guys trip and fall, hurting himself, because he tripped over his baggy pants that actually came down to ground level! The look is actually slovenly, a la Manny Ramirez.

Baseball like football should have a uniform dress code…stirrups are a part of the tradition of the game and should be worn and they add color and appeal to the uniform…..baseball is becoming like the NBA, whats next baggy pants?

There’s no shortage of stirrups in ESPN’s The Bronx is Burning. One more little thing they got right. I hate the pants to the shoes. I’ve noticed Roger Clemens will occassionally where the high socks when he pitches, A-Rod style, but I haven’t detected a pattern of when.

As much as I love things like “throw-back” uni day and retro jerseys, I have to say that actually wearing baseball stirrups is a pain in the rosin bag!

As an amateur still playing hardball at 40, I gave them up long ago but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about breaking them out — The reaction of my fellow ballplayers would be worth the taping, folding and inning-by-inning “re-stirruping”…

For me, the difference between playing pick-up games and playing for keeps was wearing stirrups. Yes, I know it sounds weird, but putting them on was a signal that this was a game that mattered.

So what if I hit .237 in high school, I put on my stirrups like the guys going on to college ball and the guys in the Majors. It was about the only thing I had in common with them, but it was enough.

I have a couple more stirrup holdouts for you. Juan Pierre immediately comes to mind. He was one of the first players to revive the high pants/exposed socks look–he did it in tribute to the Negro Leagues. He still to this day shows about three inches of stirrup. A few weeks ago, I happened to stumble on some highlights of a recent Padres’ game where–to my surprise–Jose Cruz, Jr (probably in tribute to his dad) not only was wearing stirrups–but high-stretch ala ’70’s-’80’s! The style was similar to the way his dad wore them as a player. Funny thing is–when he came to bat Monday night against the Mets–the pants were back down over the ankles. Actually, I’d love to see the look come back in the more reserved, low-form; but the new “one-sock” has kind of been too convenient these days. You’ll see Greg Maddux tonight still wearing the original model of the “one-sock”–the type that simulates the “stirrup” look. Today, the new solid-color socks achieve everything the old combination of sweat, sanitary, and stirrup did–which is probably why most players wear them. All they really miss is the added arch support the stirrup provided. After I came down with MS and had to quit playing softball, I saved all my socks and sirrups. I now use the sanitaries to cover my leg brace when I have to wear shorts on a hot day. Besides the obvious knee-length, the “sanis” are still cool and lightweight, and give me protection under the foot plate of my brace in lieu of a warmer regular sock. It’s critical an MS patient stays cool–and I recommend those old baseball sanitaries to anyone who has to wear the type of molded plastic lower-leg brace I do. Obviously, there IS a way to teach an old dog new tricks!

I couldn’t wait to graduate to the top level of Little League, so I could wear the uniform – as opposed to jeans and a team-t – and especially the stirrups.

I preferred the long stirrup to accentuate my long, pencil thin legs.

As a Tigers fan, I remember during the 80s that Sparky Anderson forbade the high-stirrup look which was all the rage. If you go back and look at images from the ’84 World Series, the Tigers were conservative dinosaurs in their baseball fashion for the time.

when i was in little league the high stirrups became cool…ala vida blue and the swingin’ a’s….alas i kept mine traditional..like my idol..the mick..and at the time my current fave..bobby murcer

Just so you know, Lukas gave you a shoutout today on the Uni Watch blog.

At one time it was part of the uniform, but like everyting else it changes. Woolen uniforms,hats socks you could really sweat during the summer.

First — can anyone confirm why stirrups were used in the first place? I was told that it was to prevent infections from the colored dyes of the sock/stirrup. As in, the front and backs of the colored socks were removed, so that if someone was sliding into a base, the fielder wouldn’t be infected by a set of cleats sliding into the fielder’s achilles/shin. Thus, why the white socks are “sanitary” socks – a clean sock to prevent any problems should cuts occur.

Secondly — to the player that has to readjust his stirrups and to Jose Cruz Jr. as they fall down — there’s a simple trick to keep them in place. Put on your socks/stirrups before you put on your pants. Turn your baseball pants inside out, and put them on your legs until the elastic at the calf goes to however-high you want your stirrups to show. Pull the sock/stirrup over the elastic to hold the sock/stirrup in place. Then pull your pants up, now turning them inside-in. The cuff you’ve made at the sock/pants point should hold for a full 9.

I play high school ball and I love to wear stirrups although many of my teammates do not. There is one team in our league though that is required to wear stirrups, the Lakewood Lancers. I like the style like that of the eighties with the high high stirrups and the tight pants like I guess Dennis Eckersly from the A’s and Kirk Gibson

There’s still a few holdouts though… especially in college ball. Here’s a young man who knows how the uniform should be worn.

The ankle length, baggy pants have got to go. As do knee-high pants worn with “soccer” socks…knee-highs need to be worn with proper stirrups.

I’m wondering how stirrups got started. Was colored clothing bad to have close to the skin of sweating athletes – white socks for protection – The color goes over for the look. What about the old baseball long sleeve undershirt? that’s gone. With the old ones, the color began where the short sleeve of the outer uniform ended – most of the under-shirt being white. When I played little league my dad made sure I knew that there was a front and back to the stirrup- the bigger opening always to the back. To top it off the elastic bottom to the pant tucks in on itself

I play high school baseball and I recently wore stirrups. My coach loved them and the whole team enjoyed it. It made me feel like I was somehow reconnecting with baseball’s past. Stirrups should be resurrected league-wide, especially the Red Sox’s stirrups with the red, white, and blue coloring.

On a recent Mets broadcast Keith Hernandez and play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen reiterated that George Hendrick was the first player to wear his pants low and Keith remembered how his teammates would tease him by saying “when are you going to take off your pajamas?”

The New York Times reporters Tyler Kepner, Ben Shpigel, Jack Curry and Joe Lapointe, along with their Times colleagues, will bring baseball fans inside the run up to the 2008 baseball season with access, analysis and the latest updates from spring training.

Tyler Kepner has covered the Yankees for The New York Times since 2002. He joined The Times in 2000 as the Mets beat writer. A native of Philadelphia and a graduate of Vanderbilt University, Kepner has also covered the Angels for the Riverside Press-Enterprise in California and the Mariners for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and their four children.

Ben Shpigel has covered the Mets for The Times since 2005. Before then, he was a staff writer for the Dallas Morning News for two years. He also worked at The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., and for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Shpigel received a bachelor's degree in English and journalism from Emory University and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. He and his wife, Rebecca, live in Manhattan.

Jack Curry has covered baseball for the The New York Times for 18 seasons. Since 1998, he has served as the newspaper's national baseball writer. Before that, Curry covered the Yankees from 1991-1997. He was also the beat writer for the New Jersey Nets' 1990-1991 season and covered college basketball, college football and wrote for the Metro section. Born in Jersey City, N.J., Curry graduated from Fordham University. He and his wife, Pamela, live in New Jersey.

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