New school, old school

When the Baldwin Bruins rumble onto the field this Saturday for their Homecoming game, you may notice something new, or rather old, about their attire. The team plans to wear special throwback uniforms as a salute to its long and storied history.

The mustard-yellow gear sported by coach Stephen Carroll’s squad this weekend has its roots in the Roaring ’20s, when what was then the Baldwin Golden Wave played in leather helmets and minimal padding.

“Those things everyone thinks are wings on the sides of the current helmets were actually inspired by the shape of the old leather headgear,” Carroll explained, adding that the team was known as the Golden Wave until 1965, when it was decided that the name wasn’t tough enough, and “Bruins” was voted in as a replacement.

The new throwback uniforms weren’t easy to obtain, Carroll said. “You can’t really get that mustard color anymore, so we had to have the dye specially recreated.” Nonetheless, he is enthusiastic about the team’s tip of the cap to Baldwin High’s proud ancestry, and believes the old-is-new look will inspire the team. “Frankly, that yellow’s about the ugliest color on the face of the Earth,” he said, “but it fires the kids up because it’s something different.”

This weekend’s game and Band Day begin at 2:00. The Homecoming parade starts at 12:30.