April 29, 2024
Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports
Imagine this same photo except you don't have to squint to see Bryson Stott's name.
Major League Baseball seems to have realized that its new uniforms are a massive miss and is beginning to take steps to course correct.
In an MLB Players Association-distributed memo obtained by Jeff Passan over at ESPN on Sunday, MLB is planning to make several notable modifications to all 30 clubs' uniforms, which will include the re-introduction of larger lettering on the back of the jerseys, a correction of mismatched road gray pants and jerseys, the pants themselves being see-through, and a fix for the uniforms' sweat over-absorption – an issue that the Yankees ran into as soon as the season opened.
The changes are expected to start being made by the beginning of the 2025 season at the latest, per the memo, but fans and players alike probably can't wait to see the fixes sooner.
The new uniforms, which were designed by Nike off of its "Vapor Premier" template and manufactured by Fanatics at the former Majestic factory in Easton, were rolled out baseball-wide in the spring and were almost universally panned as soon as players put them on.
The names and numbers on the back of the jerseys were noticeably smaller compared to the previous ones from 2023 and back, the material for the pants and jerseys looked and felt thinner, customization options in fit were more limited, and clubs like the Phillies and Cardinals that previously used chain-stitching for the crests on the front had it replaced with a flatter patch material that took away a lot of on-field pop.
Nike's argument was that it made the uniforms lighter and more advanced, but "cheaper" became the more synonymous term among fans and players once they got their hands on them, and the issues only seemed to increase as the weeks wore on.
Fanatics' new MLB jerseys went viral again on Opening Day, with fans calling out that players had sweat through them. pic.twitter.com/1PSDCd7HYU
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 29, 2024
"This has been entirely a Nike issue," the memo obtained by ESPN said. "At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn't need to be innovated."
"We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants," the memo continued. "MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well. Unfortunately, until recently Nike's position has essentially boiled down to -- 'nothing to see here, Players will need to adjust.'"
Watch out for that bus, Nike.
Also of note from the memo is that the MLBPA didn't pin any blame on Fanatics for the new uniforms' shortcomings. The sports apparel giant has developed its own horrible reputation among fans over the years, which has hardly protected it from criticism throughout the MLB uniform situation – though they didn't exactly help themselves in a couple of spots.
MLB, and seemingly the MLBPA in turn, have maintained that Fanatics was just following orders here.
Granted, Fanatics is simultaneously having their own problems in actually getting the uniforms produced and to teams on time, as Newsday in New York reports that the Mets, for instance, still don't have their black alternate jerseys going into May.
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