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So, the 94th Major League Baseball All-Star Game is in the books and the sandy-colored team with red sleeves beat the navy-colored team with the light blue sleeves.
Once again, in a genius move sure to not grow the game, unless you knew all of the players by face or number, or could catch a glimpse of the names on the back of their jerseys, they were indistinguishable from one another in their generic team uniforms.
From 1934 to 2019, Major League Baseball players wore the uniforms of the actual teams that they played for during the All-Star Game. Since then, fans have been subjected to some of the worst uniform designs ever seen on a baseball field.
Who will ever forget the game in 2022 when the charcoal team battled the white team? Oh, right. Everyone.
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When asked about the terrible uniforms before that game, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred actually told the New York Times, “I never thought that a baseball team wearing different jerseys in a game was a particularly appealing look for us.”
How can you make the fans of your city proud, when you wear THESE uniforms at the All Star Game? Seriously?
— Fred Lynn (@19fredlynn) July 17, 2024
Then again, this is the same guy who once referred to the World Series trophy as nothing more than a “piece of metal.”
There is hope, however, that for perhaps the first time ever, Rob Manfred might actually listen to fans and make a change.
“I’m aware of the sentiment on this issue. I think where my head is on it, it’s something we’re going to have a conversation about coming out of the All-Star Game,” Manfred said this week, The Athletic reports.
“We’ve got a lot of uniform things going on. Obviously the conversations have to involve the players, first and foremost, and Nike and some of our partners, but I am aware of the sentiment and I do know why people kind of like that tradition. There will be conversations about that.”
If MLB insists on having special All-Star Game uniforms then they should go back to having players wear them during the workout day and Home Run Derby, but let them don their team’s uniforms on game day like they did from 1997 to 2019.