Getty Image
In great news for baseball fans, pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training this week. Unfortunately, the biggest report to come out of that exciting news is how awful the Major League Baseball uniforms provided to the teams by Fanatics are this season.
On Tuesday, Major League Baseball and Fanatics found themselves embroiled in a bit of controversy when fans on social media and some players got a good look at the new uniforms.
The first player to have been publicly reported to have a problem with the uniforms was Cardinals’ pitcher Mile Mikolas. Mikolas, in addition to not liking how they look, said they don’t fit right, the pants are no longer as customized, and the fabric is a very different consistency.
Another player in the Cardinals’ clubhouse said, “They look cheap.”
Many people have wondered how Nike could make such awful uniforms and the answer to that question is that they while the company many have engineered and designed them, Fanatics is actually in charge of the production of the new Nike Vapor Premier MLB uniforms.
Not that this was unexpected. Fanatics has a long track record of creating inferior products. Just ask pretty much any fan who has bought a replica sports jersey from the company.
This time, however, it’s a little more serious since it is the actual players that are suffering. (Welcome to our world, say fans everywhere.)
“It looks like a replica,” Angels outfielder Taylor Ward told The Athletic. “It feels kind of like papery. It could be great when you’re out there sweating, it may be breathable. But I haven’t had that opportunity yet to try that out. But from the looks of it, it doesn’t look like a $450 jersey.”
At his locker, Angels reliever Carlos Estévez was in a tizzy over the new threads. He pulled out a couple tops and pairs of pants to show that the shades didn’t match. He laughed at the spacing and shrunken nature of the lettering on the back of the jersey. And he bemoaned the fact he can’t customize his pants to his preference, the way pitchers once could, tailoring the fit to their big dumpers and tree-trunk thighs.
Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson doesn’t think the shade of blue on the Cubs jerseys is right. Cardinals players complained about losing the chain-stitching of player names on the jersey. And a Tigers player called the new pants “terrible.”
Now, as more and more players complain about the changes to the uniforms, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has gotten involved.
Ironically, Major League Baseball and Nike issued a press release on the same day the complaints began touting their new uniforms and even included positive quotes from players like Nolan Arenado, Adley Rutschman, and Ronald Acuna Jr.
The Athletic reported that both Fanatics and Nike failed to comment on the issue. Perhaps they are waiting for position players to report to camp next week to see if the complaining only gets louder before addressing it.