The MLB uniform nightmare will soon be over.
Unfortunately, the league won’t make changes soon enough to appease players for the 2024 season. But MLB announced Friday that modifications will be made for 2025 to address concerns players expressed from spring training.
Two of the biggest problems were the smaller nameplates on the back of the shirts and pants that didn’t fit properly and the material could be seen through them. The modified uniforms will include larger lettering for player names and individually customized pants for all players, along with better quality zippers and stitching.
“Player and club input is extremely important to us,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. said in a statement. “Together with Nike, we listened to our players and, as a result, are addressing their concerns.”
According to the MLB statementNike is also exploring solutions for jerseys and pants to have slightly different shades of gray in road uniforms and for jerseys to fade after being soaked in sweat. Once the gray uniform issue is resolved, they will be implemented on the field as early as the second half of the 2024 season.
Last week it was reported that MLB was addressing uniform concerns. by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, after a memo detailing the changes was circulated among the players’ association. The players’ union blamed the uniform problems on Nike and the company’s “Vapor Premier” uniforms that were intended to improve mobility, moisture management and fit.
“This has been entirely a Nike problem,” the memo said. by ESPN. “In essence, what happened here is that Nike was innovating on something that didn’t need to be innovated. We warned Nike against several changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly when it came to the pants.”
Fanatics, which makes the uniforms in a 10-year deal with Nike and MLB that began in 2019, initially took the blame for the uniform issues. But the company, which has been making MLB uniforms since 2017, said I was following Nike specifications. and the players association agreed with that statement.
However, players and fans were immediately outraged by the badge’s smaller letters, “perspiration challenges,” and pants that could be seen through and torn more easily.
“I know everyone hates them,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner told the Associated Press. in March. “We all liked what we had. We understand business, but I think everyone wanted to keep it the same, for the most part, with a few tweaks here or there.”
