The temperature in Houston for the Astros’ Opening Day game against the New York Yankees Thursday didn’t climb past 65 degrees.
And yet, players were sweating through their new uniforms.
How about we take this to the next level?
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During Spring Training, we covered the controversy over MLB’s new jerseys, which the players uniformly dislike. The material is supposed to be lighter and more breathable; but instead, it just looks cheap.
Most appallingly, the pants are also see-through. Pitchers could be in for a rude awakening this season, considering every hitter seems poised to start each at-bat with a one-ball advantage .
This is what the back of the white jerseys look like with the new template. Players are pretty unhappy. Miles Mikolas says they also don’t fit right; pants are no longer as customized, and the fabric is a very different consistency.
The blame for this mess falls on Fanatics, the now-ubiquitous sports apparel company that manufactures the jerseys. Founder Michael Rubin insists his company is just following orders from Nike, the uniform designer, and is being unfairly maligned.
But few are buying it.
“We’re purely doing exactly as we’ve been told, and we’ve been told we’re doing everything exactly right,” he said earlier this month. “And we’re getting the sh*t kicked out of us. So that’s not fun.”
The controversy over MLB’s new, lighter uniforms is reaching a breaking point.
If Rubin thought the uproar would dissipate once the season began, it seems like he was sorely mistaken. The Yankees, known for their classic home pinstripes and road grays, looked like they were entering a wet t-shirt contest Thursday.
Players were drenched, and not in a good way. As gay men, we recognize that musk and sweat can release pheromones and lead to attraction. But there’s a clear limit.
Hulking outfielder Aaron Judge, who stands at 6-foot-7 and weighs 282 pounds, was way past that point. The pit stains on pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga weren’t cute, either, just like catcher Jose Trevino’s back sweat.
If you were wondering how bad the fanatics jerseys are, the guys are literally sweating right through them. pic.twitter.com/QKsiYfphnA— joe (@BurdenBurner) March 28, 2024
Gonna need more wipes— DUDE Wipes (@DUDEwipes) March 29, 2024
With declining national popularity and few star players, MLB is at a turning point. The league is trying to make the product more entertaining, with advents such as the pitch clock and a ban on extreme defensive shifts.
But the new jerseys distract from those initiatives, and make the sport look like an amateur operation. In addition to flimsy material, player names on the back of jerseys are now extremely small.
For a league that’s trying to better market its players, that’s not a positive development. Young Boston Red Sox ace Brayan Bello is occasionally compared to Pedro Martinez, the Hall of Fame hurler whose iconic No. 45 jersey stands in sports lore.
But on Thursday, fans were forced to squint if they wanted to make out Bello’s name. His uniform looked like it belongs in a low-graphic video game from the early 2000s…
I cannot believe that major league baseball allowed these ridiculous jerseys to actually be worn in a real game.— chris simoneau (@chris_simoneau) March 29, 2024
But hey, at least the Red Sox’ tops match with their bottoms (always important). The Los Angeles Angels, however, aren’t as lucky.
@FanaticsSucks Sooooo…the angels have a jersey that is a completely different color than their pants.
Since most of the MLB season is played in the sweltering summer heat, the Yankees probably won’t be the only team whose players look like they showered in their uni’s before stepping onto the field.
Fans may not be able to see their favorite players’ names, but they’ll be able to see everything else.
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