Players still feel that MLB is out to get them, despite the league’s statements over this season’s uniforms.
Assume for the moment that the pants match.
Let’s believe Major League Baseball when it says that this year’s much-maligned Nike-designed, Fanatics-produced uniform pants are identical to last year’s. Players refer to them as “see-through,” drag reporters to their lockers to feel them, and try to avoid wearing them.
The fact that none of the players appear to believe it speaks volumes about the connection between the league and its players.
Garrett Stubbs, catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, claims that “people are suspect right out of the gate.” “You seem to be lying. There is undoubtedly a perception. Of course, history is also present.
Each sports tale is a labor story, and this one starts in 1965 when the MLBPA was just being started and got stronger in reaction to the owners’ threat to axe the players’ pension plan. Nine work stoppages, over $270 million in fines from owners when players revealed clubs had conspired to reduce earnings in the 1980s, and several disputes have occurred in the sport since then.
Phillies reliever Matt Strahm says, “I feel like we can tell them the sky is blue and they’d figure out a way to tell us it’s not.” He concedes that the opposite is also true: at this stage, players would check for themselves if the league informed them the sky was blue.
In comments, MLB and Nike said they will keep working with the players and each other to fine-tune the uniform fit. Although neither specifically addressed the issue of pants, some with knowledge of the process maintain that the fabric is the same as it was the previous year.
The athletes don’t accept it. Right fielder Nick Castellanos of the Phillies adds, “The problem is that lawyers and businessmen think us young athletes are stupid.” It’s bad that they simply tell us anything they want us to believe since it’s not like we’re stupid. We just lack legal education and negotiation skills in commercial transactions. That does not imply that humans lack intelligence. When we are being misled, we can tell. Simply state, “Listen, our goal was to save some money.”
This represents the savings that this kind of uniform will provide. We’re saving this much money, and the previous outfit and stitching cost us this much. “O.K., if you’re saving that much money, where are you putting it into the game?” would be the topic of our subsequent discussion.
Midway through February, when spring training began, players began to complain about their new outfits. Nike took Majestic’s place as the league’s uniform supplier in 2020. After purchasing Majestic in 2017, Fanatics started making the uniforms at the same Majestic location in Easton, Pennsylvania. According to both organizations, Nike and MLB spent years creating the new uniforms, which made their debut this spring.
The reviews weren’t good at first. First, players complained about how cheap the Nike Vapor Premier jerseys seemed. (Strahm notes that his jersey is already starting to shred after three washes.) After that, they were able to see the pants, and everyone else was able to see what was hidden beneath them. Some athletes were prompted to reconsider their dress choices due to the excessively revealing pants captured in the high pixel count and harsh lighting of the photo day photos. There has been a dramatic surge in the popularity of black underpants.
Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman says he intends to ask the clubhouse attendants to sew the new belt loops onto his old trousers since, other than the see-through fabric, there isn’t much of a difference between last year’s and this year’s pants.
According to the league, the objective was to enhance the jerseys’ feel and ask players for input along the route. Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLBPA, told reporters last week, “We offered input—suggested what the challenges were going to be—and they needed to be remedied on the front end.” “They weren’t.”
According to a post published on MLB.com this week, players who saw the jerseys at last year’s All-Star Game gave them “favorable reviews from players.”
Castellanos objects to that description. “It was the initial instance where everyone asked, ‘What are these?'” he sneers. “This is inexpensive.”
Yes, but they were nevertheless worn by everybody. “What are our options?” he asks. “We’re not going to wear the clothes in our locker to the All-Star Game? “You know what, I don’t want to wear this All-Star jersey!” will be our statement. Fly me up my home jersey from Philly, Phil [Sheridan, Phillies clubhouse manager]!
“It’s absurd that my son’s travel team at 10U has better uniforms than the Philadelphia Phillies,” he continues.
Regarding aesthetics, reasonable individuals can’t agree. The players’ perception that the league is out to get them is the larger issue. They believe the league views them as just another line item, and that they are the game.
Castellanos said, “[Majestic] took pride in their product.” That was MLB and Majestic, amazing, Majestic. They took great pride in it. As an MLB provider, Nike is examining their portfolio, managing their assets, and determining how little they can get away with spending.
It’s a billion-dollar industry, Strahm claims. They also handle it similarly to Dollar General.
