Major League Baseball enthusiasts have discovered their latest cause for complaint – their fresh jerseys. And although I won’t be defending the new clothing designs that appear awkward, if there’s one thing you can count on me for, it’s calling out anyone or anything – but we need to make sure we’re targeting the correct culprit. Surprise, surprise – the Internet has gotten this one wrong. It’s not Fanatics that deserves your anger, it’s Nike.
When the new spring training uniforms made their debut on Tuesday, many fans noticed something peculiar about the jerseys. The color seemed off-white, the names had odd spacing and curvature, and, for some reason, the MLB logo on the neckline was positioned a quarter of the way down the jersey. Due to baseball’s self-righteous reputation stemming from its esteemed place in American tradition, fans took to social media and went into a frenzy. They criticized Fanatics, who took over the production of all MLB apparel in 2020, for this mishap.
But here’s the thing – Fanatics isn’t to blame for the latest MLB jersey debacle. Nike is the one responsible for designing the jerseys and collaborating with the league to determine the materials used in their new Nike Vapor Premiere jerseys. All Fanatics does is receive the specifications from Nike and handle the printing, manufacturing, and shipping process. If fans or players are upset about the new jerseys looking counterfeit, awkward, or even cringe-worthy – that falls on Nike and Major League Baseball.
In recent months, it has become customary for fans to lambaste Fanatics for any and all issues. They are seen as the ‘big bad wolf’ and the scapegoat whenever something goes wrong in the sports apparel industry. Heck, I’ve done it myself on numerous occasions – I even played a (semi) role in getting Fanatics to refund Eagles fans who received misprinted Jalen Hurts jerseys. (And I’m not even a fan of Philly, but sometimes you have to do what’s right!)
But in this age of social media trash-talking, we need to exercise some decorum, people! We must adhere to a basic set of principles, and most importantly – ensure that we are directing our criticism at the correct individuals! Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
In fact, fans only intensified their criticism towards Fanatics after St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mike Mikolas denounced the new jerseys as “cheap-looking” and complained that they no longer fit as well as they used to. He mentioned that the pants are no longer customized and that the fabric has a very different consistency. It’s as if Mikolas is speaking for all of us when we go shopping for new pants or a suit jacket and think, “There’s no way I’ve gotten that big!” Sorry, Mike, but that size 38 in the old fabric might now be a size 44 in the new one!
If Mikolas has an issue with the jersey, he should address it with his teammates and fellow players. Nike conducted body scans of over 300 baseball players during the development of the new uniform. They even had last year’s American League and National League All-Stars wear the new Vapor jerseys during the game. It seems that Mikolas, who wasn’t an All-Star last year, was unaware of this.
As someone who lives by the motto “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” I’ve always found it frustrating when teams constantly introduce new jerseys. Just take a look at the absurd number of alternate NBA jerseys that have been released in recent years.
Fortunately, the solution is simple for disgruntled baseball fans. If you don’t like the new jerseys, you can criticize Nike, you can criticize the team, and most importantly, you have the power of the purse – you can choose not to purchase the new jerseys.
But something tells me that many Dodgers fans will proudly sport the new Nike Vapor jersey for Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, or Juan Soto for the New York Yankees.
According to the Source outkick.com