Remember when the MLB All-Star Game was something we all looked forward to, even as recently as a few years ago? Sure, it was just an exhibition, and the old rivalry between the leagues wasn’t really a thing anymore, but it was still so much fun to see all the players wearing their regular team uniforms on the field at the same time. You’d be proud to see your favorite team’s All-Stars wearing the same uniform you rooted for during the rest of the season. The other pro sports leagues’ all-star games always looked like a joke, with the players dressed in clown costumes that seemed to get worse every year, but the MLB All-Star Game, with its mosaic of distinct team unis, was unique. It was a real point of difference — something baseball could claim as its own.
But then in 2021, Nike and Rob Manfred decided that the All-Star Game needed fixing, even though it wasn’t broken. It’s been clown costume central since then. That storyline continued last night, with a surprise twist: Although SportsLogos.net had reported that the National League’s pants would be “navy, to match their jersey” (I know of no other media outlet that even mentioned anything about the pants), that turned out to be incorrect. Instead, the NL wore — of course — black pants. And because the blue piping down the sides was almost invisible, the pants looked like either black chinos (for players who wore them somewhat loose) or black stretch jeans that you’d buy at Uniqlo (for players who wore them tighter). Well done, MLB!
For those keeping score at home, this is the fifth set of black pants that MLB and Nike have foisted upon us just in the past two and a half months, following the City Connect uniforms for the Mariners, Reds, Pirates, and Orioles (and that’s not counting the Rangers’ CC pants, which are dark navy but look almost black). Nike must have a serious surplus of black fabric to get rid of.
Anyway: We already knew this game would look like shit — the black pants just made it a smidge shittier (and, frankly, added a bit of comic relief, since they pushed the proceedings into “so bad, it’s funny” territory). Here are some other notes on this sorry spectacle:
- The pants had each player’s team logo on the upper-left thigh and an “ASG 23” logo on the front-right belt tunnel:
- Marlins infielder Luis Arráez, however, was missing the team logo on his pants (lots of additional photos, just to confirm, here):
- Both teams wore matte black batting helmets with green league-initial logos:
- Remember how I recently wrote about D-backs pitcher Zac Gallen’s snakeskin belt, which he normally wears with the team’s City Connect uniform? He wore that belt last night, which I think was a pretty cool move. In addition, he wore Carolina blue shoes, because he played college ball at UNC:
- Maybe it’s just me, but I thought the NOB lettering looked kinda dinky:
- The umpires’ caps were the same color as the players’ (but at least they didn’t have to wear black pants):
- Atlanta catcher Sean Murphy’s chest protector featured the Seattle skyline, plus he had a green/teal mask cage:
- In 2021, Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette set the presumptive record for the shortest pants ever worn in an All-Star Game, but I think he may have broken that record last night:
- Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena’s left-sleeve All-Star Game patch included the MasterCard ad, like everyone else’s when he was on the field. But he must have switched into a replica jersey after he was taken out of the game, because he was later spotted in the dugout with a patch that didn’t have the credit card ad:
- Hey, remember how these uniforms were supposed to feature Nike’s new
chassistemplate, which all teams will be using next year? I could barely even tell (although I think the difference might’ve been more apparent if the jerseys had included placket piping). I’ll put that one in the “No news is good news” column.
———
Serious question: Does anyone prefer this uni format to the old way of having players wear their team uniforms? Anyone at all? The floor is yours!
On a lighter note: Late in the game, I received a text from New York Times baseball columnist and longtime Uni Watch pal/booster Tyler Kepner, who was attending the game. Tyler is one of us — he totally Gets It™ — so I figured his text was going to be a rant about the black pants or something like that. Instead, he said, “This has bothered me all game” and attached this photo of some fans sitting in front of him:
That was just what I needed. Thanks, Tyler!
(My thanks to James Gilbert for pointing out Zac Gallen’s footwear, and to eagle-eyed Iain McHugh for the great spot on Randy Arozarena’s patch.)
Obviously the black pants were hilariously bad. But even if they were navy, it would have still looked dumb without the pattern that’s on the jersey (initially, I thought this was the case until I realized they were, in fact, dumb enough to go with black pants). We hear how NIke supposedly innovates with every breath it takes, so how can they not just throw a sublimated pattern on pants?
It was painfully clear how much this set was designed for retail, and the on-field look was an afterthought. On their own, I think the hats and the jerseys are both very sharp retail elements that look great as streetwear. On the field, it’s a jumbled mess.
I liked when the players would wear the allstar festivities merch at the home run derby and there regular team merch for the game, I will say I liked the American League look better then the national league look
As much as we hate it, I wonder if a universal league uniform is becoming necessary due to teams dropping their road grays for the 4 and 1 rule. If the old “Home Whites vs Road Grays” were to have happened in a National League ballpark this year, the Mariners and Rays would have to wear one of their solid color softball tops for the game. How would that look? Would it cause confusion and disunity? Perhaps the road grays could be brought out of retirement for the All-Star Game?
I’m sure someone here could link you to a mid-70s All Star team pic. You had teams in all white or gray, with the odd standout of Oakland A’s in bright yellow or green or Cleveland in solid red or navy. I never heard a complaint of disunity.
link
I see your point. And do I see 2 Pirates solids in there? The 2 yellow and 1 black hiding on the far right?
in ’75, Oakland had so many reps that their All-Stars wore just about every combination of Yellow / Green / White tops with white pants. The A’s manager and coaching staff all wore white A’s hats.
The video of the game is easily found on YouTube, I am just a little too lazy to link it here (while I am at work… shhhh). OK, honest truth is that if I look – and find the video – I’m going to fall down the YouTube Rabbit Hole (while I am at work).
I don’t think that’s the reason–Manfred has been on record saying that he wanted special uniforms for the All Star Game. (Insert puke emoji.)
As long as Nike keeps adding to MLBs coffers, Manfred will let Nike do as they please.
Simple solution is to have both leagues wearing home whites, just like the derby. Baseball is one of the few sports where uniform colors don’t matter.
Which they have proven themselves multiple times in London.
Good call.
Those uniforms last night were horrible.
It’s just a bunch of guys playing in a park now. Most people can’t follow the game closely enough to be familiar with a whole league of players. The All Star Game was baseball’s chance to educate them and instantly show them, hey, Luke Longford – or whoever – is having a great year. And he’s a San Francisco Giant!
Now it’s a bunch of anonymous guys, playing in a park. How in the hell can that be good for baseball?
This is so far from the truth. First of all, everyone wearing different jerseys would be far closer to “a bunch of guys playing in the park”. Second, the commentators make a point of saying what team each player is representing, multiple times per at-bat. Third, the jerseys and hats have their respective teams’ logos on them.
It really seems like you’re mad just for the sake of being mad.
You don’t think being able to instantly identify the player’s teams and display their pride would be good?
I’m not mad, baby, just sad.
Uniforms should work first for the fan in the stands to identify the team they play for and who they are (number should have a higher priority over player name) in all games everywhere.
So to extend that out to an all star game the choice is to identify their actual MLB team and not league they play for.
This treatment fails this in every respect.
Last night, the players were playing for the National League and the American League All-Star teams.
As representatives of their team.
What’s the point of having every team represented if we don’t see that?
Maybe you guys just aren’t really baseball fans. I didn’t have any issues identifying any of the players or what teams they were from. If it was a player I didn’t know, it was immediately evident what team they were representing from the logo on their sleeve and hats, the bio on screen before their at bat (or pitches) started, and from the commentary.
^ THIS. THIS THIS THIS.
I don’t follow baseball like I used to and a lot of the players were unknowns to me. It felt like two teams filled with players from a non-MLBPA licensed video game. I turned it off after about an inning. Unwatchable.
The worst thing about this whole thing is that Manfred and MLB know the fans hate the uniforms and prefer the players wear their normal home uniforms, but refuse to revert back. Instead of serving the fans and giving them what they want, they continue to foist these horrible uniforms. Shame.
Are we just no longer the target audience? I remember hating BFBS when it first was a thing, however, my kids at the time thought it was the coolest thing and wanted to buy jerseys. I truly don’t know and wonder for those of you who have younger kids what was their impression? I would have zero interest in buying an AL or NL all-star jersey, but does your teenager want one? Just curious??
As probably the youngest regular UW reader and commenter, I think you’ve got it absolutely spot on.
I watched a few innings with my kids (6 and 9). They were confused by the all-star unis and wanted to know where their favorite players and teams were. After I explained the situation and the AL vs NL, etc., they circled back to their main position, which I share: “Dad, if this is a game, they should be wearing their regular uniforms.” Case closed.
your kids are going to be ok.
They are trying to force us into thinking black is a neutral, base color canvas, like white, gray or even powder blue. Phil wrote about this a few weeks ago. I will resist it…also, doesn’t black retain heat?
link
The black pants brought Cooperalls to mind.
Or Year One of the Baltimore Ravens.
Golf slacks.
Knowing these were the uniforms the players would be wearing, I purposefully ignored watching the game. I used to love the ASG and it was the only big 4 ASH I would make sure to watch, but I have no interest in looking at those crappy unis for a couple hours.
Tyler, thanks for sharing that photo!!!!! Oh, literal LOL at work this morning.
My 18 year old, not a big baseball fan, walked into the room while I was watching the game and said “why are they wearing jeans?” I talked about how the players should be wearing their regular uniforms, and how amazing that used to look, and he said “that would be better.”
Our kids are getting to the age where they’re learning more about MLB, teams, history and they’re starting to recognize players. Last night they were confused and lost interest because they couldn’t recognize anyone. You really had to search to find the team logo on the jersey, and without either it or the cap rendered in team colors people were hard to distinguish. We talk about protecting brands all the time, and the players, teams really lose out on a night where they could strengthen their brands. Paul is right. No one prefers this look. Give the fans what they want. We are the real owners of the game, MLB is just the caretaker.
Exactly. Beyond the awful aesthetics, the difficulty in identifying a given player was incredibly frustrating.
I’ll also note that Fox’s scorebug had the NL in blue and the AL in red.
Unwatchable. I stopped watching this corporate fashion exhibition in ’21. A true symbolic reflection of how uniforms are just pallettes for unimaginative, predictable outcomes.
I’m still shocked that the AL jersey’s kept the mark of the beast in teal, which was essentially lost on jerseys of the same base color. That was the best thing about the uniforms.
Wouldn’t it be great if MLB allowed fans to vote on the uniforms? Say, when they cast votes for the all star players, they also vote for either standardized uniforms (like 2021-3) or their regular uniforms?
What doesn’t make any sense at all is to put all the players in standardized uniforms, but then allow completely independent (and usually clashing) trim pieces.
“Cheerio” is part of the a mnemonic for the song of American Robin, which is often written as “Cheer up, Cheerio”.
Ah, interesting. Thank you for that!
It seems to be the modern American way these days with sport, take a fun event and make so many changes for no reason and make the event a shell of its former self. This is what has happened with the All Star game. Part of the charm of the game was seeing the players in their own uniforms. MLB has wrecked that. It was also played like a normal game including extra innings if needed. That’s gone too.
Count me as one who despises these All Star uniforms and prefers to see the players in their own uniforms. MLB is doing their best to destroy the All Star game like MLB is trying to do to the game itself.
Give me a break. MLB doing things differently, especially in a way that you don’t approve of, is not them trying to “destroy” anything.
The people in charge of MLB have been actively making decisions that are detrimental to the sport of baseball.
What other conclusion is there to be?
I’d love to hear how changing the ASG uniform protocol is detrimental to the sport.
As I’ve stated before the point of uniforms is to identify the team and player. Being that the players play for different teams you want that represented.
Commentators here have stated they turned off the game because they had a hard time recognizing the player or the team they play for. That’s bad for the fans and the sport.
I guess I just watch a lot more baseball than those commenters.
Honestly, mlb does have a marketing problem among younger people. I legitimately forgot the all star game was on. I heard way more about the nba summer league than I did about mlb all star selections. Side note, why is the all star game being played on a Tuesday? What other league does that
Charlie – Which department within MLB or Nike do you work for? Watching your comments on this page is like watching one politician’s groupies flooding Twitter responses of the other side.
Easy there, Michael. Charlie’s allowed to have his opinions. No need to get personal.
I don’t toe the UW party line. Sorry for intruding on the bubble.
By the way, Paul literally wrote “Does anyone prefer this uni format to the old way of having players wear their team uniforms? Anyone at all? The floor is yours!”
It’s the “broken windows” policy. MLB let the little things go, like odd belts and players wearing pink or purple shoes. Now we end up with things like terrible all-star uniforms, biker shorts, neon green sleeve guards, and ads on jerseys. No one ever nipped it in the bud and now we’re stuck with it.
Watching the game last night the jerseys just looked incredibly cheap. Between the material itself and the pattern, it seemed like something you’d fine in the clearance bin at a sporting good store.
I was watching with a friend last night who isn’t part of the comm-uni-ty in any respect. And as soon as the game came on he asked why everyone looked like garbage instead of wearing their regular uniforms.
Clearly it isn’t just us folks here who know what a mess the ASG has become.
I surprised myself in thinking, “The AL doesn’t look half-bad” since it kinda looked like a Mariners alt. The NL blue-black was hilariously bad. Just bring back the regular unis and put these in the HR derby.
Now, more importantly, put that Cheerio Coffee logo on a t-shirt and you’ve got my money!
I agree that the AL unis looked okay. But the NL’s were a complete travesty.
At the VERY least, if the AL gets white pants, the NL should have been given grey pants.
Ugh. That’s actually worse.
The only time a team should wear gray pants is when they wear a gray jersey (and always then).
I must disagree, nothing short of hot pink or leopard print would have been worse than what they wore.
One aesthetic from last night (and Monday) that I was a BIG fan of was the ballpark itself. As a Cub fan, I’ve not seen much of that ballpark, and when I have, It must have been night time. I’m not a fan of inside baseball, and generally don’t care much for moveable roof ballparks, because they tend to look and feel very industrial, or like you’ve just got a lid over an enclosed box. All the overhead daytime views we’ve seen over the past 48 hours did a great job showing that when the roof is open, this place truly has the feel of an open air stadium. Well done.
One thing I DID notice about the new jersey template: the MLB logo on the back collar is way, way too low. They’re putting it BELOW the headspoon seam instead of above it, making it look cluttered with the NOB in my opinion. They did that with some of the earlier soft openings a year or two ago when some Royals jerseys popped up in the template, too. Looks knockoff-ish to me in a big way.
100% this.
MLB logo needs to be above the headspoon.
Yes, I prefer the ASG uniforms over the players wearing their respective team’s uniforms. Some years they will be good, some years they will be bad. But I get nothing out of seeing different teams represented on the field. Isn’t that the opposite of UNIFORM?
I think this comes down to something that I disagree with the UW community consistently. I don’t want to see teams wearing the same uniforms every single game. It seems like a lot of people on here just want teams to have a white uniform, a grey uniform, and MABYE an alternate (although they frequently get derided as “softball tops”, so it seems like even those aren’t welcome here).
It all strikes me as incredibly boring. MLB teams play 162 games a year – I don’t understand why people want the teams to look the exact same in all 162 games (or I guess more accurately, identical in the 81 home and 81 away games).
Wearing the same uniforms for your games rather than 5 different ones is called brand identity.
I totally respect your opinion and your frankness (and I am an old man and not a young one like you), but having many uniforms detracts from watching the game very intensely like I do. I really get into it and watch it like a coach does. Having different uniforms all the time is like going to your favorite restaurant every two weeks and see different styles and colors of plates and tablecloths every time. Sure, the food still tastes great but there is something annoying about this constant reshuffling and this manic need for new. Make up your mind and stick with it. Same case here: make up your mind for 2 or 3 team uniforms and stick with it.
Thoughts on last night…
I don’t mind the idea of designing an ASG uniform in the color scheme/motif of the host team/city….but it’s just laughable how Nike continues to get this wrong. If done properly (and I know that’s purely subjective) it could work, but it would be so much easier to do whites/grays, and the teams that don’t have a gray uniform could easily come up with one for the game or use the version that’s been mothballed.
As far as the game, I love that the MLB ASG seems to be the last one where guys actually attempt to play the same way they do during the regular season.
Lastly, the ballpark looked great on TV. I caught a game there several years back and it’s a beautiful park. The coverage actually did it justice.
Cheers everyone!!
The spectacle of the players in their team duds was 100% what the all star game was about. You couldn’t pay me to watch it now.
I lasted about five minutes, then I turned off the game because the uniforms made me sick. Seriously. I turned the game off for the sole reason that those stupid uniforms sucked.
If they try dumping this type of shit on us again next year, everyone should just refuse to watch the game.
I actually prefer what they did in LA a few years ago where the jerseys had their normal home or away designs, but with special colors. I think that approach gives the best of both worlds.
I like that concept as well. Although I think my one caveat is I would like to see them caps in normal team caps like the pro bowl used to do with helmets.
If the colors matched but the team graphics were different, that would be the best of both worlds.
Same. You’d think something like that would sell better than a jersey with AMERICAN or NATIONAL across the chest as well, since it’s still repping your team primarily rather than a league that many fans don’t have a strong allegiance to.
I don’t dislike the concept of National and American league uniforms if they are designed well, and stuck to the home white, road grey convention. I suppose I could be convinced to allow some leeway for the road team to have a softball top with grey as well. The thing I would like to see is team color caps for everyone, sort of how they did things in the pro bowl. The reverse being, normal uniforms but with ASG game specific hats would also be fine with me as well.
I wonder how much better the 2021-23 jerseys have sold over the 1997-2019 versions, $ince that’s what it’s all about. Has the plan worked, or will it fizzle like mother’s day, memorial day, father’s day and independence day jerseys?
I can’t think of one good thing to say about these. I don’t really mind pants that aren’t gray/white…to an extent. I don’t really mind alternate jerseys, as long as they’re specific to a team. I don’t really even mind the special event caps, but they haven’t been done well since 2015 or so.
The question I really have is: who are these for? Do fans buy these? Do the players like them? Or is it just Manfred not wanting to stand up to Nike? I think these will eventually go away, but that day can’t come soon enough.
The black pants were horrendous with the light hat. They didn’t look as bad when the batter wore the matte black batting helmet. But all in all, Nike really put a bunch of bovine scat on the field. I’m sure the fashion jerseys will sell as an individual element, but as a part of a uniform on the field – nope. (and y’all know I like black as a neutral color, but the execution in this case was poor)
Those uniforms were brutal. If they have a need to merchandise this crap, have the players wear it during the Home Run Derby, and wear the regular uniforms for the All Star Game.
The uniforms were so hideous that I could not watch the game. I flipped over to it for a minute to confirm what I suspected/feared, said “Yep” and turned the channel back to something else.
When watching highlights of the Elias Diaz home run, I blanked on what team he plays for and was then frustrated that with every National League all-star wearing the same uniform, I couldn’t tell right away who he played for (also didn’t help I was watching a highlight reel on Instagram where it was fixed into the 1:1 square aspect ratio). I liked the All-star jerseys as retail merchandise but making players harder to tell apart on TV (and in person, I heard) is a big drawback.
I hate this format so much. When the National League player (whose name i can’t remember now) hit the HR in the 8th i wondered which team he played for and i had to wait to see a closeup with the arm logo. So stupid
Maybe a small thing, but the logo on the AL team’s helmet was abysmal. It reminded me of the AARP logo, and had all the charm of an office supply store in the suburbs of a mid-sized city. Who thinks up this stuff???
Kepner “gets it” even though the Times sports section is going away. I heard he’s headed to the National desk
This “pants above the knee” trend is such an awful look. Right now it’s only a handful of guys that do it, but I’m afraid it will catch on and become more commonplace.
I hate it too but I’m in the minority of not liking the knee pants, I like mid calf with stirrups.
You can blame Hunter Pence for the shorts. Apparently some guys feel more comfortable.
I think the jerseys and caps were nice, and the NL would have looked a lot better with white or gray pants — or even pants that were the same color as the caps.
I did like the old way better. For instance, when the entire infield was made up of Braves, it would have stood out had they been in their regular uniforms.
Brutal. And the worst part is that the night before looked so good. I would even be fine with the workout day team-color cap designs for the game. (I know most people here disagree, but I honestly dig the little stars near the logo as a once a year All-Star Game accent).
That photo from Tyler Kepner reminds me of idiot fans who wear their cap backwards and use their hand to keep the sun out of their eyes.
I don’t know what I hate more, the uniforms or the players being interviewed while they’re in the field.
Nolan Arenado was another one who didn’t have the team logo on his pants (I can’t find any pictures yet to show it)
I thought that too, but then I found photos of him wearing it: link
Maybe it just disappeared into some folds/wrinkles on his pants.
That link is really JD Martinez (the Dodgers’ “LA” on the pants), also 28 and batted right before Arenado in the lineup.
Ah, good call!
Attended the HRD and ASG in 1994 as a 9 year old. Got that program and wore the pull tab out where it no longer functioned! Studied and looked at that so much that I’m starting to think that’s when became a life long uni watcher! I think of those events every time the summer classic rolls around. Now I just roll my eyes at what a mess it has become!
I have wanted AL/NL ASG jerseys since the early 80’s when I watched the first Old Timers Game from RFK stadium. Here is the entire broadcast for those who never saw it:
link
If they had played in those last night, I think many more people would be pleased, and that is what makes the majority of us so bloody upset. AL red, NL blue. Simple, easy to customize for the host city, and recognizable.
But Nike (and Reebok, Adidas, et al.), despite protestations of being an athletic brand, is more concerned with off field sales than on field look. As a result, you get nonsense like sublimated patterns that no one can see from 90 feet away, off brand coloring, and storytelling elements that are excuses to make something that should be simple into a miasma of visual styles.
I am coming around on dark pants, but I can’t cross the mono-bridge just yet. If the NL went green/navy and the AL went navy/white last night, I thing that would have been marginally better.
I like the old format better, but I don’t mind this new format. If it were executed better. If Nike must use black pants, they could have used them with the teal jerseys. Wouldn’t have been great, but it would have looked better than with navy blue.
I do think that if they had given the National leaguers gray pants, it would have been fine. Also, I would have preferred the helmets to be the same color as the caps.
“I do think that if they had given the National leaguers gray pants, it would have been fine.”
Ugh. To each his/her own of course, but one of the worst (IMO) looks in baseball is a softball top over gray pants. I didn’t *hate* the NL look, but the pants should have matched the lightest blue of the jersey — see the stripe down the pants leg.
But with so many players going low-cuffed, I’m not sure blue pants would have helped. Socks should have been the same color as the cap and then it might have looked better.
Also I thought using a belt loop to include a tiny all-star game logo was odd but I immediately wondered if Nike (or MLB) is testing additional locations for ads on the pants with that and the team logo on the hip.
One other observation: the names on the backs looked more arched than usual to me. Feel like over the years I’ve seen more teams use a kind of arching of the NOB that makes it look almost straight but the NOBs last night had much more noticable curvature.
I didn’t watch a single second of the ASG. What Nike and MLB have done to the game with these ridiculous uniforms has ruined it for me. And that’s such a shame, because the ASG was a July tradition for me for decades.
It’s a further shame because I missed out on the first-ever member of the Colorado Rockies (Elias Diaz) winning the game’s MVP award. On balance, however, I prefer hearing about it after the fact than watching a player in a uniform I don’t recognize – and that makes him unrecognizable as a member of my favorite team to anyone who isn’t a diehard fan of the sport – which saps most of the enjoyment out of the accomplishment for me anyway.
That’s it in a nutshell for me. MLB forgot to sell baseball.
Remembered to sell merch, forgot to sell baseball.
What I don’t get is that other than a LOT of people howling about how awful the ASG looks, what does MLB & Nike get out of all this?
It can’t be money can it? I literally have never seen a regular fan wearing an ASG jersey except the day the game is actually played?
The only thing I can think of is the notion that MLB & Nike will wait out the “old people”, and continue to normalize ugly/inappropriate/non-uniform uniforms, so that eventually no one will pay attention or mind what today most of us think are garbage looks.
Dunno.
Lee
Those are questions I frequently ponder, Lee, and I’m not sure I have any better answers. I will say that when the All-Star Game was in Denver (where I live) in 2021, I went to several of the “fan experience” events ahead of the game, and I did see a handful of fans wearing replicas of that year’s ASG jerseys at those events. Notably, all were children under the age of 12. Also of note, that was the year that Nike and MLB introduced the ASG-specific uniforms, so I’m sure the novelty of it helped drive some of those sales.
My inclination is that that there’s a small but significant market among jersey collectors and young baseball fans for ASG jersey replicas. But the main market may likely be the same market that MLB has acknowledged targeting with the City Connect uniforms: the “casual lifestyle consumer” (which largely includes non-American consumers with disposable income who aren’t necessarily baseball fans but who are looking to mimic the “American” aesthetic).
Is that a market big enough to justify the destruction of a decades-old tradition of players wearing their team’s uniforms in the ASG (not to mention all the practical and functional reasons for doing so that many other commenters have mentioned)? Well, I guess Nike and MLB have given us their answer over the last three years and into the foreseeable future…
I have thought about this too. Let’s say Nike sells 1,000 of these jerseys. Which is a small amount, but that is probably 1,000 more than would have been sold.
My family turned off last night’s All Star game after the 2nd inning and we will never watch another one. The players not wearing their own uniform was just the tip of the iceberg. We detest the mic’d up players. It’s not a baseball game anymore, it’s a talk show with entirely too many opinions and egos. What’s next? Mic’d up the player in the bathroom?
I thought the game was better when it was team uniforms, but IMO the real problems isn’t that they aren’t wearing their own uniforms, its that they uniforms suck.
If they came out in NL and AL “fauxback” uniforms with heather grey for the road team and brilliant white for the home team and “National” and “American” in script logos on the chest with the old league logos on the sleeves, most of us here would say “that looks great”. We’d forget about “they should wear their own uniforms” in a moment.
Hell, if they came out in 70s fauxbacks (like the Rays) the reaction would probably be the same.
If they came out in NL and AL “fauxback” uniforms with heather grey for the road team and brilliant white for the home team and “National” and “American” in script logos on the chest with the old league logos on the sleeves, most of us here would say “that looks great”. We’d forget about “they should wear their own uniforms” in a moment.
I think “most of us” is an overstatement. For me, the All-Star Game was all about the dazzling visual spectacle of seeing all those different uniforms on the field at once. It’s what set it apart from the other major pro sports leagues’ all-star games (with acknowledgment that the NBA did try it for a few years in the late ’90s and early 2000s). I agree that the uniforms you’re proposing would likely be a major upgrade over the schlock Nike has trotted out over the last three years, but I’d still prefer the players in their own teams’ uniforms.
Fair enough. ” most” probably exaggerates the number, I’ll go with many.
I agree with you that the old games were spectacular, but I also think that a lot of that is the good feeling from when we the only time we saw some teams was in the ASG and on TWIB. Those days are long gone.
OK, here’s my compromise: All-Stars in City Connect unis. Thoughts?
Trading out one set of ugly uniforms for a different set of ugly uniforms?
No thanks!
Lee
Have any of the players commented (or been asked) about the new
chassisjerseys that were worn last night?Like, how much lighter/faster/stronger they felt wearing them?
Better fuel economy?
The players wearing their own unis used to be an enormous draw for me pre-interleague play (i.e., “so, this is what Pirates vs. Angels would look like!!”). A fair amount of that mystery has been lifted, even more so with expanded interleague play this season. Call me nostalgic, but I still wish we had the players in their regular unis. Now I see players on my team in the colors of the ASG host city and it’s like a bad free agency premonition.
I like Sean Murphy’s caching gear, very appropriate, but was does anyone know if there was a meaning to Jonah Heim’s gear? A tribute to Jackson Pollock?
Hah, I have that 1994 All Star Game program hung on my wall, in a frame! It was a gift from someone and I’ve never actually seen the program. I would have had no idea of that pull tab thingy. It’s currently on the NL side, but I’m a fan of an AL team, so now this will bother me until I take the damn thing out of its frame.
I don’t think those are Carolina blue shoes for Zac Gallen. He and other Diamondbacks will wear that color when wearing the uniform with the teal trim. However, that color is really more turquoise and not teal. It’s nothing resembling the original teal that the Diamondbacks had. I like it, but they need to figure out what the color should be named.
Two themes run through this: Nike’s utter inability to leave well enough alone, and their desire to squeeze every last drop of COST out of their product. Hence NFL uniforms with 48 seams where two would have sufficed and a new template for MLB with ridiculously narrow plackets. The first represents the inability to leave well enough alone. The second represents the belief that a penny saved is better than a penny earned…because you don’t have to pay taxes on it.
The point that gets missed in all of this is that the retail gear is now so absurdly expensive that the vast majority of fans (or at least the vast majority of ORIOLES fans) buy the Alibaba knockoffs for a quarter of the price of the “retail authentics”.
The knockoff market is precisely the reason why all the new jerseys have so many elements and complicated prints. It’s harder to counterfeit, so the knockoffs look more obvious and fans are less likely to buy them.
It looked like a beer league softball game. The National League looked like they are sponsored by the local Jiffy Lube franchise. Horrible trend. Is there anything sports-related that Nike hasn’t broken? I can’t think of anything.
The last few years I’ve become less of a traditionalist in lots of things. I love seeing those ’70s uniforms. The trend towards colorful pants in the city connect uniforms is one I like – gray is good for classic teams, but not all teams are classic. College softball games look colorful and I think it’s a good trend.
But the prevalence of all the “colorful” pants being black is…not my thing. At least this is all teams whose team colors are black. And more than monochromatic, I like it when the pants clash with the top, like the Rangers and these NL uniforms. But I’m hoping we have colorful baseball diamonds. Probably worth mentioning, I’m an Oakland fan.
I bet that Since and Together were sitting that way so that if a TV or scoreboard camera caught them from the field side, they could turn aroundand display their message.
I am not a Texas Rangers fan, but imagine how cool it would have been to see six of your players representing your team on the field at the same time? The “home” uniform did look better than the road, but that’s only because the road uniform was unfortunate on so many levels. And why did the helmet color not match the hat color? And why did both teams wear the same hat color? So many questions. If they have their own uniforms for the HR Derby, it’s not about shipping that equipment to the host city and the associated costs. Regular uniforms for the game and all-star uniforms for the HR derby if you need to sell merchandise.
Saw someone on twitter say the national league looked like they were fans that had a jersey tucked into their jeans!
Gross. Give me home whites and road grays and a mishmash of colors from hats and numbers and socks and trim. This is bad. I’d love to know how many fools are willing to give up their money for these; I don’t see a lot of ASG jerseys around, including at Phillies games. If this is a marketing ploy, it seems to be failing.
My expectations for Nike designs can’t get any lower. The only shocking thing was that their logo on the AL jersey was greenish and almost blended into the background, and not glaringly bright and obvious.
I hate the current uniforms. Bring back the old way.
If they insist on doing a National and American uniform, make them the same uniforms year after year. Make the uniform special. Make it so the players are proud to put on an All Star uniform. Both leagues have a home and away set.
“If they insist on doing a National and American uniform, make them the same uniforms year after year.”
But how will Nike make any money that way? Once you own a jersey (even if home and away), you’re not going to buy two of the same jersey.
Have some damn consideration for swooshie’s bottom line here!
When my wife makes a comment about “those awful uniforms” you’ve got a problem…
A pretty loose acquaintance on FB posted the below last night. Apparently he Gets It! I shot him this article to show him he is in good company.
“What’s happened to my beloved AllStar Game? Since I was a kid watching the game every summer with my cousin Paul, the starting lineups would come out of their dugouts, proudly wearing their own teams uniforms….camera closeup, tip of the hat, smile…..as they were introduced. Tonight they are introduced and coming in from centerfield, on a red carpet, wearing drab blue and green uniforms. No individual identity or color. The National leaguers look like they are wearing business casual slacks. Good grief. Bring back the color, the pageantry, the TRADITION!!!”
I can’t remember where and when it happened, but for me, the ASG became unwatchable the year they had the baselines painted red, white, and blue. This to me was worse than the time they rolled out a barely cogent Ted Williams in a wheelchair and instead of a Boston hat, he was wearing a hat with some website address on it. Gross.
Ever since, the game has become more a vehicle for all sorts of non-baseball causes, to the extent that the game itself doesn’t matter at all. I haven’t watched it in years.
The sad part is, it’s the only all-star game left where the players don’t half-ass it.
After reading all these comments, I’m glad I didn’t watch the game. Growing up in San Diego in the 60s/70s (lots of bad Padres teams), the All-Star game was often the only time we’d see a Padre in a nationally-televised game–so seeing (the usually) lone Padre representative in the team’s actual uniform was quite a thrill. Just google any 60s or 70s all star team picture and compare it to last night and the difference is so obvious.
“ If last night’s game left a bad All-Star taste in your mouth, then the video embedded above should go down much easier. How great is that?”
Last night’s game was great. It was an all star game
The thing that ruined it was all the negativity towards the uniforms in the comments sections in here.
It used to be fun to see what each league would wear each year and now I know not to read any breaking news leaks on here because 99% of the comments will be negative.
I still love the midsummer classic.
If you enjoyed the game, that’s fine.
If some of us didn’t enjoy the game because of the uniforms, that’s also fine.
I don’t know what either of those things have to do with “breaking news leaks.”
If you don’t like the comments posted on Uni Watch, that too is fine. Don’t read the comments! Problem solved.
“Last night’s game was great. It was an all star game”
Yes, it was a good game. I enjoyed the game.
But this is a uniform (or at least an athletics aesthetics) site. We’re going to discuss the uniforms and guess what? They sucked, and both Nike and Manfred ruined the aesthetics of the game. That’s all germane to the comments section.
If you want to discuss the actual All Star Game…there are about a bazillion other sites where that’s the most important thing. But here we discuss the unis. And they sucked.
I certainly don’t want to dissuade you from reading UW, but do bear in mind we approach things differently, and the unis are more important than the game. So if you come here expecting the chatter to be about the game and not the unis, then I don’t know what to tell you. If you enjoyed the game and the uniforms, then more power to you. Just don’t expect too many people to share that opinion.
I’m not expecting anything from anyone.
I’m just saying that the negative comments ruin everything that comes from my excitement wondering what AL vs NL will look like this year. Whether it’s good or bad, back in my day it was exciting.
Glad Rydell enjoyed it. When the team uniforms return then I will return to watching the game I started watching in the early 1960’s. Now in my late ’60’s I hope they do it soon.
Negative publicity is still publicity so Nike and MLB should be happy about the complaints over the uniforms. But these were very ugly indeed.
I wish the All Star Uniform would revert back to the days where the American League featured the color red, if only in the striping of the jersey and the pants and the National League wore blue if they must wear a “league” uniform. Otherwise, I would like to see the regular team home or away jersey with an “AL” or “NL” Cap.
Leave it to Seattle to mess up the NOB treatment!