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Two weeks ago we examined how Nike’s new tailoring template — and specifically the template’s narrower jersey placket, which effectively moves the top edge of the placket slightly to the viewer’s right (or the player’s left) — led to the Dodgers’ jersey script breaking much more awkwardly across the placket. As I said at the time, this change would have implications for any team whose lettering extends across the front of the jersey.
Although we still haven’t seen most MLB teams’ jerseys rendered in the new template, MLB’s flagship retail store posted an Instagram video a few days ago that shows many jerseys in the new style. Now, these are replica jerseys, not authentics, so it’s possible that they don’t necessarily reflect the placket breaks that we’ll be seeing on the field this season. Still, replica placket breaks were consistent with on-field placket breaks in the old template, so I think there’s a strong likelihood that these replicas are indeed indicative of the real thing.
As you can see above, the video flies by so quickly that it’s hard to process each team’s design. But I made a bunch of screen shots and then compared them to game photos from the 2023 season. Here’s a team-by-team look at what I discovered (any references to “right” or “left” refer to the viewer’s perspective, not the player’s):
Cardinals
Looks like the break is moving very slightly to the right, but the change is negligible.
Verdict: A wash. (One caveat, though: As I recently reported, the Cards’ game jerseys will now have their insignia on two separate patches, instead of being directly embroidered onto the jersey, so it remains to be seen how that might affect the placket break.)
Marlins
The “a,” which used to be barely grazed on one side, is now being split almost directly down the middle.
Verdict: A big downgrade.
Orioles
The placket break appears to be in the same spot, which presumably means that they either adjusted the script’s positioning and/or reduced its size, although it’s impossible to be sure without seeing the full jersey.
Verdict: A wash.
Phillies
Another case where the script was presumably tweaked in order to maintain the same placket break.
Verdict: A wash.
Rangers
Looks like the break has moved slightly to the right. Both versions are awkward, although the new one is arguably worse, since it intersects the “n” at two separate point.
Verdict: A slight downgrade, but this script never looked good to begin with.
Rays
Interesting development here, as the break has actually moved to the left, which means they’ve moved the lettering to the right. A bit awkward either way.
Verdict: A wash.
Rockies
No appreciable change here.
Verdict: A wash.
Twins
This appears to be another instance of the script breaking in the same spot, so they’ve presumably tweaked it slightly.
Verdict: A wash.
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All very interesting!
Also: One thing that really struck me as I looked at close-ups of these various chest marks is that I hate how the Orioles’ dotted “i” has the dot flush to the stem of the letter. I assume they do that so they don’t have to sew the dot as a separate piece of fabric, but that’s just lazy. Look at the Twins, Marlins, and Cardinals — they all manage to treat the dot as a separate element!
(Big thanks to Martin Mehwald for bringing the Instagram video to my attention.)
Without that dot over the i, that 2024 Twins script really looks like it reads as “Turns”
How annoying. I will never be able to unsee that!
Are the Phillies’ stars for tittles also separate, or are they fused with the word mark? And is that a new development, or is “whatever the answer above is” consistent with how it’s been?
Thanks for the cheap excuse to use the word tittles
I don’t think the stars have ever been separate. I have an old road authentic from before the Cool Base Era, and the Phillies have chain-stitched the wordmark onto white patches, whereas the Cardinals directly stitched onto the jerseys.
Nice tittles.
Very cool, that you´re using this video for your blog. nice.
I don’t think these are the game jerseys, so everything is still in the air a bit. Having said that, it looks like there are two separate templates. One for teams with pinstripes that has no neck trim, and everyone else gets the neck trim piece whether it matches the body (Orioles) or not (Giants)
These look like they could be a slight step up from the previous replica jerseys, since they seem to have sleeve logos. Did Paul already cover that, or was it the addition of front numbers to them that I remember him discussing?
I know it’s *just* an instagram video, so who knows about the lighting, but from the “old/new” pics it definitely appears as tho the new unis have the subtle “cream” color we’ve been told is coming. Not sure I like that — and wondering what this means for teams who already have cream unis/alts (Giants/Phillies, for ex.). Do those get even creamier?
Also, and it’s obviously too tough to say for sure, but it *appears* as though the Rockies may have vertically condensed their font. Could be an illusion of course, but the “ROCKIES” definitely appears to have the letter heights reduced a bit.
Good catch. The older letters are elongated. The new ones are more square.
The color looks awful, but hopefully it is either the lighting or the fact that they are replicas. The Dodger jersey from the other week looked fine, color-wise.
“The Dodger jersey from the other week looked fine, color-wise.”
I assume you’re taking about the one sported by Ohtani at his presser? Yes, I didn’t notice it being too *creamy* but there were no side-by-sides from the Dodgers current jersey with which to compare it.
Paul has reported that the new MLB white jersey definitely *will* have a cream element. I just hope it’s not as bad as they appear in the Insta vid.
I thought the Cardinals jerseys were going to continue to be chain stitched, but that new one surely doesn’t look like it’s chain stitched.
Replica jersey.
Never have I been more grateful to be Yankees fan…
Yeah teams like the Yankees and Reds are making out like bandits right now. Although now that I think about it, that Cincinnati away uni could be a DOOZY
The cream is really bad. They look sweat stained.
“…I hate how the Orioles’ dotted “i” has the dot flush to the stem of the letter.”
Perhaps it’s designed that way for the script to remain consistent with an alternate logo that has the lifelike bird perched on the wordmark – might look strange perched on a free-floating dot. (A version of this debuted as the primary logo in 1992.)
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Then again, on their alt black jersey, the “i” dot is separate from the stem.
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From 1954-1994 the dot was always free-floating… only been “attached” to the stem since 1995, but I agree, think it looks better separated. Doesn’t bother me much though. However, I despise the apostrophe catastrophe O’s alt hat… want them to scrap that cap entirely.
I’d call the Rays break an ever-so-slight upgrade.
Same. The Rays example gives me hope that we might see a few improvements. I’m holding out hope that the Brewers and Astros can take advantage of the new, slim placket to better center their scripts.
But the fact that every other example either makes no change to an already imperfect placket break or makes the placket break worse doesn’t fill me with confidence.
I hope the next Nike MLB jersey template will be a zipper option (longtime zippered jersey fan here)
That would make a nice clean break for the chest marks.
I may be the only one who, despite being a “traditionalist,” in most things baseball, would be all for going back to pullovers. The 70s/80s pullovers themselves looked great, but one template I’ve been loving that I’ve seen in a lot of college baseball and the Dominican Winter League, is the 2 buttons up top then no more buttons after that. This is just a drawing but gives you an idea of what the template looks like.
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Wouldn’t be surprised if Nike eventually makes the jerseys in the “Henley” style that a lot of the college teams wear. Then there would be no interrupted script.
Northwestern at Illinois Men’s BB right now is purple vs. orange.
I agree that most examples shown are not a direct downgrade but I fear for the Mets jerseys.
Is the Marlins jersey script no longer slightly italicized?
With the slight cream color being featured on the new jerseys (and pants), is there any word if teams that currently utilize white panel caps and helmets will be recoloring to match the rest of the uniform?
In looking at the Twins Jersey, I am looking at the dot over the I, and the 2nd button. In last year’s jersey, the dot is to the right and below the button, and this year, the dot is parallel to the button. So either the button placement changed, or the script was moved.
This video also seemingly confirms that sleeve stripes are all being moved down to the end of the sleeve. I’ve been wondering about this re: the Orioles in particular (my fav team), so I guess I have my answer! Looks like it did in the 90’s.