With MLB’s annual All-Star Game taking place tonight, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred held a question and answer session with writers and said that “there will be conversations” about the potential return of individual team jerseys at the All-Star Game.
That’s about the best news we’ve heard from MLB since the Nike uniform fiasco began back early in 2024.
“I’m aware of the sentiment,” Manfred said, according to Evan P. Grant of The Dallas Morning News.
With the exception of one game in 1934, when the National League All Stars wore uniforms emblazoned with “National League”, every MLB All Star Game from its inception in 1933 until 2019 had featured players from both leagues wearing their regular uniforms for the actual game. It was one of those things that made baseball unique and special.
It also led to some very colorful looks, particularly during the mid-1970s/1980s when road teams didn’t necessarily wear gray uniforms.
But that all changed after 2019. After COVID cost MLB most of the 2020 season (including the All Star Game), MLB and new uniform provider Nike decided that instead of the old format — which had been to introduce special batting practice jerseys to be worn for all activities besides the game itself (like the Home Run Derby) — MLB would create special National and American League uniforms to be worn for the game itself. And the uniforms they’ve created have been pretty much terrible and almost universally panned.
Here’s a look at the past three years of MLB game uniforms:
2021
2022
2023
Of course, the uniforms we’re about to see in a few hours aren’t much better (and could be worse).
But that could all be changing. It would also mark a change in thinking from Manfred, the worst commissioner since segregationist/racist Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. As recently as 2022, Manfred is on record as saying, “I never thought that a baseball team wearing different jerseys in a game was a particularly appealing look for us.”
Manfred may actually be having a change of heart or listening to fans — who overwhelmingly support a return to teams wearing their individual uniforms for the All Star Game itself — or he may be attempting some kind of damage control for all the bad (and deserved) publicity MLB and Nike have taken since the rollout of the 2024 uniforms. Giving the fans what they want is one of the easiest ways to get some good pub (even if he doesn’t intend to follow through with it). Or maybe Nike’s retail sales of ASG jerseys aren’t as good as they expected, and they would just as soon re-introduce separate BP/HRD jerseys and caps.
Players have also been in support of returning to wearing their team uniforms for the game. Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper, just yesterday said he enjoyed watching the All-Star Game with team jerseys growing up as a kid, and wants to return to the old format.
“If we could change back to that,” Harper said yesterday, “I think it would be really cool.”
Again, all Manfred has indicated is that MLB will “have conversations” about returning to the old format. But that’s the first time that he’s even mentioned possibly considering a change.
Let’s hope those conversations bear fruit and MLB comes to its senses.
If they go back to team uniforms, I’ll go back to watching it. Even when I wasn’t paying attention to baseball (mid-90s to late 2000s) I made an effort to watch the ASG. It had been a tradition to watch it with my Dad growing up in the 60s. But the generic costumes took the fun out of it for me.
I agree with you. I historically enjoyed watching the All Star Game just to see the different team’s uniforms. It was always special to see your favorite teams All Star representative(s) in your favorite uniform out there for the introductions and during the game.
Just like with everything else, it has become so diluted and unwatchable with all of the garbage merchandise and apparel they are throwing out there for the sake of selling merchandise and apparel. I would much rather buy a traditional jersey with an All Star Game patch on the sleeve than the garbage they have been wearing the last few years.
Less is more, go back to the traditional home/road uniforms with a simple All Star Game patch on the jersey and the cap. Until that happens, I will continue to not watch the All Star Game. It’s just turning into a pop culture fashion show.
I realize you can’t make everyone happy but the old format was much better with designated American and National League All Star BP jerseys and caps used in the HR Derby/futures game and regular uniforms used in the All Star Game itself. At least you still had “All Star” caps and jerseys for merchandising while also having traditional home/road uniforms.
I certainly hope they return to the individual unis (& caps too). Going to unified (& awful) looks is another classic example of Nike trying to fix something that wasn’t broke to begin with.
Manfred’s problem is that he’s been kind of obsessed with innovation, and baseball is a really hard game to innovate (though I think the pitch clock has been the one success there). And MLB is not a league that’s really suited for innovation: as the oldest major pro sports league in the country, the traditions big and small are an important part of the appeal. I wish Rob would understand that.
I say this as someone who, at least in this community, is not exactly a traditionalist or a classicist: I don’t mind alternate jerseys and hats, the Mets in black doesn’t bother me, and don’t really take issue with how players wear their pants (extreme examples aside). But bad looking all star unis, most of the CC program, and league wide promotions where all the teams wear the same color hats really spits in the face of tradition and charm for me. The whole league needs an aesthetic reset.
The unis for the ASG in LA were ok in comparison to the others, IMO (though the charcoal roads were awful). I like that they kept the team wordmarks, even if they were all the same color. That said, bring back the team-specific unis!
Is there anything that Nike hasn’t screwed up?
Hellooooo!! There are no American League fans. There are no National League fans. There are local-team fans. Why is this so difficult to understand?
If the d-bags at Nike have their way, the World Series will be the same thing. And the playoffs will feature teams wearing CENTRAL DIVISION and SECOND WILD CARD uniforms.
As for the merch drop itself, does anybody actually purchase this crap? (Hint: No.) So what is the point? (Other than to show that Nike is on the dull edge of sports consciousness.)
Exactly. If we really cared about NL vs AL, we’d be clamoring for a game where everyone playing took the game a lot more seriously. But that’s not what we’re after.
As for merch, they’ve been selling All Star jerseys for quite a while. The players wear them all week and during the derby, etc. Sometimes fans like to “commemorate” their guy making the team by buying an All Star jersey. I get that. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be worn during the actual game.
Baseball is unique in many ways and the more they get away from that, the more they will be fighting to stand out down the road.
Once upon a time before the NL adopted the DH, there were fans of the two different styles of leagues. Ahhh but it is just a distant memory now.
One can only hope…
I’m watching the game right now and am legitimately angry at how bad the uniforms are. I already knew what they looked like, of course, but they’re somehow even worse on the field. They look like clown uniforms. Is that what they were going for? Rodeo clowns? I’d love for them to go back to the old way, but at the very least, if they’re going to continue making AL and NL uniforms, they need to make them look respectable.
I’m in the minority, as usual, but I like them having uniform uniforms.
Me too!
Why is the Cubs sleeve logo not their cap logo tonight? Player choice?
I’ve always wondered why they always use the jersey logo rather than the cap logo. Prime example tonight with the other 29 teams all using their cap logos, except for the Cubs.
Does anyone know why the major North American pro leagues have a league wide uniform supplier, while, as far as I can tell, the rest of the sports world has individual teams contract their own suppliers? I’m sure Nike isn’t as interested in making Guardians or Pirates jerseys as much as they are Dodgers and Yankees jerseys.
Money. (You’re shocked, I know.)
Not only do the Pirates and Guardians get paid like the Dodgers and Yankees*, but the supplier gets the exclusive right to sell replicas.
*-This is even more important in leagues with salary caps.
Watched 2 innings…quit as soon as I couldn’t tell what city the player represented. Sometimes the old ways are better the new ways.
I didn’t think the uniforms could look even worse in game, but they did. That was beyond just being an eyesore, it was an ordeal. Please bring back the team uniforms, MLB!
“It would also mark a change in thinking from Manfred, the worst commissioner since segregationist/racist Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis.”
Since the owners forced out Fay Vincent in 1992 – the position is largely ceremonial. To be more clear Manfred does nothing that is not at the owners behest.
Still, how is Manfred a worse commissioner than Bud Selig?
Name one positive addition Manfred has brought to baseball.
Pitch clock, universal DH, the Little League Classic.
And none of those bottom-of-the-barrel “improvements” even remotely make up for something like introduction of ad patches on jersey.
OK Nick! Keep moving the goalposts…
I’m constantly baffled at how many people on a site dedicated to sports uniforms prioritize the uniforms over the sport.
None of the items you listed are things I’d consider improvements. I’m not moving the goalposts–you just didn’t move the ball.
I prioritize my enjoyment of sports over money-making, get-rich-quick schemes.
You’re right Nick. Let’s go back to the days of 4-hour games on weeknights where every 9th batter is a guaranteed out and at bats take 3 minutes because we have to wait for the batter to adjust his batting gloves and scratch his groin after every pitch and the pitcher has to attempt to pick off the runner on first six times.
Also, how is YOUR enjoyment of the sport negatively affected by the pitch clock or the universal DH? That’s how you’re moving the goalposts. You ask for something, I provide it, and then you say “oh well that’s not what I meant.”
I also like the runner on 2nd in extra innings. I once sat through a 17 inning, 3-2 game between the Cubs and the Expos. While that was a rare occurrence and an extreme example, the fact that could happen during a regular season game is ridiculous. People who feel the runner on 2nd is an affront to the game, but destroying a bullpen for a few days is acceptable, baffle me.
You’re all over the place man. I was only talking about uniforms. You brought up the other stuff as weird examples of Manfred’s apparent positive contributions, none of which I consider improvements. End of issue.
You said, “I’m constantly baffled at how many people on a site dedicated to sports uniforms prioritize the uniforms over the sport.” I responded to that. I prioritize my enjoyment–not having to look at advertisements for shitty, capitalist garbage fires–over the owners and Manfred’s desire to make as much money as possible by selling every square inch of something to the highest bidder or selling as many shoddy uniforms as possible. That is Manfred’s legacy, his continued quest to devalue one of the few things that have been relatively consistent in baseball’s long history. No pitch clock garbage or the universal DH (lol) makes up for his slave trader approach to the sport.
“Name one positive addition Manfred has brought to baseball.”
Where in that sentence did you specify uniforms?
I listed three things, two of which vastly improve the quality of play/viewer experience. You said they’re not improvements because they don’t outweigh the damage that you feel has been done to the uniforms. That makes no sense whatsoever. You didn’t ask for an argument for why Manfred has been good for baseball as a whole.
Good lord. You win.
Pitchers hitting home runs, 17-inning games, those are the kinds of happening that make baseball unique and memorable, that fans reminisce about decades later. Instead of mandatory DH, pitchers should take batting practice and swing away instead of bunting. After all, those guys were probably good hitters in their amateur years.
Pitch clock I do agree with.
RobYaz, I appreciate you actually responding to what I said rather than dismissing my points because they didn’t address an entirely separate topic that wasn’t mentioned.
Pitch clock sucks,, DH is an abomination on the sport. LL game, meh. Pitchers are baseball players, play the whole game. They all used to be the best players on the field when younger, then game up on half the game.
One thing I felt the last few years, is that the special uni’s actually took the special feeling and look of the ASG out of it. I still watch it but it doesn’t feel like anything exceptional like it used to. I would hope that this leads statement leads to a genuine change to the classic look.
Having the All Stars wear their own uniforms would be an improvement on the system we have now. But the best solution would be to have them wear team throwbacks to an agreed upon season, like 1969 or 1977. Teams created after the target date would have to design something retro.
Walter, you just created the best possible idea to replace the City Connect program. I think the majority of fans would love this idea!
I don’t think it would ever happen, but yes … I would love an All-Star Game where the players wear throwbacks from a certain season.
walter, THERE you go!
If it does not sell it will be terminated. Sleeved NBA jerseys went the same route as these recent MLB ASG monstrosities. And rightfully so. Nike and MLB are only interested in money. Even the few good things Manfred has come up with (pitching clock, runner on second base in 10th inning, DH in NL) were invented for money: shorter games with a higher score bring in more advertisers and more people to watch games. Ergo more money. This is a pro game so naturally making money is the key objective.
The mistake Nike keeps making, however, is that they think that most people will buy anything ugly with a swoosh on it. With piles of stuff moving to outlet stores they still keep on trying.
Sure don’t miss the pajama pants trend shown in the picture at the top. I’m just wondering who will be the first to be the trendsetter of this look :)
link
Going back to actual team uniforms is boring, just make some better design choices and we won’t be so upset.