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Golden Boys: Six MLBers To Wear Special Gold Batterman Logo in 2025

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Top o’ the morning to you, Uni Watchers, and a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

After a fairly quiet week, uni-newswise, we had a couple big stories over the weekend. ICYMI, in a UW exclusive, we shared the news that the Cincinnati Reds will be getting a new alternate jersey for this season. The team has yet to announce it, so we don’t know when it will be worn (or even debut), but we’ll probably find out soon enough.

MLB also is introducing a special Gold MLB logo patch for the 2025 season to celebrate a group of 2024 award winners: The two league’s MVPs (Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge), Cy Young winners (Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal) and Rookie of the Year honorees (Paul Skenes and Luis Gil).

Since the Dodgers are currently playing some spring games in Tokyo — where they will open the season tomorrow morning against the Cubs — we’ve already gotten a look at how the patch will appear on the back of Shohei Ohtani’s jersey.

That photo also shows the special sleeve patch (and helmet ads) the Dodgers will be wearing for the 2025 Tokyo Series, as well as the team’s Fernando Valenzuela memorial patch.

Here’s a bit better view of the gold batterman logo on Ohtani:

While the “special” gold patch on the surface seems like a pretty cool uni-modification, the motivation behind it is (surprise, surprise) a marketing move by Fanatics, Topps, Major League Baseball and Nike. Topps, of course, is owned by Fanatics.

Ugh.

This new program was inspired by the Debut Patch initiative that launched at the beginning of the 2023 season. In that program, the debut patch is worn by players making their major league debut. The patch is then removed from the jersey and used as part of a “one-of-a-kind” Topps card.

The gold batterman patch will be handled similarly. However, unlike the Rookie Debut patches, the six award winners will wear jerseys with the gold patch throughout the season. Those jerseys will then be authenticated by MLB, with ten shirts from each player to be used to create trading cards once the 2025 season ends. Each special gold patch will be removed from the jersey and randomly inserted into Topps trading card packs, and those will be known as “Gold Logoman cards.”

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It’s hard not to be cynical about this development. On the one hand, giving the six major award winners some “special” extra recognition via the gold batterman is kinda cool, but it’s also making the uniforms less uniform — five clubs (the Yankees will have both Judge and Gil) will have a single player wearing a jersey that is different from his teammates. This is not to say the awards themselves (and the additional notoriety accorded by the patch) aren’t worthy of recognition, but the fact that this isn’t some organic addition, instead driven purely by marketing, speaks volumes about the current state of uniforms in sport.

The entire program feels like it wasn’t created to honor the MVPs, Cy Young and ROTY winners, but is instead the merchandise tail yet again wagging the uniform dog. It’s bad enough the patches will be removed and used to create collectible baseball cards. But there’s another merchandising angle too: They will also be included on the players’ retail jerseys, meaning that anyone who purchases a brand-new Ohtani/Judge/Skenes/Sale/Skubal/Gil jersey this season will also have the special gold patch on the shirt. It hasn’t been announced if all jerseys — or only the more expensive authentic ones — will come with the new patch; it’s also not known if the gold batterman patch will be “sold separately” so fans can add the new patch to “replace” the red/white/blue one worn by those six players previously.

Another thing not mentioned: how many years will this program last? And what will happen to multiple award winners? Let’s say Ohtani wins another MVP (or the NL Cy Young) in 2025. Will he get two gold patches? It’s also conceivable Paul Skenes — whose highly coveted “Debut Patch” in his one-of-one card is currently up for auction — could one day win both the Cy Young and MVP awards. Would his jersey then have three gold patches? And will the players be allowed to keep the patch in the year(s) following their winning an award if they do not repeat? Will Luis Gil — who is probably not going to win MVP or a Cy Young — return to red/white/blue batterman status in 2026? And let’s say none of these six guys repeat either in their current “winning” category (MVP/Cy/ROY) nor any category for that matter — do they get to “keep” the gold patch (much like Walter Payton patches permanently remaining on the uniform, even if the winner has changed teams)?

This may not quite be as egregious as buying and slicing up a Babe Ruth uniform, but it feels even worse. We probably shouldn’t be surprised — uniform design is increasingly being done with a retail component in mind and this is just more of the same. It’s depressing that something which could be a cool feature was created solely as a vehicle to drive more baseball card and jersey sales.

Your thoughts?

 

 
  
 

Guess the Game from the Scoreboard

Guess The Game…

…From The Scoreboard

Today’s scoreboard comes from (the likely pseudonymous) Seamus O’Toole.

The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).

Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date and location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):

Please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.

 

 

Guess the Game from the Uniform


Based on the suggestion of long-time reader/contributor Jimmy Corcoran, we’ve introduced a new “game” on Uni Watch, which is similar to the popular “Guess the Game from the Scoreboard” (GTGFTS), only this one asked readers to identify the game based on the uniforms worn by teams.

Like GTGFTS, readers will be asked to guess the date, location and final score of the game from the clues provided in the photo. Sometimes the game should be somewhat easy to ascertain, while in other instances, it might be quite difficult. There will usually be a visual clue (something odd or unique to one or both of the uniforms) that will make a positive identification of one and only one game possible. Other times, there may be something significant about the game in question, like the last time a particular uniform was ever worn (one of Jimmy’s original suggestions). It’s up to YOU to figure out the game and date.

Today’s GTGFTU comes from Randy Wardlan.

Good luck and please post your guess/answer in the comments below.

 

 

And finally...

…that’ll do it for your early St. Paddy’s Day lede. In addition to Jamie’s Ticker, I’ll have at least three more SPD-related articles (and possibly more) later today, so you’ll definitely want to keep checking back in!

Everyone have a wonderful holiday. Are You Wearing Green and eating Corned Beef and Cabbage today? If not, how do you celebrate — if you celebrate — the wearin’ o’ the green?

I’ll catch you guys right back here tomorrow.

Peace,

PH

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Comments (25)

    I love those St Pats throwbacks.

    What is sickening to me about the golden patches is that it’s not just about recognizing somebody’s achievements, it’s about doing something special to sell later too. If it was just about the recognition, like the Walter Peyton award patch, it would be neat and a nice touch.

    Yeah- that gold patch idea is lousy.

    The only individual special patch that should be allowed is the Roberto Clemente award.

    It just dawned on me that MLB still has all the awards for both AL and NL, in spite of over a quarter of the schedule being interleague games now. What is the point of having two MVPs, etc when at this point it is all just one league and the clear regular season separation between the AL and NL is gone?
    Agree with above comments that this special patch feels like it is completely for money making purposes and has nothing to do with recognizing special players.

    Why do you mention Nike when referencing marketing moves when according to MLB’s own tweet this is only on Fanatics (Topps) and MLB (which owns 10 percent of Fanatics)?

    Whose logo is on all those jerseys? If you think this wasn’t done in concert with Nike, that’s fine, but I might have a bridge to sell you. MLB, Nike, Topps and Fanatics are all working on this together, though some of those entities may be more *involved* than others.

    I will never understand the unhinged hate some people here have for Nike while doing everything they can to shift blame off Fanatics. I was hoping this would be less of an issue since Paul left who just seemed salty that Nike wouldn’t give him special treatment. Seriously, is Fanatics the only source you have left?

    But why would Nike have anything to do with something made by Fanatics in Fanatics factories to be resold by another division of Fanatics? The swoosh on mlb jerseys is basically just a paid ad at this point.

    Get a real source that Nike has any involvement in this — because according to MLB and Fanatics they don’t. Until then maybe you should note that you’re just making it up.

    I’m neither blaming Nike or absolving Fanatics. I think the whole thing stinks — whether the primary driver is Nike, MLB, Topps/Fanatics. All are complicit.

    But since you insist on having this debate, please read the first sentence of the second graf of this article from MLB:

    link

    “In collaboration with Topps, Fanatics and Nike, MLB is introducing a special Gold MLB logo patch for the 2025 season to celebrate a group of ’24 award winners”

    (emphasis mine)

    I think we’re done here. Thanks for the spirited discussion!

    When I see MLB..Fanatics…Topps used in a sentence, I see Nike in between every letter. That “tail” is huge.

    Gold patches on the authentic retail jerseys? And potentially sold separately? I see a lot of fraudulent gold logoman cards in the not-too-distant future.

    Celebrating today by wearing my fauxback Cleveland Shamrocks jersey. The Shamrocks, as we all know, won the old National Amateur Cup in 1932.

    Absolutely embarrassing, seems like a trading card company runs the MLB these days. Manfred has cheapened the brand of baseball for a quick and not large buck.

    Since we’re in the home stretch for Alex Ovechkin “Gr8Chase” to pass Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, it feels especially appropriate to mention one of the greatest holiday merchandise tie-ins I ever saw: Years ago I was in a restaurant in the DC suburb of Rockville, MD and I saw two people wearing green Capitals t-shirts. On the back was the number 8 and the name “O’vechkin.” This was shortly after St. Patrick’s Day, so I assumed the shirts must’ve been promotional give-aways. I’ve been searching for an “O’vechkin” shirt for at least a decade but I’ve never been able to find any pictures or references to them.

    Curious if anybody else knows anything about these.

    GTGFTU: Toronto (wearing their St. Pats unis, obviously) at Ottawa (wearing their red Reverse Retro v1 unis), March 14, 2021. The Senators won, 4-3.

    GTGFTS: Buffalo at Edmonton, March 17, 2022. Oilers win 6-1, and that is one ugly scoreboard treatment!

    Why does this site perptually continue to follow MLB and their activities?

    I would find it much more refreshing if the lower level leagues, like NECBL or Cape Cod league for example, are featured and discussed.

    Most of the lower level leagues have everything this site wishes, ad free jeresy’s, non-Nike jerseys, unique colors.

    The consistent posting of these merch dumps and flagrant ad patches really undermines what the focus of this sitw should be.

    As I’ve mentioned to others who demand content *they* want to see on here — feel free to e-mail me with a topic and article pitch. I aim to please and will certainly consider any and all requests.

    And as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I have been covering a LOT of MiLB uniform news on here.

    Also: this site is called Uni Watch — where we report on uniforms, especially those in the four major sports. You may not consider the new gold batterman logo to be worthy of coverage, but I’m sure there are others who do. I’ll continue to report on any and all MLB uniform machinations as they occur.

    Again, feel free to pitch me a story, and I’ll be happy to work on it with you.

    Great mock up Topps as usual. Lately they just f*** everything up. Per the article:

    “… with ten shirts from each player to be used to create trading cards…”

    Well, unless they are 10 different versions of the logo, how will each be a 1/1? Also, all their high end offerings (Five Star, Tribute, Dynasty, etc….) is already overpriced with so many undervalued boxes being sold at crazy pricing, this is why I dig thru dime boxes at shows on work on vintage sets. Screw all this new crap they offer – it’s garbage.

    Guess the scoreboard:
    Obviously, Mariners playing at Texas.
    Left Fielder is Alex Liddi, who played between 2011-2013.
    He played in two games in which the Mariners scored at least eight runs in Texas: May 29 and May 30th, 2012.
    The game is May 30th, 2012 (the only one in which the Mariners posted an eight run 2nd inning.
    In fact, the Mariners had back-to-back eight run innings en route to a 21-8 win).

    Heh. That’s not today’s GTGFTS — that’s the splash photo I use for every GTGFTS (on some phones it shows up “full width” so folks will sometimes mistakenly think it’s the photo for the game of the day). Good guess though! But the photo for today is the Rogers Place scoreboard.

    Just an idea, maybe put some kind of logo or wordmark on the header pics for GTGFTS/GTGFTU so people will realize those are not the images to be guessing on, since it’s happened a few times before? Could be just as simple as putting the abbreviations on them.

    i don’t think the gold patch is a bad idea for recognition. i also think common sense will tell us that multiple wins will still yield one gold patch. i’m willing to be proven wrong on that but it seems obvious to me. though i may be out of touch with reality!j

    I could rant and rave along with most of the commenters here about how sickening it is to see this kind of obvious money grab by big companies cheapening the sacred game of baseball.
    I could say: hey, everybody, we are talking about commercial entertainment aimed at making as much money as possible. Like telling the Fire Department to stop putting out fires because we like the flames so much. The FD is there to put out the fire, MLB is there to make as much money out of baseball as possible. Let them have their silly gold logo tear off put it in random packs of cards spiel.
    But I choose a different take: why not let fans decide who gets a golden logo just like the ASG, the Fan Fav wears it for the second half, playoffs, WS, whatever and we start all over again next season.

Comments are closed.