Nike/Fanatics to High-Quality MLB Uniform Lovers: Drop Dead
Free Friday Post (Sunday edition).
Hi friends-
I had to take last week off from writing while I attended to personal matters, so you can expect four newsletters from me in your inboxes over the next seven days instead of the usual two. Thank you for your patience!
Some housekeeping:
As a reminder, our book club selection for February is K: A History of Baseball in 10 Pitches, by Tyler Kepner. We will have a chat in the Substack app about the book on Sunday, March 3, beginning at 10 AM PT. We will also have Tyler in conversation over Zoom on Monday, March 4, from 5:30 to 6:30 PM PT. The book is fabulous and I encourage you all to read it whether you can make the discussions or not. <3
I’m running a 5K during the L.A. Marathon to raise money for the Hollywood Food Coalition. The Hollywood Food Coalition rescues food from all over L.A. County that is about to be wasted and re-distributes it to dozens of smaller organizations serving people in need. We also feed hot, nutritious meals to 250 Angelenos a night. If you’d like to support me you can go here. I’m almost to my fundraising goal. Thank you!
We are going to do two in-person meet-ups this year at MLB games! The first will be in New York during the Mets vs. Dodger game on May 27 at 4:10 ET. (Memorial Day). Save the date! I’ll have more information on game tickets soon.
This is a weird post for me to write because I’ve never been too particularly invested in MLB uniforms. Sure, I want the Brewers to always wear their throwback pinstripes, and the Phillies to default to their glorious powder blues, but I’m not about to light myself on fire over this.
I’ve never fully understood baseball sportswear connoisseurs absolutely losing their minds over minor tweaks to jerseys and pants that are imperceptible to the average person. But after seeing what Nike/Fanatics have done to MLB uniforms this spring, I’m fully on-board with a fan revolt.
It started on Tuesday when the Cardinals (bless them) took one look at the jerseys in their lockers and said woof. But it wasn’t just a St. Louis-specific problem. By the end of the week, The Athletic ran a piece quoting players from a dozen teams excoriating the look, feel and fit of the new uniforms. Below Is a picture comparing last year’s authentic game jerseys (left) with this year’s (right).
As you can see: The MLB logo has been lowered below the collar, making everything look smushed. The lettering of the player’s last name is smaller, the number is further down the back, and the outline of the letters and numbers are less defined.
But that’s only part of the problem. Nike says the dry-fit technology make the jerseys more lightweight and breathable, but nobody asked for that. Players already wear dry-fit gear under their uniform tops and pants to absorb sweat. Nobody wants baseball jerseys to fit and function like cycling tops. The result is a jersey that looks and feels like the cheap shirseys teams give out to the first 15,000 fans to show up to a game against the Rockies on a Tuesday in April.
Why is this especially galling? Because Nike/Fanatics is charging $429 for these awful authentic jerseys without even bothering to stitch the lettering or numbers, instead using “heat-applied” features. That’s four hundred and twenty-nine American dollars for a glorified iron-on shirsey.
Players are also extremely pissed that Nike/Fanatics have decided they’re too cheap to tailor uniform pants anymore. Pitchers like Robbie Ray and Walker Buehler are fueled by wearing the snuggest possible pants. Buehler said last year that his whole M.O. is to put on tights and strike people out. Smaller pitchers like Buehler, in particular, do not wish to trip and fall on their own baggy pants. Each team better have a clubby who knows how to sew in 2024, as they will be responsible for tailoring the pants of their own players. Cool. Neat. Galaxy brain stuff.
Why do I say Nike/Fanatics? Because Nike paid MLB over a billion dollars for the rights to create MLB uniforms from 2019 to 2029. While Nike is responsible for the ugly design of these unis, they outsourced the actual production to Fanatics, a horrible sports apparel company that is known for lowering quality while raising prices.
This uniform imbroglio is so bad that the MLB player’s union is now involved.
To be clear, this mess is more Nike’s than Fanatics’, because the former’s design is bad and they chose to partner with a cheap manufacturer. But Fanatics has developed a stranglehold on the sports apparel market, and if they keep producing low-quality fits while gouging fans, that’s bad news for everyone.
What happened this week was the baseball uniform equivalent of Boeing not screwing on the doors of its aircrafts because it cost too much in employee labor. You don’t have to lose sleep over sports jerseys, but it should rankle you that the enshittification of literally every consumer good in service of lining billionaires’ pockets continues apace.
This is a reader-supported, independent newsletter. Both free and paid versions are available. The best way to support me and my work is by taking out a paid subscription now:
Around the League
Every MLB team reported to spring training this week, so we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. While the uniform debacle was the top story of the week, here are some other key bits of news you may have missed.
The A’s have hired my friend Jenny Cavnar to be the first female primary play-by-play announcer In MLB!! You’ve probably heard her on Rockies broadcasts and on her show on MLB Network radio. She is so good and this is thrilling news.
Jen Pawol may become the first woman to umpire MLB games this year. The NBA and the NFL have employed female referees for years. It’s time for MLB to get with it and hire the best people for the job, regardless of gender.
The Padres are moving Xander Boegarts to second base so that Ha-Seong Kim can be their primary shortstop. I gasped when I saw this because San Diego just gave Boegarts $280 million to play short a little over a year ago. Trevor Story—who moved to second so Boegarts could play shortstop for the Red Sox back in 2022— was also surprised. Boegarts has never played an inning at second in his career. Maybe this is only a yearlong assignment, as Kim is in the final year of his contract with the Padres. New San Diego skipper Mike Shildt clearly believes that Kim—who just won a Gold Glove as a super-utility infielder—is the better defender.
Bryce Harper confirmed today that his move from rightfield to first base is now permanent, and he doesn’t anticipate ever playing in the outfield again.
Bill James now says he was wrong about clutch hitting, and that it does exist. I am a huge fan of James’ work, but it’s always been obvious to every serious baseball watcher that there are certain guys you want up to bat with the game on the line and other guys you absolutely do not.
Pete Alonso says the Mets have not yet approached him about a long-term contract. Alonso also told reporters he will donate $1,000 for every home run he hits this season to animal rescue groups, so we are rooting for infinity Alonso dingers.
The Giants invited fan favorite Pablo Sandoval to spring training.
East Carolina’s Parker Byrd became the first man to play Division 1 college baseball with a prosthetic leg.
Sacramento is now the front-runner to host A’s games from 2025 to 2027. If you don’t like this news, stay tuned, because it will probably change next week.
Japanese phenom Rintaro Sasaki—who was projected to go #1 overall in the NPB draft— will play college baseball at Stanford.
Rangers’ GM Chris Young says the team is done spending this off-season. I’m truly beginning to wonder where Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery and Matt Chapman are going to sign now that so many big-market teams have sat on their wallets for now. Scott Boras may not win this protracted game of free-agent chicken.
The Orioles’ best starting pitcher from last year, Kyle Bradish, has a sprained UCL and will begin the season on the injured list. Baltimore did well to trade for Corbin Burnes last month, but they need to do something to replace Bradish, who might not pitch this year. Trading for Dylan Cease would make a lot of sense.
Arte Moreno told reporters he plans to remain the owner of the Angels for a long time. Gulp. Moreno also confirmed reports that he was not willing to match what the Dodgers offered Shohei Ohtani. (As a reminder, the Blue Jays and Giants both offered Ohtani the same deal L.A. did).
The Angels will also operate with a smaller budget in 2024, and seem to be out on Blake Snell.
The Phillies and Zack Wheeler have begun talks about a contract extension. Bryce Harper also said he would like an extension to stay in Philadelphia for the remainder of his career.
The Giants signed Jorge Soler to a three-year deal. Soler smacked 36 home runs last year, which is significant because San Francisco not had a player hit 30 home runs in a season since Barry Bonds in 2004 (!!!!). The Giants have not had a right-handed hitter collect 30 homers since Jeff Kent in 2002.
The Padres have only two outfielders on their 40-man roster. They’re looking at converting top shortstop prospect Jackson Merrill to left or centerfield.
Somebody ranked MLB stadiums by their Yelp reviews. Camden Yards finished first. The Oakland Coliseum clocked in last.
That’s all for today. I’ll be back in your inboxes tomorrow.
Rankle me it certainly does, Molly.
Good Free Friday column on Sunday!
BTW, can I employ the term, "enshittification" without attribution?!?😀🥰🤣
I agree the new uniforms are horrible. But the $429 version still has stitched on numbers and names. The material used for the numbers on those versions now has holes in them for more ventilation, but they are still fully sewn on. The “affordable” versions of the new jersey’s are $174, and that’s where they have stopped stitching the numbers and are selling the “heat applied” graphics.