Indians moving away from nameplates on jerseys
The biggest change to the Indians uniform in at least three months
The Cleveland Indians hear you cries of a boring offseason and they are here to answer them:
No more nameplates!
Along with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Tribe will no longer have player names on nameplates that are then sewn onto uniforms. Instead, like literally every other team that has names on the back of their uniforms, the letters will be sewn directly onto the uniforms, per Uniwatch:
CONFIRMED: Per team spox, MLB's last 2 nameplated teams, Rays & Indians, both scrapping nameplates this season. Player name lettering will be sewn directly onto jersey, not onto separate fabric strip. (h/t @ajenkinsCLE, @DarrellDawson, and @ThaFamilyJules for assistance/tips) pic.twitter.com/gHXx6fKZEZ
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) February 14, 2019
This is one of those things that I didn’t realize I realized until now and I realize I kind of liked it. If you’re in the same boat, here’s how it looks side by side.
First, here’s Jason Kipnis first-bumping Tito, presumably over their love of nameplates:
...and here’s Ender Inciarte and Ronald Acuna Jr., presumably discussing their disdain for nameplates.
Based on sportslogo.net’s uniforms, the Indians have had nameplates as far back as those total ‘80s jerseys that they wore from 1989 to 1993. From then on, with the introduction of Jacob’s Field and spankin’ new uniforms, they’ve had the nameplates. But all mostly unnoticeable decent things must come to an end, and nameplates are no exception.