Sometimes the best thing you can do to make sure an issue is addressed is complain. And keep complaining. And then complain some more.
That strategy appears to have worked in regards to the much-maligned Nike Vapor Premier jersey template that MLB switched to this season, which has been widely panned by players, fans and pretty much everyone not collecting a paycheck from one of those two corporations.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan obtained a memo from the MLB Players Association to its members informing them that changes are coming to the uniforms. According to Passan, multiple problematic areas of the new uniforms will be remedied before Opening Day 2025, if not sooner.
“The prominent modifications include a return to larger lettering on the back of jerseys, remedying mismatched gray tops and bottoms and addressing the new Nike jerseys’ propensity to collect sweat, according to the memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday.
“The changes, which will happen at the latest by the beginning of the 2025 season, will also include fixes to the pants, widely panned this spring for being see-through.”
Nike replaced Majestic as the official on-field uniform provider for MLB in 2020, but the same uniforms continued to be produced for the last four seasons. This year, Nike directed Fanatics — who it has a licensing agreement with to actually make the uniforms — to begin using the new template. The results have been disastrous.
It’s unclear if it was a protest or just some sort of superstitious attempt to get going offensively, but Bryce Harper wore his 2023 cream alternate jersey in a game earlier this month, and it stood out because it looked so much better than all the other uniforms on the field that day.
There are still other issues with Nike as MLB’s uniform provider, including their “4+1” rule that limits teams to just four uniforms and a fifth if it’s part of the City Connect program. But these new uniforms were the most glaring problem, and enough pressure was put on both MLB and Nike that it appears they’ve been shamed into increasing the quality.
