MLB Fail: All Star Uniforms

The All Star Game was just held last week in Seattle and much of the attention was on the jerseys worn by the American and National League players.  In what has been a continuing trend MLB has decided in recent years to eliminate any distinction between players by having them wear similar uniforms rather than their own team’s jerseys.  This started with the 2021 season and has progressed in 2023 to almost make it impossible to discern what team a player represents other than the logo on their hat and another smaller one on their pant leg.

Let us take you through the last few years in pictures of what MLB decided was a better look for their all-stars and compare that to years in the past where players wore their own team uniform.

Now if you thought that was not generic or boring enough for you neither did MLB who decided to crank up the blandness.  We bring you the 2023 All Star uniforms!

To quote this article the choice of colors for this year’s game were chosen for the following reason, “uniform designs that are themed after host city Seattle’s “natural beauty with a print that blends elements of its neighboring ocean, forests, topography and the movement of air.”

Based on that description, we are not sure if we are watching a baseball game or attending an art exhibit? 

The article goes on to state that “the American League uniforms feature light teal hues and the National League uniforms feature dark navy hues in keeping with that theme.  The All-Star Uniforms will mark the debut of Nike’s new Vapor Premier uniforms, which will become the new chassis for every MLB uniform beginning in 2024”.

Let us look at some more photos from this year’s all-star game and these new age uniforms.

You already know our reaction here at BP.  What though did the fans think of these new uniforms?  We like to be objective here at BP, but we could not find anyone that really liked these latest all-star uniforms.  In fact most were outright calling to bring back having players wear their own team uniforms.

Here are some twitter threads here and here that shows the fans pure dislike for these latest all-star jerseys.

Let us go back to all-star game past to see what life used to look like before uniformity reigned in all-star game attire.

Clearly our all-star photos from the past provide a very different look from the current attire.

Why then does MLB foist this generic look at fans despite the overwhelming majority hating the new uniforms?  The answer again all comes back to money.  Owners and MLB can never milk enough out of the game.

Nike pays MLB huge licensing fees to create and sell new uniforms, specially made for the game.  What better way to advertise these new designs than to have your all-star teams wear them despite everyone hating these uniforms?  It is just another revenue stream and another way to sell more shirts, since additional sales would likely not be so robust if all-stars were just wearing their normal uniforms.  Any uptick in those sales would likely be marginal if a fan’s hometown player were in the all-star game.  Give the fans though an option to purchase some soulless all-star attire and voila!  Another revenue stream no matter how much the fans object to it.

It is never difficult to figure out MLB and their motivations even if it is about bland, generic uniforms.  The reason is always the same, money and how to make more of it.

A big thank you to Craig J. for submitting this idea to our BP staff.  Thanks again Craig!