Bring Back the Team Uniforms

In the days since the MLB All*Star Game, I've heard one complaint more than any other.  And it's a complaint that has come from fans, media, well, basically everyone.  There are very few, if any, people out there who actually liked the All*Star uniforms.  Most, in fact, are longing for the old days, when the players wore the uniforms of their respective teams.

This "league uniform" thing is actually a fairly recent phenomenon.  Players did wear their own uniforms until 2019, then, when the All*Star Game came back in 2021 after the 2020 cancellation due to COVID, the "league uniforms" made their debut.  That was also, probably not coincidentally, Nike's first year as MLB's apparel partner.  So, I'm sure it was worked into the Nike deal that they provide All*Star Game uniforms for both the American and National Leagues every year.  Except, in two of the three years, those uniforms have been absolutely terrible!

The less said about the God-awful all-navy crap they subjected the American Leaguers to in 2021, the better.  Last year at Dodger Stadium, they seemingly got the hint, and the All*Star uniforms weren't nearly as bad.  They were essentially the team uniforms with the lettering in gold instead of the team colors.  Then this year, they went back to horrible, giving the National League black pants that made them look like they were playing beer league softball.  Worse yet, the only sort of team identification on them was a small logo on the sleeve and pants.

That is actually one of the biggest issues a lot of fans had with them.  As Jeff Nelson mentioned during that debacle of a Yankee game today, from a distance, you had no idea what team they played for.  It was the generic blue team against the generic green team.  There was no color, no distinguishing identifier, nothing.  Or, to put it more bluntly, uninspired and boring.

I think one of the things that they failed to consider when they went to the whole "league uniform" idea is that people liked seeing their team's uniform at the All*Star Game.  It's like when Roger Goodell thought it would be a great idea for the Super Bowl logo to be exactly the same every year, went with the most boring design in history, and stubbornly stuck with it even though people hated it and let him know that.  In fact, I think one of the reasons it took so long for them to pivot was because he knew fans hated it and wanted a return to game-specific logos that actually had color.  He just didn't care and kept at it for spite!  (It took until Super Bowl LV, a full 10 years after the whole template look started, for the logos to actually have color and originality and some indication of where the game is being played again.)

Baseball and hockey are unique in that they're the only two of the Big Four sports where every team is represented at the All*Star Game.  I know there are mixed feelings about that (and there likely always will be), but, I, for one, absolutely love that every team has an All*Star.  And it was so cool to watch the pregame introductions and see all the different uniforms.  Seriously, look at some of those All*Star team pictures from the 70s or 80s and try telling me they aren't awesome!

However, players have never worn their team uniform at the NHL All*Star Game.  Just in the Skills Competition.  So that element was unique to MLB.  One thing you could count on, year after year, was seeing every team's uniform when you turned on the All*Star Game.  That's part of what made the 2021 change so jarring.

It's not like the American and National League jerseys were a new idea, either.  MLB has been creating and selling those every year since at least the mid-90s.  Same thing with All*Star hats.  In fact, there are two different All*Star hats for everybody each year--one for the game, one for the workout day and batting practice.  Other than the fact that the design is often ugly and the cost is usually ridiculous, no one has a problem with the existence of the league All*Star jerseys.  People are still gonna want and buy them.  And they're specific to each individual All*Star Game, so they are unique, too.

So, nobody is saying the American and National League All*Star jerseys need to go.  We're just saying we don't want to see them on Tuesday night.  That's when fans of every team want to see their own logo and colors on display.  Not whatever generic color they give each league.  (Red and blue next year in Arlington?)

Especially since, if you think about it, there's a really easy solution that really is the best of both worlds.  Simply go back to the way it was until 2019.  Players wear their American and National League jerseys and hats on Monday, then their own jerseys and whatever the All*Star hat for that year is on Tuesday.  That system worked fine and no one seemed to have a problem with it.  So, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

And, frankly, that would solve another problem.  Because the players wearing their own uniforms in the Home Run Derby is also odd and just doesn't look right.  (It's also weird that they're all wearing their home uniform, but that's a much smaller issue.)  It's the ALL*STAR Home Run Derby, but there's absolutely nothing identifying them as All*Stars!  I know that the Home Run Derby has become an individual competition above everything else, but the eight participants are all still All*Stars.  It would be nice if people who aren't baseball fans and just casually tuning in knew that they're all, in fact, All*Stars and not just eight random players.

You also only get to see those eight uniforms during the Home Run Derby.  All of the other All*Star players are there on the field watching, but how many of them do you actually see?  Sure, you see the teammates and buddies of the participants, but most of them are just sitting there hanging out with their families.  It, again, is not like hockey, where the Skills Competition has the same player introductions as the All*Star Game itself and everyone participates in at least one event, meaning you're guaranteed to see every jersey at least once during the night.

Nike, of course, is paying a lot of money for its MLB contract.  It's not a coincidence that the ridiculous City Connect abominations only started appearing after MLB's relationship with Nike began.  And I'm sure Nike wants the maximum exposure for their design (not to mention their "uniform technology" that debuted at the All*Star Game and will be incorporated into team uniforms in 2024), which they're more likely to get at the All*Star Game itself than just the workout day and Home Run Derby.  But it's not like people won't see them at the Home Run Derby.  And it's not like fans won't buy them regardless!

To be fair, there are numerous issues with both the Home Run Derby and All*Star Game (the Home Run Derby takes too long and is too frenetic, while the home run derby tiebreaker for the All*Star Game is just as dumb as the free runner in extra innings).  The uniforms should not be among them.  Yet they are.  They don't need to be, though.  All they need to do is go back to the way things were.  AL and NL All*Star jerseys for the Home Run Derby, team uniforms for the All*Star Game.  Sounds simple, right?