New MLB Jersey Problems Are The Fault Of Nike, Not Fanatics | Mike Gunzelman
Major League Baseball fans have found their latest thing to complain about - their new jerseys.
And although you won't find me defending the new apparel designs that look awkward, if you know anything about Gunz it's that I'm going to call out anyone and anything - but it's important to make sure it's the RIGHT person. Surprise, surprise - the Internet is getting this one wrong.
It's not Fanatics you want to be mad at here, it's Nike.
LET ME EXPLAIN
When the new spring training uniforms debuted Tuesday, many fans noticed that something seemed a bit different with the jerseys. The coloring appeared to be off-white, the names had weird spacing and curvature and, for some reason, the MLB logo on the neckline was moved a quarter of the way down the jersey.
Because baseball is the holier-than-thou sport due to its storied place in American tradition, fans on social media began going berserk. They criticized Fanatics, who took over production of all MLB apparel in 2020, for the mishap.
But the thing is - Fanatics isn't at fault for the latest MLB jersey fiasco. Nike are the ones that actually designed the jerseys and worked with the league on deciding which material would be used in their new Nike Vapor Premiere jerseys. All Fanatics does is essentially receive the specs from Nike and print, manufacture and ship them out. If fans or players are mad about the new jerseys appearing bootleg, awkward, even cringe - that's on Nike and Major League Baseball here.
The fact of the matter is, Fanatics has been printing MLB related gear since acquiring Majestic back in 2017 and for years you didn't really hear anything negative about them. Same with all the NHL hoopla that the vocal minority have been going off about - there's plenty of NHL merchandise that the players wear with no issues whatsoever. Unfortunately for Fanatics they have become the ‘cool thing’ to hate, despite not always deserving that title.
In recent months, it's become customary for fans to rip Fanatics for any and all problems. They are the ‘big bad wolf,’ and the scapegoat whenever something goes wrong in the sports apparel biz. Hell, I've done it plenty of times myself - I was even (semi) responsible for getting Fanatics to refund Eagles fans that received misprinted Jalen Hurts jerseys. (And I hate Philly but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!)
But we need some decorum in this social media age of crap-talking, people! We need to have some basic set of principles, most importantly - making sure we're criticizing the right people!
HANDFUL OF PLAYERS RIP NEW JERSEYS
That didn't happen.
In fact, fans only piled on Fanatics more after St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mike Mikolas ripped the new jerseys as "looking cheap," while also complaining that they' don't fit as well as they used to, with the pants "no longer [being] customized, and the fabric is a very different consistency." Looks like Mikolas is all of us when we go to get a new pair of pants or suit jacket and go "There's no way I've gotten that big!" Sorry, Mike but that size 38 in the old material may now be a size 44 with the new one!
If Mikolas has an issue with the jersey, he should take it up with his teammates and other players. Nike body-scanned more than 300 baseball players as they developed the new uniform. They also had last year's American League and National League All-Stars wear the new Vapor jerseys during the game. It appears Mikolas, who wasn't an All-Star last year, wasn't aware of that.
As someone who lives by the "If it's not broke, don't fix it" motto in life, having teams continually add different jerseys has always been frustrating to me. Just look at the ridiculous number of NBA alternate jerseys that have come out in recent years, it's straight up absurd.
Fortunately, the solution is easy for pissed-off baseball fans. If you don't like the new jerseys, you can rip Nike, you can rip the team and, most importantly, you hold the power of the purse - you can simply not purchase the new jerseys.
But something tells me plenty of Dodgers fans will be rocking the new Nike Vapor jersey for Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, or Juan Soto for the New York Yankees.