The Oregonian giant is relegating last season’s kerfuffle to history.
No more “moisture-related aesthetic color differences.” Nike is casting aside last year’s infamous Major League Baseball (MLB) uniforms and reembracing tradition, according to Stephen J. Nesbitt of The Athletic.
As Andrew Chafin, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, put it last season, in the days before the Vapor Premier – as Nike called its newfangled design – “you picked that up [your jersey], and it was like, Son of a bitch, this is something. […] But now it’s just like, Eh, it’s just another jersey. There’s no special feel to it. You pick it up, and you should feel like you’re putting on a freaking crown and a big-ass fluffy cape, you know what I mean?”
And, as we reported at the time, player names were suddenly illegible from the stands even as their sweat became all too apparent.
“Following the feedback last year, we’re providing the players with the adjustments that they asked for. The changes are being made and rolled out starting this season,” MLB Senior Vice President of Global Consumer Products Denis Nolan has said in a statement, quoted by The Athletic.
Nike has confirmed that road grays for 2025 will be made of the thicker, pre-2024 fabric used by Nike’s predecessor, Majestic Athletics, and that home whites will be made of the same come 2026. Big names and numbers will be back, along with embroidered sleeve patches, and teams will have their respective typefaces.
Nike’s MLB uniforms are manufactured by Fanatics.
