One of many main subplots of spring coaching has been the controversy surrounding Main League Baseball’s new participant uniforms. The unis, designed by Nike and produced by Fanatics with athletic efficiency in thoughts, have proved unpopular with plenty of gamers due to, to listen to varied gamers inform it, the shortage of consolation, the visibility of the identify and quantity, the “low cost” appear and feel of it, and – most notable of all – the revealing qualities of the pants.

Whereas we do not understand how the problem might be resolved or not resolved, we do know that we are able to use this event to revisit the historical past of baseball uniform improvements and touchstone moments throughout the historical past of the game, whether or not good, dangerous, or someplace within the center. What follows is not going to be a totally exhaustive therapy of the topic at hand, however it is going to spotlight essentially the most essential junctures of the evolution of the baseball uniform. Let’s undertake this now, in timeline format. 

April 24, 1849 – The New York Knickerbockers change into the primary organized baseball membership to undertake an official uniform. The uniform consists of blue pants, white flannel jerseys, and white straw hats. 

July 15, 1867 – The Cincinnati Pink Stockings, a few years earlier than turning into the primary organized skilled baseball group, are the primary to put on knicker-style pants that journey at or above the knee versus traditional-length pants. 

1876 – Harvard catcher Alexander Tyng wears the primary catcher’s masks, which was a modified fencing masks.  

1882 – The Nationwide League experiments by assigning completely different uniform designs to gamers based mostly on the positions they play. The experiment is deserted by mid-season. 

April 14, 1904 – The Detroit Tigers for his or her Opening Day contest in opposition to the St. Louis Browns debut the long-lasting “Olde English D” on their uniforms. The franchise signature stays a part of the Tigers’ uniforms and branding greater than a century later. 

1905 – The primary “sanitary socks” are launched in baseball. 

1906 – Coming off a victory over the Philadelphia Athletics within the 1905 World Collection, John McGraw’s New York Giants for the 1906 season put on jerseys that learn “World’s Champions” throughout the entrance. These jerseys are additionally the primary collarless ones worn by a major-league group. 

1907 – The Studying Pink Roses of the Atlantic League turned the primary skilled membership to put on uniform numbers. This identical yr, the Boston Doves – later to change into the Braves – had been the primary group to put on pinstripes. 

April 11, 1907 – Roger Bresnahan of the New York Giants turns into the primary catcher to put on shin guards in a sport. The innovation comes some 13 years after pitchers had been first permitted to throw overhand. With masks and chest protectors already in use, the total catcher ensemble is thus on show for the primary time, as nicely. 

1909 – The Cubs introduce a “cadet-style” standing collar on their jerseys. 

1910 – The Boston Pink Sox and Boston Doves are the final major-league groups to put on lace-up jerseys. 

1912 – The New York Highlanders, later to change into often called the New York Yankees, first put on pinstripes on their uniforms. The pinstripes might be deserted for the 1913 and 1914 seasons however change into a everlasting presence beginning in 1915. 

1914 – The Buffalo Blues of the upstart Federal League change into the primary group to have cursive script adorning their jerseys. 

1915 – The Boston Braves change into the primary major-league group to characteristic 4 completely different uniform designs throughout the identical season. 

1916 – Cleveland turns into the primary major-league group to put on uniform numbers. The numerals seem on the left sleeve of the jersey. By 1917, nevertheless, the group will revert to numberless uniforms. Additionally in 1916, the Brooklyn Robins, later the Dodgers, put on plaid uniforms. This identical yr, former big-league outfielder and future Corridor of Famer Fred Clarke patents the primary flip-up sun shades. 

1922 – The Cardinals introduce the “birds on the bat” emblem on their jerseys. 

1928 – Detroit provides the picture of a Tiger to the again of their highway jerseys. 

1929 – Cleveland and the New York Yankees open the season as the primary big-league groups to put on numbers on the backs of their jerseys. 

1936 – The New York Yankees add the interlocking “NY” emblem to their jerseys for the primary time since 1916. They’d first launched the interlocking NY as a sleeve ingredient in 1909. 

1937 – Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s lastly add numerals to their residence uniforms, which signifies that each MLB group now wears uniform numbers in all their video games. This identical yr, the Chicago Cubs change into the primary group to put on zippered jerseys. 

1940 – The Chicago Cubs debut the sleeveless jersey. 

1941 – Involved a couple of seeming rash of beanings, Brooklyn Dodgers president Larry MacPhail duties two Johns Hopkins physicians with growing protecting headgear for hitters. They ultimately choose plastic guards which might be inserted into the hat. Mere weeks into the season, docs will say that Pete Reiser’s life might have been saved by the guards after he is hit on the aspect of the pinnacle by a pitch. Protecting headgear is not going to be mandated for hitters till 1956, and it isn’t till 1971 that the fashionable batting helmet turns into required gear. 

1944 – The Dodgers, for his or her highway evening video games, put on powder-blue satin uniforms in an effort to present followers with higher visuals beneath the lights. The experiment ends when gamers complain concerning the uncomfortable materials. 

1950 – The Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League change into the primary affiliated group to put on quick pants. 

1951 – The minor-league Springfield Cubs are the primary group to put on numbers on the entrance of their jerseys. 

1952 – The Brooklyn Dodgers change into the primary major-league group to put on numbers on the entrance of their jerseys. The crimson numerals, added to their residence ensemble, stay a Dodger uniform grace word. 

1956 – The Cincinnati Reds take away the phrase “Reds” from their uniforms in response to anti-Communist sentiment. 

1960 – The Chicago White Sox are the primary group to place participant names on the backs of jerseys. Each group will ultimately comply with go well with apart from the New York Yankees.

1961 – Cincinnati returns to being referred to as the Reds after a short interval of being often called the Redlegs. The phrase “Reds” additionally returns to their uniforms. 

1963 – The A’s, now in Kansas Metropolis and owned by Charlie Finley, change from a crimson and blue coloration scheme to inexperienced and gold. 

1970 – The Pittsburgh Pirates usher in a brand new period of baseball vogue by debuting blended cotton-nylon uniforms that characteristic pullover jerseys and beltless pants. 

1975 – The Houston Astros unfurl their new “rainbow jerseys.” Additionally they add uniform numbers to their pants. 

1976 – To commemorate the a hundredth anniversary of the Nationwide League, a number of senior-circuit groups put on old-timey “pillbox” hats for the 1976 season. Solely the Pirates stick to the look past that season. They put on the pillbox hats by way of the 1986 season. Elsewhere, the Chicago White Sox reintroduced collared jerseys.

Aug 8, 1976 – The Chicago White Sox change into the primary major-league group to put on shorts in a sport. They accomplish that within the first sport of a doubleheader in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Royals. 

1978 – The variety of groups sporting powder-blue highway uniforms swells to a file 10. 

Could 19, 1979 – The Philadelphia Phillies start an supposed stretch wherein they put on all-burgundy uniforms for his or her Saturday residence video games. Following a blown lead and loss to the Montreal Expos, nevertheless, the Phillies assume higher of the plans. 

1986 – The Philadelphia Phillies change into the final group to put on zipper-front jerseys.

1993 – After an absence of greater than 20 years, the Cincinnati Reds and Florida Marlins revive sleeveless jerseys.

Late 1996 season – Charlie O’Brien of the Toronto Blue Jays pioneers the “hockey-style” catcher’s masks. 

1997 – Jackie Robinson’s uniform No. 42 is retired in perpetuity throughout all affiliated major- and minor-league groups. 

July 18, 1998 – The Seattle Mariners host “Flip Forward the Clock Night time,” wherein the group dons jerseys deemed to be from the distant future for his or her Saturday residence sport in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Royals. The promotion was conceived by then-Mariners head of selling Kevin Martinez in session with future Corridor of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. So profitable was the one-off occasion that MLB the following season made it a league-wide sequence of video games. 

2014 – Reduction pitcher Alex Torres turns into the primary to put on a prototype protecting headgear for pitchers. The headgear has the looks of an outsized conventional hat. 

Aug. 10, 2017 – MLB publicizes the primary Gamers Weekend wherein groups will put on a extra colourful palette of uniforms designed to evoke Little League and youth baseball. Guidelines concerning accent gear are scaled again briefly, and gamers are permitted to place the nickname of their selecting on the backs of their jerseys. The league may even maintain Gamers Weekend in 2018 and 2019. 

June 24, 2021 – MLB publicizes that for the primary group ever gamers collaborating within the All-Star Recreation will put on specifically designed All-Star uniforms as a substitute of the uniforms of their respective groups.

This identical yr, MLB, in collaboration with Nike, introduced the “Metropolis Join” uniform sequence. Every group will unveil a specifically designed uniform that featured native components and iconography throughout a number of years. 

Spring 2024 – MLB distributes to gamers new uniforms designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics. Whereas the brand new uniforms are supposed to be extra performance-oriented on account of the lighter weight and elevated breathability and elasticity, they’re criticized by many gamers for being uncomfortable and cheap-looking and for the revealing nature of the pants. The kerfuffle results in a sequence of dueling remarks within the media and makes an attempt at injury management by MLB. At this writing, the matter seems to be unresolved. 

Sources: Baseball-Reference.com; “Dressed to the Nines” on-line exhibit, Nationwide Baseball Corridor of Fame and Museum; Library of Congress; Los Angeles Occasions archives; MLB.com; SABR.org; SportsLogos.internet; ThinkBlueLA.com; Complete Baseball, edited by John Thorn, Pete Palmer, and Michael Gershman; Uni-Watch.com