Sparking countless memes and complaints from baseball fans, Fanatics’ latest uniform partnership with the MLB has been anything but a home run — specifically in the trousers department.
On display in recent photoshoots and spring training outings, the American merchandiser’s league-issued pants are highly transparent (especially in white), giving MLB spectators an X-ray view below the belt.
These Fanatics jerseys are terrible for MLB. Horrible name printing, text is screen printed instead of sewn. Not to mention the see thru pants.
Let’s just say every batter is gonna start the count with 2 balls and no strikes… pic.twitter.com/kr9ohwBO6A
— #1 Mountaineer-Pirate-Tar Heel Fan 🐏🗻🏴☠️ (@PiraNeerTarHeel) February 23, 2024
In a recent interview with ESPN, MLB Players’ Association (MLBPA) executive director Tony Clark said that the league’s “universal concern is the pant.”
“A lot of the rhetoric is confirmation that the pants are see-through,” Clark said. “It’s been an ongoing conversation where each day has yielded something new that doesn’t seem to make as much sense as you would like it.”
There are also issues of a shortage that the league hopes to resolve before opening day on March 28.
“There are teams that have pants and jerseys,” Clark said. “There are some teams that don’t have pants. There are other teams that are supposed to be receiving certain things before the start of the year. There are others that — in the event they have an issue with the pants and a player needs a new pair — don’t have anything in reserve.”
As for what players think, some have been more vocal than others about the quality of their new digs.
“I know everyone hates them,” Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner told the Associated Press last week. “We all liked what we had. We understand business, but I think everyone wanted to keep it the same way, for the most part, with some tweaks here or there.”
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Angels reliever Carlos Estévez told The Athletic he can’t stand the pants.
“When I wear my pants, I feel like I’m wearing someone else’s pants,” he said.
“I like the old ones,” New York Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle added after giving the new threads a try.
While an exact solution to the distracting issue has not been announced, Nike, which designed this year’s uniforms but outsourced the production to Fanatics, says it will continue to work with the league to address it.
“The quality and the performance of our product is of the utmost importance to us,” the athletic company said in a statement. “We will continue to work with MLB, the players and our manufacturing partner to address player uniforms.”
“The quality and the performance of our product is of the utmost importance to us. We will continue to work with MLB, the players and our manufacturing partner to address player uniforms.”
2/2
— Michael Silverman (@MikeSilvermanBB) February 23, 2024
- You might also like:
- Ohtani's see-through pants causing major uproar with Fanatics MLB partnership
Follow Channels and Categories