Major League Baseball and Nike revealed the 2022 All-Star Game uniforms on Monday.
Here’s how the Mets and Yankees will look next week at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles:All
Would you actually spend money for these? pic.twitter.com/LU34lulMDQ
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) July 11, 2022
Nike says the jersey designs pay homage to “the fame and fortune of the City of Angels,” with the “gold sheen of Hollywood award shows” included.
Where to begin.
They’re ugly. The National League jerseys look like something the Trump Tower softball team would wear. The American League duds look like asphalt with some spray paint.
They’re uninspiring. I’m OK with ugly if there is a purpose. Like Maryland’s football uniforms. Or the Mercury Mets. But these are mailed in. You’re honoring LA with a color? The Dodgers have one of the best uniforms in sports. Riff off of that. Do something with the Hollywood sign. Or the beach. Anything.
They’re unnecessary. Baseball invented the all-star game concept. And while it has some flaws, it still has the best one of the bunch. It also had the only truly magical thing about all-star games going for it: The novelty of seeing all the players on the same field wearing their respective uniforms.
It was special. Even after interleague play began and the leagues began to see each other on a more regular basis. And that has been sacrificed, all in the name of making a buck. And that is exactly what this is about. It is not good enough for MLB to have AL and NL uniforms. No, it must have 30 different versions in order to drive maximum revenue.
Baseball has seen many changes of late, both already in place or anticipated. Some are good (banning the shift, a pitch clock). Some are bad (ghost runners). And some are just flat-out stupid. The all-star jerseys are the latter. Commissioner Rob Manfred should another way to squeeze a few bucks out of fans.
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
