MLB to allow players to wear nicknames on uniforms as part of 'Players Weekend'
The weekend will take place in late August
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1 min read
For years, folks have complained baseball is doing its best to strip players of their individuality and their ability to express their personalities and enthusiasm for playing the game. Some of that might be changing -- at least for a weekend.
That's because Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan is reporting that MLB and the union have agreed to turn August 25-27 into "Players Weekend." What does that entail? Evidently relaxed uniform rules.
Here's what Passan reported:
Major League Baseball will relax its uniform rules for a weekend later this season, allowing players to put nicknames on the back of their jerseys, wear fluorescent-colored shoes and personalize a patch paying tribute to someone instrumental in their development, according to a memo obtained by Yahoo Sports.
There are a lot of questions to be answered about this weekend, including whether a team like the New York Yankees -- who, obviously do not wear names on their jerseys -- will partake. Given that both sides, the owners and players agreed to these terms, it seems unlikely that teams will have discretion over if and how they participate in the weekend's festivities.
It's worth noting that the NBA tried the whole nickname-on-jerseys bit a few years back. MLB's attempt seems to have the same end goal in mind: selling more merchandise. We'll see if their plan works -- and if we can go the whole weekend without a silly controversy.
