Major League Baseball uniforms
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uniforms A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, se ...
worn by
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
teams have changed significantly since professional baseball was first played in the 19th century. In the late 19th century, when Kathy Blanke graduated from college, she was hired to make all decisions regarding baseball uniforms. Under Blanke's leadership, over time they have adapted from improvised, wool uniforms to mass-produced team brands made from
polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...
. The official supplier for Major League Baseball uniforms is Nike, who has held the contract since 2020.


Uniforms


Early days

The official rules of Major League Baseball require that all players on a team wear matching uniforms, although this rule was not enforced in the early days. Originally, teams were primarily distinguished by the colors of their stockings and the success of the Cincinnati Red Stockings popularized the adoption of sock color as the explicit identity of the club. The 1876 Chicago White Stockings actually wore caps of different colors. In 1882, the National League assigned stocking colors to the member clubs: red for
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, white for Chicago, gray for Buffalo, blue for Worcester, gold for Detroit, green for Troy, and so on. That year, the league also assigned
jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
and cap colors, but by player
position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...
rather than by club.


Changes

Traditionally, when playing at home, teams wore uniforms that were mostly white with trim in team colors and when playing away, they wore uniforms that were mostly gray with trim in team colors. Aside from the obvious need to distinguish one team from the other, conventional wisdom held that it was more difficult to properly launder uniforms while on a
road trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances travelled by automobile. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by t ...
, thus the "road grays" helped to hide accumulated soil. This convention continued well after its original premise was nullified by the issuance of multiple uniforms and the growth of the laundromat industry. Starting in the 1970s, with the advent of synthetic fabrics, teams began using more color in their uniforms, notably the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, the San Diego Padres' brown-and-yellow scheme beginning in 1969, and the
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
' rainbow stripes in the mid-1970s. This era also saw the emergence of powder blue as a primary road color, with teams such as the
Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
,
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
,
Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...
and
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
popularizing the look. In the late 1970s, the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
began a trend of multiple combinations of differently colored jerseys and trousers and caps (with the options of black, yellow, and white with pin stripes). At one point in the 1970s, the
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
had an all-red uniform. From 1976 to 1981, the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
at times had an all-blue uniform, part of a radical style which included a jersey with a large collar, worn untucked—and, for two games in 1976, shorts. With colored tops becoming popular during this period, some teams stopped wearing road gray uniforms, mainly due to the fact that these uniforms are easily distinguishable. By the mid-1980s, however, the road grays would return, and the trend of colored jerseys would not return until the mid-1990s. In his comedy routine "Baseball & Football",
George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercul ...
observes that in baseball, as compared to football, the
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...
is required to wear the same uniform the players do. However, this was actually not true in the early years of the game. Player-managers were common, but non-playing managers whose realm was strictly the dugout often wore business suits, a common occurrence at the time. Retired players who became managers were more likely to continue to wear a baseball uniform (
John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...
, for example), especially if they were also active on the coaching lines; managers often doubled as third-base coach. By the late 1940s, nearly all managers were wearing baseball uniforms. Connie Mack was the last major league manager to wear a suit in the dugout until his retirement in the early 1950s; however, in contrast to the uniform-wearing managers, Mack rarely if ever stepped onto the field during a game; instead he sent uniformed coaches onto the field when a managerial presence outside the dugout was required.


Modern era

Starting in the 1990s, MLB clubs began heavily marketing licensed goods, such as caps and uniform jerseys to the public and this has resulted in a wide array of uniforms for each team. Now, some teams have not only a basic home uniform and away uniform, but also special "Sunday game" uniforms and uniforms worn only during batting practice and uniforms worn on singular events. From time to time, individual MLB teams have held "Turn Back the Clock Day", regularly scheduled games in which teams donned uniforms in styles their predecessors wore generations earlier (sometimes called "throwback" uniforms), or other antique-style uniforms such as those of
Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
clubs. The
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
occasionally use the livery of their original identity as the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
, on special anniversaries or occasions, for example such as in honor of the retirement of
Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...
's uniform number 42 throughout professional baseball (on April 15 – the anniversary of Robinson's MLB debut – entire teams often wear 42). In addition, in 1999, MLB staged "Turn Ahead the Clock Day", in which teams wore uniforms that were built around a "futuristic" theme, including
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
references, such as the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
being referred to as the "
Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...
Mets." The result is that it is now often difficult to say which uniform is a team's "official" one. For example, from 1999 to 2006 the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
wore a variety of caps: all red, red crown and black bill, black crown and red bill, and all black, but since 2007, only the all-red (home) and red crown/black bill (away) are used. In contrast from the pre-1970s era, in which there usually was just one home uniform and one road uniform (with certain exceptions, such as Oakland and Pittsburgh's complex combinations), today choices of what combination of uniform elements are worn are now sometimes left up to players. In some cases, aspects of the uniform that are considered official are rarely worn, such as the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
' blue home cap, with the orange button, which was rarely seen on the field in the years 1998–2012 in favor of an "alternate" black-and-blue cap. The Mets added the orange button on their blue caps in 1995. Through 2014, the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
and
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
wear uniforms which have changed little since the 1930s – while the
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
have worn essentially the same ''home'' uniform during that span (only the Tigers, Yankees,
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
, and
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
retain the once-common practice of placing the cap insignia on their home whites, though many teams, including the Nationals and White Sox, do so on alternate jerseys), their road grays have changed more often. The Dodgers (a blue jersey once in 1999) and Tigers (a navy jersey twice in 1995) had worn alternate uniforms in the past, but as of 2010 did not have one (the St. Louis Cardinals didn't wear an alternate ''jersey'' until 2013, but since 1998 used an alternate cap, with the distinctive "birds-on-bat" logo rather than the traditional interlocking StL, for some home games, and also in 2013, with the adoption of their home red cap as their full-time standard, the navy blue road cap was designated as an alternate, worn exclusively against red-capped home teams). Starting in 2023, Major League teams are limited to a home, away and two alternate uniforms, as well as the
City Connect City Connect is a brand name of third jersey, alternate uniforms made by Nike, Inc. for Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The jerseys feature different color schemes, fonts, and graphical elements compared with the teams' typical home and away un ...
uniform. As a result, a number of teams began to veer away from wearing gray uniforms on road games, something that was not seen since the "pullover" era of the 1970s–1980s.


Teams and cities displaying

Typically, home uniforms feature the team's nickname, while away uniforms feature the name of the team's geographic designation. Currently, the
Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...
, Los Angeles Angels,
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
and St. Louis Cardinals are the only exceptions to this rule, although the Cardinals' aforementioned 2013 alternate placed "St. Louis" on their jerseys for the first time since 1932. These teams feature the club nickname on both the home and away uniforms (since 1900, in 169 seasons – including the Athletics' presence in the city from 1901 to 1954 – the full word "Philadelphia" has never appeared on a Major League jersey). The
Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
did not display their city name on their road gray jerseys from 2000-2019, and from 2000–09, had an alternate blue jersey with "Brewers" on the front. They introduced a navy blue jersey with "Milwaukee" on the front in 2010, but kept the navy alternate with "Brewers" on the front; both navy jerseys were worn interchangeably at home and on the road for the next 10 seasons.. The Brewers redesigned their uniforms for 2020, with "Milwaukee" on the front of the road grays for the first time since 1999. From 1973 to 2008, the
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
were part of this group – the omission of the city's name being part of a largely successful effort to attract fans from the Washington, D.C. area – before returning "Baltimore" to the road jerseys in 2009, by which time the current Nationals franchise had begun playing Washington, D.C. In 2014, the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
and
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
partially joined this group, carrying one road jersey with the city name and another with the team name, and wearing both interchangeably; in only the third game of the season,
one player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...
accidentally played the first inning in the "Chicago" jersey while the team wore "Cubs"; the Cubs dropped the alternate road jersey in 2016, leaving the "Chicago" version as the lone style. As of 2020, only one team wears their city/state name on their home uniforms, the
Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...
. From 2009-2019, the Texas Rangers wore their state name on all of their jerseys, but introduced a new uniform set for 2020 to coincide with the move to
Globe Life Field Globe Life Field is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers. It is located just south of Choctaw Stadium, the Rangers' former home ballpark. History Background On May ...
which displays "Rangers" on the white jersey. A number of teams do not display their team nickname on their home uniforms. Instead, they place the team logo or insignia in front. The most famous example is the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
' classic pinstripe home uniforms featuring the interlocking "NY" logo. Other examples include the
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
' Old English "D", and the "Curly W" of the
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
(the logo was originally used by the second Washington Senators (now Texas Rangers)). MLB jerseys worn on the field have been made out of double-knit polyester since the early 1970s. The
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
were the first to switch when they opened Three Rivers Stadium following the 1970 All-Star Game. The Cardinals followed suit to open 1971, and the Orioles made a gradual change until adopting them full-time for that season's
ALCS The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...
. Sixteen teams debuted double-knits to open 1972; the Red Sox adopted them after the All-Star Game, and the Giants debuted them at home only at mid-season as well. The final flannel holdouts, the Expos, Royals and Yankees, converted to open 1973. Jerseys have featured an MLB logo on the back collar since 2000, whereas MLB on-field caps have featured an MLB logo on the back since 1992. Until 2007, MLB caps were made out of wool, with a gray underbrim having become common by the late 1980s. (The
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
were among the last MLB teams to wear caps with the previously common kelly green underbrim, only switching their caps to the gray underbrim in 1994.) In 2007, all standard MLB caps were made of polyester, with a black underbrim to reduce glare.


Jersey numbers

Jersey numbers were first used in Major League Baseball by the Cleveland Indians June 26, 1916. The Indians were inspired by football and hockey teams using numbers. The team donned the numbers on their sleeve and only did so for a few weeks as an experiment. Jersey numbers would not return again to the Major Leagues until 1923 when St. Louis Cardinals' manager Branch Rickey decided to add numbers to the sleeves on a recommendation by sportswriter John Sheridan. The team was subject to criticism for wearing numbers on their uniforms by opposing teams and fans. Ricky was quoted as saying, "The effect upon the team was bad and ‘busted up’ the team morale or spirit completely. They really didn’t want to show themselves on the field. Because of the continuing embarrassment to the players, the numbers were removed." Jersey numbers fell out of use again until 1929. In 1929, the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees both introduced jerseys with numbers on the back. On April 16, 1929 the Yankees opening game was cancelled due to rain while the Indians played, becoming the first team to wear numbers on the back. By the mid-1930s every team in Major League Baseball team were wearing numbers on the back of jerseys except the Philadelphia Athletics. The Athletics later added numbers to their jerseys in 1939. The first jersey number retired by a team was #4 by the New York Yankees to honor Lou Gehrig. In 1997, MLB retired Jackie Robinson's #42 league wide, the first and only number that no player is allowed to wear anymore. As of April 15, 1997 #42 was retired except for players wearing the number prior to it being retired. Mariano Rivera was the last player to wear #42 when he retired in 2013. Every April 15 since 2009 every player, manager, and umpire wears #42 to commemorate Jackie Robinson. April 15 is now known as Jackie Robinson day.


Official rules

The official rules state that: * All players on a team must wear identical uniforms during a single game. * Numbers: All players must wear their uniform numbers on the back of the uniform. * Undershirt: If the undershirt is exposed then all the players on the team must wear matching ones. Numbers or other devices may be worn on the sleeve of the undershirt (for example, if it is worn with a sleeveless jersey), except that pitchers may not have such devices on their undershirt sleeves. * The league office might require that each team have a single uniform for all games or requires that each team have a single, white home uniform and a single, non-white away uniform. With the elimination of the separate American League and National League administrations, this rule is most often seen in use in the minor leagues. * Sleeve length: The rules allow for minor variation in sleeve length, but they must be "approximately the same length" and the sleeves may not be "ragged, frayed or slit." * No attachments: Tape or other attachments of non-matching color may not be used on uniforms. Pants may not be attached to the bottom of the shoe in any manner. * No images of baseballs: No "pattern that imitates or suggests the shape of a baseball" may be used on uniforms. Notably, in apparent violation of this rule, several teams have used cap or jersey logos that have incorporated a baseball in their design, such as the
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
,
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
, Florida Marlins,
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
,
Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
,
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
,
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
,
Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
,
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
,
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...
, and the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
. However, in each of these cases, the baseball element of each logo is either obscured by another logo element, or rendered so small as not to be confused with an actual baseball. The purpose of this rule is to prevent one team from deceiving the other. (The
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
has a similar rule, which states that no pattern that imitates or suggests the shape of a football.) * No glass buttons or polished metal. * Commercial advertisements on uniforms: While almost completely prohibited by MLB before 2022, The 2022-2027 Collective Bargaining agreement allows a small shoulder patch with a corporate logo or image on one sleeve of the Uniform, as well as the batting helmets. As such patches are optional, the players have allowed them to raise money for their clubs. All other commercial advertisements are forbidden. * Names: "A league may provide that the uniforms of its member teams include the names of its players on their backs. Any name other than the last name of the player must be approved by the League President. If adopted, all uniforms for a team must have the names of its players." Again, with the elimination of separate administrations for the American and National leagues, this rule is more often invoked by the minor leagues. (
Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played professionally for 28 seasons. He played nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), where he began his ...
, formerly of the
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...
, is the last player to have his given name rather than his family name displayed on the back of his uniform, having applied for this permission in order to continue being identified as he had been in the Japanese leagues. Vida Blue also used his first name on the back of his uniform when he played for the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
in the mid-1980s). As of 2022, the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
and
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
do not display their players' names on their home uniforms; the Yankees also do not display them on their road uniforms. The Seattle Mariners' cream home alternate uniforms, introduced in 2015, also went without player names. The
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
were the first team to add player names to their uniform, doing so on their 1960 road uniform, and then added them on the home uniform the next year. The White Sox then removed the player names in 1971 before bringing them back in 1976. Names were removed again from 1987 to 1990, but were added only on the road uniform midway through 1990. Their alternate black uniform would have player names when first introduced in 1991. Player names would return to the home uniform in 1997. The
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
adopted names on their uniforms in the 1970s but removed them from the home uniform in 2000. The Giants also went without names in their orange (starting in 2010) and black (2001 and starting in 2015) alternate uniforms, but added names to their home and alternate uniforms in 2021. The
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
used alternate home uniforms without last names for the 1999 season. The names were returned the next season. The
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
did not have names on their home or alternate jerseys for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The names are now back on both jerseys. The
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
did not have names on the back of their home and road jerseys for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Names returned on both jerseys in 2007. The
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
did not feature names on the back of three different " throwback" alternate uniforms, used in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2018. The
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
wore cream alternate home uniforms without player names from 2008 to 2016. Another apparent violation of the concept of a "uniform" is that some players on a team will wear the traditional knee-breeches or "knickers" while other teammates are wearing the more-recent ankle-length, closely cut trousers. Many clubs do this at both major and minor league level, with no apparent objections. On game days that do not require a special uniform (either by team or MLB request) it is generally (but not always) the starting pitcher for a team that chooses the uniform to be worn for that day's game.


See also

* Baseball uniform *
City Connect City Connect is a brand name of third jersey, alternate uniforms made by Nike, Inc. for Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The jerseys feature different color schemes, fonts, and graphical elements compared with the teams' typical home and away un ...
, a third jersey introduced in 2021 and 2022 for some MLB teams * Major League Baseball#Uniforms


References


External links


History of the Baseball uniform
at the
National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

All-time Major League Baseball team uniform database
at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Baseball History Shorts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major League Baseball Uniforms Uniforms