When Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Corbin Burnes, Jordan Westburg and Anthony Santander played in this year’s All-Star Game, they wore tan jerseys that had “American League” across the front.
In 2025, when the All-Star Game is held at Truist Park in Atlanta, any Baltimore Orioles All-Stars will be wearing their road gray uniforms, as they would for any normal road game. The National League players will wear their white home uniforms. MLB made the announcement on Monday.
That was the tradition in the All-Star Game from its inception in the 1930s up until 2019, when the league opted to start using non-traditional jerseys for the game.
The concept never really got traction with players or fans, to the point where MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league was considering going back to the traditional home whites and road gray uniforms for the game in Atlanta.
“I’m aware of the sentiment,” he said during a press conference.
This came two years after Manfred told reporters that he like the change to a single uniform for each league during the game.
“I never thought that a baseball team wearing different jerseys in a game was a particularly appealing look for us,” he said.
The change was part of a deal with Nike, as the apparel company and the league agreed to a 10-year, $1 billion deal to become MLB’s official uniform supplier. With it came specially-designed uniforms for the Game while players wore their regular uniforms for the Home Run Derby.
MLB said that players in the Home Run Derby will continue to wear their normal uniforms for that event, but that the rest of the participants would wear specially designed uniforms for workout day and other activities.
Along with the change for the All-Star Game, the league also announced that it is moving back to the former fabric and lettering used before Nike introduced the Vapor Premier jersey design, which was supposed to improve mobility and fit for players.
The uniforms caused widespread criticism from players about the uniforms, including the smaller lettering and numbers. MLB said it conducted a survey of players on next steps, and the new uniforms will feature enlarged letters for player names, embroidered sleeve patches and reverting back to full pant customization.
It will take more than a year for the uniforms to return to their 2023 form, but the transition will start with road uniforms, which will be ready for spring training.
It’s just in time for those Orioles that will head to Atlanta for next year’s All-Star Game.
Leave a Reply