The failed rollout of MLB's new uniforms has claimed its latest victims.
The Milwaukee Brewers "Brew Crew" City Connect uniforms were supposed to make their 2024 home debut on Friday against the Seattle Mariners. However, the team is still waiting for Nike and Fanatics to deliver them, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Brewers will not be wearing their customary Friday home game City Connects tonight. They have not — and try to not be flabbergasted by this — arrived from Fanatics and Nike yet.
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) April 5, 2024
At the same time, a similar delay also ruined the season debut of the Texas Rangers City Connect duds, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas News.
The Rangers will not wear their city connect uniforms tonight; they haven’t yet received them from Fanatics.
— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) April 5, 2024
The club expects to have them by their next Friday home game (April 26).
Perhaps the delays are out of the hands of Nike, Fanatics and MLB. But if not, it's another black eye on the new partnership.
Nike, the designers, and Fanatics, the manufacturer, have been criticized heavily for the quality and look of the uniforms since their unveiling at spring training. However, MLB has met complaints about the "cheap" material of Nike's Vapor Premier jerseys and see-through pants with denials.
Likewise, this isn't the first time the partnership has come under fire for failing to deliver on time. For most of spring training, several teams resorted to using pants from last season due to a shortage of new ones.
The MLB Players Association got involved with executive director Tony Clark calling the situation "disappointing." Meanwhile, he added that the league ignored input from the MLBPA, which might have avoided the challenges players have ultimately faced.
The latest uniform snafu is especially alarming. While the missing uniforms are both special editions, the designs aren't new. The Brewers wore theirs for the first time in 2022 while the Rangers debuted in 2023.
Regardless of the reason behind the delay, it seems fair to say that these hiccups are beneath a league like MLB.
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