"What company made them?" - Rangers' World Series commemorative jerseys sparks joy amid MLB's 'seethrough' uniform controversy
The Texas Rangers won their first World Series title in 2023 after taking down NLCS champions the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games. To commemorate their winning run, the Rangers recently unveiled their World Series commemorative gold-trimmed uniforms for this year.
Talkin' Baseball shared the images of the new jerseys, in which Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien and Evan Carter were seen posing in glittering jerseys. The golden details were embedded on the cap, jersey number and team names.
Amid the recent MLB 'seethrough' jersey debacle, when fans caught wind of this, they were pleased with the work.
One fan wanted to know which company designed them.
"These are nice, what company made them?"
"Every team every year should wear these all year long!" another fan said.
Here are a few other fan reactions:
Fanatics CEO responds to MLB's 'seethrough' jersey debacle
Nike and Fanatics partnered with MLB to supply baseball kits over 10 years, starting 2019. However, the new jerseys didn't get the reaction they were looking for. Instead, after seeing Shohei Ohtani posing in a new jersey, people blamed Fanatics and Nike's collaboration for MLB's 'seethrough' jersey debacle.
Michael Rubin, Fanatics founder, recently came forward to address the controversy surrounding the jersey and said that it's unfair to blame them.
“This is a little bit of a difficult position,” Rubin said at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. “We’re purely doing exactly as we’ve been told, and we’ve been told we’re doing everything exactly right. And we’re getting the s--- kicked out of us. So that’s not fun.”
He further clarified that Nike provide them the specifications to which they comply while making the uniforms. The Swoosh label wanted the jerseys more breathable and stretchable after they got the feedback from the players.
“Nike designs everything. Hands us a spec and says, ‘Make this,’” he said. “We have made everything exactly to the spec, And Nike and baseball would say ‘Yes, you’ve done everything we’ve asked you do to.’”
According to Rubin, the problem lies in the need to get used to changes, remembering a similar thing happening in the NBA and the NFL when uniforms changed. Though, he mentioned that more players should have been involved in decision making.