Amazingly, the sport that’s governed by unwritten rules like “don’t walk across the mound,” or “don’t celebrate doing cool shit too exuberantly” has one of the best league-wide alternate jersey events in sports.
MLB’s Players’ Weekend dresses up every team in either black or white monochrome jerseys, and replaces the last names on the back with every player’s preferred nickname. Now, you can preorder your own limited edition replica to ensure you get one when they ship out in conjunction with Players’ Weekend on August 23-25. Replica jerseys and less expensive t-shirts are both available, so you won’t necessarily have to shell out too much money to wear your favorite player’s nickname on your back.
The lucky exception to the monochrome jerseys belong to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs, who get colorful “The Burgh” and “Cubbies” jerseys for MLB’s Little League Classic. Next weekend, both teams will watch the kids play in the Little League World Series by day, then take to the field in Williamsport themselves for a game in front of the kids that evening.
My favorite nickname, for the record, belongs to Joey Votto: “Who.” Let us know yours in the comments.