MLB players weekend is fun, but it also might not have been all that well thought out this year.
When turning on a game this weekend one will notice teams wearing all-white as the players weekend uniforms all are, that team's pitcher will be wearing a black hat rather than the white one his teammates are wearing.
Here's a perfect example with Jake deGrom:
Jacob deGrom looks like a black and white cookie pic.twitter.com/znSJWLUWgP
— Andrew Harts (@AndrewHarts) August 23, 2019
And another with Anthony DeSclafani:
@UniWatch @PhilHecken Reds P Anthony DeSclafani wearing a black cap. Reds broadcast team says pitchers required to wear black due to hitters background; say the Reds’ request to wear Red caps was denied. pic.twitter.com/csdsXaJWUO
— Alex Hider (@alexhider) August 23, 2019
Meanwhile, teammates are wearing hats like Pete Alonso:
Let’s Go Polar Bear!! #lgm #alonso @Mets pic.twitter.com/AOzFFw3bna
— Michael McAteer (@michaelmacnj) August 23, 2019
It's very odd to see teammates wearing different colored hats. On occasion players have worn different lids than their teammates like Alex Torres who was forced to don a helmet after taking a line drive off of his head.
@PaulPabst Alex Torres pitches for Padres with this helmet. pic.twitter.com/VuhqpO1AOA
— Pep 4-EVA (@ScottyP13) July 20, 2016
So this isn't a completely new thing but it is odd. So then why is MLB doing it? Well, as anyone who has pitched at any level of baseball knows, a pitcher can't have anything on his person that could hide the white ball used by the league.
Players can't wear white sleeves on their throwing arm, they can't have strings hanging off of their gloves which could catch someone's attention and some jewelry is even off limits. This isn't jewelry but it does fall under this rule.
"Each home team decided which colorway it will wear during the weekend with each visiting team wearing the other uniform option," the MLB wrote in a statement leading up to the weekend. "Pitchers on teams wearing white uniforms will wear black caps to ensure all umpires and batters have clear visibility of each pitch.
So while some might like the all-white uniforms some of the teams are wearing, MLB clearly didn't quite think it through because the black hats are jarring when seen alongside the white of their teammates.
But we are here for the all-white uniforms. We just wish entire teams could wear them at all times.
2024 @ Gameon