The all-black and all-white Players Weekend uniforms have been criticized by players, managers, media and fans, including Cubs manger Joe Maddon, who politely called them “awkward.”
The Cubs even went rogue Friday, letting their players wear traditional blue hats. And MLB didn’t like it.
“The pitcher (Jon Lester) was supposed to wear a black hat and (position players) were supposed to wear white,” Maddon said. “So they got together and figured (for) uniformity we’d all wear the same hat. A solidarity kind of a move.”
Asked if MLB was giving teams some leeway, Maddon laughed.
“No, as we found out, we don’t,” Maddon said.
After the Cubs went rogue in the only afternoon game, several other teams around baseball did likewise Friday night, opting to have all their players wear non-sanctioned hats. A major-league source said MLB sent an edict Saturday instructing teams to follow the rules.
The Cubs wore their white hats Saturday and will again Sunday, with the exception of the pitchers, who will wear black caps so hitters don’t have a disadvantage seeing the ball.
Around baseball, players and personnel mocked the uniforms.
“What’s the slogan: Let the kids play, let the grown-ups look like idiots?” Indians manager Terry Francona asked.
Maddon also couldn’t hide his distaste for the attire.
“Listen, I get in so many tough spots when I demonstrate my feelings on certain things,” he said. “I just don’t know. I’d just like to know who said this was a good idea. That’s the best way I can describe that. Just really awkward, very awkward. They’re getting enough heat. I don’t need to pile on.
“We have such wonderful uniforms. I’ll go back to (the alternate Little League Classic uniforms) in Williamsport. That was very cool. Last year’s (Players Weekend uniforms) were very cool.
“My take on it is they should every team design their own Players Weekend uniform. That would be cool.”
Maddon said teams should pick players to design a special uniform during the offseason, suggesting Jason Heyward, Anthony Rizzo and Jon Lester as the Cubs’ fashion designers.
“You style the Cubs uniforms, then it truly is Players Weekend,” he said. “I think you’d get a lot more interesting and better unigrams if you went that route.”
