Williams: See-through the complaints. Major League Baseball uniform rollout is embarrassing

GOODYEAR, Arizona – It’s beyond the story of the spring.

It’s embarrassing.

Major League Baseball has stepped in it again – and this time for all the world to see. And if a player bends over, well, maybe a little too much for all the world to see.

We’re talkin’ about uniforms. Yes, uniforms and how badly MLB has screwed up the look and quality of its new, Nike-designed duds.

Players across baseball, including here in Reds camp, are ticked about the fit, the colors and see-through nature of the thin material. Better hope baseball implements a mandatory underwear-wearing policy with those new white pants.

You can look at this as spoiled, wealthy professional athletes complaining about a first-world problem.

Or you can look at the big picture and see it as another public-relations misstep for a sport that’s constantly battling to remain relevant in a football-crazed, American culture.

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Hard to win over new fans if you can’t even get something as simple as uniforms right.

America’s erstwhile pastime has gotten good at bad PR. In this case, baseball broke something that didn’t need fixed. The players were fine with the old uniform quality and fit. But MLB had to tinker to try to sell more merchandise, even though it’s done a good job in recent seasons with the alternative uniforms and City Connect series in recent years.

Baseball buffoonery has recently been happening in two-year cycles. At this time in 2022, baseball was completely shut down and the season didn’t start on time because of a labor dispute.

In 2020, a Major League Baseball investigation revealed the Houston Astros cheated their way to the 2017 World Series championship. Commissioner Rob Manfred refused to revoke the Astros’ trophy, which he called a “piece of metal.” It was weak enough that he didn’t revoke the title. But he also had to demean the game by essentially saying its ultimate prize is something that can be found in a scrap yard.

You’ll never hear Roger Goodell call the Lombardi Trophy a “piece of metal.”

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Further, baseball’s all-over-the-map, regional television deals suppress casual fan interest. Everyone is telling you to cut the cord. OK, then. So you get YouTube TV, Hulu or Sling. Bad news, baseball and wannabe baseball fans. You can’t watch the Reds on any of those streaming platforms.

It’s not baseball’s fault that Bally Sports’ bumbling parent company and the streaming services can’t reach a deal. But fans don’t see it that way. They just know they can’t watch the Reds. As such, it’s another black eye on baseball.

One unforced error leads to another in baseball. Meanwhile, little Johnny is playing soccer and falling in love watching the NFL with mom and dad on Sundays.

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I probably get pissed off about baseball’s blunders more than the casual fan. I love the game. I love coaching youth baseball. I love the chess match between pitcher and batter. I love the lessons baseball teaches us about patience and overcoming adversity.

I love that baseball reflects reality better than any sport. Even the most successful hitters only succeed 30% of the time. And it’s a long process even to reach that level of success. Baseball runs counter to an instant-gratification culture.

And maybe I’m a little extra upset about MLB’s uniform screw-up, because a few days ago several kids in my neighborhood were told: Sorry, not enough kids your age signed up to have a team.

Part of that has to do with some kids playing select ball. But a big reason is kids are choosing to do other things.

Major League Baseball can’t afford to lose any kid who’s interested in the game. The kids in neighborhoods nationwide who are being told there aren’t enough players signed up to make a team will find other sports and interests. They’re likely never coming back to baseball.

There are real consequences. Major League Baseball does good work with some of its youth baseball programs. The Reds are among the best at promoting youth baseball.

But Major League Baseball can do better to fix the complex issue of interest in the game. But how the hell can it do that if it can’t even make pants thick enough so you don’t see a player’s jock strap?

Contact Enquirer columnist Jason Williams by email at  jwilliams@enquirer.com

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Uniform backlash another embarrassment for Major League Baseball