MLB, Major Leaguers, Clubs and partner organizations will shine a light on the unique personalities behind the world’s most talented baseball players when the third annual Players’ Weekend returns to MLB ballparks on August 23-25, it was announced jointly today by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Major League Baseball players will showcase their passions, backgrounds and interests by putting their own personal touches on what they wear and equipment they use during Players’ Weekend. Players have selected nicknames for themselves to be on the backs of their jerseys, and are given the chance to design, wear and use creatively colored and decorated equipment including bats, spikes, batting gloves, wristbands, compression sleeves and catcher’s equipment. A patch honoring Tyler Skaggs will also be available for players to wear on their uniforms, if they choose.
Thirty players, one representing each Club, have been named Players’ Weekend Ambassadors and will take the team-lead in championing the initiative and their teammates’ efforts. Players’ Weekend Ambassadors include: 2019 All-Star starters Ronald Acuña Jr., Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman and Hunter Pence, 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts, and 2019 T-Mobile Home Run Derby champion Pete Alonso. The full list can be found at the end of this release, on MLBPlayers.com and MLB.com.
New to Players’ Weekend this year will be an expansion of mobile device usage. Prior to the National Anthem, players will be permitted to use their personal handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, on the field or in the dugout to promote the event via social media. Also prior to and after the game, each player will again have the option to wear a t-shirt highlighting a cause or charity of his choice.
During the games, players will wear specially designed monochromatic all-black and all-white uniforms created specifically for the weekend-long event with jerseys by Majestic, caps by New Era Cap and socks from Stance. Each home team decided which colorway it will wear during the weekend with each visiting team wearing the other uniform option. Pitchers on teams wearing white uniforms will wear black caps to ensure all umpires and batters have clear visibility of each pitch. Images of every team’s uniforms can be found here: Players' Weekend Caps and Players' Weekend Jerseys.
Inspired by players’ style choices when they are away from the field, the fashionable monochromatic uniforms allow for each custom accessory design to stand out more than ever before. During Players’ Weekend, photo shoots will be conducted with players at ballparks to highlight the standout designs, which will be amplified over social media between MLB, the MLBPA, Clubs and most of all, individual player accounts using #PlayersWeekend.
In addition to the standard uniform items, Players’ Weekend 2019 will be the first MLB event with a league-wide batting helmet. The same Rawlings helmets used in all regular season contests will be decorated in matte black and matte white to further accentuate the white-on-white and black-on-black uniforms.
Game-worn, authenticated Players’ Weekend jerseys and batting helmets will be auctioned at MLB.com/auctions. All proceeds will be donated to the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, a joint effort established in July 2015 by MLB and the MLBPA with an initial commitment of $30 million focused on improving the caliber, effectiveness and availability of amateur baseball and softball programs across the United States and Canada.
Photos courtesy of MLB
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