Everyone’s been waiting to see how SNY’s Keith Hernandez would weigh in on the new Fantaics-branded MLB uniforms, which have drawn the ire of fans and players alike. Unfortunately, Hernandez had his first off day of the season, quipped his colleague and legendary play-by-play voice Gary Cohen, which also coincided with the New York Mets’ first spring training game.
Cohen later revealed that Hernandez had a “good excuse” because of a result of his and his brother’s induction into the Pacifica Sports Hall of Fame in California.
That left Cohen and Ron Darling to discuss the uniform openly. They had a nuanced discussion, but were perhaps missing Hernandez’s signature humor.
“As a fan — as an observer — what I noticed immediately is that the names and the numbers have shrunk to Lilliputian in size,” said Cohen.
“I mean, you spend your entire life hitting in the cage, running drills, whatever, so you can have a big name on the back and a big number,” added Darling. “And it’s very difficult to see. I mean, (Saturday’s starting pitcher Tylor) Megill, he’s too big of a guy to have those little webs; come on.”
Cohen observed that the pursuit of making jerseys more athletic, with features like thinness, stretchiness, lightweight construction and moisture-wicking properties, has seemingly come at the cost of reduced lettering size.
“You don’t have big embroidery like that (camera pans to a Black Jacob deGrom jersey) on a lighter, stretchier jersey,” he said.
“That really reveals the difference,” Darling said.
“Right? It stands out in a much more emphatic way,” added Cohen.
While Major League Baseball’s various statements haven’t really acknowledged concerns regarding the jerseys and pants, prominent figures like Cohen and Darling voicing their criticisms could bring added scrutiny to the issue, especially considering the season’s imminent arrival and the weight of their respective voices in the sport.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.