Look, we all had a good time with the whole “Natinals” debacle. Laughing at high-profile misspellings is fun — especially when it comes to the Nationals, whose play at the time of that mistake wasn’t doing anything to distract us from poking fun. But we didn’t think that the Nationals were so determined to wipe that incident from their memory that they would completely eliminate the team’s name from their new home uniform.
The team unveiled new home jerseys last night. In this writer’s opinion, they look…cheap. I’m all about minimalism, but the white jersey — which, as you’ll notice, is basically just a white version of the blue and red alternate jerseys the team has worn for some time already — just kind of looks like something that a Little League team would be outfitted with. Sure, there are plenty of teams who don’t have their team’s name on the front of their home jersey — the Yankees immediately spring to mind. But the Yankees also wear a uniform that has, over the span of decades, become a part of the fabric of American popular culture — the Nationals haven’t quite reached that level of gravitas in their few years of existence. The players really seem to like the uniforms — but I’d argue that’s probably because the previous version were one of the most cluttered, blocky jerseys in the bigs, not because these jerseys are some kind of revolutionary alteration.
Let’s just put it this way — I doubt that Cliff Lee — who, for some reason, the Nationals think they actually have a chance at landing — will be awestruck by these duds. (Yankee pinstripes have always seemed more Lee’s style, anyway.)
But I’m willing to admit that all taste is relative. If you actually like the uniform and want to buy one, the team’s official store at Nationals Park is offering a 15 percent discount to customers who purchase a new jersey when they trade in an old MLB jersey through December 1. Nationals players Tyler Clippard, Ian Desmond, Drew Storen and Jordan Zimmermann will be on hand at the store today until 6 p.m. to sign autographs, if that kind of thing appeals to you.
Nats fans — do you disagree with me? Are any of you planning on buying one of these?