Yankees fans are furious that the team's classic jerseys are about to be tarnished with silly nicknames
For Major League Baseball's inaugural Players Weekend at the end of the month, baseball players will be allowed to wear their nicknames on their official jerseys during games. The idea, while easy to mock, is also low-key fantastic in some iterations — Mr. Smile, anyone? Yes please.
Yankees fans, though, are furious to see their players' nicknames across the backs of the official, on-field MLB jerseys, Sporting News reports. Never in Yankees history has the team had names on any of its uniforms, but between Aug. 25-27, "All-Starlin" will be written above #14, "Kraken" above #24, and "All Rise" over #99.
It doesn't stop there:
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"One of the great traditions the #Yankees has is that this is all about the team and not the individual," wrote a Twitter user under the name of the Yankees' late longtime owner, George Steinbrenner. "I wanted to opt out of this promo." Another Twitter user wrote, "I hope all three games get rained out."
Or, as another fan put it:
Yankees fans who can stomach the break with tradition can get their favorite player's nickname jersey at the MLB shop for $199.99.
