MLB uniform material is being used for medical masks and gowns

Opening Day's delay is health care workers' home run.

MLB teams were supposed to step onto the field Thursday for the first games of the 2020 season, but like every other sport out there, the new coronavirus postponed their season. So instead of fashioning fabric into new uniforms, uniform maker Fanatics has repurposed it to address a nationwide shortage of masks and hospital gowns, The New York Times reports.

Fanatics manufactures the Nike uniforms for the MLB in its Easton, Pennsylvania, factory, and recently shifted to start fulfilling medical needs instead of T-shirt orders. "We've got tremendous amounts of fabric, which is exactly what the players wear," said Michael Rubin, the founder and executive chairman of Fanatics. "We're just taking it and making the masks and gowns that can be used by the people who are working to save lives every day."

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So far, Fanatics has only made prototypes of the gowns and mask, recognizably using the New York Yankees' and Philadelphia Phillies' pinstripes. Read more — and see pictures of the gown and mask ensembles— at The New York Times.