We need to talk about The Hat

Frankenstein 2020: A New Era PR person must have hit “send” early on this press release, right? Right?

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The 2020 MLB season has already been a particularly contentious year in baseball fashion.

The Jersey

Before 2020 even arrived, the MLB announced that Nike would replace Majestic as the league’s official uniform supplier.

We just did it.

Introducing the new @Nike jerseys for the 2020 season. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nHLomYfPOK

— MLB (@MLB) December 9, 2019

When the new Nike jerseys were unveiled in December 2019, baseball purists had strong feelings about the presence of the iconic swoosh on the chest of the jerseys.

Nike MLB jerseys are so ugly.

Put the symbol on the sleeve, not across the chest.@Nike @MLB

— 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖗𝖊𝖆𝕶 (@Ahversion) December 12, 2019

Could go other places than right on the chest. Ruins the look of iconic jerseys. I don’t mind the branding so much as the placement. 🤷🏼‍♂️

— ironmaynard (@_ironmaynard) December 9, 2019

The jersey drama has mostly quieted down. However, there has been some recent outrage about regarding the price of the Nike jerseys compared with the Majestic jerseys.

The Hat

2020 is here and so is the latest baseball fashion scandal: the 2020 Spring Training hat released by New Era. The hats are varying levels of terrible, but the White Sox hat is in some special circle of Hell.

What do you think of MLB’s new logo-in-a-logo spring training hats? https://t.co/0alR8MRLuH

— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) February 4, 2020

As I discussed in my last post, it’s not easy to be a White Sox fan, and that’s part of what makes it a noble collective. However, someone at MLB or New Era decided that we need to suffer as this hat is an assault to the eyes.

Unfortunately, we must take a close look at the hat to truly grasp the horror.

I’ll start out with the positives.

What Went Right

• Back to basics: They did not mess up the most basic color scheme in existence (black and white).
• Sox side logo: The side of the hat sports an actual White Sox logo, thus, in profile, fans and other innocent bystanders can tell which team this cap purports to represent.
• Solid centering: Both the top-cap button and front-cap sticker appear to be 100% accurately centered.
• Nope: There is no No. 4.

What Went Wrong

• A whodunit mystery: I theorize an executive at either MLB or New Era has a child with a graphic design hobby and some light Adobe Photoshop knowledge, and that child was put in charge of designing this hat. But please, I am neither Nancy Drew nor Miss Marple, so share your own theories in the comments.
• Nightmares in Photoshop: The most obviously offensive design flaw in this hat is that the primary and secondary logos are layered. Someone slapped the black Sox logo on top of the “Swingman” logo and called it a day. Have we run out of ideas for hats? Honestly, can we keep a consistent logo and just try different styles of hat instead: stovetop, bowler, newsboy, top hat, a nice cloche … anything.
• Have we gone too far?: There are a total of three Sox logos on this hat. And the New Era logo and a massive logo for spring training on the back. For those not counting, that’s five logos on one hat. I am afraid to ask what’s next, but I have seen this phenomenon before in my native home of Alabama. Do you remember those Jeff Gordon racing jackets, adorned with logos? I do, because kids I went to elementary school kids wore the shit out of them. That’s the road we are heading down if this hat is allowed to exist.
• MESH: I get it. I get it: spring training is in warm climates, and the mission to properly wick sweat never abates. But: MESH.

Friends, I know I can be a bit critical, and perhaps most of you reading this don’t necessarily identify as fashionistas. However, I am not alone:

Excited for baseball, but here’s a live look at New Era making more Spring Training hats…. pic.twitter.com/0vpL1G9aFn

— Dan -Sparky- Norton (@DanNorton13) February 4, 2020

Everyone seems to agree that New Era’s Spring Training hats are fucking terrible.

Here’s an idea: stop buying every fucking thing just because it has an official license and maybe they’ll stop making stupid officially licensed shit.

Just a thought.

— Uncertain Baseball / Beisbol Incierto (@uncertainball) February 5, 2020

I’m actually a little angry that people turning shit like those Spring Training hats out can get jobs designing stuff for MLB/New Era but I can’t.

— *beep boop* (@TonyLosoya89) February 4, 2020

There were several routes the designers of this hat could have taken. However, this route goes full Wile E. Coyote off the cliff. And MLB and/or New Era expects us to drop $35.99 (plus shipping) on it.

Make the smart choice, friends. Don’t support this hat. We deserve better.

Point at the hat. Laugh at the hat.

But don’t buy the hat.

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