Baseball Uniform Rules

Professional sports leagues have strict rules and regulations concerning the uniforms worn by the players that are on each team and Major League Baseball is certainly no exception. The rules regarding baseball uniforms are stated under section 1.11 in the official rules of Major League Baseball and must be adhered to by all players. MLB actually sends security people to games to make sure that players are complying with these uniform rules.

  1. Style

    • The numbers on the back of a players uniform must be at least 6 inches long to comply with MLB uniform rules. When a team takes the field the uniforms on those players must be identical when it comes to such properties as their color, the trim on the uniform and the styling. If a player does attempt to play with a uniform that differs from the rest of the club he shall not be allowed.

    Options

    • Clubs have the options to wear one uniform that is distinctive at both home and away games or to have a home uniform that is separate from the ones the players wear at road contests. The home uniform should be primarily white. For example, the New York Yankees will wear white uniforms with blue pinstripes at home and gray uniforms on the road. Any change in the color pattern for even one game must be approved by the league.

    Sleeves

    • The sleeves that the player's wear must be about the same length for all, although the rules do allow for some variations from player to player. However, there is no leeway when it comes to sleeves having slits cut into them. Sleeves cannot be "ragged" or "frayed" and if a player's undershirt is exposed by his buttons being undone the color of it must be the same as the rest of the squad's undershirts.

    Significance

    • No player can have anything on his outfit that even remotely resembles a baseball. This is significant because the pattern that may look like a baseball could easily be mistaken for a real ball during the course of play, leading to confusion among the players. Glass buttons and shiny polished metal is also not allowed on a uniform since these objects can reflect sunlight and the glare of lights at night into a player's eyes.

    Considerations

    • In these days of utter commercialism it is important to note that an MLB uniform may never have any type of advertisement patches or any design that suggests an advertisement of any kind on them. The players are allowed to have their names on their uniform backs if the club so chooses. But if one player has his name on his back then all must do so. If a player desires to have any name on his uniform's back other than his given last name this needs to be given the consent of the president of the player's league.