Major League Baseball Makes Another Major-League Mistake

I donned my first little-league uniform when I was 10 years old. We were goofy. We were terrible. But we were the A's, and we were stupid-dope proud of it. Well, at least I was. Nothing made me prouder as a kid then to put on my uniform every practice, and every game, even if it was only twice a week during summer months. This was of course when I first discovered that the Oakland A's used to be known as the Kansas City A's, so it was another reason to be proud of our assigned team name. Had that not been the case, I'm sure I could've wrangled up an assortment of other reasons, because I was playing the game I loved, with visitors in the stands, and the dream of one day being a pro. Apparently, Major League Baseball doesn't want kids to dream anymore.

I don't aim this to be a once-glorious-turned-sour themed post, but this is ridiculous. That's right. Major League Baseball is in the process of strongarming little league uniform production companies into ceasing creation of shirts and hats with the names and logos of the pros. My response to that: Boo.

As Tim Cronin of Herald News Online reports, the MLB powers that be don't mind if the uniforms have franchise names of the pros on their digs, but the uniform-production companies must buy them from Majestic Athletic, the exclusive apparel licensee of MLB.

"That impacts us," said Steve Bowles, president of the 700-player (Tinley Park) Bulldogs organization. "We can't have a (Major League) team name or logo on the uniform unless we buy it from Majestic. And when we did a cost comparison of what we had versus that, we can't do it for the same price."

Cronin quotes Howard Smith, MLB's senior vice president of licensing, in his piece. Smith implies that Major League Baseball has never ordered a production company to quit producing uniforms with MLB franchises and logos. He claims that the league wants little leaguers geared up in major-league attire. As Cronin notes, however, both the logos and the franchise information are protected by trademark, a cushion associated with a ton of potential revenue.

So ultimately, Major League Baseball is fine with kids wearing the "professional" uniforms, as long as they have a way to make money off of it. I guess they are a business, and they do have a right to do whatever they please with their trademarked information. It sounds like there's potential for some production companies to be forced to charge prices some little-league parents might not be able to afford.

I guess those of us that didn't have to deal with this as little leaguers should be thankful. I took great pride in my pro-resembling A's uni. I thought it was bad enough when the baseball-attire trend went away from the knee-length pants/stirrups (Editor's Note: Good, God -- where are the stirrups?!) look. Now they're going to paired with jerseys that say things like "Tinsdale Slugs" and "Beaverton Wombats."

It's a shame, I tell ya'. I cryin' shame.