The first three editions of Players Weekend took place on August 25–27, 2017; and August 23–25, 2019. The special uniforms designed for Players Weekend were also worn during the
MLB Little League Classic each of those seasons, with the Classic being held the Sunday prior to the start of Players Weekend—an exception was made in 2019, when teams participating in the Classic wore colorful uniforms rather than that season's monochromatic uniforms of Players Weekend.
Logo and uniforms of the
Cleveland Indians chose the nickname "Mr. Smile" in 2017. of the
Colorado Rockies identified as "Chuck Nazty" at the 2018 event. In 2017, the usual MLB logo on the
baseball caps and uniforms was replaced by a new logo depicting the evolution of a ball player from
Little League Baseball to the major leagues. The team uniforms, which took their color cues from youth sportswear, were designed by
Majestic Athletic. "Mom" and "Dad" were the most popular picks; players also saluted other family members and religious figures. The player's
surname (or, in the case of
Ichiro Suzuki, his given name) usually printed on the back of the jersey was replaced with a nickname of the player's choosing. Players were encouraged, but not required, to choose a nickname. All uniforms, whether or not the players chose to use nicknames, had names on the back—including those of the
New York Yankees, a team that had never before placed names on the back of any
official jersey. Players were also allowed to wear T-shirts sporting the name and logo of the charity of their choice during
batting practice, pregame workouts, and post-game interviews. In the 2017 event,
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher
Seung-hwan Oh imprinted his name in
Korean characters (오승환). A few players were not able to use their preferred nickname due to potential copyright or trademark infringement, such as "
Superman" (
Kevin Pillar), "
Kojak" (
Adrián Beltré), "
Led Zeflin" (
Zach Eflin), and "
Hoby Wan Kenobi" (
Hoby Milner).
Chicago Cubs pitcher
Carl Edwards Jr. was the only player allowed to use a
brand name,
Carl's Jr., on the back of his jersey; Edwards Jr. also imprinted the restaurant chain's logo on one of his cleats. In 2018,
Brad Boxberger had his surname on the back of his jersey, but in the form of
emojis ("📦🍔") instead of letters. For the 2019 event,
Walker Lockett had his surname in the form of an emoji as a simple lock ("🔒").
Russell Martin, whose nickname is "The Muscle", chose "El 💪🏻".
Cleveland Indians players
Carlos Carrasco ("cookie🍪"),
Mike Clevinger ("peace sign☮, sunshine☀️") and
Francisco Lindor were among those who chose to wear emojis on their jerseys, though Lindor sandwiched "Mr. Smile" between two smiley faces.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher
Hyun-Jin Ryu chose his nickname in Korean writing ("류현진"). In 2019, several players opted to use their nickname to honor
Tyler Skaggs, who died earlier in the season, while all players wore a "45" patch in his honor.
Other gear The
New Era Cap Company supplies caps. Players can also custom-design their
bats.
Sam Bat, a bat supplier to the league, produced dozens of custom-ordered bats for the 2017 event that were painted with different colors, images, and country flags. For the 2019 event, the league allowed players to use
mobile devices and
tablets in
dugouts and on the field before the game.
2019 monochromatic uniforms of the
Kansas City Royals (left) wears the all-white uniform and
Yu Chang and
Sandy Alomar Jr. of the
Cleveland Indians wear the all-black uniforms at
Progressive Field during Players Weekend in 2019. For 2019, MLB mandated that all uniforms and caps be either all-white or all-black, with the home team getting the first choice of color and the visiting team wearing the other color option.
Batting helmets would be either matte-black or matte-white, depending on the color the team has chosen. The one exception to the monochromatic uniform look was the pitcher on the "white" team, who wore a black cap with his white jersey and pants in order not to obstruct hitters from
seeing the ball. Nicknames were sewn onto the back of both white and black jerseys in silver. The monochromatic apparel was intended to make logos and accessories, which players were allowed to customize, stand out more. ==2024==