Would the MLB reuse jerseys?

[brianborsch]

Hello,

I was just curious what your thoughts are on this topic. I know the MLB is not low-class, but regarding the special event games like the Negro League throwback game (b/w Kansas City and Detroit), they had the exact same jerseys this year as last year. Is there any way the MLB teams would reuse jerseys? Or would they simply order some more the next year (if they chose to have the same jersey)? I would imagine the latter due to difference in sizes between players from one years roster to the next, but I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this one.

[Birdbats]

I've been told that they recycle some jerseys in the minor leagues. For example, a team might wear St. Louis Stars jerseys in a AAA Negro Leagues tribute game one night, then another team might wear them a month later. I have a buddy who wanted to buy a jersey he saw being worn, but when he contacted the team, he was told the jerseys belonged to the league and would be reused in other events.

As for the majors, I'd be surprised if they recycle jerseys, knowing they can sell/auction the worn ones and make money. In some games, both team's uniforms are purchased and owned by one team (usually the home team); in some games, each team provides their own uniforms; and there have been games where the uniforms belong to a third party, like the Negro Leagues Museum in KC. In almost every case, the uniforms are auctioned to raise money. It's possible uniforms could be recycled from year to year, but when the money raised by selling those uniforms so far exceeds the cost of buying new ones, it wouldn't seem to be a very good business decision.

[bigtime59]

Detroit has been using those "Stars" jerseys, in one guise or another, since at least 1997...not the same jerseys, necessarily, but the same design.

[XPFO]

I was just at Comerica Park today talking with the authetics guys and as for the negro league jerseys, they do not recycle the jerseys, but they do recycle the pants which I found strange.

[brianborsch]

Well that's good news (about the jerseys) because I got a couple of the Royals jerseys and I wanted to be sure that they were only used this year by the players according to their number on the roster this year. I guess the MLB hologram should have all that info, but you never know these days!

[XPFO]

I don't think the hologram numbers are in the system yet for the Negro League jerseys.