Riley Greene accidentally gave the world a peek inside the new MLB uniforms during the Detroit Tigers’ 5-3 comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday afternoon.
Greene tore his pants sliding into home plate during the Tigers’ four-run ninth-inning rally that turned a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 win. Greene, who was the first Detroit batter to cross home plate in the inning after drawing a leadoff walk, slid into home on a Gio Urshela single that scored him from second base despite no throw to the plate, and ended up tearing his pants with a feet-first slide.
Greene got up with his right pantleg looking like a half-buttoned basketball warm-up in the process of being ripped off, but paid no immediate attention and turned to watch the throw to third base, which ended up sailing into the dugout to also send home pinch runner Zach McKinstry and tie the game, 3-3.
As the Tigers took the lead and tacked on an insurance run, Greene received his customary high-fives in the dugout while also showing off his altered pants. Other Tigers players cracked a smile or burst out into loud laughs as Greene spun to show off the gaping hole running down his right leg.
This was the Tigers’ first known issue with the new MLB uniforms designed by Nike and produced by Fanatics, a switch that has caused quite the uproar around the league during the early months of the season and spring training. The new uniforms have smaller lettering, and as Greene put on full display Tuesday, appear not to have the same level of quality as the old uniforms. In an interview with The Athletic published last week, veteran Tigers reliever Andrew Chafin said the new jerseys aren’t necessarily bad, but said ‘Just, in my opinion, they’re not big-league jerseys” in a story detailing MLB players’ overall disdain for the new getups.
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Other issues that have popped up with uniforms around the league are sweat stains seeping through and becoming very noticeable on gray-colored jerseys and some issues with translucency in the crotch area.
The lettering has been one flaw consistently pointed out in side-by-side photos with old jerseys, showing the much larger lettering on the old ones compared to the new Nike and Fanatics-designed jerseys.
The wardrobe malfunction was just one detail in the Tigers’ furious last-inning rally to leave Pittsburgh 1-1 in the two-game set and move to 7-4 overall early in the season. Detroit is off Wednesday before returning home for an eight-game homestand, starting with a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins beginning Thursday.