Report: MLB to allow nicknames, personalized patches on jerseys for Players Weekend

For one groundbreaking weekend in August, Major League Baseball will allow players to put nicknames on their jerseys, rock brightly colored gear, and affix personalized patches to their uniforms that commemorate someone integral to their development for a new initiative called Players Weekend, according to a memo obtained by Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.

Scheduled for Aug. 25-27, the event - negotiated between the league and MLB Players Association - enables players to showcase their personal style on the field in unprecedented fashion, and could be a seminal moment for a league with famously stringent uniform policies.

In addition to allowing players to wear a jersey with a nickname on the back - so long as it's neither "inappropriate or offensive" - the league will also relax its color restrictions on cleats, batting gloves, wristbands, compression sleeves, and catcher’s masks for the inaugural Players Weekend, effectively permitting any brightly colored gear that doesn't interfere with the game or the umpires. The memo also states that each jersey worn during the weekend will sport a patch that players can personalize by "writing the name of an individual or organization that was instrumental to his development."

The jerseys from Players Weekend will then be sold by MLB, with the proceeds going to the Youth Development Foundation, a joint initiative with the players union that is devoted to "improving the caliber, effectiveness, and availability of amateur baseball and softball programs across the United States and Canada."