MLB Unveils 2018 All-Star Uniforms: Stars, Stripes, and Pinwheels!

America’s Pastime will hold it’s annual Mid-Summer Classic in their capital city next month, a pairing that seems so natural it’s hard to believe it’s the first time Washington has hosted in half-a-century, the last Major League Baseball All-Star Game played there 49 years ago in 1969.

It should come as no surprise that the theme surrounding the All-Star Game this year would be of U.S. patriotism… stars, stripes, red, white, and blue. We saw it in the logo for the game when it was released last July, and now we see it today in the caps, jerseys, and socks for both the game and the Home Run Derby/Workout Day which were all unveiled just this morning.

Shop 2018 MLB All-Star player jerseys, caps, and more!

For the All-Star Game itself, as is the tradition, teams will be wearing their usual jerseys and pants – the home team once again this year is the National League so all NL clubs will be wearing their home whites with the American League clubs in their road greys. Since 2014, the caps now get their own design each year for the game, usually related to the history of the host club and this year and, yeah… they really do seem to tap into the franchise history of the Washington Nationals, like, back to their days as the Montreal Expos (although I’m certain this would never be the official reason for the design).

Yes, the famous pinwheel cap returns!

Across the league!

Here they all are, check it out…

All thirty teams get their own pinwheel Expos-esque cap, the visor colour also doubles as the colour of the far back panel of the crown which cannot be seen from this angle. While I may disagree with some of the colour choices here (Jays and Padres using grey??) I love the overall look here. This cap also includes silver stars on each of eyelets, silver trim around each team logo on the front of the cap, and a team-specific coloured All-Star Game logo patch on the right side.

Here’s how the cap pairs with the usual team jerseys which they will be worn with, we’ll use last year’s pennant winners as examples:

(note the actual All-Star Game team jerseys will likely include additional sleeve patches not shown here)

The All-Star Game (and Workout Day/Home Run Derby) will also see a single sock design for the event which will be worn by all players regardless of team or league.

Before the All-Star Game can happen we have to have the All-Star Workout Day, the main event of which of course is the Home Run Derby. Workout Day is held the day prior to the All-Star Game, this year taking place on Monday, July 16th, and gets their own set of caps and jerseys for each team and league.

The caps are coloured based on the league the player plays in – National League players get red caps, American Leaguers in blue, these same colours are repeated for the jerseys for each of the two leagues. The designs are basically the same on the cap, a ring of 30 stars (one for each MLB team) surrounds the team’s usual cap logo all re-coloured to match the red/white/blue colour scheme. On the visor are six stars, three on each side (divisions?) and on the inside stars are seen on the inside of the crown.

The jerseys are red or blue depending on league, with the opposite colour added 3/4 of the way around the collar and as a vertical stripe up each side. Those side stripes are flanked by a white stripe with silver stars inside them. Across the front the name of the league “American” or “National” is scripted, the American League wordmark incorporating the Washington Monument and the National League showing the U.S. Capitol Dome.

Those same socks shown earlier in this post will be worn with these uniforms.

The 89th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be played at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. Next year the game will be played in an American League city for the first time in five years when the Cleveland Indians host, for the 2020 season it returns to the National League when the Los Angeles Dodgers get to host.

2018 MLB All-Star Game player uniforms, caps, shirts, and more are available now here