What Patches are the Ballplayers Wearing Today?

What patch are baseball players wearing today?

Today all Major League Baseball players are wearing a commemorative patch celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro National League.

All Major League Baseball teams and players will wear a red and white patch featuring the blue silhouette of a baseball player on their jerseys today, Sunday, August 16, 2020. This patch is being worn in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro National League, the first of the several well-structured, long-lasting leagues which are now commonly grouped together under the Negro Leagues designation.

The logo, based off the Negro League Baseball Museum’s own 100th anniversary logo (designed free of charge by Adam Rolf of the Kansas City-based firm Global Prairie), includes the silhouette of a player who is not meant to represent one specific individual, though, according to Bob Kendrick, president of the NLBM, it draws heavily on the likeness of Hall of Famer Raleigh “Biz” Mackey.

Much more information on the special Negro League’s centennial patch here

If you were watching the Opening Day game back in July between the Washington Nationals and New York Yankees you may have noticed both teams have players wearing several patches on their jerseys. You may have asked yourself, what are those patches?

I’m here to answer!

Both clubs tonight are wearing up to two small white rectangular patches on their sleeves, the Yankees are wearing them on their left sleeve and the Nationals on their right.

The two patches are identical in design but read two different things, one patch reads “BLACK LIVES MATTER” and the other “UNITED FOR CHANGE”, see the photo below from Paul Lukas for a better look.

Players have the option of wearing neither, one, or both patches. It seems most have opted to wear both, as seen in the photo above.

The New York Yankees are wearing an additional patch showing the initials HGS in white on a black oval. This is a season-long patch they will wear in memory of former part-owner Hank G. Steinbrenner who died back in April of this year.

Washington is wearing their special edition World Series Champions uniform which features gold trim throughout as well as a 2019 World Champions patch on one sleeve and a single gold star (for their first World title) on the other. This is a temporary uniform, the Nats will likely only wear it for tonight’s game.