SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Last year, Major League Baseball designed special jerseys, caps and socks for 10 different special-event dates, including entire weekends for some of them.
Frankly, I thought that was a bit much and apparently, so did MLB. This year, there will be nine special dates, but for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, teams will wear special ribbons on their regular jerseys instead of having special jerseys made for the occasion. That leaves seven dates for alternate event jerseys (Jackie Robinson Day and the holiday weekends of Memorial Day and Independence Day).
New this year: hoodies for Jackie Robinson Day (photo 2). Those, I think, are pretty attractive.
You might have noticed some Cubs wearing special St. Patrick’s Day socks in their Las Vegas game on Saturday. Now, players will have the option of special socks for all these events, including Jackie Robinson Day April 15. The Cubs will be home that day, facing the Braves.
For the other special-event days (and weekends), here’s where the Cubs will be:
Mother’s Day, May 13: home vs. the White Sox
Memorial Day weekend, May 26-28: home vs. the Giants May 26-27, at Pirates May 28
Father’s Day, June 17: at Cardinals
Independence Day weekend, July 2-4: off July 2, home vs. Tigers July 3-4 (notwithstanding the fact that these dates aren’t a “weekend,” they’re Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday)
Obviously, this is all about merchandising and selling you more caps and jerseys, and this year, the Jackie Robinson Day hoodie (which, I have to admit, has a nice-looking logo). Socks, too, I suppose, if you’re into that sort of thing.