# MLB. Do players pay for uniforms and the maintenance of them? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 13, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089 "2016-04-13T17:15:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/1 "2016-04-13T17:15:49Z")
It must be expensive. But then, most players could afford it. Are uniforms included in their pay? Or, is there a uniform, and maintenance fee deducted from their paycheck? Thank you for fighting my ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/2 "2016-04-13T19:04:12Z")
I can’t speak with any certainty on the MLB in particular, but I do know that NFL players receive their jerseys, and any specialized tailoring for free. If a player wants a jersey outside of their size, or not tailored to whatever their normal specs (for a wife or girlfriend, or fat Uncle Louie) they’re supposed to pay for them. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/3 "2016-04-13T19:10:37Z")
The White Sox were nicknamed the Black Sox not because of throwing the 1919 World Series but because their owner Charles Comiskey was too miserly to pay to clean the team’s uniforms daily. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/4 "2016-04-13T19:27:16Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > It must be expensive. But then, most players could afford it. I would be curious about the minor leagues. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/5 "2016-04-13T19:33:45Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The White Sox were nicknamed the Black Sox not because of throwing the 1919 World Series but because their owner Charles Comiskey was too miserly to pay to clean the team’s uniforms daily. This is a good story but like most good stories in early baseball history is almost certainly not true. The term “Black Sox” has no contemporary usage until the scandal, and pretty much anything written long after the fact about early baseball that isn’t supported by direct evidence should be assumed to be a work of fiction. At the time, all baseball owners were cheap, anyway, since they weren’t making any money. I sincerely doubt the 1919 White Sox had revenues in excess of $1.5 million, which was more money back then than it is now but still wasn’t much money to run a baseball team. Attendance was low and there wasn’t really any other revenue stream. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/6 "2016-04-13T19:36:41Z")
Supposedly Curtis Leskanic, by all accounts a weird dude, once had to buy a jersey at the team gift shop after forgetting his. But I think that’s probably an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/7 "2016-04-13T20:44:12Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Supposedly Curtis Leskanic, by all accounts a weird dude, once had to buy a jersey at the team gift shop after forgetting his. But I think that’s probably an urban legend. Forgetting it where? I didn’t think they ever wore them out of the locker room afterward, and I assume the team does the laundry? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/8 "2016-04-13T22:30:12Z")
For both Major and affiliated Minor League players, the standard player contract calls for the club to “furnish two complete uniforms, exclusive of shoes.” At the time the clause was written, this meant the home whites and the road grays. Today, in practice clubs will furnish as many combos as they require the guys to wear, for Sundays and holidays and promotional dates. Pants are cut to order for individual players. Technically all uniform pieces remain club property; sometimes Minor League teams sell game-worn gear to fans. I presume that players who keep their jerseys after the season have the cost deducted from a paycheck at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-do-players-pay-for-uniforms-and-the-maintenance-of-them/752089/9 "2016-04-13T22:30:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Attendance was low and there wasn’t really any other revenue stream. Other than gambling, of course… 😉 As to the OP, I’m reasonably sure that all levels of professional baseball provide uniforms for their players. Here’s a cite: [http://www.milb.com/milb/info/faq.jsp?mc=business](http://www.milb.com/milb/info/faq.jsp?mc=business) > [@](#): > > Q. Who pays for and supplies the equipment used in Minor League games – the league or each team? Do players ever purchase their own equipment? > > A. Players, both at the Major and Minor League levels, are provided equipment like helmets, uniforms and such, but most opt to use their own bats and gloves. Often those pieces of equipment are custom-ordered by that player so they can be manufactured to his liking. If you look closely, many players have their names embroidered on their gloves and etched on their bats. In many cases, agents will provide their players with bats and gloves made to the player’s specifications.