The New York Yankees do not have the names of the players on the uniforms. Is there any reason for this other than they have always done it that way?
The Yankees have won far and away the most championships in the history of professional baseball: 26, with the next winningest team, the St. Louis Cardinals, boasting 10 as of 2008. By way of comparison, the Yanks won their 10th title in 1943.
With that rich a history, you need to find reasons to make changes, rather than to find reasons NOT to make changes. Though it may interest you to know that the Yankees were actually the innovators of putting numbers on the jerseys in the first place, in 1929, with the rest of MLB following suit by 1932. Before then, all baseball uniforms were identical in appearance.
And I write this as someone who would like nothing better than to never see another Yankees championship in my lifetime. The team history is what it is: glorious, which shares many of the same letters as “odious” 
That’s just how they have always done it.
It should also be noted that the Red Sox don’t have names on their home uniforms, only their away ones.
If you have numbers, why do you need names?
I suspect the reason to make this change is the same reason almost every other team has made this change.
Do you really not know?
Baseball is a slow moving enough game that you don’t really need the names on the uniform. They announce the starting lineup and positions, announce every substitution, and each player plays a specific position on the field, it’s almost impossible to mix up who is who. You do have to pay attention, and having more than a passing knowledge of the roster is very helpful.
It might be helpful for the TV broadcast, especially if you tune in late, but it’s not like anyone is going to change the channel because he’s not sure who is playing 2nd for the Yanks.
I don’t know about him, but I don’t know. Numbers are identifaction enough.
NFL requires names and I think the NBA and NHL do as well. But as mentioned above they are fast moving and there are a lot more subs.
The continuing lack of names on jerseys is based in the continuing Yankee arrogance that they’re such big stars that everybody knows who they are, and so names are superfluous.
Leaving the names off also saves money, which helps with paying those outrageous salaries 
Well, that’s just like, your opinion, man!!
But you’re probably right and it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that it’s a simple, classic design that looks better without the names; kind of like that college football team that has no names or even any logo on its helmet - those smug, arrogant bastards!!!
Also, it allows fans the ability to say that you play for the name of the front of the jersey, not the back - so why is it important?
No way, man! I heard it straight from the mouth of a sports radio talk show host! It must be true!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnndddd…whooooooosh!!!
I once read that the Arizona Diamondbacks used more styles of uniforms in their first week of existence than the Yankees have used in their entire history.
They were pikers. The Pittsburgh Pirates in 1977 had mix-and-match uniforms: three different shirts and three different pants. I think they also had a couple of different hat styles, too. They changed the style every game.
You guys do realize that there are plenty of casual fans who don’t have the roster memorized, don’t you?
Well, then, they can buy a program. After all, you can’t tell the players without a program.
To be fair, the Yankees are not the only ones that do this. Don’t the Giants also go without names on their home uniforms?
What cracks me up are the Yankee fans (of which I am one) who buy the replica jerseys with their favorite player’s name on the back. Nothing screams “inauthentic” much louder than that.
The best is how the Cubs run their program/scoreboard system. While at a Cubs game this summer, I was looking at the other games going on in the league. Next to the team names, is a number to indicated to the left of who’s pitching:
11 Florida 4
23 Houston 5
I lamented that I don’t know the numbers of players on other teams, and that the internet connection on my iphone was being overwhelmed by the stadium crowd. Didn’t matter, my friend told me. The pitcher’s number has NOTHING to do with his jersey. In fact, that number refers to how he’s listed in the Cubs program guide on his team roster! Ridiculous.