Report: All of MLB to wear camouflage-themed uniforms Memorial Day

While it hasn't been confirmed yet by Major League Baseball, Paul Lukas of Uni-watch reports that every team will wear camouflage jerseys and caps come Memorial Day on Monday. Lukas notes that replicas of the uniforms, which are on sale at MLB.com, appear to be similar to the camo colors the White Sox and Angels recently wore on Armed Forces Day.

How does Lukas know MLB's plans for May 27? The league gave them away on its website:

In each case, the team’s online shop only shows a home camo jersey or a road camo jersey — not both — depending on whether the team is playing at home or on the road next Monday. Tucked away in the fine print is the following line: “As worn on-field Memorial Day May 27th, 2013.”

Yes, they did:

(So, the Marines trademarked the digital camo pattern, eh? Interesting.)

Lukas was hardly patting himself on the back. He has a problem with MLB's plans, and he makes at least one great (and angry) point:

Memorial Day is not a day for celebrating the military. It’s a day for honoring the military dead. A more appropriate gesture would be an MLB-wide black armband. An even better gesture would be a pregame moment of silence, without anything on the uniform. But as is so often the case nowadays, merchandising and pandering trump common sense.

I'm only guessing, but my grandfather probably would agree. He was among the Allied troops to risk life and limb on D-Day. He also knew the difference between Memorial Day and, say, Veterans Day. Grampa was funny; he didn't even like people to applaud the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner" because it was not to be viewed as a performance, like some kind of top 40 hit. So he was principled in his patriotism. Regardless that you might clap after the national anthem, it was something he put some thought into.

As Lukas said, Memorial Day originated to honor men and women who died while fighting. I can't imagine Grampa would find it appropriate to be honored on Memorial Day because he didn't die until World War II had been over for 50 years. Now, there's nothing wrong with honoring the dead, and there's nothing wrong with honoring veterans. And there's nothing wrong with honoring the military. The San Diego Padres manage to be tasteful in doing so at Petco Park on a frequent basis. It's just disturbing how many people don't know what Memorial Day is for, and that they'll just mindlessly go along with anything that sounds remotely patriotic. Memorial Day has become a synonym for anything at all to do with " 'Merica," and it's a disgrace.

MLB contributes to this cognitive dissonance by having the players wear these inappropriate jerseys. It makes it look like all they want to do is sell more merchandise. That's not the kind of message they want to project, I would imagine, even as they prepare to sell "stars and stripes" caps come July 4 and Sept. 11.

Also imagine: What are the New York Yankees uniforms going to look like in a camo theme? Hey, you don't have to imagine:

And for what? Not for what MLB would like us to think.

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