Red Sox Clear Up Culprit Behind Viral Uniform Debacle

There's nothing like a viral uniform controversy to spice up the month of February in Major League Baseball.

On Tuesday, during Boston Red Sox media day, fans quickly noticed that the script on the team's home white jerseys was touching the front piping. Side-by-sides made it clear that the piping had been widened since last season, and the lettering hadn't been adjusted to match.

Compared to last year (left), there’s something off about the lettering on the Red Sox’ home whites this year (right). pic.twitter.com/1whb3Vlyj8
— Brendan Campbell (@brendan_camp) February 17, 2026

Many were quick to accuse Fanatics, the well-known sports merchandise giant responsible for producing the league's uniforms, despite their Nike branding. But on Wednesday, the Red Sox set out to clear up who was actually to blame: themselves.

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Red Sox say they're at fault for uniform mishap

A statement regarding our 2026 uniforms: pic.twitter.com/x9VMZQlerJ
— Red Sox (@RedSox) February 18, 2026

In a statement posted to X, the Red Sox said Fanatics had made the jerseys "exactly to our specs," and said that after seeing how they looked after production, they would work in conjunction with the league and Fanatics to correct the spacing by opening day.

The league as a whole returned to the jersey template used until the end of the 2023 season, which was the fans' preference, by and large. The jerseys used in 2024 and 2025 had the MLB logo below the collar stitching instead of above it, and in the former season, the letters were often comically small.

A good look at the jersey font and lettering.

LAST YEAR (2024) THIS YEAR (2025) pic.twitter.com/D6L482PEGx
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) February 25, 2025

So when Red Sox fans thought their team's uniforms would be the "best" they'd seen in a span of three seasons, one can understand why they quickly lashed out at their perceived culprit.

At the end of the day, all that should be affected are the Red Sox's team photos and hype video-type content, which could make for an interesting trivia question sometime down the road.

Also of note, the Red Sox have four other jerseys (gray, red, yellow City Connect, Green City Connect), and none of them have the same style of piping down the center. The red jerseys, in particular, are worth watching because they say "Red Sox" in the same font as the whites.

It will be interesting to see if the reds look noticeably different than the whites once the spacing is adjusted, or if it's adjusted for both.