Let’s be brutally honest here. When it was announced in December that Nike had replaced Majestic as the new official uniform sponsor of Major League Baseball, it wasn’t warmly received by many (most) baseball fans; especially old-school baseball purists and even more so for the millions of baseball fans with closets full of (expensive) Majestic authentic MLB jerseys of their favorite players or even more expensive personalized jerseys.

It’s not that fans don’t like what is arguably the most recognizable logo in professional sports, it’s because MLB chose to plaster the logo in plain sight on the front of the jerseys like a NASCAR jersey instead of discreetly placing it on the left sleeve, as they did with the Majestic logo.

But alas, money talks and… well, you know the rest, and it goes without saying that Nike’s new contract with Major League Baseball is worth a lot of money for both.

And then came January 26, 2020.

In what is arguably one of the most tragic accidents in sports history (or any history, for that matter), soon-to-be Hall of Fame basketball megastar Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others were killed in a horrific helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

As every sports fan on the planet knows, Kobe was one of – if not the – most recognizable professional athletes sponsored by Nike, whose famous logo is a remarkable story in and of itself.

All of a sudden, because of the tragic death of one of the most beloved athletes – and people – in the world, that new Nike logo on the front of every major league baseball jersey, doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?

In fact, it is now very appropriate.

…and yes, I will be ordering one when they become available.

  *  *  *  *  *  *