Ben Zobrist criticizes MLB for warning about black shoes

Major League Baseball continues to aggressively enforce its uniform policy in ways it has not in years past, with Ben Zobrist the latest target.

The Chicago Cubs utility star wears black shoes during day games as part of an old-school look, which is a breach of uniform policy, as shoes are to be at least half the team’s primary color. This policy had not been enforced in years past, and Zobrist wrote a lengthy criticism of it in an Instagram post on Saturday.

Dear @mlb, I still like you but this is rediculous. For the last two years, I have worn black spikes exclusively at Wrigley Field for Day games to pay homage to the history of our great game, and now I am being told I will be fined and disciplined if I continue to wear them. When I was a kid, I was inspired by highlights of the greats such as Ernie Banks and Stan Musial in the 1950s-60s and was captured by the old uniforms and all black cleats with flaps. @newbalancebaseball made a kid’s dream come true by making some all black spikes with the special tongue as well as the “Benny the Jet” @pf_flyers cleats. I am curious as to why @mlb is spending time and money enforcing this now when they haven’t done it previously in the last year and beyond. I have heard nothing but compliments from fans that enjoy the “old school” look. Maybe there is some kid out there that will be inspired to look more into the history of the game by the “flexibility” that I prefer in the color of my shoes. Sincerely, Ben Zobrist

A post shared by Ben Zobrist (@benzobrist18) on May 12, 2018 at 10:02am PDT

Zobrist is the second big leaguer in two days to publicly share a warning he received over a relatively minor uniform violation. Rules are rules, but perhaps the rules need to be relaxed a bit in a sport that is often criticized for doing a poor job of marketing its stars and letting players show their personalities.