MLB: Atlanta Braves players are banned from celebrating homers with oversized hat by the league
Players were given the hat on opening day by a sports memorabilia collector
MLB's put an end to the Atlanta Braves celebrating home runs with an oversized hat after the league received complaints from New Era, the company that provides players with official on-field headwear.
The Braves roster was having fun with the giant item ever since More than Sports, a local sports memorabilia collector, gave the hat to Ozzie Albies and A.J. Minter on opening day, according to ESPN.
Atlanta opened its 2023 campaign against the Washington Nationals on March 30.
On Thursday, the Braves confirmed to local outlet WSB-TV that league officials had denied the franchise from wearing the jumbo hat because of a request from New Era.
The oversized accessory received a lot of attention lately, due to Atlanta currently ranking second in the league in total amount of home runs, right behind the Tampa Bay Rays.
The busiest Brave at the ballpark tonight is the homer hat.#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/aLYjGd7Sv2 — Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 15, 2023
MLB has put an end to the Atlanta Braves celebrating home runs with an oversized hat
Baseball fans had taken the giant hat to heart over the last few weeks, with the item also going viral on social media.
However, Braves fans noticed players had no longer been wearing the hat since the start of the week, expressing both their anger and disappointment on Twitter.
'Why didn't New Era start actually manufacturing and selling big hats? And then send the Braves some official New Era big hats for dugout celebrations,' a user suggested, adding: 'Seems like it would have been an easy, gimmicky way for them to make more money.'
Weak move by @NewEraCap and @MLB to stop the big hat homer celebration for @Braves,' another baseball fan tweeted.
The Braves Big Hat HR celebration >>> pic.twitter.com/siTTGn1698 — Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) April 15, 2023
'By all means, New Era. Halting the fun in the Atlanta dugout will make people want to buy your silly hats in weird colors and with clip art of food on them,' one fan said.
'Yo @NewEraCap, I exclusively wear your hats but banning the Braves big hat celebration for a homer is beyond dumb and petty,' a different fan from Georgia wrote.
'I get it, @NewEraCap is the exclusive hat provider to MLB. But even the oversized hat? Optics on this are bad,' another person shared on Twitter. 'Couldn't work out a compromise? Make a deal with the oversized hat dudes. Slap a New Era logo on it, overcharge like you do on your lids.'
The Braves next face the Miami Marlins at home on Thursday and will have to both win and celebrate without the oversized hat.
Source: Daily Mail
