The start of a new baseball season always gets us thinking about the little details that most people overlook. We are the type of people who notice stitching, fonts, and whether a jersey has the right amount of stuff on it. So naturally, we had to ask the question: how many MLB teams actually put a uniform number on the front of their jersey?
We went through all 30 teams and their standard home and away uniforms to find out. No alternates. No City Connects. Just the everyday home and away jerseys.
Teams With Front Numbers on Both Home and Away (14 Teams)
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Cincinnati Reds
- New York Mets
- Baltimore Orioles
- Chicago White Sox
- Kansas City Royals
- Minnesota Twins
- Houston Astros
- Los Angeles Angels
- Athletics
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Colorado Rockies
The Mets have front numbers on both their home and road jerseys. We think this is how it should be done. It fills out the jersey and gives the uniform a more complete look from every angle.
Teams With Front Numbers on Away Only (4 Teams)
- Detroit Tigers
- Chicago Cubs
- Seattle Mariners
- Washington Nationals
These four teams skip the front number at home but add one on the road.
The Tigers are a perfect example. The Old English "D" on the home jersey looks great without a front number. It does not need one. But on the road, the number shows up under "Detroit" and fills out the jersey nicely.
The Nationals are the opposite situation for us. Their home jersey with just the script wordmark and no number leaves too much empty space on the front. That jersey needs a number.
Worth noting that the Mariners do not wear traditional road grays. Their standard away jersey is navy blue, and it does include a front number.
Teams With No Front Numbers on Home or Away (12 Teams)
- New York Yankees
- Boston Red Sox
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Cleveland Guardians
- Atlanta Braves
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Miami Marlins
- San Diego Padres
- San Francisco Giants
- Texas Rangers
- Arizona Diamondbacks
The Yankees do not have a front number on either jersey, and it works. The home pinstripes with the NY logo and the road grays with "NEW YORK" are two of the most iconic uniforms in sports. They do not need anything else.
The Blue Jays use a large logo that takes up the space where a front number would go. The Rays wear navy as their standard away jersey instead of gray, and neither their home nor away has a front number.
The Final Count
- Front numbers on both home and away: 14 teams
- Front numbers on away only: 4 teams
- No front numbers at all: 12 teams
18 out of 30 MLB teams wear a front number at some point during a regular game. Only 14 do it full time. And 12 teams skip it entirely.
One more thing worth pointing out. No team in MLB has front numbers on their home jersey but not their away jersey. It only goes the other direction. Teams either commit to front numbers on everything, add them on the road only, or skip them completely.
Our Take
We wish more teams would add front uniform numbers. When it is done right, it makes the jersey feel more complete. There is something about seeing a number on the front that makes a uniform look like it was fully thought out from every angle.
Some teams pull off the no-number look perfectly. The Yankees and Tigers at home are the best examples. But for teams like the Nationals, the front of the home jersey just feels empty without one.