Major League Baseball fined Bryce Harper for custom Wawa cleats- a closer look at his ongoing battle for creativity on the field

In a recent article from Hannah Keyser at Front Office Sports, Bryce Harper talked about MLB players expressing creativity through custom cleats, baseball bats, and other accessories on the baseball field.

If you’re a Phillies fan, then you already know that Bryce Harper’s cleat game is a whole vibe.

Every Monday, he rocks his self-proclaimed “dad jeans” cleats—blue with a denim look, complete with a leather patch and cross-stitching. “I based them off my Wranglers,” Harper told Front Office Sports from the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field.

Harper is obviously one of Major League Baseball’s biggest stars. He has a whole schedule dedicated to his custom Under Armour kicks- a brand he has partnered with for over a decade, ever since he signed what was at the time, the largest endorsement deal for a baseball player.

With MLB loosening restrictions on shoe colors a few seasons ago, Harper and his fellow players have been taking full advantage to express themselves on the field.

Bryce Harper’s cleat lineup is next level

• Mondays: Dad Jeans cleats.
• Tuesdays: Mint-colored holographic cleats made in collaboration with PSA trading cards.
• Wednesdays: Phillies-red.
• Thursdays or Sundays: Depending on when the Eagles play, his cleats are Kelly green.
• Fridays: Matching cleats for the team’s City Connect uniforms
• Saturdays: Homage to the Phillie Phanatic.

The creativity doesn’t stop there. Harper’s also rocked one-off cleats, like holographic ones for the London Series and even a Wawa-themed pair (complete with a matching headband) before MLB fined him for improper advertising. “I get it,” Harper says, “but I think kids love it.”

Bryce Harper Wawa-Themed Cleats >>

For years, Bryce Harper has also pushed for the use of more custom baseball bats, which we have seen him use on a few different occasions- most notably the MLB London Series earlier this year.

Bryce Harper is using his custom bat which pictures the Phillie Phanatic dressed as the Royal Guard

Earlier this week Harper said "we'll see if I get a letter about it" from MLB when he announced his plan to use it during games pic.twitter.com/mj9jMqJc6s

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 8, 2024

Major League Baseball doesn’t give players permission to use custom baseball bats. Typically they refrain from letting players use custom bats that fall outside their guidelines unless they are approved first.

Rule 3.02 (d) of the MLB rulebook states “no colored bats may be used in a professional game unless approved by the Rules Committee,”

Basically, whether it’s cleats or bats, Major League Baseball wants to make sure that players aren’t stepping outside of their advertising restrictions- which means they don’t want players to make money if the league isn’t getting a cut of it. Typical.

A perfect example of approval came last year during the Little League Classic in which Bryson Stott used a custom bat from Victus Sports that was designed to look like a pencil. According to reports, that bat was approved to be used in the game.

This wasn’t the first time Harper defied the rules of Major League Baseball by using an unapproved custom bat. When he was with the Washington Nationals, Harper stepped up to the plate with a July 4th custom bat, colored red, white and blue, and decorated with the stars and stripes and a silhouette of the Washington skyline, made by Chandler Bats.

Someone finally pulled the coveted 1-of-1 Bryce Harper ‘RIP Harambe’ bat knob baseball card

In typical Bryce Harper fashion, he then homered off San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner. He wasn’t fined for using the bat but a year later, he attempted to rock an American Flag baseball bat featuring the Statue of Liberty – designed by Victus Sports which was shot down by league offices.

In response, Bryce Harper posted this picture on Instagram

Note: Earlier this season, Harper was pictured wearing one of the 2023 versions of the Phillies uniform earlier this season, which I considered to be a “uniform uprising” against Fanatics and MLB for the god awful new versions in 2024 – which pretty much went unnoticed outside of a few articles and pictures on social media.

While it remains unclear if it an attempt to push back on the uniforms just like the baseball bats, Harper clearly doesn’t care for the the MLB rulebook.

The good news is that just last week, it was announced that Major League Baseball will return to the previous uniforms next year instead of the ones that made their debut this year so clearly, they are starting to listen to players and fans.

Freedom: Major League Baseball announces massive changes to uniforms in 2025 >>

Harper’s vision for his cleats keeps evolving for this year’s postseason and beyond.

The inspiration?

Everything from the Philadelphia Art Museum and Nintendo 64 to friendship bracelets, Mister Softee, and Princess Diana in an Eagles varsity jacket. Out of the batch, Harper’s already approved eight designs, and knowing him, they’ll be another bold statement on the field.

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