Bo Bichette signed with the Mets as a free agent prior to the start of this season, so I’ve had near-daily exposure to his signature uni style of wearing “pants” that are really more like biker shorts and blue socks that never quite match his blue base-layer leggings, as seen in the photo above.
The color-match problem is less of an issue when the Mets are wearing black, although the pants are still disconcertingly short:
The super-short inseam is nothing new for Bichette, of course. He established this approach during his years with the Blue Jays:
And Bichette isn’t the only one. It used to be unheard of for a ballplayer to wear his pants above his kneecaps, but this look has now gained enough devotees over the past decade or so for it to qualify as a full-fledged uni style, not just a fringe eccentricity. The trend, while still in its formative stages, is similar to what we’ve seen in the NFL, where pants terminating above the knee have become more the rule than the exception in recent years.
I can’t say I’m a fan (on either the diamond or the gridiron), but I’ve always been fascinated by the evolution of MLB’s pant/hosiery intersection, so I can’t help but fixate on this latest development, even if I’m mostly just rubbernecking. Here are 10 other players, past and present, who’ve exemplified the super-high-cuffed style:
1. Hunter Pence
To my mind, Pence was the pioneer of exposed-kneecap style, with all the other players on this list essentially descending from him. The style worked for him because he already seemed like a bit of an oddball character (plus “Hunter Pence” sorta/kinda rhymes with “underpants,” which goes with the look). Although Pence is now retired, his unusual aesthetic legacy lives on. Which brings us to…
2. Carlos Santana
I’m pretty sure Santana was the next player after Pence to expose his knees. He probably holds the record for wearing this style with the most teams, including the Guardians, Phillies, Royals, Mariners, Pirates, Brewers, Twins, Cubs, and — wait for it — D-backs.
3. Joc Pederson
Originally a pajamist, Pederson began cuffing above the knee in 2020, which was his final season with the Dodgers. He has since worn this look with the Cubs, Giants, D-backs, and Rangers.
4. Dennis Santana
Dennis Santana (no relation to Carlos) is one of the few MLB pitchers to have gone super-high-cuffed. It seems appropriate that the video embedded above is from YouTube Shorts.
5. Oneil Cruz
Another Bucco who favors this style. Yet another Pirate, Jack Suwinski (now in the Dodgers’ minor league system), also dabbled with it last year.
6 and 7. Geraldo Perdomo and Ildemaro Vargas
The two Arizona middle infielders are often on the field at the same time, forming MLB’s highest-cuffed double-play combination. (Vargas has also exposed his knees for the Twins, Cubs, Pirates, and Nats.)
8. Jonathan India
After going super-high-cuffed while breaking in with the Reds, India now wears this style for the Royals.
9. Adam Cimber
Cimber began his career as a conventional high-cuffer, with the pants covering his knee. He shortened his inseam during his stint with the Blue Jays and then took that style with him to the Angels. He’s now out of baseball.
10. Edwin Arroyo
This Reds infielder is a new member of the club, having made his big league debut earlier this month. No way I would have known to include him on this list except that the Mets just played a three-game series in Cincy.
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A few additional notes:
I’m fairly certain there are lots of other MLBers who are going with this look without my realizing it. Feel free to list them in the comments (with photo links if possible).
As you can see, there are lots of sub-niches within the exposed-kneecap style: Some players try to match their base layer to their socks while others don’t; some clearly wear knee pads while others don’t seem to; and so on.
In 2019, when Hunter Pence was playing for the Rangers, a bunch of his Texas teammates saluted him on June 2 by exposing their knees. Participating players included Ronald Guzman, Shin-Soo Choo, and, most notably, Rougned Odor, who really committed to the bit. (Here are some video highlights from that game.)
Of course, if you really want to see exposed MLB kneecaps, you have to go back 50 years to Sox in shorts.
And what does the future hold? While working on this post, I was surprised to learn that lots of sportswear brands now offer above-the-knee baseball pants as a standard stock item. That tells me we’re going to keep seeing more and more of of this look in the years to come. And maybe not just on the ballfield — just this morning, as I was preparing to publish this post, The Atlantic published an article on how shorts may soon become acceptable in the office.