MLB's Players Weekend runs August 21-23 this year, and while the league scrapped the nickname jerseys and special uniforms a few seasons back, it swapped that gimmick for something arguably better: hundreds of players showing up with custom-painted bats, cleats and gear that say more about who they are than any back-of-jersey nickname ever did. Barstool Baseball clearly misses the old format, though.
Nostalgia aside, this year's bat game might be the best it's ever been. The Phillies came out swinging some serious custom lumber for the occasion.
Phillies breaking out some great custom bats for Players Weekend!
But the bats that actually broke the internet belong to Jake Mangum. He's rolling with a 3-bat set painted like the original starter Pokemon evolutions — Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur — full-on '151 set' energy on grown-man lumber. It's the kind of thing that makes you jealous of a guy who gets to bring childhood cartoons to work.
Custom Pokemon-painted bats (Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard) get shown off alongside an interview breaking down the design.
The reaction online was basically unanimous: living out every kid's dream. Barstool Sports zoomed in on the same three bats, and it's easy to see why they went viral — the artwork looks closer to a mural than something that's about to get slung at a 95-mph fastball.
Three Pokemon-themed bats sit against a crate in a batting facility while a man breaks down the '151 set' concept in an interview.
Not to be outdone, Jordan Walker showed up carrying a bat commemorating a Home Run Derby championship — a detail Barstool Baseball noted would probably sting a little for Phillies fans in the building that night. And it's not just bats. Red Sox players were spotted showing off their own Players Weekend haul, including custom cleats repping their home country's flag colors, with one player calling the pair a gift he was proud to wear.
A player carries a stack of custom bats through a stadium concourse, then a Red Sox player shows off flag-inspired custom cleats he says were a gift.
After the weekend wraps, players get to auction off this gear through MLB Auctions with proceeds going to charities of their choice — so somewhere out there, a very lucky Pokemon fan with disposable income is about to own Jake Mangum's Charizard bat.