The Braves will honor the military by wearing a special alternative military appreciation jersey, which the team unveiled Wednesday, for five home games this season.
First baseman Freddie Freeman and manager Fredi Gonzalez posed with two local members of the military to model the new red jerseys with a “star-spangled” Braves script across the chest, navy blue lettering with white stars.
The Braves will drop the red jerseys they’ve been wearing on Friday nights and wear only traditional home whites on weekdays, cream-colored uniforms on weekends and the military jerseys for the other five games.
The Braves wore camouflage-accented jerseys last Memorial Day in conjunction with a Major League Baseball-wide effort, but this initiative is coming directly from the Braves.
The team will wear the new jerseys on military family night (April 26 vs. the Reds) and then as part of a celebration for each of the four military branches: June 13 vs. Angels for Army, July 26 vs. Padres for Marines, Aug. 30 vs. Marlins for Navy, and Sept. 19 vs. Mets for Air Force.
Signed jerseys will then be auctioned off after those games with proceeds going to military-supportive charities in the Atlanta area, including the USO and the Wounded Warrior Project.
“This is a very meaningful project for us,” Braves president John Schuerholz said Wednesday. “Our military relationship is strong, but especially the Wounded Warrior Project is something that’s most meaningful to us, to all American citizens, I’m sure. They sacrifice so much and do so much and if this is a way we can honor them and help raise some funds in their name to help some other worthy charities and community efforts, we want to do it.”
