Yankees' Gardner 'not a big fan' of Players Weekend jerseys

Brett Gardner likes his pinstripes, okay?

As the New York Yankees prepare to ditch their signature home look for the first time since 1914 for MLB Players Weekend - which will also see the Yankees affix names (well, nicknames) to the backs of their jerseys for the first time ever - the club's longest-tenured player made it clear he's not really thrilled about bucking tradition.

"I'm more of an old-school guy, so I'm not a big fan of it," Gardner told ESPN's Andrew Marchand. "It doesn't really matter what I think. I'll play and hopefully we'll win."

As such, Gardner opted against putting a nickname on the back of his jersey for the three-game series in the Bronx against the Seattle Mariners. Gary Sanchez will get to be the "Kraken" all weekend, and Aaron Judge will fittingly rock "All Rise" on his jersey, but the back of Gardner's uniform will simply read "Gardner."

"I tried to go no name at all and keep it original," Gardner said. "But they made me put something. I figured I never had my name on the back of my jersey before, so instead of putting a freakin' nickname, I put my name on there. (Having no name) apparently is not allowed."

Though many Yankees players have embraced Players Weekend, Aaron Hicks, who spent three seasons with the Minnesota Twins before getting traded to New York ahead of the 2016 campaign, said he understands where Gardner is coming from.

"I'm kind of in between on it," said Hicks. "I've worn my name on the back of my jersey before, so I know what that feels like to kind of have a team that does it, then to come to a team that doesn't do it. I feel like if you came up with this organization, you wouldn't want to do it because it is a tradition, and it is kind of one of the things that makes this organization so amazing. To be the first team to sort of do, it is sort of crazy."