Royals pitcher Danny Duffy, like literally everyone else in baseball, wears customized cleats.
His are gray and blue New Balances. The hex codes and Pantone designations match the Royals’ official team colors. Even the number 30, a tribute to his late teammate Yordano Ventura, emblazoned on the back of each shoe fits into the color scheme.
Duffy plays within the arbitrary rules that were set in the most recent collective bargaining agreement.
But when ballplayers across the country began to receive letters from the league office claiming they violated a rule that requires “at least 51 percent of the exterior of each player's shoes be the club's designated primary shoe color," Duffy spoke up.