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Ranking All 20 MLB City Connect Uniforms From the 2023 Season
It’s been two years since Major League Baseball partnered with Nike to unleash the City Connect uniforms to the baseball public. And, like the very game of baseball itself, there have been some home runs and a few swings and misses along the way. But which styles have stood out above the rest? That’s where we come in.
This season, MLB debuted City Connect uniforms for the Braves, Rangers, Mariners, Reds, Orioles and Pirates, making a grand total of 20 iterations to date. That comprises two-thirds of the league, making this as good a time as any for a definitive ranking of what we’ve seen so far.
Clearly this is a subjective endeavor, but one that weighs factors like design aesthetic, tie-in to a franchise or city’s history, and the differentiation from a team’s usual uniforms. While the entire project has yielded a wide variety of results, it’s nonetheless been an exciting (and often visually stunning or aggravating) storyline to follow over the past few seasons.
For the 10 clubs who have not yet had their City Connect jerseys unveiled—the Guardians, Tigers, Mets, Twins, Cardinals, Yankees, A’s, Phillies, Rays and Blue Jays—a quick apology, your time will come soon enough. With that, let’s get right to it.
Ranking MLB’s City Connect Uniforms
20. San Francisco Giants
Debut: July 9, 2021
Where to begin with these? The gradient effect on the letters and numbers was a bold choice but a bad one, and the shade of orange used is different from the team’s usual look. Points are awarded here for paying homage to the Golden Gate Bridge and for stepping outside the box, but overall the end result is a real eyesore.
19. Cincinnati Reds
Debut: May 19, 2023
How much more black could this be? The answer is none. None more black. Given the opportunity to come up with a new design, the Reds essentially went with black from head to toe. The reworked “C” logo is a nice touch, and the red striping down the pants and on the sleeves are fine. This is not what you would call a very inspired choice, though.
18. Arizona Diamondbacks
Debut: June 18, 2021
These jerseys don’t look too different from Arizona’s normal look, while the hat logo is just a different colored version of their original “A” (which, to be clear, is fantastic). The font on the jerseys gets creative points for incorporating an actual snake, but gives off too much of a Jeremy Bearimy vibe for my taste.
17. Baltimore Orioles
Debut: May 26, 2023
Like the Reds, the Orioles took their chance at a new and exciting look and came up with mostly an all-black uniform, also opting to go with block white letters. The accents along the sleeves and in the lining are outstanding, and it remains puzzling that that wasn’t a more prominent feature.
16. Los Angeles Dodgers
Debut: Aug. 20, 2021
For teams whose regular uniforms are already iconic, the task of creating a proper alternate is a daunting one. The Dodgers’ home uniforms are perfect, and their City Connect ones are … not. They don’t stray too far from the source material, which ultimately was probably the safest route to take. And while Dodger blue is arguably the best shade of blue in existence, it might work better as an accent color than the main course.
15. Chicago Cubs
Debut: June 12, 2021
Everything I wrote about the Dodgers’ City Connect jerseys could also apply to the Cubs’. Incorporating “Wrigleyville” was wise, but ultimately these have failed to really catch on with the fan base. It also didn’t help that their Southside rivals released their City Connects just one week prior and fared much better (more on them later).
14. San Diego Padres
Debut: July 8, 2022
There’s playing it safe, and then, on the other end of the spectrum, there’s the Padres, who splashed their City Connect uniforms with yellow, pink and mint green. It’s a dizzying assault to the senses and likely created a polarizing opinion from the fan base, with stringent supporters and full-blown haters alike. They look nothing like any of the franchise’s past looks, which earns some respect for boldness, but they ultimately are a bit too much for my taste, which lands them closer to the bottom of the list than the top.
13. Atlanta Braves
Debut: April 8, 2023
The Braves find themselves in the bottom half of this list because their City Connect jerseys look eerily similar to their usual throwback uniforms. The only reason these aren’t lower is because those throwback uniforms are undeniably awesome. But these were supposed to be distinct, and Atlanta’s latest jerseys fall short of that description.
12. Pittsburgh Pirates
Debut: June 27, 2023
Making yellow the featured color in these was a great call, while the “PGH” lettering is an homage to the Roberto Clemente Bridge that leads to PNC Park. Overall, the redesign didn’t take too many risks, but the new look lands the plane, so to speak.
11. Milwaukee Brewers
Debut: June 24, 2022
The Brewers were wise to go with “Brew Crew” across the front of these jerseys. The color scheme is inspired by the city’s flag, and the decision to go with light blue as the dominant color was a strong move. I’d rather see a twist on the team’s logo on the hat than Milwaukee’s airport code (MKE), though.
10. Texas Rangers
Debut: April 21, 2023
These are certainly bold, and feature plenty of subtle homages to the cities of Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington. Perhaps most notable of those send-ups is the “peagle” on sleeves, which is a combination of the mascots of two former minor league teams: the Dallas Eagles and the Fort Worth Panthers. With the white tops, black pants and unique lettering and number style, they certainly swung for the fences with this entry.
9. Houston Astros
Debut: April 20, 2022
Houston, we have a … perfectly fine alternate uniform. The Astros chose lettering that tips a cap toward NASA, whose “mission control” is located in the city. The logo on the hat is a particularly strong choice, giving off a sort of Pizza Planet vibe that I think we can all get behind.
8. Kansas City Royals
Debut: April 30, 2022
The lettering style, sleeve accents and navy blue are what really make this a strong look. A special kudos for slipping in a tiny crown in between the “KC” on the front and atop the “R” on the sleeve. Kansas City’s City Connects are a testament to the notion that, sometimes, simplicity is the way to go.
7. Los Angeles Angels
Debut: June 11, 2022
Another relatively simple design, the Angels nailed the beach vibe that’s associated with Orange County, which is a far better decision than trying to Disney-ify their look in the early 2000s. The sand coloring, lettering font and lifeguard tower-inspired style of the numbers all fit into the theme, though the relatively understated choices—while effective—keep these from placing higher on the list.
6. Boston Red Sox
Debut: April 17, 2021
The Red Sox opted for a look that does not resemble their typical uniforms at all, which is wise when your usual jerseys are so iconic (take notes, Dodgers and Cubs). These City Connects adopt the color scheme of the Boston marathon, with the city’s area code (617) displayed in a marathon-style racing bib.
5. Miami Marlins
Debut: May 21, 2021
When you think Miami, you think loud, bold and stylish, and that’s exactly what Nike and the Marlins cooked up with these. Crucially, the team eschewed the typical “Miami Vice,” neon look for a color scheme and style that serves as an homage to the Sugar Kings, a Cuban minor-league club that played in Triple A from 1954 to ’60, and eventually relocated to Jacksonville, where the team is now a minor-league affiliate of the Marlins. Given the massive Cuban population in Miami, this was a very fitting design choice.
4. Seattle Mariners
Debut: May 5, 2023
The Mariners went with a beautiful send-up to Seattle’s first MLB franchise, the Pilots, who called the Emerald City home for just one season before relocating to Milwaukee. And the inclusion of a trident on the hat earns a perfect score in these parts, becoming just as big a hit as the team’s home run trident that debuted this season.
3. Washington Nationals
Debut: April 9, 2022
The use of pink as an accent color here is flawless, and a perfect nod to the cherry blossoms that our nation’s capital is known for. Anchoring the entire look with bold lettering and a muted gray makes the whole thing feel like a fully-realized vision, and earns the Nationals a spot among the best City Connect uniforms to date.
2. Chicago White Sox
Debut: June 5, 2021
The White Sox adopted pinstripes and made them their own, but it’s the Gothic “Southside” lettering on the front that elevates this jersey into the top tier. The color scheme and font choice were selected to pay tribute to the team’s popularity and influence in hip-hop culture. Unsurprisingly, the jerseys were a huge hit with the fans.
1. Colorado Rockies
Debut: June 4, 2022
From top to bottom, this look hits all the right notes. The snow-capped mountains across the chest topped by clean white along the shoulders really sings, and using green as the primary color is both an inspired departure from the team’s regular color scheme and a creative representation of the state’s natural beauty. The logo on the hat also feels like something you would see at one of Colorado’s many ski resorts, and does a wonderful job of tying the entire uniform together.
Nick Selbe is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about baseball and college sports. Before joining SI in March 2020 as a breaking/trending news writer, he worked for MLB Advanced Media, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. Selbe received a bachelor's in communication from the University of Southern California.