Some of you may know my “rules” about acquiring the caps that line the walls of my office: I (or people who gift me) at least have to be in the state where the teams plays. I don’t necessarily have to be in the stadium or even city, but I can’t just go to a local Lids and purchase something (unless it’s in proximity to the ball club).
I have mixed feelings about the whole City Connect business. The teams promote these new threads as a way to pay tribute to their various home towns. Being the cynic that I am. to me it’s just one more way to separate the fans from their money.
That said, there are some really nice items out there. But I’m going to have to move to accommodate any more hats.
Levi Weaver wrote this assessment for The Athletic. The links are from the original article and will take the viewer to videos (!) publicizing the new duds.
Rangers: I appreciate the “Tejas” nod — the team could certainly use a little goodwill on that front — but even as someone who grew up loving the Nolan Ryan-era uniforms, my first reaction is that the red on red is just too Soon … ers.
Padres: The jersey seems fine. The hat is a throwback to an era when the Padres uniforms were just so lost. I’ve been so happy they returned to the brown and gold. Particularly at the cost of those neon City Connects, I’m bummed out about these.
Reds: They sure are the (multiple, different) Reds! I’m not sure how these will look on TV, but I don’t hate them.
Brewers: “Wisco” is a word no human should ever be forced to read and I’m sorry I wrote it out loud for you. The jerseys are … actually not bad. I like the orange!
Orioles: I’m usually not a fan of the sleeves being a different color than the jerseys, but this dark green works so well. Good font, good jersey. I think these are a slight improvement over the black (and I really liked the black).
Royals: These purple-and-blues are the best new color scheme I’ve seen in a while. So much better than their first ones! I’m so curious about the cap — hopefully they’ll stick the landing.
Pirates: I am not a jersey-buying person, but this might make me reconsider. The font is perfectly Pirates without being corny — or featuring any typos to turn into goofy celebrations (complimentary). The matte/muted black and yellow are [chef’s kiss]. As with the Royals, let’s see how the caps look, but so far: City Connect 2.0 day is coming up Pittsburgh.
(… and the Braves: The powder blues are fire.)
I’m sure we’ll have some official rankings on the City Connect uniforms soon. I’ll let you know tomorrow if any of the caps significantly change my thoughts.
It’s worth noting that some of these are already second generation City Connect garb.
Among my personal favorites are the Royals and Brewers offerings.
And not for nothing, but I would urge the majority of players in the photos not to give up their day jobs to try to go into modelling.
is available on Amazon.com,
