Ranking the City Connect Uniforms

The Minnesota Twins became the final team to debut a City Connect uniform in June of this year (final, but not the 30th - more on that later).  I thought they were one of the better done ones, and I've had a lot of strong opinions and discussions with others on various teams' versions of this cool concept.  And so with that, I get to write something I've been excited about for a couple years now: my ranking of all the City Connect uniforms.  I quickly found that once I got past the top few obvious best ones, it got really difficult and nit-picky, so you'll see that I've broken my rankings down into tiers to make this task a little easier.

Tier 1: Best of the Best
1.  Los Angeles Angels
One of the few things this organization has done right recently.  These are honestly so good that they should be their regular uniforms, and in reality they are just a sprucing up of their current duds.  They're a bit more subtle than some (looking at you, Padres), but I am a sucker for a great font, cool patches, a differently colored front panel cap, and an off-white home uniform, and the Angels feature all four of these.

2.  Miami Marlins
These pay homage to the former AAA Havana Sugar Kings uniforms, and are perfectly Miami without being too loud or busy (again, looking at you, Padres).

3.  Colorado Rockies
If you're a fan of the green Colorado license plate, then these are for you.  Of course there are mountains, but also some cool small details like the the ski-inspired sleeve patch.  It's a crying shame that these are being replaced next season.  The Rockies should be spending their efforts on revamping the stalest uniforms in baseball that have been basically unchanged since their inception over 30 years ago, rather than get rid of one of the best City Connects in the game.

Tier 2: Nearly Perfect

4.  Washington Nationals
Sadly, these "Back in Bloom" jerseys are also stupidly being replaced at the end of the year.  The contrast of the gray patterned uniform with the pink cherry blossoms is stunning, and I love the DC flag patch - one of the best US flags.  I think the only thing missing for me is a reference to the Capitol or a famous DC monument/building somewhere.

5.  Seattle Mariners
The original 1977 look is represented in these City Connects, which is unmistakably the best era of Mariners uniforms.  Love the trident and the '70s style, I just can't get past the black pants.

6.  Houston Astros
These are on the more subtle side in the City Connect spectrum, but the "Space City" reference was an obvious choice.  Again, I love a good font, and I've always been nuts about that retro space font.  The orbiting planet on the cap is a nice touch.  But just too monotone for me.  If they required the high pants with the orange socks for every player they'd be fantastic, but the navy top with long navy pants is a bit too much.

7.  Los Angeles Dodgers
When I started compiling this list last year, the Dodgers had the worst City Connects by a mile, so I'm glad they got a new set this year.  These have a nice font as well, but the layout is what stands out on these.  I love the positioning of the number high on the front breast, and the name below the number on the back that ever-so-slightly cuts off the bottom of the numbers.  The theme of these is Hollywood, and the faint star pattern is a really nice touch.

8.  Kansas City Royals
Futuristic, faux-retro "KC" and "R" logos adorn the tops, which tie to the architecture and era of Kauffman Stadium, and the linework I'm guessing is a subtle reference to the fountains.  The striped banding on the sleeves is phenomenal.  A lot of teams teams use a baby blue throwback color, but the Royals have always been one of the best at it.

9.  Minnesota Twins
Maybe I'm being a bit of a homer here, but I like these.  I'm sure it was no easy task to debut an entirely new set of every-day uniforms and a City Connect in consecutive seasons.  The theme of lakes and the North Star is low hanging fruit, but it really pops with the bold color palette.  I appreciate the City Connects that successfully stray from their normal team colors.

10.  Texas Rangers
They have an Old West font and a boot spur on them.  All they're missing is a huge belt buckle, and that's actually my only legitimate gripe with them.  These could have been really gaudy and covered in Texas flags and guns and longhorns, so I appreciate that they're a little more understated.

Tier 3: Great Elements

11.  Milwaukee Brewers

I really struggled with where to rank the Brewers, obviously.  Ultimately I love the colors, I love that they say "Brew Crew," and the grill patch is the best individual element on any of the City Connects.  I just can't get past the caps.  They're way too busy, and when you already have the best everyday logo in baseball, anything less than than perfection on the cap is a failure.

12.  Toronto Blue Jays
My only real problem with these is they're way too dark.  The dark-on-dark uniforms with dark font don't make any sense to me and are impossible to read.  If these were done in say, Canada Red, I think they'd be in my top 5.  The cap reference to the logo they had for like one season in the early 2000s is a nice touch.

13.  Detroit Tigers
I hated these ones at first, but that tire tread pattern grew on me, and I like the colors and the highway sign number patch.  Much like the Brewers ones, I can't get past the caps.  They just say "DETROIT" in all caps, it's like they forgot to do a cap and made one themselves on VistaPrint.  Even the promotional photos with Eminem depict him donning a regular Olde English 'D' cap with the top.

14.  Philadelphia Phillies
Historic teams with timeless iconic uniforms like the Phillies are really tough to pull off a good alternate for, and most people are probably going to hate them no matter what.  They've got a pretty good team, so I'm sure Phillies fans appreciate having something they can boo at again.  The font is awful, but I like the color scheme and the Liberty Bell cap was an obvious choice.

15.  Cleveland Guardians
These seem to be one of the more polarizing sets of City Connects out there.  I've seen these ranked in the top 5 and the bottom 5 and everywhere in between depending on which publication you read, so that might be part of the reason I have them directly in the middle of my list.  At the end of the day, they just look too much like their current jerseys.  I love the chunky Art Deco font and going all-in on the "Guardians of Traffic" motif, but a slightly different color scheme or a different cap logo would have gone a long way.

16.  Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox were first out of the gate in early 2021, and appropriately they're racing themed - The Boston Marathon, to be exact.  These have a strong concept but could be executed better, if you look at these in grayscale they still feel too much like their regular uniforms.

Tier 4: Missed the Mark

17.  San Diego Padres
This is my "A for effort, D for execution" tier of uniforms.  The Padres wanting their uniforms to reflect the culture and artwork and playfulness of the region, I totally get that and respect that.  I just personally find them hideous and loud and hard to look at.

18.  Chicago White Sox
"Southside" on the front was absolutely the right call.  But it's all downhill from there.  The White Sox are really leaning into the crime of the area with the gangster font.  And can we try something besides black pinstriped?  Maybe the 1980s look complete with shorts?

19.  Tampa Bay Rays
Same comment as the dark-on-dark Toronto jerseys, but worse.  The cap logo is great and should be more prominent.  I was hoping for some iteration of their Joe Maddon-era "faux-backs" for this one.

20.  Chicago Cubs
Similar issues to their south side counterparts.  Embracing the neighborhood makes sense, but the dark-on-dark is tired, and they feel too much like their regular uniforms.

21.  New York Mets
They have a subway font, a bridge on the cap, they say NYC on the chest...I get what they're trying to do.  The dark gray is just a bad choice and makes these unpalatable.  Being a Mets fan is depressing enough, let's get some more of that pink in there.  There are some thoughtful details in this uniform that get almost entirely lost in the gray.

Tier 5:  Lazy

22.  Pittsburgh Pirates
Modifications made this year moved this one up to the top of this tier.  These originally had black pants with a yellow cap to go with a yellow shirt, but this year they switched to white pants and added a 1970s era black cap with yellow stars and stripes.  I'm sensing a theme here - the '70s had the best uniforms!  They also replaced a weird yellow helmet with their regular black one.  Featuring the airport abbreviation with no discernable flare keeps this one in the "lazy" category.

23.  Baltimore Orioles
A very boring font with nothing memorable in another black ensemble.  There is a very small pop of color on the collar and the sleeves that is barely visible.  Similar to the Pirates, they did change their black pants to white this year, which was a slight improvement.

24.  Cincinnati Reds
Again with the black-on-black.  Even more unreadable than the Jays and Rays versions.  The cap logo is about all they've got going for them.

25.  San Francisco Giants
Yup, the Bay Area is foggy, I get it.  You know what's hard to do in the fog?  Read.  The crisp white also feels weird on a team whose regular uniforms are cream.

26.  Arizona Diamondbacks
They took their regular uniforms, translated "snakes" to Spanish, and changed the color to sand.  I don't get why anyone likes these.

27.  Atlanta Braves
My complaint with these is not the actual uniform - I actually think they're sharp.  It's that these are just their regular retro uniforms.  Nothing is new or creative about these in any way.

Tier 6: Why Even Bother?

28.  St. Louis Cardinals
It seems appropriate that the Cardinals should be in a category all by themselves, since that's how they view themselves.  The caps are of the homemade variety a la Tigers, and they took their regular tops and just changed "Cardinals" to "The Lou" in the same font.  Oh but wait, they're red now!  Wow!  "The Lou" is also just a horrible nickname.  Rely on a century of stubborn tradition and expect everyone to get on board - The Cardinal Way.

Tier 7: They Didn't Bother.

29.  Oakland Athletics
Understandable that they would not create a jersey proclaiming their love of a city they are soon abandoning.  And don't expect them to create one anytime soon given their vagabond status.

30.  New York Yankees
What a surprise, the Yankees didn't want to sully their timeless look and stoop down to the level of the other 28 teams by actually making something fun.  We're talking about the only team in baseball that has only two primary uniforms - one home, one away, zero alternates.  The Yankees are actually going in the reverse direction and stripping down their existing uniforms to even more bare.  For the 2024 season, they removed the white piping from the numbers, letters, and sleeves of their road uniforms, thus reverting back to their pre-1973, Mickey Mantle-era style with just basic black numerals on a plain gray jersey.  Exciting.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/20/24:
Brewers 88-65, +10.0, clinched NL Central; 4 v. Diamondbacks, 3 @ Pirates, 3 v. Mets
Twins 80-73, -8.5, -- WC; 3 @ Red Sox, 3 v. Marlins, 3 v. Orioles
Orioles 85-68, -4.0, +5.0 WC, magic number 4; 3 v. Tigers, 3 @ Yankees, 3 @ Twins

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 7
Peter - 31