For those who wondered when Nike would start making its mark in the Major League Baseball, ask no more. After presenting previously “ColorRush” and “City” uniforms for the NFL and NBA respectively, this morning Nike launched its new “City Connect” series in the world of baseball.
Only one team will see its new City Connect uniform unveiled today at the launch, the Boston Red Sox. After that, the program will slowly expand through the rest of the league over several seasons.
“Developed in partnership with MLB Clubs, the Nike MLB City Connect series celebrates the bond between each team and their city,” says the statement released together that accompanied the announcement. “The series of uniforms explores the personality, values and customs that make each community and its residents unique. Based on each club’s rich heritage, the City Connect series expands the boundaries of baseball uniform design to create new traditions and help develop the game of baseball. “
Today it is just the Boston Red Sox, but as the 2021 season progresses, six other teams will be revealed: the Miami Marlins will be next followed by the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“This process started with the desire to be collaborative between clubs and Nike to tell new stories and bring new narratives to teams that are meaningful to the community and the players,” said Nike senior creative director Wil Green in a conversation with SportsLogos.net. “This is how we started all projects with this series. We have a conversation with the team and ask what is important to the team. For the fans? For the players? And then start to unravel what is meaningful to them. “
Yes, we will see several other Major League teams, in addition to the seven that will be launched in 2021, join the program and start presenting their City Connect uniforms in subsequent seasons. Each of these new uniforms can (and probably will be) used several times during the year and will be transported and worn for a period of three seasons.
“We decided to schedule the launch of the shirts with a limited quantity, instead of making the entire league in one go. In that way, we can really allow teams to celebrate the stories they are going to reveal and give them opportunities to celebrate their uniqueness through these uniform programs, ”said Green. “Next year, you will see more teams standing out, but giving them space and an opportunity to breathe.”
Turning our attention now to the Boston Red Sox and its new uniform released today, it was the city’s annual Patriot Day celebration that provided inspiration for its remarkably off-brand City Connect uniform. Yellow T-shirts with light blue caps, a mark written with the word “Boston” on the chest [inspired by the finish line of the Boston Marathon] is in light blue, as well as a marathon runner bib on the sleeve [containing Fenway Park’s 617 area code] in a horizontally black, white and light blue striped rectangle. On the back of the shirt is just the player’s number (unnamed), the numbers are not in the standard Red Sox font and are light blue with a white shadow. The only visually apparent hint that these are * the * Red Sox is the inclusion of the familiar “B” of the team on the cover, recolored to match the shirt.
“We wanted to do something bold and different,” Boston Red Sox CMO Adam Grossman told SportsLogos.net. “We thought it was an opportunity to do something that we had never done before. We talked to Nike at the beginning, raised our hands when they announced the baseball deal and said, ‘We want to be your partner, we want to do something completely different. We love our history, we love our connection to the city, but we are also willing to do something that is bold and in a very different direction. ”
The Red Sox have hardly repaired their overall appearance over the years. In addition to some minor adjustments to the shirt cut and the occasional change from a red cap to a blue cap (and that year was white!), the home uniform has remained relatively the same since 1936. The road uniform has gone through more changes, but it has consistently been a gray shirt with BOSTON arched in front in blue or red letters for the past 89 seasons.
So, why the sudden change to yellow and light blue?
“We were looking for that moment that brought all Bostonians together and Patriots’ Day was really the main point of inspiration during this process with the Red Sox,” Green told us. “It is about yellow and blue that unites the city at that moment. Of course, everyone knows that the finish line is that yellow and blue color, and only that Patriot Day color was really where yellow and blue came from to bring this shirt to life. “
“The Patriots Day weekend is a unique weekend in Boston,” said Grossman, “and there’s nothing like it for the rest of the year.”
Patriots Day is an annual holiday celebrated on the third Monday in April in five U.S. states (including Massachusetts), and is held to commemorate the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Menotomy, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War . In Boston, the holiday is also observed along with the Boston Marathon race, which has been held on Patriots Day every year (not COVID) since 1897.
With the strong inspiration of Patriots Day, it should come as no surprise that the uniform will make its debut on the field that long weekend in Boston. The Red Sox will be hosting another team that focuses on baseball socks, the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, April 17th and then will use them again on Sunday, 18th. The team is normal Patriots Day “Boston Strong” uniforms will return to the game on Monday morning.
Boston’s City Connect uniform doesn’t stop with the new shirt and cap, a new pair of pants, socks and shoes have been specially designed to match the set of each team. The Red Sox will wear yellow socks with blue and white stripes and a blue “B”. The team is familiar hanging socks logo with EST. 1901 around it is added to the back of the socks, giving this uniform set its unique streak of red. The pants are white with light blue stripes and matching belt and the shoes will be in the light blue / yellow color scheme.
“Some [City Connect uniform] colors, it may not be so traditional, but it serves to open the conversation and tell the story in a really powerful and meaningful way ”, added Green when asked about the departure from the typical Red Sox look with this design. “This uniform brings a new conversation with the existing fan, but it also invites new fans for a conversation to really celebrate this moment with Patriots Day, which brings the whole community together. I hope the fans really understand and understand what this program is trying to do when trying to bring the city together in a new way. “
“They were not designed for traditionalists, we recognize that it may not be everyone’s taste and we agree with that,” said Grossman. “This is something we talked about with Nike, they said, ‘These are designed to go further and it is normal to recognize that not everyone is going to like them.’ They were not made to replace our everyday uniforms, we are not moving from the Red Sox in white, red and blue to yellow and light blue, we are not changing our colors. This is a compliment to what we are doing, not a replacement. “
In addition to replicas and authentic t-shirts, sweatshirts, t-shirts and other matching Red Sox products will be available in retail starting today at mlbshop.com
We will see the other six teams unveiling their City Connect uniforms in the coming months, and although no date has been set for when they will be revealed, we know when they will make their field debut. Miami Marlins will debut on May 21, White Sox on June 5, Cubs on June 12, Diamondbacks on June 18, Giants on July 9, and the Los Angeles Dodgers will finish everything at the end of August.