In 2021, Nike saw their company’s dream realized: To make even more money from MLB fans by selling them a new alternate jersey. Eight teams received what was dubbed the “City Connect” jersey, meant to portray, embody, and celebrate the history and culture of the cities in which Major League Baseball teams play.
There were varying degrees of positivity from their fanbases in response, a pattern that continued as City Connects debuted in waves for more teams during the 2022 and 2023 seasons as well. All the while, Phillies fans waited, squinting in suspicion, wondering what their team’s iteration would look like, and when, exactly, they could start hating it.
The Yankees, a franchise built around a fear of beard hair, and the Athletics, a team recently relocated to Sacramento at the behest of a billionaire recluse, will not be partaking, unsurprisingly. But by the end of 2024, every other MLB franchise will have worn one of Nike’s City Connect jerseys.
Nike may be a bit distracted this year having to send out a constant stream of “Hey, the new uniform pants aren’t that see-through and terrible” press releases. But the final round of City Connects has begun, and will start on Friday, April 12… with the Phillies.
Aesthetically, the point of City Connect jerseys is to be a departure from a team’s typical color palette and design. So the question became, just how far from “more or less red” would they go for the Phillies? Would they go hard on the well-traveled theme of Philadelphia history? Would they involve the blue and yellow of the city flag? Or would they be truly daring and invoke the city’s thriving street art scene, perhaps with a nod to the beloved Boner4Ever mural?
Disappointingly, but predictably, Nike seems to have played it safe. This is, ultimately, a corporate exercise, and that means taking very little chances.
The truth is, the mystery of this reveal has been out there for weeks. Leaked photos on eBay indicated what the jerseys would look like and later on we even got a glimpse of the hats.
And this morning, after a brief earthquake, came the official reveal:
A lot of the fan responses following the unveiling were this morning… unpleasant. Many, alternatively, were not. The players, for what it’s worth, seem fine with them (on the record, at least).
Jose Alvarado: “They’re beautiful… It’s something new, it’s something different for the city.”
Bryce Harper: “They’re dope.”
Bryson Stott: “I’m pretty excited about ours.”
“Unapologetically Philly” is a hilarious phrase, as the last thing you’ll ever get from a Philly sports fan is an apology.
There are people for whom these uniforms turned their pupils into little hearts. There are people whose whole weekend will be spent screaming themselves hoarse about them. They could have been better. They could have been worse. A lot worse.
The jersey alone isn’t very appealing, but together with the ensemble, it works better. The font is the most lambasted aspect, as it is, at times, indecipherable. For instance, Trea Turner’s number 7 looks unquestionably like a question mark.
But the truth is, these are not the worst City Connect jerseys out there (the Orioles own those). I don’t know how well they portray, embody, and celebrate the city of Philadelphia, but I personally like the yellow stripes, the hats (despite the umpteenth versioning of the Liberty Bell), and the shade of blue they used, in the right lighting, is fine.
Phillies social media circles aren’t keen on change—or staying the same–or losses, or close wins, or Rob Thomson the second things are unideal, or Alec Bohm for some reason—but there’s still a chance people come around. All it will take, as it always does, is for someone who is not from Philadelphia to say the uniforms are bad, and then, a citywide pile-on will begin.
Then Nick Castellanos will wear one with most of the buttons undone and suddenly the whole thing will seem more palatable (If only he could just as ably “undo” his swings at low and outside junk). That doesn’t mean anyone will be more likely to spend $175 on one (before fees), but still.
I can’t say I’m thrilled by the design, and rarely have the more boring City Connect jerseys gotten any more interesting through the explainers Nike releases to define the thinking behind every stitch. But if the worst thing about the Phillies this season winds up being one of their alternate uniforms, then they’ve had a pretty good year.
