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New York Times
25-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Washington Nationals City Connect uniforms, round two: What does our panel think?
The Washington Nationals, whose cherry blossom City Connect uniforms were No. 4 in The Athletic's rankings last season, announced their latest City Connect uniforms on Sunday. The new light blue uniform features an overlay of the city grid of Washington D.C., which the team calls an 'homage to the quadrants, grand avenues and even the traffic circles that connect us.' This year's edition, like its City Connext predecessor, features the District's famed cherry blossoms on the cap, as well as on the sleeve patch. The interlocking 'DC' on the chest — which was a part of the 2006-10 Nats uni — is stylized as a hat tip to the 1956 Washington Senators. Advertisement Washington's first attempt at a City Connect uniform — the gray and pink 'Cherry Blossoms' set — received much public acclaim, so creating its second version was always going be a bit of a tall task. When writers C. Trent Rosecrans, Stephen J. Nesbitt, Tyler Kepner and Jason Jones ranked the game's City Connects last year, all four had the Nationals in their top 10. How will the latest set fare? GO DEEPER MLB City Connect: All 29 uniforms ranked, from the so-so to the sublime C. Trent Rosecrans: As soon as the Nationals announced they were retiring the cherry blossom uniforms, it was clear they were likely in for a downgrade. That turned out to be true. But on its own, the new design is fine. It's probably still in the top half of the City Connect designs. Using the grid certainly connects the jersey to the city, so there's that. I also like that the cherry blossoms are still there and I think the cutout of the Capitol Dome inside the block 'W' gives the team one of its best looks. Aside from the near-perfect cherry blossom lid from the first edition, this new CC hat and its batting helmet and batting practice siblings are the best in the Nationals' wardrobe. Sure, having different designs for the hat, batting practice hat and the batting helmet is excessive, but all three are decent designs and better than any of the team's other looks. THE BLUEPRINT — Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 23, 2025 Jason Jones: A blueprint of D.C. is certainly going all in on the City Connect theme. If there had to be a change, I like going completely away from last season's look It's still a top-tier alternative to the usual Washington uniform, even though I'm partial to the script 'W' over this block version on the cap. That W in this color would be one of the best in baseball, especially if there were no cherry blossoms on it (just my preference). But the detail on the W of incorporating the Capitol Dome is nice, so I'd still add it to my collection. The blueprint under the brim is an excellent detail that helps this look stand out even more. Advertisement The uniform still has pink details to accent the cool shades of blue. I like this more than last year's and that was a solid look for the Nationals. It might even be top-5 for me by the time the other new uniforms are revealed. Stephen J. Nesbitt: An absolute travesty. The Nationals' previous City Connect set was a beauty. This uniform stinks out loud. That was my immediate reaction after seeing this photo. I raced to my computer and typed out: 'This is a travel-ball team uniform that parents (rightfully) groused about having to shell out $150 for. The interlocking DC looking like the Perfect Game logo really drives that prep vibe home. The city grid is already almost unrecognizable given the grainy design, and under the noon sun, it'll just be an indistinct jumble of similar hues. It's a bad All-Star Game uniform in light blue.' Then I looked at some more photos and my Big Feelings calmed down. The new cap is cool, and I like the numbers on the back of the jersey. There are far worse City Connects. But I still much prefer the previous version, and second tries should be held to a high standard. Tyler Kepner: They don't really look like the Nats, though I understand that's often the point of the City Connect series. This worked well with the previous City Connect set because of the stylish pink splash from the cherry blossoms, which sadly have a minimal presence now. I really like how the outline of the Capitol Dome wedges into the W on the cap, though I don't understand why there's a different W on the helmet. Turning the whole jersey into a map is something new for a uniform, as far as I know, and it works. I like the sleeve patch, and I'll give them points for using the interlocking DC logo instead of the awkward 'WSH.' But while I'm really glad they went with white pants (blue-over-blue, as we see with the Twins, is a bad look), it's going to take a while to think 'Nationals' instead of 'Royals' when I see this uniform. If they'd used the light blue as part of an Expos motif, I might feel different, but these jerseys honor DC, not Montreal. All in all, a middle-of-the-pack outfit for a middle-of-the-pack team. (All photos courtesy of the Washington Nationals)
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Love or hate the Astros' newest City Connect uniforms? Our panel weighs in
On Wednesday, The Houston Astros revealed the latest edition of uniforms in the somewhat-maligned City Connect collaboration between Nike and Major League Baseball. The Bat Signal of a new uniform has been projected into the sky, and so The Athletic's Sartorial Superfriends once again convene at the virtual Hall of Justice to render their judgment. Advertisement It can be hard to get baseball writers to agree on much, but in this case, they did. These uniforms are good. Going against what has been common practice around the internet for the last 30 years or so, you will find only praise and consensus from our Mr. Blackwellian roundtable — made up of Stephen J. Nesbitt, C. Trent Rosecrans, Tyler Kepner and Jason Jones — which just last year picked the Colorado Rockies' City Connect as the best of the bunch. C. Trent Rosecrans: I went from thinking these weren't too bad, to thinking maybe they're good, to talking myself into these being the best of the cursed bunch. Could these perhaps start a trend of good City Connects? Am I giving Nike and MLB too much credit based on one example of a job well done? Maybe. Heck, I even saw a new Dodgers City Connect cap in the wild the other day and thought it looked good. Maybe in my old age, I'm turning into an optimist? Get on my lawn? GO DEEPER A year after uniform fiasco, players arrive at Spring Training with issues mostly ironed out Back to the topic at hand, these could low-key be a great regular design, not just a City Connect. This design has elements of former Astros uniforms — the clean simplicity of their original 1960s uniforms, the color and spirit of the '70s and '80s classics, the look and feel of the '90s uniforms that were a product of their time — without beating you over the head. Too often nostalgia is used like a blunt instrument — see Atlanta's attempt at the City Connect — but here it's used well. Stephen Nesbitt: I was way higher on the Astros' 'Space City' City Connect unis than the rest of this panel, but even I had to admit then: 'The dark blue background steals from all that goodness. If Nike reprints this as a white jersey, it would soar up these rankings.' Well, well, what have we here! A smashing white jersey. The futuristic logo makes the cap a great standalone item, and it pairs well with the dark blue and orange uniform accents. I liked the old City Connect set. I love the new one. It's exactly what you want from an alternate jersey. Tyler Kepner: The first of the 2025 City Connects is easily the best version yet. A sure way to win me over is to modernize a look from the past, and the Astros do it twice with this sleek outfit, blending their shooting-star uniform of the 1960s with the open-sided star of the 1990s. (As a bonus, the star features orange gradients, a nice callback to the 'Tequila Sunrise' uniforms of the 1980s.) Advertisement The cap logo is a sharp update on an unused prototype. The space-age font works. The stripes, the sleeve patch, the HTX on the belt — I love it all. And the best part? Even Nike, it seems, is finally tiring of its dark-jersey-over-dark-pants style, which always looks wrong on a baseball field. Jason Jones: The 2025 version of the Astros' City Connect uniform is a win from head to toe. At first glance, the cap reminds me of the Arizona Diamondbacks' A, but it's still a good look. It's even better when you see the jersey goes with 'Stros' instead of Astros. If you're looking for the 'A,' go to the cap. The HTX detail on the belt loop is unique and the socks are a winner. A much-needed upgrade for the 'Space City' jerseys. The color scheme is the right mix of nostalgia and a modern look, too. (Photos of Jeremy Peña, Jose Altuve, and uniform details courtesy of the Houston Astros)
