5 Best and 5 Worst: MLB City Connect Jerseys

Ashland Connelly
12 minutes ago
5 min read

Welcome back to 5 Best and 5 Worst, WLTL's sports blog, where we analyze the 5 best and 5 worst of any particular sports category. With the ALCS and NLCS in full swing, I figured it was a good time to examine the greatest and worst MLB City Connect Jerseys so far. While, unlike the reverse retro, the Fanatics acquisition of control over MLB jerseys hasn't put a pin in this program yet, it's still a nice time to examine the full collection of jerseys. So, here are the 5 best and 5 worst of this popular collection of experimental MLB jerseys.

#5 (WORST): PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES V1

Colors are integral to sports brands, and sometimes deviating from the palette can produce great results. There are plenty of great City Connect jerseys that employ this technique; however, Philadelphia misses the mark. The color choice of blue and black is such a deviation from the standard red and white, and the yellow accents add to this odd contrast to create a palette that does not Philly fans of their local team whatsoever. While the design itself isn't the worst in the world, there is nothing about this jersey that makes me say "Philadelphia Phillies" other than the weirdly embroidered font across the chest of the jersey. While some fans love it, this design is a swing-and-a-miss for me.

#5 (BEST): MIAMI MARLINS V1

An elite throwback to a team of old. The Cuban Sugar Kings were a Triple-A International Team that played from 1954-1960, and, despite the nearly 75-year difference in time, produced a design that screams Miami. This jersey's red pops alongside the powder blue and white accents, with my only gripe with the design being that the primary mark remains unchanged. Nonetheless, this jersey is yet another heater from the Marlins' design team, and a jersey that will be beloved by fans for years, even if the team that dressed in them wasn't the best.

#4 (WORST): COLORADO ROCKIES V2

While the Rockies had a solid home run with their first city-connect, they appear to have had an error with their second attempt. After having a muted palette their first time out, the second City Connect jersey has gone all-in on the bright colors; however, the jersey screams "Simpsons" instead of other bright color designs in the collection. While the color choice is certainly reminiscent of the state, this is certainly a case of a bad team getting an even worse jersey.

#4 (BEST): TAMPA BAY RAYS V2

When you have as fun a brand as the Rays, you have to experiment. This blackout jersey harkens back to the team's '90s era as the Devil Rays, but the design is all original. The green-to-purple gradient is an excellent design choice that makes this jersey pop, and the stylized word mark is a great look for the team. All of this doesn't even consider the new secondary logo featuring a stingray on a skateboard. While this jersey sadly came too late for a World Series-caliber team, it certainly still gives fans a reason to see the Rays play in these wonderfully designed uniforms.

#3 (WORST): TEXAS RANGERS V1

Some bland designs can absolutely work, especially in the sport of baseball. Texas does not. The logo patch is...fine enough, and the sleeve logo is pretty decent, but overall the design is sorely lacking and, though it doesn't appear in the images, the red lettering on the numbers really detracts from the design. Overall, just an incredibly underwhelming and disappointing jersey that epitomized how underwhelming and disappointing the Rangers were after their World Series triumph.

#3 (BEST): WASHINGTON NATIONALS V1

The cherry blossoms of the nation's capital have provided an outstanding supplement to great jerseys in the city's history. While the DC United 2023/24 away jersey comes to mind, this Nationals jersey from the same era certainly adds to the allure of the capital. The cherry blossoms within the gray base do an excellent job supplementing the pink accents across the design, and while the chest mark is fairly standard, it does a great job preventing the design from getting too busy. All-in-all, it's an excellent jersey befitting a team at the nation's capital

#2 (WORST): SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS V1

San Francisco did not deserve to get these abominations. Fans loathed the "foggy" designs for years, and it isn't hard to see why. The only true redeeming quality within the look is the solid shoulders with the Bay Bridge making an appearance. The white-to-orange gradient in the numbers and "G" patch makes the jersey hard to read, and it is overall just another example of a gradient not working. All of that is before the color choice, with an orange, white, and light-silver jersey that makes no use of the traditional Giants black whatsoever (even though doing so would greatly improve the design). While the second City Connect jersey would also be unpopular, the Giants definitely needed to do a second attempt after this awful first crack at a design.

#2 (BEST): SAN DIEGO PADRES V1

Nothing screams San Diego quite like these uniforms. The bright colors do an excellent job of popping on the white base, and the classic friar making appearance on the shoulder only adds to the brilliance of the design. The design's magnum opus definitely resides in its brilliant chest mark, though, with the "San Diego" wordmark popping with the green, pink, and yellow coloring. While the Padres are known for having a toned-down kit as far as uniform colors, this City Connect jersey does an excellent job sprucing up their jersey catalog.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (WORST):

While I believe that both Cubs designs are very bland, the V2 jersey is my choice for the worst of the two

This design has certainly grown on me, but the White Sox's V2 jersey is such a sharp downgrade from its original City Connect

A jersey catering to Detroit's moniker sounds great on paper, but the City Connect's execution was sorely lacking

I feel bad for Giants fans as they were treated to two of the worst designs in the set, with V2's bubble letters and gradients dragging down a half-decent jersey

While the jersey pattern is cool when you get up close to it, the Pirates design, much like the team, is sorely lacking in the creativity department

#1 (WORST): LOS ANGELES DODGERS V1

Easily the lowest effort design of the lot. Simply adding the "Los" prefix to the traditional Dodgers design, and a pitiful gradient on the shoulder. While the second attempt at a City Connect was still a relatively unpopular design, this look simply spits in the face of everything the initiative stands for. It is an appalling look befitting one of the most unpopular organizations in baseball, and it has absolutely earned its regard as the worst jersey in the collection.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (BEST):

The Astros' now iconic "Space City" jerseys were one of the standout gems in the V1 collection

This place could go to V1 or V2. I personally prefer the earthy tones of V1 as the Diamondbacks knock this design out of the park

A legendary jersey from a legendary era, a perfect throwback from the Atlanta Braves

Especially after seeing these in person, the Red Sox "Boston Marathon" jerseys are stunners...

...however, they aren't as good as their V2 "Green Monster" jerseys, which pay perfect homage to the most notable part of Fenway Park

#1 (BEST): CHICAGO WHITE SOX V1

Even as a biased Sox fan, no city connect jerseys are as beloved by their city as these. The black base with the iconic White Sox pinstripes is now in gray, and the wordmark is my choice for the best of any jersey in the collection. While the second attempt was a step in the wrong direction, this jersey is an icon of the city, much beloved by the fans, and easily my pick for the best City Connect jersey.