Tired of seeing annoying ads (like this one!) on Uni Watch? There’s a simple solution: Join Uni Watch Plus. You’ll get an ad-free site experience, plus exclusive access to our UW+ discussion forums, push notifications whenever a new blog post has been published, a special UW+ badge accompanying all your comments on the blog, and a 20% discount on our Teespring merchandise.
Good Saturday morning! Hope you got some rest last night, because if your eyes are tired they’re in for a really bright surprise. Yesterday, Manfred League Baseball gave us our first look at this year’s All-Star Game caps, and they’re downright luminous. The American League in particular will light up your eyes with coral/salmon-looking caps with a cream-colored front. Here’s a slideshow of all 15 AL caps:
You’ll notice 14 teams have the logo in blue with coral and white accents, but Houston’s H is white. The star from the logo blends in with the coral and blue stripes behind it. This year’s ASG logo patch is on the players’ right side, and of course the makers mark is on the other side. The MLB logo is on the back.
The National League counters with light blue caps and a navy (Or is it black? Maybe just call it midnight) front. Here’s a slideshow for them:
Twelve of the logos are white with light blue outline, while Chicago, Colorado and Miami’s are light blue with white accents.
Curious move having the star on each cap going “right-to-left” with the trail of blue and coral stripes. Most of the time left-to-right signifies forward motion, while right-to-left can mean going in reverse. Make of that what you will; it isn’t a deal breaker for me. In fact, I kind of like these caps…unnecessary as they are.
What I really like are the Workout Day caps which also made their official release yesterday. Earlier this month, Phil reported on some leaks of the Workout Day caps. Here’s what they all look like, in their own team colors, beginning with the AL:
Next, here comes the NL:
The most curious thing of all: Both on the ASG and Workout Day caps, the Cubs are the only team not using its regular cap logo. They (or MLB or New Era designers) opted for the jersey logo instead. Anyway, these caps are a lot easier on the eyes. I would have gone with a gold star instead of a cream-colored one. It shows up alright on the game caps, but looks a little drowned out next to the proper team colors on the white front of the workout caps. Still, one of the best All-Star caps I’ve seen…unnecessary as they are.
The question now is: will the uniforms be cream vs. midnight? Coral vs. light blue? Some other combo? Your guess is as good as mine.
A 5&1 List For MLB's City Connect Unis
I told Phil after the college football season ended that my days of doing 5&1 lists for other sports were over. Good thing I never said never. A reader (wish I could remember whom) suggested I do one after the Twins became the 28th and final team to take part in the first round of City Connect uniforms. Sure, why not? Phil will do a ranking of this year’s unis at a later date. I’m going through all 28 of them and picking the five best and one worst. Yes, there are five good ones, and some others that really came close to making the list. The Five shared some common traits: They Respect The Placket (well, one team splits a letter but does it very discreetly), they’re functional uniforms as well as being fashionable, and…I just realized as I’m typing this…they all have blue in them. I wasn’t planning on that last one! Now then, let’s begin with:
5. Seattle
Don’t worry…laughing at me for liking these black and blue beauties won’t bruise my ego.
__________
4. Minnesota
I’m loony for these watery wonders.
__________
3. Atlanta
Does “the A” stand for Atlanta, Aaron, or the grade I give these fauxbacks?
__________
2. Cleveland
Cleveland’s best helmet ever (maybe best uni ever?), and kudos to the font designer for making the L small in the place where it crosses the placket.
__________
1. Kansas City
Always been a sucker for double-blue, and that KC logo is a real work of art.
__________
&1. Cincinnati
While the other hard-to-see CCs had some redeeming qualities, this impossible-to-see CC has absolutely none.
__________
And no, Phil. This doesn’t mean I’m going back to doing Olympic 5&1s. I think I’m good until football season now.
Paul And Phil Have A New Hosiery Hero
The Founding Father of Uni Watch took a break from his retirement to send Phil an FYI email. Paul received a screenshot from Tyler Kepner showing that Astros pitcher Jake Bloss, making his MLB debut, came out to the mound last night in stirrups.
__________
__________
During Spring Training, Bloss had worn navy socks.
__________
__________
My preferred look, but he looked well-dressed either way. I like that cap better, too! Young Mr. Bloss didn’t get the win, but he notched his first two strikeouts while walking just one in what ended up being a 14-11 Astros victory over the Orioles. Welcome to The Show! Now let’s see if he stays with the stirrups or goes back to the socks.
Speaking of City Connects...
Wish more teams would do city connect vs city connect. #RaysUp#LetsGoBucs
Me too. Just not Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Toronto, San Diego, San Francisco, Colorado, or either Sox team. The rest? Go nuts!
And Finally...
That’s going to do it for today. If all goes as planned, the Dodgers are set to debut the first City Connect 2.0 unis this evening. So we have that going for us tomorrow morning, which is…something. Take care, and I’ll see you then!
Workout caps are pretty solid but the game caps are a travesty.
Let’s dial back the hyperbole on the Cleveland CC set. I too like the helmet, color scheme (the wine or burgundy looks great paired with cream and blue) and cap but I can’t get past the whole “CLE” thing. It feels just as manufactured as “The Land.” I do love the use of the Guardians of Traffic and hope it replaces the winged G on all their uniforms. Off the top of my head I rank the CC uniforms behind the 1954, 1994, 1947, 1976 and 1963 sets.
I feel like it’s better than The Land because CLE is actually used here pretty commonly. Then again, I am in the target audience of these uniforms so that may be a factor.
110% agreed. CLE > The Land. I’m about to the age that marketers and advertisers stop caring what I think but I can at least somehow justify CLE as a box score or score bug abbreviation. The Land was always as bad as Jim Rome trying to make “C Town” a thing.
I never use either when speaking, but in writing I’d use “CLE.”
“The Land”? Pfft. No way no how.
Should have gone with ‘The Cleve’.
Maybe with “Flee to the Cleve” on the inside or bottom.
The winged G always felt forced and contrived. When your cap logo is a monogram (for the city, as is the custom, no less), adding a second letter-based logo is confusing.
Gotta think the AL will have a cream uni, based on the cap. More horrifingly, I would give at least 50/50 odds that the NL will have a black/midnight jersey, possibly paired with black/midnight pants. And based on last year’s unis (link), plus this year’s crop of CCs, both jerseys will have some kind of sublimated graphical design.
Not looking forward to the uni unveilings…
Yaaaay, workout caps.
The pop-up ads are killing this site. It’s becoming harder and harder to even scroll without my computer locking up.
If only there was a way to enjoy all UW has to offer without those ads!:
I’ll certainly never ask anyone to sign up for UW+, but if you want to access the site without ads (plus the other benefits), it comes out to less than $.15 (fifteen cents) a day. If that’s worth it to you for no ads, then by all means, please do sign up.
Not that Phil needs my help explaining how Uni Watch’s business model works, but for what it’s worth, websites that accept ads have surprisingly limited choices in advertising purveyors to choose from and even less say in how those ads are displayed. It’s not that Paul or Phil want all the pop-ups you’re complaining to appear. It’s that their options for controlling them are basically to either have the ads or not, and that’s it!
So, as Chris and Phil have already mentioned, your choices are to basically put up with the ads or to join the subscription service that provides an ad-free experience. I’ve chosen the latter, and it’s absolutely worth it to me.
Obviously, there’s a third choice here, and that is to not read the site. I hope no one would choose that route, of course. Regardless of which choice you make, however, I think we should all be able to agree that Paul, Phil, Jim, and the other members of the Uni Watch staff have a right to try to earn an income from the content they provide on this website.
Another round of merchandizing schlock that I will not buy.
Oh, c’mon Kary. I could totally see you rocking this…
That might match quite nicely if you have any Patagonia shirts. link
Okay! You’ve convinced me! But only if I can find a low- or mid-crown version of those hats, otherwise I’ll look like this: link
I have a few things from the Fenway ASG in 1999 but outside of when your own team hosts, I can’t see the appeal to buying All Star merch. It’s like, a had for your team, but in another team’s aesthetic.
I like the giddy coloring on the hats. One positive boon of the CC program is how much it has broadened baseball’s palette.
Maybe I missed it here, but I didn’t know where the All Star game is being held, and seeing these caps I still wasn’t sure. I thought these colors seemed more like Miami. I was surprised to look it up and find out it’s at Arlington, TX. It shows you how little I’ve been following the recent All Star games, but I thought the caps and uniforms were to reflect the host team?
“The great state of Texas is shared by two fierce rivals, the Rangers and Astros. The light blue and the coral signify a toning down of the teams’ regular blue and orange, better reflecting the relaxed competition of the Midsummer Classic.”
It’s all right there, Rick. ;)
Actually, I just made that up while coming out of the bathroom.
Someone get this guy a job at New Era/Nike/Fanatics
I totally bought it. Better claim it before they steal it, that’s gold.
Re: the 5&1 – I can generally agree with JV when it comes to football. But none of the 5 would make my 5. Truthfully, coming with 5 would be tough but I suppose on any list, there has to be a top portion.
1. Marlins
2. Padres
3. Angels
4. Rockies (green or white pants)
5. White Sox or Astros
The others all try too hard – city nicknames, airport codes, gradients, obscure minutiae about a city expanded to be the motif of the uniform, phony elements of retcon “history”.
Marlins (didn’t Respect The Placket), Angels (better but I wanted more blue and less red), and the Chi-Sox (great from the knees up… now wear white socks!) almost made the list. So did Washington (see Marlins).
Padres and Rockies had legibility issues, and Houston would have made it if they swapped colors and went with an orange launch suit look from the Shuttle days.
Regardless of the placket Miami’s city connect is gorgeous and is the only one that I actually like. Seattle’s is good too, but I don’t like the pants or the cap.
All fair, and I forgot about the Nats, who are in my Top 5 for sure. Still, having to scrounge for a few good designs out of nearly 30 candidates is telling.
Love the 5&1!!!! The &1 needs to be and and 7: SF, Toronto, TX, Detroit, Pitt, Phil,
Hope you enjoyed Mr. Bloss’ stirrups. May not see them for a while. He left the game in the fourth last night with “shoulder discomfort,”, and he’s probably headed for the injured list.
If I walked into the souvenir shop at Coors Field and saw that workout hat for sale, I might think, “Hey that’s a neat variation on the Rox logo and colors. This is not terrible.” The same design rendered in nonteam colors looks stupid and disjointed. Why is this so hard to understand and execute?
Braves and Royals easily have the best CC uniforms. Ties into their area without being too gaudy.
I’m gonna drop a controversial ranking here and say that the best city connects are
1. Rays: Unique with an awesome color scheme. The hat is the best in baseball and very clever and even though the numbers can be hard to read the name is easy to read and I believe the NOB is more important than the numbers. Also, I’m a Rays fan (The Rare Species!) so I’m biased.
2. Mariners: Ties into their history while also looking modern. The color scheme also rocks.
3. Padres: Perfectly represents the Baja California culture while using a unique color palette.
4. Marlins: Shows the history of baseball in Miami and feels like it represents Miami.
5. White Sox: An awesome take on a classic uniform with neat gothic elements.
The worst city connect is the Baltimore Orioles. The orioles uniforms look like the designers didn’t even try. They are boring as you can get. City connect uniforms are supposed to be bold and unique. I’d rather have a team do something radical and have it end up not looking good than a team play it safe and look good. Boring is worse than ugly. The orioles get no credit for making any attempt at being interesting.
Your bias does indeed show clearly here. Plus…
I believe the NOB is more important than the numbers
NOB can’t be seen from the press box. Or by most people in the stands. It’s strictly for TV viewers and for fans repping their favorite player by wearing a replica jersey.
Numbers are for everyone and they should be highly visible for everyone. The Rays jersey looks cool on the souvenir shop rack or on you out in the world. On the field, fashion – function = failure.
Another thing about the rays city connects is that they have character. The rays standard uniforms lack any character. They have an amazing navy blue, light blue and yellow color scheme but don’t utilize it. They go heavy on the navy and don’t even use the yellow. There caps are incredibly bland as well. As a team trying to attract fans they need something that stands out. The city connects do that job. The people in Tampa love them. They bring attention to the franchise.
The people in Tampa love them.
What about the people in St. Petersburg? ;)
They bring attention to the franchise.
Sure, they have character. Up close. But outside of your corner of the world all anyone sees on TV is just another Nike ink blot. That brings more attention to the swoosh than it does to your team.
You want to stand out? How about having graphics that are visible to everyone? You yourself said the numbers are hard to see. Fix that, and you’ve got something. You still can wear a stealth jersey if you want, but keep it off the field.
You win, JV…
“Manfred League Baseball”.
It’s really silly now that the teams are basically wearing fashion caps (and unis but we haven’t seen those yet) for the All-Star Game. The designs aren’t that bad but the teams just shouldn’t be wearing them. I will give them credit for using that coral color though. Totally unique and I’d love to see a team lean into that, even if as a trim color.
This is close enough to the Marlins to at least have that discussion.
Those NL caps are giving me serious GIJoe vibes
Not feeling the game caps, but I just may put down some money for the Cardinals and Yankees workout caps.
The workout caps should be used for the game.
Is it me or is the NOB on the KC CC jersey even larger than last season’s NOB?
Workout caps are pretty solid but the game caps are a travesty.
Let’s dial back the hyperbole on the Cleveland CC set. I too like the helmet, color scheme (the wine or burgundy looks great paired with cream and blue) and cap but I can’t get past the whole “CLE” thing. It feels just as manufactured as “The Land.” I do love the use of the Guardians of Traffic and hope it replaces the winged G on all their uniforms. Off the top of my head I rank the CC uniforms behind the 1954, 1994, 1947, 1976 and 1963 sets.
I feel like it’s better than The Land because CLE is actually used here pretty commonly. Then again, I am in the target audience of these uniforms so that may be a factor.
110% agreed. CLE > The Land. I’m about to the age that marketers and advertisers stop caring what I think but I can at least somehow justify CLE as a box score or score bug abbreviation. The Land was always as bad as Jim Rome trying to make “C Town” a thing.
I never use either when speaking, but in writing I’d use “CLE.”
“The Land”? Pfft. No way no how.
Should have gone with ‘The Cleve’.
Maybe with “Flee to the Cleve” on the inside or bottom.
The winged G always felt forced and contrived. When your cap logo is a monogram (for the city, as is the custom, no less), adding a second letter-based logo is confusing.
Gotta think the AL will have a cream uni, based on the cap. More horrifingly, I would give at least 50/50 odds that the NL will have a black/midnight jersey, possibly paired with black/midnight pants. And based on last year’s unis (link), plus this year’s crop of CCs, both jerseys will have some kind of sublimated graphical design.
Not looking forward to the uni unveilings…
Yaaaay, workout caps.
The pop-up ads are killing this site. It’s becoming harder and harder to even scroll without my computer locking up.
If only there was a way to enjoy all UW has to offer without those ads!:
link
I’ll certainly never ask anyone to sign up for UW+, but if you want to access the site without ads (plus the other benefits), it comes out to less than $.15 (fifteen cents) a day. If that’s worth it to you for no ads, then by all means, please do sign up.
Not that Phil needs my help explaining how Uni Watch’s business model works, but for what it’s worth, websites that accept ads have surprisingly limited choices in advertising purveyors to choose from and even less say in how those ads are displayed. It’s not that Paul or Phil want all the pop-ups you’re complaining to appear. It’s that their options for controlling them are basically to either have the ads or not, and that’s it!
So, as Chris and Phil have already mentioned, your choices are to basically put up with the ads or to join the subscription service that provides an ad-free experience. I’ve chosen the latter, and it’s absolutely worth it to me.
Obviously, there’s a third choice here, and that is to not read the site. I hope no one would choose that route, of course. Regardless of which choice you make, however, I think we should all be able to agree that Paul, Phil, Jim, and the other members of the Uni Watch staff have a right to try to earn an income from the content they provide on this website.
Another round of merchandizing schlock that I will not buy.
Oh, c’mon Kary. I could totally see you rocking this…
link
That might match quite nicely if you have any Patagonia shirts.
link
Okay! You’ve convinced me! But only if I can find a low- or mid-crown version of those hats, otherwise I’ll look like this: link
I have a few things from the Fenway ASG in 1999 but outside of when your own team hosts, I can’t see the appeal to buying All Star merch. It’s like, a had for your team, but in another team’s aesthetic.
I like the giddy coloring on the hats. One positive boon of the CC program is how much it has broadened baseball’s palette.
Maybe I missed it here, but I didn’t know where the All Star game is being held, and seeing these caps I still wasn’t sure. I thought these colors seemed more like Miami. I was surprised to look it up and find out it’s at Arlington, TX. It shows you how little I’ve been following the recent All Star games, but I thought the caps and uniforms were to reflect the host team?
“The great state of Texas is shared by two fierce rivals, the Rangers and Astros. The light blue and the coral signify a toning down of the teams’ regular blue and orange, better reflecting the relaxed competition of the Midsummer Classic.”
It’s all right there, Rick. ;)
Actually, I just made that up while coming out of the bathroom.
Someone get this guy a job at New Era/Nike/Fanatics
I totally bought it. Better claim it before they steal it, that’s gold.
Re: the 5&1 – I can generally agree with JV when it comes to football. But none of the 5 would make my 5. Truthfully, coming with 5 would be tough but I suppose on any list, there has to be a top portion.
1. Marlins
2. Padres
3. Angels
4. Rockies (green or white pants)
5. White Sox or Astros
The others all try too hard – city nicknames, airport codes, gradients, obscure minutiae about a city expanded to be the motif of the uniform, phony elements of retcon “history”.
Marlins (didn’t Respect The Placket), Angels (better but I wanted more blue and less red), and the Chi-Sox (great from the knees up… now wear white socks!) almost made the list. So did Washington (see Marlins).
Padres and Rockies had legibility issues, and Houston would have made it if they swapped colors and went with an orange launch suit look from the Shuttle days.
Regardless of the placket Miami’s city connect is gorgeous and is the only one that I actually like. Seattle’s is good too, but I don’t like the pants or the cap.
All fair, and I forgot about the Nats, who are in my Top 5 for sure. Still, having to scrounge for a few good designs out of nearly 30 candidates is telling.
Love the 5&1!!!! The &1 needs to be and and 7: SF, Toronto, TX, Detroit, Pitt, Phil,
Hope you enjoyed Mr. Bloss’ stirrups. May not see them for a while. He left the game in the fourth last night with “shoulder discomfort,”, and he’s probably headed for the injured list.
If I walked into the souvenir shop at Coors Field and saw that workout hat for sale, I might think, “Hey that’s a neat variation on the Rox logo and colors. This is not terrible.” The same design rendered in nonteam colors looks stupid and disjointed. Why is this so hard to understand and execute?
Braves and Royals easily have the best CC uniforms. Ties into their area without being too gaudy.
I’m gonna drop a controversial ranking here and say that the best city connects are
1. Rays: Unique with an awesome color scheme. The hat is the best in baseball and very clever and even though the numbers can be hard to read the name is easy to read and I believe the NOB is more important than the numbers. Also, I’m a Rays fan (The Rare Species!) so I’m biased.
2. Mariners: Ties into their history while also looking modern. The color scheme also rocks.
3. Padres: Perfectly represents the Baja California culture while using a unique color palette.
4. Marlins: Shows the history of baseball in Miami and feels like it represents Miami.
5. White Sox: An awesome take on a classic uniform with neat gothic elements.
The worst city connect is the Baltimore Orioles. The orioles uniforms look like the designers didn’t even try. They are boring as you can get. City connect uniforms are supposed to be bold and unique. I’d rather have a team do something radical and have it end up not looking good than a team play it safe and look good. Boring is worse than ugly. The orioles get no credit for making any attempt at being interesting.
Your bias does indeed show clearly here. Plus…
I believe the NOB is more important than the numbers
NOB can’t be seen from the press box. Or by most people in the stands. It’s strictly for TV viewers and for fans repping their favorite player by wearing a replica jersey.
Numbers are for everyone and they should be highly visible for everyone. The Rays jersey looks cool on the souvenir shop rack or on you out in the world. On the field, fashion – function = failure.
Another thing about the rays city connects is that they have character. The rays standard uniforms lack any character. They have an amazing navy blue, light blue and yellow color scheme but don’t utilize it. They go heavy on the navy and don’t even use the yellow. There caps are incredibly bland as well. As a team trying to attract fans they need something that stands out. The city connects do that job. The people in Tampa love them. They bring attention to the franchise.
The people in Tampa love them.
What about the people in St. Petersburg? ;)
They bring attention to the franchise.
Sure, they have character. Up close. But outside of your corner of the world all anyone sees on TV is just another Nike ink blot. That brings more attention to the swoosh than it does to your team.
You want to stand out? How about having graphics that are visible to everyone? You yourself said the numbers are hard to see. Fix that, and you’ve got something. You still can wear a stealth jersey if you want, but keep it off the field.
You win, JV…
“Manfred League Baseball”.
It’s really silly now that the teams are basically wearing fashion caps (and unis but we haven’t seen those yet) for the All-Star Game. The designs aren’t that bad but the teams just shouldn’t be wearing them. I will give them credit for using that coral color though. Totally unique and I’d love to see a team lean into that, even if as a trim color.
This is close enough to the Marlins to at least have that discussion.
Those NL caps are giving me serious GIJoe vibes
Not feeling the game caps, but I just may put down some money for the Cardinals and Yankees workout caps.
The workout caps should be used for the game.
Is it me or is the NOB on the KC CC jersey even larger than last season’s NOB?