The 2025 MLB season is still months away, and even pitchers and catchers still have more than a month before reporting to Spring Training, but there was some minor City Connect news over the weekend, if a report by WEEI’s Rob Bradford is correct. According to Bradford, the Red Sox — who we know are among several teams slated to receive their second CC this season — will have green CC uniforms for 2025.
Just learned big news: New Red Sox City Connect uniforms will be green
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) January 11, 2025
Unfortunately, telling us a team will have “green uniforms” isn’t particularly specific. Does that mean cap, jersey and pants are all green (possibly similar to Colorado’s original CC), or will it just be a green jersey with a red or navy cap and white pants? No matter, we’ll find out soon enough.
Even knowing the color doesn’t really narrow anything down — as we’ve seen, even when a jersey is leaked, oftentimes we need to hear from the storytellers to make sense of the leak. And pairing green and the Red Sox doesn’t necessarily make the “connection” any clearer. Might it have something to do with the Green Monster? Wally (himself a green monster)? Will there be some connection to the Celtics, who famously wear green? Maybe it has something to do with the “Emerald Necklace,” a system of parks which run through the city, which is why the MBTA’s Green Line subway route is named and colored green as it travels through these parks? Something else?
While green is not a part of the Red Sox color scheme, they are among several teams who’ve worn green jerseys in spring training for St. Paddy’s day.
In fact, the Red Sox have even worn green jerseys during a regular season game. Back on April 20, 2007, the Red Sox honored Celtics great Red Auerbach, who had passed away the previous winter.
So while it’s possible the 2025 CC uniform will feature a green jersey, it probably won’t resemble those worn previously (or maybe it will, who knows). While we know several teams will be receiving second generation CCs this year (including the Sox), we don’t know all the teams and we won’t know release dates until much closer to the season.
But there is one thing we do know. The Red Sox will have two CC uniforms in 2025 — the team confirmed back in September they will be getting a new CC this season, but will be moving their previous CC to the “alternate” category, and jettisoning their blue road alternate for good. As you may be aware, MLB has a “4 + 1” uniform policy — teams are allowed four home, road and alternate jerseys (known informally as the “core 4”), plus one CC. Since the Red Sox have a white (home), gray (road), red (home alt), and navy blue (road alt) jersey, in order to keep the original CC in the lineup, they would have to get rid of one of those, and add the CC to the core 4. So the navy blue alts are gone and the “Boston Marathon” CC becomes part of the core 4.
The Sox are so far the only team to announce they’ll be keeping their original CC as well as adding a second one. That was, quite frankly, an interesting decision — I fully expected teams to cycle through CCs (like the Dodgers have done) but not keep them.
But there seems to be some really good mojo with the Red Sox CC. Even though they cooled off slightly while wearing their CCs in 2024, for a while the team had a .786 winning percentage while wearing them. So the team has plenty of reason to want to keep those around, even though we all know it’s not uniforms that win games.
I know it’s not much to go on, but it’s always nice to have some MLB uni news during the coldest and darkest months of the year.
Readers: assuming the report is correct — do you have any thoughts on how (or if) the color green will “connect” to the City of Boston? Anything I might be missing as an obvious reference point? And if green is the color, are you hoping the whole uniform is green or would you prefer they keep that to just the cap and/or jersey?
Thoughts?
I fully expect them to be color of the Green Monster.
My predictions for it:
-White lettering, possibily in the font of the scoreboard
-Number on the front
-Maybe the number on the back is in a square like the scoreboard numbers
I think they stick with white pants and have a red/green sock.
I am on board with this except for the number in the box. Match the fonts and call it a day.
I could also see the Morse Code for the Yawkeys being integrated somewhere, either on the sleeve or as a pant stripe.
Since making the outfielders uniforms the exact same color as the wall they stand in front of would show the utmost disdain for the viewing audience, I fully expect the CC program to make that happen.
I think that with the heritage of Boston being Irish that the green uniform works. Roger Clemens before he left, began the tradition of wearing the “Green Jersey” on St. Patrick’s Day.
Here is a link to see the story
link
I know people hate the Boston Marathon city connects, but honestly getting rid of the navy road alternate is a major boon to the Sox’s whole wardrobe.
Except they won a World Series in it. Some fans ONLY care about that.
Totally disagree actually. I don’t much care for the navy alts either, but nixing them means they’ll have their home whites, two City Connects, and a red home alt. And while it’s possible that they wear some of those alternates on the road, it frankly feels unlikely.
Aren’t the gray road tops still part of the 4?
Yes. While I don’t want to speak for Grant, I believe he was meaning it’s not likely we’d see the Sox in their white, red, or CC jerseys on the road, wearing only gray.
I’m pretty positive there are several teams who do this, but I know for sure the Mets are an example of how the Sox will be positioned for road unis: the Mets core 4 are the home pins, road gray, blue alt and bfbs alt, plus their CC. For the past couple years, the Mets have only worn gray uniforms on the road (and they’re fantastic).
I never quite understood the need for teams to have road alternates. You want your home fans to see (and hopefully buy) every jersey, you wear them at home. Just pick one road uniform and stick with it. Wear the remaining 4 jerseys at home (home, two alts, CC).
After all, isn’t the rationale for grey road uniforms for convenience, since you don’t have to wash them as often?
All I can think of is the Green Monster.
I’m fine with this simply because it doesn’t negate the possibility of red socks. Also, Boston and green, and the Irish pride, etc. Not saying that’s the connection, but there’s significant historical precedent for it happening so I don’t have to do too many mental backflips to visualize or accept it. Now if they mixed navy and green, I’d be wary of what we’re getting because of the navy and green brewers years. It can be an odd mix. If they do mix green and red it’d probably not be an Irish thing since the CCs are pretty costumy, I’d expect green and orange. But if it’s any of the other green inspirations, or a mix of reasons, I’d happily see the Sox in a green top with white pants and red socks and a hat that mixes green and red.
Green Monster
Celtics
Irish heritage in the city
Fenway Park is on the Green Line
Plenty of connections, but I hope the green color is more similar to the Green Monster than the Celtics.
Just stop.
Perfect news. I was hoping for the Sox to go with a green jersey for CC 2.0. The connections could include Fenway Park’s Green Monster and scoreboard as well as Boston’s large Irish and Italian population. I’ve drawn a few quick sketches of what a Fenway Green jersey could look like, and I think the more white (and less navy) used, the better it will look. Maybe they use a font like the scoreboard? Of course they have to keep the red socks.
Please avoid the Christmas color trap! Red & Green.
I’m curious what the UW commUNIty thinks which other CCs should be kept as a core 4 uniform. Even though I have a disdain for “softball tops,” I’m really taken with the Cleveland CC design. Love the lettering, though I’m with Phil in not being a huge fan of airport codes.
Good design is good design, and Cleveland got it right, despite (or in spite of) being an airport coded softball top.
CC’s that should (IMO) be added to the core 4 are:
Anaheim
Both Chicagos
Miami
Kansas City
Seattle (with white pants)
Washington’s are very good. Would be an excellent addition if they ditched the “WSH” and went with “DC” or “DMV” instead.
Glad Marc mentioned KC, I think those have been underrated.
Glad the City Connects are green. Hope they’ll be Monster green rather than Kelly green.
Don’t love keeping the Marathon yellows. Never a fan. I like the navy alts.
End of the day though, as long as they never change the white home jersey, I don’t really care what else they do because that’s the only one that truly matters to me. It’s perfect and always has been (aside from when they went pullover a bit in the 70s)
I’ve long believed the Red Sox should swap navy blue for kelly green and otherwise keep everything about their identity and uniforms as-is. Their St. Paddy’s Day uniforms are so distinctive compared to the navy-dominance of their normal look, especially in context of all the other teams in the Northeast.
I like the idea, but then what colour hat would you propose?
Green. I would simply take every navy element of the team’s uniforms, logos, etc, and make it kelly green instead. And because red and green are complementary colors, the red B would pop more than it currently does on the navy caps. A switch to green would actually make the Red Sox look more like a red-dominant team than they currently do.
“Special” edition uniforms have gotten so out of hand that I’m hoping for a monster a colored onesie with Wally’s on the front of the jersey.
Wally’s head
Red and Green is such an underutilized combination so I hope the jersey has them both rather than making it all green and white
Gotta have an MBTA Green Line connection. Helvetica lettering, the works.
I thought I’d be recovered from my case of ‘City Connect Burnout’ but apparently not. I wish they would go away.
I am probably the minority but I am offended by the yellow CC uni’s. We all know the real purpose of the uniform is to make more profits from merchandising. Every time I see those yellow jerseys and royal blue caps I am not reminded of the traditions of the Boston Marathon. Rather, I think of the unfortunate individuals who lost life and limb in a tragic bombing. The Red Sox & MLB are making money off of those who have died.
On a brighter note, do we know for sure that Nike has fixed the red piping on the Sox’ home uniform? From some recent pictures I saw, it looked like they reverted to the adult-size spacing of the piping around the collar and down the front of the shirt. I hope they got rid of last year’s version where it looked like the trim designed for child’s shirt template were placed on adult size jerseys.
Times like this – I wish “A Red Sox Journal”, a publication of the Buffalo Head Society, was still alive and well on this Interweb thingy. I was the webmaster and minor league correspondent. I’d probably have a lot more enemies writing about the things I think, but I’d sure have fun along the way. ;-) Brownie points to those who know what ;-) means.
Better than yellow! If like so many CCs the pants will be as dark of green as possible.
I hate the CC program and the MLB trying to be like in NBA. Wish the Red Sox would grow a set like the Yankees and say no to these hideous uniforms.
White and gray would be enough for me. If the must have a third the navy blue was a much cleaner look then the red.
I agree. I tend to NOT watch a game (NBA and MLB) if these sort of uniforms are being worn. It’s a distraction. Especially when both teams have coordinated colors – like Guardians vs Red Sox, 1 team in a red jersey, the other in blue. Which team is who?
To read the words in an article..”.baseball, Spring Training, and pitchers and catchers report” looking out on a cold rainy January 14…just made my day.
Will the WooSox wear green as well ?
I’m thinking it will be to match the Green Monster and all the font will be similar to the signs including the B on the cap