Looks like the Kansas City Royals are finally going to go full powder blue with their home alternates for 2025, if the MLB Style Guide is any indication. A few years ago, the Royals did go full powder for a couple of games, including Opening Day, but they predominately wore their light blue tops with white pants.
The Royals will wear full powder blue uniforms on Opening Day this year, the team announced 🥶❄️ pic.twitter.com/ryzWIymGQe
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) February 3, 2023
My source has shared with me the Royals 2025 Alternate Home uniform from the SG, and — unlike the Orioles (who are going to have a mono-orange option) — the style guide shows only powder blue pants paired with the powder blue tops.
While this is a big change, it’s obviously not the first time the team will wear powder blue tops and bottoms at home. It’s odd to see this uniform worn at home, since the powder blue served as the team’s road uniform for decades, beginning in 1973. That first generation of powder blue was pullovers and sansabelts, with “KANSAS CITY” in white vertically arched lettering on the jersey.
In 1983, and until 1991, the Royals switched to a button front jersey and belted pants, with “Royals” in white script. That uniform is very similar to the full blue the team is bringing back for 2025.
After 1991, the Royals would wear gray uniforms on the road.
In 2008, after a lengthy absence, powder blue jerseys returned as a home alternate, and were worn with white pants. While the script was pretty much identical to the 1983-1991 jersey, for some reason the team rendered “Royals” in dark blue, with a white outline. Numbers were white with a dark blue outline.
The team would wear that style jersey until 2012, when they reversed the script/number colors and outlines. Those jerseys had “Royals” in white with a dark blue outline, and dark blue numbers with a white outline.
While the second iteration (above) looked better than the 2008 jersey, it would take until 2021 (for the 2022 season) for the Royals to redesign the light blue top, and this time it basically mimicked the classic road blues worn between 1983 and 1991.
As noted, for their home opener as well as their closing homestand in 2023, the Royals went full powder.
The team continued wearing the powder blue jersey in 2024, and like every other jersey, it was negatively affected by Nike’s new uniform template.
There’s just one problem: the 1983-1991 Royals wore those as road uniforms. They were never supposed to be worn at home (no matter how much it of a thrill it may have been for the home fans to see full powder return). Wearing powder blue at home against an opponent in gray pants (with either gray or alternate jerseys) gives the appearance of both teams wearing road unis. And the Royals are far from alone in this faux pas.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing, so I can understand teams wanting to sport classic old looks at home, even if they’re doing so in what were formerly road uniforms. It just doesn’t look right, at least to my eyes. Joining the Royals in wearing full powder at home are the…
PHILLIES
TWINS (Discontinued after 2022)
RANGERS
BLUE JAYS
Don’t get me wrong — I’m still ecstatic the Royals will wear full powder (even if it is at home). But if there was ever a team that should rock these on the road…it’s KC.
Your thoughts?
All MLB looks are trashed from the waist down. Different colored belts. Different colored cleats. And of course, those awful (but here to stay) pajama pants.
Hopefully, a step in the evolution of the Royals considering making it the regular road uniform down the line. Some team has to eventually do it and make powder blue a regular road uniform again.
I agree that it’s only a matter of time. The Padres new uniforms (can we still call them new?) have the “sand” colored road uniform that was VERY well received. The Rays and M’s making softball tops their primary roads also feels like a half-step towards the same result: fewer teams using gray road uniforms, which honestly, I don’t have much of a problem with.
I am beyond over the powder blue uniforms but it makes sense for the Royals. I liked the 2012 version better with more color and white pants.
But i also miss the script Kansas City on the road jerseys from that time.
Love it! I would like to see the Braves wear powder blue similar to the Dale Murphy era only button up with belts and navy caps rather than royal.
The Royals and Blue Jays are the two teams I feel the powder works for them. All the rest just seem forced even during the powder blue phase in the 70’s/80’s. That’s kind of how I feel about the BFBS/Icy White trend in football. Everyone doing the powder blue uniforms was the “hey, everyone else is doing it, we need to do it too”. I never did understand the Phillies/Cardinals. There was nothing in their color scheme that powder blue was going to compliment.
I would love to see the Guardians add red pants to pair with the new Red jerseys. The all red from the 70s were my favorite Indians throwbacks.
That would be great a few times a year!
Love the term “harkback”
Have been clamoring for powder blue on the road and white at home since they brought back the powder blues. Royals don’t look as regal in gray.
I detect an oncoming trend toward monochrome uniforms, and I couldn’t be happier. Half light and half dark is better suited to the Sansabelt Era.
True, powder blue was once the road uniform, but when you account for the fact the change was made for the fans, you can understand why they want to show them before the home crowd.
I with you on the wearing powder blue jerseys on the road, while ditching the gray jerseys. When the White Sox wore powder blue road jerseys in 1964, they played the city series against the Cubs at Comiskey due to construction at Wrigley Field. Newspapers reported how fans were excited (perhaps curious) to see the Sox wear the powder blue look at home. Things were different 61-years-ago and powder blue looks should replace the boring and vapid gray jerseys that team wear on the road.
ain’t my favorite sport but these uniforms look kinda nice!
What do you mean the script is pretty much identical to the old one? It’s very different. And, the only reason I know that is because I read about it on UniWatch.
Agree they should be road only, as teams wore them back in the day. I personally prefer gray to powder blue, but some of the blues look pretty nice. I don’t think white lettering goes particularly well with powder blue, even though it was the Royals’ signature look.
I’m probably (definitely) over sensitive to this kind of thing, but I’ve noticed a significant uptick in the usage of “as God intended” recently. Seems like it’s a less arguable version of “because that’s how it was when I was growing up”.
For the record, I’ve noticed other comments pointing this out.
God also intended shoes to be the same color as the caps and sleeves, not the pants.
That player in front they gave #5 to. Hope he gives the Royals good production this season….
70’s and 80’s Brew crew had the finest baby blues.
I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED the look of their original blues, especially with the gold sanis!
link
But that was a pullover/sansabelt.
I liked their second-generation blues, with the script “Milwaukee” too. But again, sansabelt/pullover
link
The only reason I put the KC powders above the Brewers. But yes, those were excellent as well.
I’m with Jean. Brewers looked SO much better.
Pullovers and sansabelts are fine with me, and I’ve never been a fan of any powder blue Royals uni. White letters and numbers with no outline on light blue doesn’t provide enough contrast.
If the Royals want to use royal blue letters *and* numbers at the same time, that would be great.
The new KC powder blues look nice but they should be worn on the road. I agree none of them look good as home uniforms. The Cardinals should ditch the headspoon and St. Louis on their blue jersey and put Cardinals back. Their powder blues never looked like the ones they wear now.
Yep. Light blue should be their main road uniform in place of gray.
I am glad as a Cardinals fan that they wear the blue uniforms on Saturday road only. I do wish they would wear their navy blue hats on the road all the time, except not with the baby blue.
I love this so much!! I never liked or understood why they were so into the powder blues over white pants. If you are going for the powder blue look, go all out and do the pants too. It’s peak Royals, probably their most iconic look!
Like you said in the article, the powder blues were their road uniforms, and mixing with white home pants was an odd choice for home games. But in the era of ever changing alternative uniforms and City Connects, it kind of slipped under the radar of most. I’m sure it was done for equal part nostalgia and to sell jerseys, but adding the matching pants seemed like a no brainer.
I’ve never liked them in grey, and should ditch their road greys entirely and go back to powder blues on the road. Let everyone else have their road greys.
I wasn’t a fan of mono-powder-blue back in the day and I’m not now. As the Cubs are proving this year, and as the Royals have shown over the past several years, powder blue jerseys look really good with white trousers.
Since I’m too young to have any memory of KC (or anyone else) wear blue on the road in the 70s and 80s, I don’t have a strong opinion about a team wearing powder blue at home. I think for someone like KC, it makes a lot of sense and looks really sharp. Generally speaking, I’m liking this trend of teams mixing up the pants a little bit in recent years. Don’t really love black pants on a baseball team, but I like seeing a team wearing something other than white or gray from time to time.
Do MLB teams have to strictly adhere to the style guide? For example can the Royals wear these with white pants if they wanted? Could the Mets wear the black uniforms on the road, Or blue uniforms at home? Phillies wear the powder blues on the road etc. is there any leeway or not unless it’s in the guide.
The Royals could wear white pants with the powder blue tops, as they have for many years. The style guide is just that — a guide. As we saw the Pirates (and other teams) do, especially with their CCs, is mix and match pants. I believe the only prohibition is wearing white (or cream) pants as the road team. Based on Nike’s system of dress, each of the core four plus CCs gets a designation (home, road, alternate 1, alternate 2) and these will correspond to their intent to wear certain uniforms/alts either at home or the road. If the Mets were to wear their black unis on the road, they’d need to pair them with gray pants.
I agree that the all-powders look off at home. Imagine a team wearing all gray at home. I’d say the Royals are one of the only teams who could get away with the powders and white pants, which makes the whole uniform look much more, ahem, at home.
What’s worse: full powder blue at home or full white with pinstripes on the road like the late 70s Pirates?
My answer is C-The Astros having only one jersey from 1987 to 1993.
I’d love to see them pair the powder blue pants with their royal alt jersey. Hoping to see more teams mixing and matching colored pants moving forward. I’m sure a lot of people wouldn’t like it, but I think it adds some fun to MLB uniforms. I love some contrast!
I acknowledge that this is a “me” thing, but I do not like how red looks on powder blue. It is visual nails on a chalkboard to me.
I am in my late fifties. Just typing that makes me another ten years old. (Insert Grumpy Old Man Yelling at Clouds Meme)
I remember the original round of baby blue MLB uniforms from the 1970’s. My memories are colored by watching “This Week in Baseball” with Mel Allen, Monday Night Baseball on ABC, and collecting Topps Baseball Cards.
It is simply fascinating seeing round #2 of this fad and how people are reacting to it. I also wonder how long it will last and how it relates to the growth in MLB merchandizing in the last ten years.
I have very mixed feelings about it all, but do agree with several comments that are not complimentary of pajama pants and different colored cleats. I understand that the younger generations are more concerned about comfort and individualizing their uniforms than mine was.
It is what it is.
The all powder blue look great. They lack the contrast of Royal blue like the 1973 to 1991 had. Double pipping on color and sleeves like originals would give better pop. These are dull without additional royal blue contrast. Put a never before Royal blue stripe on. Now we are talking.
Not a big fan of powder blue jerseys….but powder blue pants? You had me at powder blue pants! Interesting how team wears pants but it hasn’t become ad board somehow. We can only wait.
I loooooove the powder blue, particularly on the road. Gray is a dull color that I wouldn’t mind seeing completely eradicated from baseball uniforms; why do people like it so much?
Big fan of powder blue for all the teams pictured plus the Brewers but this KC version lacks any hint of royal blue which makes the hat stand out in an odd way. Put some royal blue outlines on the wordmark, numbers and NOB and it will make a lot of difference.