As you’re likely aware, last November the Cleveland Guardians announced slight-to-minor changes to all “Core Four” uniforms, so it’s worth a quick once-over, and we can get a better look at those changes now that I have the Guardians 2025 Style Guide images for the updated uniforms.
Let’s quickly compare the changes from last season to this.
Per the team, “Cleveland’s white home uniform will continue to carry on its primary historic look with script ‘Guardians’ across the chest. The logo will shift from being on a slant to horizontal. New piping will be on the jersey with a red-blue-red design on the neckline and arms.
“A new home hat will make its debut in 2025, solely with the white uniform set, as the main color of the hat will change to red with a blue bill. All hats will continue to feature the ‘Diamond C’, and the club’s blue cap with red bill will be worn with all other jerseys (home red, road blue, road gray).”
Style Guide:
The new cap is probably the biggest change, but the sleeve and collar trim is also new. Interestingly, the team is retaining their 2024 pants, which have piping that matched the 2024 jersey, but now does not align with the new red/blue/red collar and sleeve striping.
Photo day gave us our best look yet at the tweaked home whites:
Per the Guardians: “Cleveland’s gray road jersey will stay the same, featuring ‘Cleveland’ across the chest in Bridge Print font.
“Piping on the gray jersey will be the same red-blue-red color scheme that can be found on the white home uniform set.”
Style Guide:
Once again, the only change here is to the collar and sleeve piping. And once again, the team is keeping the 2024 pants, with the blue piping, rather than switching to match the new jersey piping. (Something the New York Mets have done, changing the pants striping to match the jersey striping.)
We’ve now seen that both the Cardinals and Phillies have gray road jerseys with the “sun collar” removed; however, since the Guardians now have collar piping, their gray jerseys will keep the feature.
Per Cleveland: “The Guardians red home alternative uniform will feature a new look across the chest, as the script Guardians from 2024 will change to the club’s Bridge Print font with ‘Guardians’ across the chest. Piping on the red jersey will showcase a blue-white-blue look.
“The new look allows the club to continue to incorporate the Guardians brand into the jersey set, featuring the same font that can be seen in the number set on the back of all Cleveland jerseys.”
Style Guide:
This and the Guardians blue road alternate (which we’ll look at in a second) received the most changes for 2025. Gone is the chunky, almost Caveman-esque script “Guardians,” replaced with an all-uppercase “GUARDIANS” designed to match the CLEVELAND font on the road grays. And, common to all new jerseys, the collar and sleeve piping has changed. It is now blue/white/blue. This may explain the team’s decision to stick with the 2024 pants — if the white pants piping were to change to red/blue/red (to match the white top), it would then not match the stripe pattern on the red jerseys (blue/white/blue).
The Guardians say “The biggest change for the 2025 season will be seen in Cleveland’s blue alternative uniform set. The jersey will continue to have a navy base but will move away from ‘Cleveland’ across the chest and instead feature the Guardians ‘Diamond C’ logo. The new look gives a nod to the franchise’s jerseys that also had a ‘C’ on the chest from 1901-1945, including the 1920 World Series team jersey, while elevating the Guardians primary logo.
“The piping on the blue jersey will differ from the other uniforms, as the jersey will have red-white-red piping to go with the navy base.”
Style Guide:
This is the jersey the team has been wearing in spring training, so we’ve gotten a few looks at it in action.
It’s difficult to tell in those photos, but it appears the blue jersey is still using Nike’s 2024 template, although obviously the NOB has returned to its normal size. As you can see in the second photo, NOB is in red, with a fairly thick white outline. However, as seen in yesterday’s game (and it was also in Mike’s Ticker from earlier today), a rogue NOB appeared, rendered in solid white with what appears to be a vertical arch(!). I don’t think we’ve seen VAL since the Braves stopped wearing nameplates several years ago. In the past, the jerseys for players not expected to head north with the big club (aka “non roster invitees”) have been made by Rawlings, so that’s likely what the player in that screen shot is wearing.
The Blue Jays, of course, have one of the worst CC uniforms in MLB (and that takes some doing), so seeing those 13 games a season is 13 times too many. But the Guardians have arguably the best City Connect uniform (certainly it’s Top 3), so wearing those only 13 times feels like 13 too few. So if you happen to find yourself in Cleveland on a Friday evening this spring and summer, you know you’re in for a uni-treat if you go to a Guardians game.
How great are those? All they’d need to do is get rid of the “CLE” wordmark and replace it with “CLEVELAND,” and those would make great home alternates, or serve as the basis for a future uni redesign.
What do you think of their tweaks? Did they improve any of the jerseys? I feel the new home and roads are a push (they also had the least tweaking), but I do like the new red home cap. And I definitely think the red jerseys have been improved with the new wordmark. I’ll probably come around on the new navy road alternate with the large “C” but I didn’t mind the old “CLEVELAND” wordmark it replaced.
Fire away…
(H/T to David Fisher for alerting me to the Guardians CC schedule!)
I like the changes, I think the piping makes everything pop just a bit more. Wish it would match on the pants, but not sure if that will bother many people.
Here’s hoping the CC stick around and become an alt home shirt.
It does bother me (for what it’s worth); it bothers me when the White Sox have different trim on their road gray jerseys and pants.
For sure! I should’ve said I’m not sure if it will bother many people outside the commUNIty
Two major issues. On the road jerseys the pattern on the neck and sleeves goes red/blue/red like the chest but on the other three jerseys it’s the opposite.
And the pants have just a single stripe, so they don’t match the jerseys.
How does this happen?
Anyone know if the Guardians will wear a batting helmet at home to match the red with a blue bill home cap?
I don’t know 100% for sure, but I would expect they’ll have new helmets to match the new caps.
It drove me crazy last year when they wore the road helmet at home.
I like the tweaks, too bad about the single pants stripe but that is minor in my view. I love the red hat and I really like the big C on the navy jersey. Also the CC is indeed quite good, but get rid of that CLE and replace it with The Land…no, just kidding. Replace it with Cleveland in their bridge script.
Excuse me but what the hell is good about that CC uniform? Looks like a bad turn-ahead-the clock entry.
I don’t understand Phil’s love for the CC uniform coupled with saying they should change the giant CLE on the jerseys. That is by far the most prominent part of the uniform. How can you simultaneously love someone while disliking it’s main feature? I can understand liking something overall while quibbling with some minor aspect, but the massive thing that smacks you in the face is hard to ignore.
I certainly won’t argue the wordmark isn’t important, but (at least to me), it only comprises part of a uniform, and I don’t necessarily consider it to be the “main feature”. To me, it’s a part of the uniform, but not the only part. Design, colors and style are (to me) equally important, and in those aspects, I think it’s the best CC (or one of the top 3 anyway). I also think it’s one of the few CC’s that is actually better than the team’s regular uniform set. About the only thing I don’t like about the CC is the giant CLE — but I’m fine with the cream color and style. All it needs, IMO, is to spell out “CLEVELAND” (same font and style) and it’s about as good a CC uni as there is.
So maybe the CLE is the “main feature” of the uniform to you, but it’s just one of several co-equal parts. But I’ll say this: I much prefer the Guards’ CC WITH the giant CLE to the Mets new blue road alternate with the stealth wordmark.
If I were ranking/rating uniforms JUST by wordmark, then the CLE CC wouldn’t be as highly ranked. But I look at the entirety of the uniform, not just the wordmark.
I still think Nike stole from themselves by using the design from Brewster’s Millions.
link
If I were a Guards fan, I’d definitely go navy alt with the C if I were to purchase one. My favorite of the set. New red is the worst IMO.
All of these are an upgrade, but I think the biggest upgrades are red home caps with blue bill and road alt jerseys. They should pair those up, make that the main road uniform and ditch the road grays, IMHO.
To make it a stellar road uniform, add red pants to the blue alt jerseys paired with red home cap. Winner, winner, chicken dinner…
I’m not a Cleveland fan, but the road alternate looks like a major upgrade to me from last year. That great old diamond “C” logo seems to just stand out and “pop out” of that jersey. It’s a good look. I’ve always used the standard that if you can clearly see it from the upper deck in the ballpark, it’s great. Nice job on the road alternate Cleveland.
Very nice. I approve. I suppose they will be adding a Larry Dolan patch this year.
Can someone please tell me what a sun collar is? I’ve tried looking it up, but all I found was something like a half turtleneck, which I don’t think is what it means in this context.
I’m not 100% sure if the term “sun collar” is correct, but for lack of a better descriptor, it’s what we’re using. If you take a look at the Cardinals home white jersey (link), notice there is an extra layer of fabric attached to the top of the collar. Compare that to the team’s gray road jersey, which doesn’t have that extra fabric (link).
So far, it appears teams whose gray road jerseys do not have collar striping/piping have also removed the extra layer of fabric (seen on the Phillies as well).
The interesting thing is the Style Guide (at least for the Phillies and Cardinals) shows the gray jerseys with the sun collar still being depicted, but it’s not actually present on the new road jersey (link). See the little “extra” bit of material at the top of the collar? That is what we’re calling a “sun collar”
Hope that helps.
That’s a sun collar? I thought he was just wearing a tee shirt under his uniform shirt.
Okay, thanks, Phil.
It’s not the red undershirt, I don’t think. If you squint a little, you can see the white jersey has a thin area of fabric with a hem on the top of the collar. This doesn’t appear to be present on the grey set, or at least, the hem on the grey jersey is much thinner. At least, I think that’s the gist.
Okay, gotcha, Tim. Thanks.
My Personal Thoughts
Home: I like it, the Red hat and blue bill look is fairly unique and will help the uniforms pop
Road: It’s ok, but I don’t know how to improve it. The piping is definitely an upgrade, but matching piping on the jersey and pants would be nice.
Red alt: It is ok, but a major downgrade from the previous version.
Blue alt: I like it, but I would have liked it better if it was the Guardians script across the front to mimic the look of the team’s previous identity.
Overall: Decent uniform set, but there is room for improvement
Too bad the G still flies backwards on the dark side of the moon.
Shame they ruin one of the only decent CC designs with a scorebug abbreviation instead of the teams actual name.
The Guardians wordmark on the red jersey that matches the Cleveland one is a major upgrade over what they use on the white jersey.
Overall, the tweaks range from a push to a big upgrade. I especially like the red crown cap and the blue alternate jersey. It bugs me that the pants striping doesn’t match the jersey striping, but I guess having three different pairs of pants would be a bit much.
The biggest question regarding the Guardian’s 2025 uniforms is will the jerseys be adorned with a Rocky Colavito memorial patch?
I’ll be disappointed if they don’t wear a patch for Colavito but it’s possible following the death this week of owner Larry Dolan that we may get a combined patch, one patch on the chest and another on the sleeve, etc.
I know they were trying to distance themselves from the old brand while maintaining some continuity, but I really don’t like the new C. I thought I’d be over it by now, but it still bothers me. It’s also way too big on the navy jersey, and doesn’t appear to match the style guide graphic.
Came here to say the same thing. It looks like there’s an invisible hand squeezing it.
“The [wordmark] will shift from being on a slant to horizontal.
I like it better on a slant, especially with the “swoosh-tail” underline, although if it’s on a slant it should have a number under it.
“New piping will be on the jersey with a red-blue-red design on the neckline and arms.
This appears to be a trend; see: Mets’ unfortunate road-jersey tweak.
“…the main color of the hat will change to red with a blue bill.”
This seems to be a downgrade as well; I like the blue cap/red bill better, even if it is an over-used combo.
“…the [red home alternate] will change to the club’s Bridge Print font with ‘Guardians’ across the chest.”
Don’t like this either. And this:
“The new look allows the club to continue to incorporate the Guardians brand into the jersey set, featuring the same font that can be seen in the number set on the back of all Cleveland jerseys.”
…is a stupid explanation.
“Cleveland’s blue alternative uniform set … will move away from ‘Cleveland’ across the chest and instead feature the Guardians ‘Diamond C’ logo.”
This, I actually like; that font doesn’t work well in wordmarks (see previous complaint) but a single letter is fine.
So, let me get this straight. The Guardians are now a “red team” at home and a “blue team” on the road?
I hate it.
There’s already enough red/blue confusion going on with the Rangers and the Nationals.
Also, Cleveland gets a pass because they’ve had those colors forever. But can we put a moratorium on any team using red, white and blue—in all pro leagues—for at least the next five expansion teams? Bo-oring!
I wish the block lettering on the red jersey were on more of an arch. Straight-across lettering is too collegiate.
I like that they took out the slant to the home jersey, but wish they would do a single red headspoon piping like on the early 90s Indians jerseys. The hat is whatever
Road would also look better with a headspoon and switch the colors on the Cleveland text.
Red and Navy alts are a downgrade in my eye
The best thing the team could do to make the uniforms better, get rid of the stupid ad patch.
Good questions about memorial patches: Any word about Rocky Colavito or owner Larry Dolan?
Not sure about the red alternate going from script Guardians to Spelled Out All Caps Guardians. Keeping it script would give it a connection to the White home. But, It’s also a bit of a throwback (I know the font is different) to the Red unis from the 70’s
link
Adding Red Pants as a Fauxback for a few games a year like the Orioles are doing would be aawesome.
I lived in Cleveland for one year (74-75) when I was younger. In 1975 the Indians introduced the Blood Clot Caveman uni’s. which was the year they had Frank Robinson as a player-manager.
link
Boog Powell played for the Tribe during that period, and he always said those all-red monstrosities made him look like a giant Bloody Mary. He was fun.
He also had the (mis)fortune of wearing Baltimore’s all orange uniforms in 1971-72 (though those were worn something like 4-5 times in total). He looked like a giant pumpkin in them
So boring. Should change everything up entirely. The worst blue and red team of all…no personality. Blahhhhh change it!
Don’t understand having a unique CC font… and then using a different “C” on the cap.
Shame they didn’t align those while they were doing tweaks.
The jersey would look a lot better with a number in front
While I believe these are an upgrade, there are a few things that keep them from being great.
* The red-blue-red piping on the white and grey jerseys just doen’t look right, and would be better if it were blue-red-blue (the darker color should always be on the outside).
* The pants piping not matching the jersey piping drives me nuts
* The white, grey, and red jerseys would look better with a front number
* I would love to see the CC hat paired with the white, navy, and red jerseys.
Did anyone else notice the picture of Steven Kwan in the home whites is not Steven Kwan? Who is that guy and why is he wearing Steven Kwan’s uniform?
Took a bit of searching, but according to the photographer’s site, it’s Cooper Ingle, a Guardians minor leaguer.
link
He’s 3-4 so far this spring with 3 RBI and a 1.583 OPS. Some of Kwan’s hitting ability must have osmosed into him during this photo shoot.
link
In the photo day picture, that guy wearing Kwan’s jersey is not Steven Kwan.
Must be an early April Fool’s joke.
As an Ohio kid who grew up in the 90s, I feel like Cleveland should always wear a blue hat with a red bill at home and all blue hat on the road.
I think the piping is a good update. I wish the Guardians script would have stayed slanted as it again hearkens back to the team’s history.
I think they crushed the name change. The ending being -ians makes it look like the old name and there is also a connection to the city with the Guardians of Traffic. I watched “Major League” last year and thought it was really funny / cosmic that the first thing you see is the Guardians statue when the movie starts
Wish the team would’ve kept the blue cap / red bill for home, as I’m sad to see the all blue road cap has been lost in the mix.
Bigger picture: wish the team shift its red to the wine color used by the Cavaliers given both teams share the Gateway District. Would be nice given they share the Gateway District and would also differentiate it from other red / white / blue teams in MLB.
Yeah, the CC would be better if it read “CLEVELAND” instead of the ginormous “CLE”. But at least it’s not “THE LAND”, like so many Cavaliers City Edition unis have had.
The Land? More like The Bland!
they really need to stop trying to make THE LAND happen
What’s up with the style guide for the navy road alt not matching the actual uniform? The “Diamond C” on the style guide graphic is like 50% smaller than it is in the photographs.
It seems like that blue C logo on the red cap gets washed out by all that red. I do like the switch of the navy jersey. The upgraded piping is, well, an upgrade. Now just get rid of that ridiculous flying G clipart logo and we’d be all set.
As a die hard Cleveland fan I consider the new sets to be upgrades but also they missed some opportunities:
1) With Chief Wahoo banished, the Caveman C, as evidenced by its usage in merchandise sold by the club, is probably their most recognizable historical logo. I know they are still trying to establish the Guardians branding, the diamond C, the bridge font, etc., but pairing the navy hat with the Caveman C and red bill with a red jersey with Guardians in a Caveman font would have made for a nice alternate look.
2) MLB had too many caps with a letter for the logo. The CC would benefit from a cap featuring the sleeve patch depiction of the Guardian of Traffic. Much better look than the winged G and a nice alternative to the Diamond C.
3) The new blue jersey calls back to the 1920 World Series uniform, why not something that calls back to the 1948 club who remains the last to win a World Series? The wishbone C too much like Cincinnati’s?
4) While I like the new home whites, they should have modeled them on the white jerseys with red lettering and piping that made their debut in 1994, the year Jacobs Field opened. Simple, clean and would match the new red cap.
The single stripe on the pants is HORRID. I can’t even look at the uniforms because of it. (That’s just me. YMMD.)
Two major issues. On the road jerseys the pattern on the neck and sleeves goes red/blue/red like the chest but on the other three jerseys it’s the opposite.
And the pants have just a single stripe, so they don’t match the jerseys.
How does this happen?
One of the proudest traditions in MLB is Cleveland and Texas failing to determine whether they are primarily-red or primarily-blue teams.
I loved the George Bush era primary red worn by Texas in 1994-1999. They should dump the blue and bring the red back full time.
Agreed
They should have an all red cap and wear it on the road. It is a good contrast to the drab gray. The lettering on the road uni would look better in a vertical arch design. I don’t see any appeal in the CC uniforms the lettering and striping are not attractive.
Regarding the new home cap, the team’s announcement stated, “The main color of the hat will change to red with a blue bill.”
I was looking at the cap’s listing on MLBshop. The bill and squatchee are very dark. They look black to me. Furthermore, the cap is described as “Red/Black” on the website.
Has anyone else noticed this?
Yeah, Lids site said “red/black” too when I had ordered one, but I received the hat the next day and the bill, squatchee, and C are navy. Probably just an honest mistake by whoever wrote the description because Guardians navy is so dark.