The Fort Wayne TinCaps, a Class High-A MiLB team, are based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As an established entity, the TinCaps were “born” when the Midwest League came to Fort Wayne in 1993, and were first called the Fort Wayne Wizards. Following the 2008 season, the team was rebranded as the Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Opening day this season for the TinCaps is April 4, and they’ll take the field in new home jerseys when their season begins.
Unfortunately, the team didn’t provide any visuals for the full uniform (just the jersey and the two caps with which it can be paired), so whether the pants will be completely matching (stripe wise) isn’t known, nor is any hosiery for those players who like to go high cuffed. But the jersey itself is quite nice.
It can be worn with both a red cap…
… and a green cap:
The jersey has a new block wordmark rendered in dark green and outlined in a light neon green outline. The placket piping is also neon green. Front uniform numbers are in a thin red block font, and sleeve piping is dark and neon green. The right sleeve contains the team’s red apple logo. In their release, the TinCaps say the “the numbers on the back are dark green with the bright green trim.” We’ll have to take their word for it. At least the front lettering respects the placket.
Here’s a closer look at the detail and colors of the new wordmark:
And the front number:
Michael Limmer, TinCaps Vice President of Marketing and Promotions, explains,
Coming off our special edition 15th anniversary season home jerseys, we decided to go with a more traditional all-white jersey, which we’ve never done before, with both the green and red of our team colors represented on the front design.
We’ll continue to proudly wear the TinCaps metal lettering on our alternate red jerseys and throughout the year with promo and theme night jerseys. But a refresh of the official home jersey for 2025 gives us a chance to lean into Fort Wayne’s rich tradition of stitched baseball jerseys.
Here’s a bit of a look back at the ‘Caps uni/jersey history.
Normally, I would have told you the TinCaps Major League affiliation, but I am holding off until here. Take a look at some of those names above and see if you can ascertain the parent club.
If it’s not clear, this alternate will clue you in.
When the TinCaps were “founded” in 1993, they were originally affiliated with the Minnesota Twins. In 1999, they switched affiliation their current parent, the San Diego Padres. The mascot of the TinCaps is Johnny TinCap. Previously, for the Wizards, it was Dinger the Dragon and prior to that, the Wizards were represented by Wayne the Wizard.
According to Wiki, “The name TinCaps was chosen following the 2008 season, alluding to John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed (1774–1845). The Tin Cap refers to the story (dating back to the 19th century), that Johnny Appleseed wore a tin cooking pot as a hat, though this depiction has been disputed by historians. Chapman spent his final years in Fort Wayne and is buried in the city.”
I love the new jersey — the neon green is a new color for the club, which I like — and while I get that MiLB teams will often have kinda crazy wordmarks, I much prefer the new font face. It’s also nice to see a wordmark that nicely respects the placket. I do wish they’d have shown the pants they’ll wear with this, so I’m going to assume they pair them with the current white pants, which feature a dark green piping.
Your thoughts?
Generally not a fan of neon in uniforms, but it works here. The jersey is an upgrade over past iterations to me.
Apparently not a Swooshie product, since they haven’t plastered the trademark on the front for the entire world to see.
I like it a lot. It’s a very traditionally styled baseball jersey, with non-traditional colors, and logo. I do think if it weren’t for the red numbers, I wouldn’t have liked it at much.
As for the caps, I would have preferred some sort of letter mark with the initials of the city as opposed to the “angry apple” logo. That said I understand this is a minor league team, and interchangeability between uniform pieces is assumably a high priority.
Really nice jersey, would have preferred either dark green or red placket piping, but overall, a great, classic look.
Not sure how I feel about the neon, but at least that was the craziest they got. I’m happy with everything else on the new jersey.
Even though it can be hard to read in some conditions, I’m glad they’re keeping the metal lettering (even if it is relegated to alternates) since they are called the TINcaps.
I’m loving all the MiLB coverage, so thanks for that.
These guys have a great color scheme, and I’d love to see more of the original green pinstripes.
Overall the new jersey is pretty good. It’s able to incorporate a mostly traditional design with the unusual color scheme. The dark green main wordmark is easy to read, unlike many of the previous silver versions with the crazy typeface.
I think I’d prefer the city name on the front. Although this is a pretty well-established identity, MiLB has so many one-offs and goofy temporary names that I really like it when teams lean into their city name a little more.
I’d like to see some way for these guys to wear grey hats, but that might be hard to pull off.
I like it. The unconventional neon color balances the traditional look nicely.