Good morning, Uni Watchers. A happy Hump Day to one and all.
If you read Uni Watch, you knew these were coming, as I had the exclusive that this season the Royals would be going full powder blue for their home alternates.
What wasn’t known at the time would be when the team would be debuting and wearing the new powder trou. Now we do.
Kansas City announced yesterday that the team will sport the new blue look on Opening Day (they play the Cleveland Guardians at home on March 27th), and also every Saturday home game for the 2025 season.
But the official unveiling and formal announcement of the dates the powder blues will be worn wasn’t the only news in this announcement. Back when I posted the style guide treatment for this alternate uniform…
…the uniform was shown with the Royals regular royal blue cap.
However, that’s not what the team will be wearing on the field. They will pairing the powder blues with a new cap and helmet.
The new cap is tri-color, with a royal blue brim, white front panel, and powder blue crown. An alternate Royals logo serves as the cap logo.
The team created a matching batting helmet as well.
I originally thought this was a brand new cap, but it appears the cap will double as the BP cap.
You can get another view of the helmet on this Salvador Perez bobblehead promotion:
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.
As far as the new (BP?) cap, I do like it, but part of the charm (and great look) of the 1983-91 uniform was the royal blue cap and stirrups (it was also button-front and belted, a far superior look to pullovers and sansabelts). Seeing the Royals in a white-brimmed cap with pajama length pants and at home in powder blue will be a bit of a jolt to the ol’ system. But even so, I’m very much looking forward to it. Double-blue (royal and powder) is a great combo, so I’m a bit upset they’re de-emphasizing the royal a bit, but I’m sure I’ll get over it really quickly.
What are your thoughts on the new look? How about the new cap and helmet? Also, especially for our younger readers, but really a question to everyone: what are your thoughts on wearing what is essentially a road uniform at home? I always felt powder blue versus white was a very aesthetically pleasing combo, but powder vs gray? Not so much.
Fire away!
GTGFTU/PTSD:
2015 World Series
Game 5
November 1, 2015
Citi Field, Flushing, NY
Eric Hosmer scores the tying run with two outs in the 9th as Lucas Duda’s throw goes wide of the plate.
TOO SOON!
I’d prefer a little dark blue contrast to the lettering but it’s generally fine as is.
I don’t like the dark blue brim and the power blue together on the hat, but maybe it’ll work better on the field. Love the logo though.
As a Royals fan I like the new cap on its own, but I think the classic cap would look better with this ensemble. Still a good uniform either way.
Follow life long Royals fan. Came to share the same thoughts. I love the retro logo, just feels more Blue Jays-esque paired here. Hopefully the cap is a one off for opening day.
Decent looking hat. I think it’s something about the R raised to the KC power that I don’t like lol
Agreed
Exactly! I think the cap would look way better if they simply removed the “R” and left us with the simpler and cleaner “KC and crown.”
link
But I do understand the nostalgia factor of using the older logo.
Given the choice of the crown logo with or without the R, I chose the big R. The crown logo has never quite looked right without the R. The change in 2002 has aesthetically bugged me, without the R the logo feels cramped and somehow diminished. Also that R was part of a secondary typeface (pennants, programs, scorecards…) that they used quite often that seemed to have disappeared by the mid 80’s. Plus, childhood nostalgia is a hell of a drug!
Like the original logo I’m happy to see the full powder blues return. And yes, they should ditch the road greys and make the powder blues their full time road unis, as the baseball gods intended.
Solid powder is an away uniform. How come only the Cardinals seem to get that?
Blue Jays and Rays do wear powder blue on the road, but unfortunately at home as well. As a side note, the Rays need powder blue pants
absolutely they do. powder over grey is even worse than powder against grey.
The Royals making powder blue at home seems to fit the trend nowadays. I’m in favor of it. Gives the nostalgia crowd a memory and the new generation a new old school take. The cap being the BP begs the question: What do they wear at BP on Saturday? Can’t wear the same cap. That would offend the Merch gods. Maybe promote the ‘Clubhouse’ cap? Nobody is buying it now…..
Trucker caps make everything look tacky and cheap.
How is this a trucker cap?
White panel on the front of the crown.
You get to call a dark jersey a ‘softball top’, I get to call that hat a trucker cap.
Of course you’re free to call it whatever you want, but aside from having a white front panel, the cap is your standard fitted. Trucker caps have mesh backs and plastic adjustment (“snap back”) closures.
link
If you google “trucker cap” here’s what you get: link
It’s not – but it’s definitely a bad look for an MLB uniform (it would look just fine as a fashion cap). And I don’t need to see it on the field to know that.
Ditch the white and make the crown royal with a powder blue front panel. NOW we’re talking.
Maybe.
is there a name for this type of hat?
Not quite sure what you mean. It’s a 5950. I guess you’d characterize it as “high crown”?
A “Trucker (style) cap” — which this is NOT — features the mesh backing and adjustable plastic tab.
While not all trucker caps have a constrasting color front panel, many do. That’s where the similarities end.
I mean it literally, is there a name for this type of hat with the material that looks like a quilt/waffle sort of pattern. maybe just a BP hat style, didn’t realize its a 5950
They absolutely used to make what can only be described as “winter weight” Trucker hats. They had two color crowns but had solid material instead of mesh in the back and a snap back.
And to the original posters point, that’s exactly what these hats look like: Trucker hats.
So is the Orioles a trucker hat? Cleveland CC cap? It is a baseball cap!
Once again, you’re more than welcome to call the cap a “Trucker Cap”
But it’s not. Perhaps a good compromise would be to call it “Trucker cap style” — but unless it has mesh and a snapback closure, it’s not what UW considers a Trucker Cap.
YVVM
I get serious Expos or 70’s Orioles vibes from it
Nice look! The cap is different but in a good way. I would like to see them on Saturday road games as well, with the regular cap.
Although powder blue isn’t for all teams, I believe it to be much better than the hideous dark pants we have saw with the CCs in recent years.
I would like to see the Brewers in a full powder blue uniform as well as the Braves, who really looked good in the Dale Murphy road blues, However with the Braves I would prefer a navy cap and trim to royal.
Just sitting on my porch, shaking my fist at the clouds, yelling “white at home!”
Would certainly look much better with their standard cap. The alternate cap isn’t bad overall, but feels “too much” for an MLB cap, which should be fairly simple with signature city letter mark (A’s excluded).
That cap is a mustache on the Mona Lisa of Powder Blues. Such a disappointment.
The cap is the only thing I like, and I *really* like it.
I love powder blue unis, except for KC. They never got it right. No one puts white letters or numbers on a gray jersey, so why do it on a powder jersey? Contrast Matters.
GTGFTS
2 June 2012
From what I can tell, the first Star Wars night at Comerica Park (which raises lots of money for Stand Up to Cancer).
Tigers legend Omir Santos walks off the Yankees with a sac fly to win 4-3.
Live Long and Prosper :)
I was at Star Wars Night on June 18, 2010 as the Tigers hosted the Diamondbacks, so 2012 was not the first.
The new hat is silly and doesn’t even pair that well with the uniforms. They should either wear their first-choice hats or do a version that gets rid of the white front panel. Aside from that, I am fine with wearing light blue uniforms at home. Baseball is for the fans, and seeing their team in uniforms they recall fondly is something they deserve. Why reward away fans with the cool uniforms and punish home fans with City Connects? (Even though KC’s City Connects are probably the best.)
Normally not a fan of the gimmicky caps. But, this one works for me. I honestly could see them using the logo on all their caps.
I normally would not like any of this, but I really like it. The BP cap is ridiculous, but going the extra mile with the helmet is amazing and deserves an A for effort. I like that they’re just doing it for Saturdays as well. Using this (or even the full powder blue with the standard cap) for all games with the powder jerseys would be overkill, but this is just fine. I think it’s interesting that teams are starting to make new uniforms with existing jerseys by introducing new pants (Oriole orange, and this) and I now really want to see more teams do it.
Star Wars Nights everywhere except the Bronx should always have the Yankees (Evil Empire) as the opponents.
It’s weird but, the KC helmet looks great, and the cap…not so much. The cap’s logo is much smaller than the helmet logo. Also, the trucker-style cap with said smaller logo doesn’t work well with the uniform.
I also have that reaction of powder blue being a road uni. But in today’s era of shoving uni designs “CC” down our throat, I am good with taking a classic like this and making it a home alt. Plus, I always thought it to be odd to see people in a road uni at home game. Exception for those late 70s cubs power blue pini’s!
This Uni is OK but should be worn on the road. I think a lot of these teams wear these kind of uniforms at home as “promotions ” and to create merchandise sales at the ballparks. The helmet and cap are ok but would look better paired with the home uniform. It’s a cobbled up mess with the retro. I think the best KC powder version was in the 1973 -1982 with the white arch lettering like the George Brett photo in this article.
“ 1983-1991 jersey, for some reason the team rendered “Royals” in dark blue, with a white outline.”
Isn’t this “Royals” rendered in royal blue, and not dark blue? I guess I associate “dark blue” with navy.
Yes, it is royal blue — I (probably) wrote “dark blue” to differentiate the (darker) royal blue from powder blue.
The New Royals hat doesn’t fit, They need to go back to the standard cap.
Trucker-style cap is a blight on the franchise.
You know what would make that jersey really pop? White trousers. All-powder was bad in the 70s and 80s, and it hasn’t improved.
The Royals already know this. They have chosen to forget.
I think the cap logo would look better if it were a bit larger. As it is there’s just a lot of white-panel real estate there. And change the logo to the KC crown logo, as mentioned above. Adding the R to that logo does nothing for it. In scorebugs the Royals are always KC, not KCR. Otherwise I think this is a good uniform and I especially love that hey got a matching batting helmet.
The logo should be slightly bigger but I really like this hat. I have a Brooklyn Cyclones hat in the same colorway and I wear it a lot.