coco1997

Hadn't gotten around to commenting on this project until now, but better late than ever, I suppose. I've really loved what you've done so far! Some comments:

Marlins (Browns) – Really nice job balancing black, teal and orange. For the road script, I'd like to see arched block letters with drop shadows, which could serve as both a nod to the Browns’ 1946-51 road jerseys and the Negro League Miami Marlins.

Tampa Bay Pirates – I like the shift from black to navy blue. It’s subtle, almost to the point that you might not notice until you see the road alt, but it elevates the design from being just another Pirates concept with “Tampa Bay” slapped on to two of the jerseys.

Vegas A’s – I love the return to Kelly green full-time. I’m not convinced the sparkly gold would work in real life, but it looks great in concept form!

Angels (Senators) – I might prefer this to what the Angels actually wear. I love the inclusion of athletic gold (something I’d like to see the Angels do in real life), and I’m inclined to think you could turn the crossbar of the Angels “A” jersey into a stylized angel wing.

Seattle White Sox – Great use of colors! Also, good job really putting your own spin on this team and keeping it from looking too much like @SFGiants58's equally excellent Seattle White Sox concept.

Fury – Really nice use of the warm color palette. My only nitpick is that I’m not sure how a star logo connects to the name “Fury.”

Rays (Rangers) – I’ll echo what other have said: I’d GLADLY take this look over the Rays’ current bland uniforms. Those wordmarks demonstrate that traditional-style baseball scripts could work just fine for Tampa Bay.

Angels (Senators) – Like the previous team, I probably prefer this set over what the Angels wear in real life. If and when the Halos decide to update their look, I can see them doing something like this. Amazing work!

Carolina Twins – I’m a sucker for those Charlotte colors, and I think the segregated use of purple and teal work really well here.

Pilots – Love the blue and gold set! Regarding the Mariners-colored version, I think we’ve discussed this before, but I’m not a fan of how the silver wordmarks look on the alts, though that just comes down to personal tastes. Everything else looks great, and it’s cool that the Mariners’ compass can be repurposed for the Pilots identity.

Milwaukee A’s – The Packers sleeve stripes are a great touch!

Washington Stars (Padres) – Looks great! I’d consider adding contrasting front numbers to the three non-home alt jerseys.

Washington Stars (Astros) – Despite what others have said, I actually think this identity works really well. The “Stars” script in particular is amazing! My only suggestion would be to add double (triple?) strokes to the home and road scripts to really make the most out of that tequila sunrise motif.

Denver Pirates – I definitely prefer your initial black and purple look, but if you have to use silver, I’d like to see it incorporated elsewhere than just the black alt.

Atlanta A’s – Red and athletic gold is such an underused color combo in baseball. The black alt might be my favorite of the bunch.

New Orleans Pelicans – Another one of my favorites! I respect that you resisted the temptation to use Mardi Gras colors and stuck with Indians/Guardians colors with just a touch of gold.

Pittsburgh Grays – A very crisp and clean look. I’m loving the off-white T-bars on the alt.

New Orleans & Florida White Sox – I love the playful-looking scripts. Interesting choice to go with orange pins over green for Florida (I dig it), and I’d buy that black “NOLA” alt in a heartbeat.

Tampa Bay Twins – The crossed “T” and “StP” flags are super clever!

Brewers (Browns) – Great job creating those scripts in the Orioles’ style. I imagine the caps would have the Barrelman’s face on them?

Orlando Rays – It’s amazing how good the Devil Rays gradient looks with the Rays’ fauxback wordmarks. This could be the basis for an excellent future Rays redesign.

Vegas Flamingos – I love this concept! One of my very favorites in the series. I’m curious how the wordmark & numbers on the home jersey would look with the colors flipped.
 
Denver A’s – I agree that the single outlined Old English wordmark looks cleaner and more legible. Nice work!

Angels (Browns) - Wouldn’t mind seeing how this would look in red and brown, as a nod to the team’s past and also a little wink at the other “holy” team (Padres) that also wears brown.

Keep up the excellent work! Looking forward to what else you have in store. 

22 hours ago, Yee Yee Go 'Stros! said:

I think it looks better this way, but that's just my personal opinion.  You're the designer!  Keep up the great work as always!!

The black pants definitely look good with the gray jersey! And great suggestion to add a "FtW" logo. 

Wrapping up the series today with one of the most well-known Negro League teams, the Washington Grays!

GRAYS HOME:

GRAYS ROAD:

GRAYS HOME ALT:

GRAYS ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- As @VampyrRabbit correctly guessed, the Homestead Grays are crossed with the Nationals, who threw back to the Grays in 2012. The Pirates have also played as the Grays on several occasions, due to the team originally being based in Pittsburgh.  

- Because the original Grays uniforms were more navy than actual gray, I went with a dual-color scheme and paired navy with a much lighter shade of gray. 

- One feature of the Grays' uniforms that I absolutely had to include was the thick, distinctive T-bars. The Nationals' primary logo is also tweaked to include the name "Grays."

C&C appreciated! For reference, here are the four teams that did not have Negro League equivalents:
 

- Anaheim

- Arizona

- Tampa Bay

- Toronto

Thank you to everyone who followed along and commented!

21 hours ago, OaklandIsBack said:

Crazy they went with the worst of the three

I think the first one on the left is actually the worst. I don't think the horizontal sunrise stripes work on a traditional button down jersey. 

On 7/15/2023 at 6:25 PM, Coiler said:

Love the aesthetics of the uniform, but I have doubts about a black uniform in Texas heat...

Good point. Let's imagine the Black Panthers play at Globe Life Field so they can keep the roof closed and the park nice and air conditioned on those brutally hot Texas summer days. 

On 7/15/2023 at 11:04 PM, Yee Yee Go 'Stros! said:

A couple things.  One, I’d love to see an “FW” or “FtW” logo.  Also, I feel like if you have dark pants at home, you need dark pants on the road to match, especially since the jersey is mostly the same.  Good looking concept though!  
 

Haven’t commented, but love the L.A. White Sox!  It just looks like an instant classic uniform.  Great work on this series!!

Thanks! I don't necessarily agree that the road uniform needs black pants just because the home set has them, but here's your suggestion. I also added a "FtW" mark in the same style as the "BP": 

Let me know what you think!

3 hours ago, Coiler said:

This I'm the least wild about, to be honest. It just looks like a slightly different colored version of one of the blandest Padres periods. If you have to do a lot of it from scratch, you might as well go hog wild with literal tiger-style stripes up and down the uniform.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback, but your suggestion wouldn't really be in keeping with what I've done throughout this series. I went with navy & orange because they're both what the original Tigers probably used and former Padres colors, and, because I wanted SD to look as different from my Cincinnati Tigers concept as possible, pinstripes were a must. 

Anyway, next up are the Forth Worth Black Panthers!
 

BLACK PANTHERS HOME:

BLACK PANTHERS ROAD:

BLACK PANTHERS HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- The Fort Worth Black Panthers played in the Texas Colored League from 1920-24 and were honored by the Rangers back in 2014. 

- My Black Panthers set wound up being primarily influenced by the Rangers' City Connect look (which itself took inspiration from the Black Panthers) with a Blackletter-style "BP" in place of the "TX" on the front of the jersey and cap. 

- Speaking of City Connect, the sleeve logo combines the Rangers' horseshoe Texas and "peagle" logo (with its wings clipped) from that set. 

- I figure the black alt could be worn both at home and on the road (with gray pants). 

C&C appreciated! The final team in the series will be up soon. 

18 hours ago, Ark said:

That is a good thing IMO but they need to bring back that sunset gradient somehow.

That third drawing on the right:
 

On 7/11/2023 at 5:39 PM, Coiler said:

Love both Denver and Chicago. Chicago especially has that mixture of retro and 80s White Sox with the big stripe.

Thanks! The Union Giants were a late addition the series, but I'm really glad I decided to include them. 
 

Up today are the San Diego Tigers!
 

SAN DIEGO TIGERS HOME:

SAN DIEGO TIGERS ROAD:

SAN DIEGO TIGERS HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- Like the Larks and Los Angeles White Sox, the Tigers existed for just three months in 1946 as members of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association. Sadly, like most West Coast Negro teams, there are essentially zero photos of the Tigers in circulation. The only one I could dig up is unusable, as you can see.

- Inspired by both the Detroit Tigers and '90s-early 2000s Padres, I went with a navy & orange color scheme and also worked up a new "TIGERS" wordmark in the style of the current Padres' identity.

- The sleeve patch combines the Padres' SD monogram with Detroit's 1994-2005 prowling tiger primary logo. Here's a closer look at that logo. 

C&C appreciated! 

Next up are the Los Angeles White Sox!
 

WHITE SOX HOME:

WHITE SOX ROAD:

WHITE SOX HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- The L.A. White Sox, like the Larks, existed for just three months in 1946 before the West Coast Negro Baseball Association dissolved due to lack of funding and poor attendance. 

- Sadly, no photos of the Sox' actual uniforms appear to exist, so these designs are somewhat based on the jerseys sold on Royal Retros' website. 

- Sky blue replaces red for the TV numbers and is also used on the sleeve design. 

- The road set is inspired by the Dodgers' (IMO, superior) early 2000s road uniforms, complete with white trim and placket piping. 

C&C appreciated. The next few teams are based on BIG cats before I wrap up the series. 

On 7/6/2023 at 12:24 PM, Victormrey said:

Incredible set for the Chicago UG! I specially like the road uni, the red sash makes it stand out and is quite unique.

It reminds me of the Red Stripe beer label 

Thank you! And great observation about the red sash, haha. 

Finishing the week with the St. Paul Colored Gophers!

COLORED GOPHERS HOME:

COLORED GOPHERS ROAD:

COLORED GOPHERS HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:
 

- The Colored Gophers were a barnstorming team who played from 1907-14, and though they are not formally considered part of the official "Negro Leagues," the Twins nevertheless paid tribute to them in 2019 as well as on several other occasions. 

- Light brown is added as a secondary color to keep the Gophers from being a boring all-navy team.

- I tweaked the serifs on the ornate "StPG" monogram to match the Twins' new logos and wordmarks as well as created a new "St. Paul" wordmark in that same style. 

C&C appreciated! Just a handful of teams left at this point. 

I agree with @Yee Yee Go 'Stros! about picking one shade of green and sticking to it. The A's have been walking the line between forest and Kelly green for a few years now and I think relocating to a new city would be the perfect opportunity for them to commit to Kelly green (or a new shade entirely) full time and firmly establish their Vegas identity. 

Next up are the Chicago Union Giants!

UNION GIANTS HOME:


UNION GIANTS ROAD:

UNION GIANTS HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:
 

- The Union Giants, like the Eagles, were another late addition to this project. I had forgotten that Chicago actually had two Negro League teams (though the Union Giants predated the American Giants) and given that the Cubs threw back to them in 2017, it only seemed right to include the Giants. 

- The rounded, interlocking "CUG" is meant to evoke the iconic Cubs logo. 

- In a hypothetical world where both the Union and American Giants inhabited Chicago, I'd probably put the latter team in navy and silver to avoid too many similarities to the Union Giants. 

- The unique red banner-type design across the front of the road jersey is inspired by the uniforms of the Leland Giants, the successor to the Union Giants.  
- Big thanks to @Carolingian Steamroller for the consult on this one!

As always, C&C appreciated! 

3 hours ago, monkeypower said:

 

Seattle's should have been a brown suit.

And as a nod to both this iconic Seattle radio host and the defunct Pilots, tossed salads and scrambled eggs on the cap:

On 7/1/2023 at 8:20 AM, Coiler said:

Love the black and white!

(For a non-Negro League team in either Houston or central Florida, you could a similar design with a Saturn V or something to symbolize the space launch industry)

Thanks! And that's a good suggestion about the Saturn V angle.

Back today with the Denver White Elephants!

WHITE ELEPHANTS HOME:

WHITE ELEPHANTS ROAD:

WHITE ELEPHANTS HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- The White Elephants were a semi-professional Negro League team that played from 1915-35. The team wore green pinstriped uniforms with a very Oakland A's-esque white elephant within a green diamond on the chest. 

- Because of the angular nature "W" and "E," (unlike the Rockies' more rounded "C" and "R") I couldn't figure out a good way to connect the letters as a monogram. Any suggestions are welcome. 

- The sleeve design is a composite of the Rockies' BP and Philadelphia A's 1921-23 primary logo. 

C&C appreciated! 

On 6/30/2023 at 2:10 PM, Coiler said:

Like the Buckeyes Brown and especially the Blues. Blue and yellow actually fits the Braves mid-1930s too, so it has a double connection.

Thanks! I made that realization about the 1930s Braves, as well. 

Finishing off the week with the Atlanta Black Crackers!

BLACK CRACKERS HOME:

BLACK CRACKERS ROAD:

BLACK CRACKERS HOME ALT:

BLACK CRACKERS ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- Many probably (understandably) assume that "Black Crackers" is a racial reference, but in doing some research I discovered that the name may have in fact referred to the Atlanta Firecrackers, a minor league team from the late 1800s. With that in mind, a firecracker design is placed on the jersey sleeves to evoke the feathers of the mid-70s Braves. 

- I decided to swap out navy for black to achieve a more Atlanta-centric color scheme. 

- The home primary wound up being inspired by the Braves' City Connect uniforms, with the the team logo on the breast of the jersey rather than a script across the front of it. 

C&C appreciated! Just a few more teams left. 

21 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

Unfortunately I think we'll get pants that match the jerseys instead of that light color that's on the hat. 

20 hours ago, GriffinM6 said:

Wait...people actually think the Red Sox city connects look good? 

I will always contend that it was a mistake by Nike to launch the City Connect program with Boston's set. It was too polarizing of a design. If City Connect had been announced alongside, say, the White Sox, Marlins or even Cubs designs, I think that would've made it a lot easier for fans to accept some of the more outside the box designs like Boston or San Diego later on. 

6 hours ago, mahnkej said:

Nice work on this series! I really like what you did with Pittsburgh in particular, the bridges on the sleeves was a nice touch.

Thanks! Credit to @Paul Lucas for the original idea. 

On 6/26/2023 at 6:41 PM, VampyrRabbit said:

I dig the Pittsburgh uniform, but wondering if I would dig it more with a Steel Grey cap with a gold bill.

Here you go:

This doesn't look bad, but I prefer the gold crowned cap because it evokes hardhats worn by steel workers.

That is a LOT of Mets jerseys!  Personally, I'd look for multiple jerseys that are similar and try consolidating them into one design. For instance, I don't think you need two blue alts (I always thought the road alt with gray wordmark was butt ugly) and I think you could combine the two throwbacks into one; plain white with racing stripes could be a sharp look, or you could be really bold and make the racing striped set the home primary. Perhaps you could put the "NY" monogram on one of the jerseys (the black alt?) rather than just using the "Mets" script and "New York" wordmark everywhere. 

I will say, I love that you added an orange alternate. It's so weird to me that the Mets haven't added that look to their rotation in real life. 

I actually like that the Bucs used "PGH" on their batting helmets because, at the very least, it's more unique than the cap design, which just feels like an afterthought to a uniform that didn't seem to have a ton of thought put into it in general. 

But yeah, that gradient is horrendous. 

On 6/25/2023 at 4:05 PM, VampyrRabbit said:

I think a brown cap with a red bill would fit the alt better than a red cap with a brown bill.

That was actually my original plan, but then I decided I didn't want the Buckeyes to look too much like Cincinnati, to whom I also gave a black cap with red bill. And besides, the red-crowned design is inspired by this look. 

Today's team is the Boston Blues!

BLUES HOME:

BLUES ROAD:

BLUES HOME ALT:

BLUES ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- Sadly, there are seemingly zero reference photos of Boston's Negro League club. The good news is this meant I got to take a lot more artistic liberty than usual with the Blues, and so, given the team's name, I opted to use the same color scheme as Boston's City Connect uniforms.

- The one solid photographic evidence of the Blues is the team's gorgeous monogram double "B," which I used on three of the four jerseys' sleeves and put front and center on the road alt.

C&C appreciated as always!

I figured people might be interested in seeing all six of my 2023 City Connect tweaks together, so here you go!

On 6/23/2023 at 5:02 PM, Yee Yee Go 'Stros! said:

I think the “Houston” script is gorgeous and underutilized.  Great use of it here!  Haven’t commented much but I’m absolutely loving this series!!

Thanks, man! I hope you continue following along.

2 minutes ago, Coiler said:

Like the off-white for the Crawfords and all of the Monarchs and Eagles. The New York teams are a little too close to their real MLB counterparts but aren't exactly "bad".

Thanks. And yeah, there's not a ton you can do with a Yankees-inspired concept since they have probably the plainest (yet most iconic) uniforms in the game. 

Up today are the Cleveland Buckeyes!

BUCKEYES HOME:

BUCKEYES ROAD:

BUCKEYES HOME/ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- Yes, the Buckeyes are crossed with the Indians, not the Guardians, since the Buckeyes' look lends itself better to Cleveland's former identity than their current one. 

- I made the shift from navy blue to brown, the color of actual buckeyes. 

- One of my absolute favorite features in uniform design is when a script tail contains the team's name, so that's what I did here. 

As always, C&C appreciated! 

Great work! I love the idea of making the D-Backs' "db" more angular to fit with the classic "A" logo. I also really like the particular colors you've chosen. I hope you end up doing some uniform concepts.

I'm not as sold on your new Marlins logo, but it definitely has potential and I appreciate the inspiration behind it. 

On 5/23/2023 at 12:32 PM, VampyrRabbit said:

The cuff trim and chestband are huge improvements, and the stripes on the pants look great. I do think either the cartoon or realistic bird would work better as a sleeve patch than the B.

The sock design looks great, but I would probably just use the cap B instead of BIRD.

Thanks! The lettering on the socks is actually meant to be "BIRDLAND," I just didn't shrink the letters to scale. 

Up today are the Pirates!

Notes:

- An astute reader at Uni-Watch caught that the Pirates' low profile City Connect cap (which now seems to have been scrubbed from the MLB Shop website) had a "Steel City" wordmark on its back, and since @Carolingian Steamroller pointed out that most of the 39THIRTY Stretch Fit City Connect caps feature each team's respective jersey wordmark on their backs, I have to believe that "Steel City" was originally planned for the Pirates jerseys before being replaced by "PGH," possibly because it was too similar to the Astros' "Space City"? I've recreated that wordmark using a tweaked version of the Star Trek: The Next Generation font. 

- In a riff on the Giants' CC set, I added a bridge pattern to the sleeves. @Paul Lucas and I actually had this exact idea five years ago (two years before the City Connect program was even announced) for our joint MLB Statement Series project, so I don't feel bad about repurposing it here. 

- As suggested by @GriffinM6 in another thread, I made the subtle shift from black to anthracite/steel gray, highly appropriate for a Pittsburgh-inspired design. I like the idea of a team's City Connect uniform seemingly fitting with the rest of their regular uniform rotation, but upon closer inspection, being just different enough that it has stand as its own thing, like the Royals using a much darker shade of blue for their set. 

- This is one team for whom black pants make total sense, so they go untouched, with the exception of some newly added numbers. 

And that's the final City Connect team planned for this season. C&C appreciated!

On 6/21/2023 at 7:16 PM, VampyrRabbit said:

Never crossed my mind that the Mets home script matched the cursive Giants script, but then again, why wouldn't it?  The uniforms look great.

I think the colour combination for KC is pretty good, and I'd probably like it more than navy and red (overused) and royal blue and gold (get it right and it looks great, get it wrong and it looks chintzy).

Thanks! To be fair, the "Giants" script doesn't match the Mets one exactly, but it was close enough for the purposes of my concept. 

Next up are the Houston Eagles!

EAGLES HOME:

EAGLES ROAD:

EAGLES HOME ALT:

EAGLES ROAD ALT:

Notes:

- Houston was sort of a last-minute addition to this series but actually wound up being one of my favorites. The Eagles spent the majority of their existence in Newark, but due to their brief stay in Houston at the end of the 1940s, I opted to include them.

- The primary logo swaps out the star behind the Astros' block "H" for Houston/Newark's flying eagle logo. 

- I used Houston's 2005-12 road script for the away jersey as a nod to the classic style script used on the Eagles' jerseys. 

- Triple striping on the primary home & road jerseys reflects the style worn by the real-life Eagles, while more Astros-esque single striping is used on the alts. 

C&C appreciated!