MLB 2024 Uniform/Logo Changes

[Around the Horn]

The new Mets black jerseys looks good in photos but actually watching a game with them is a nightmare

[ltjets21]

28 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

The new Mets black jerseys looks good in photos but actually watching a game with them is a nightmare

They serve no purpose.  Us Mets fans only wanted the black back because it gave us nostalgia of the early 2000s Mets. These elicit no emotions and look like trash.

[M59]

One (potentially) hopeful (?) note regarding the Cash Grab Connects...
All of these sublimated jersey base patterns remind me a bit of the notorious Toronto "Black Jays" and original Nationals sets. Computer cutting was much more accessible than previously, and IMO those two sets included quite a bit of "we're doing stuff because we now can" elements. That eventually settled down.
We can hope/pray/whatever that these base patterns are a blip, or fear that they're just the tip of a very ugly iceberg. Can baseball designs truly stay this bad...forever?

Edited May 14 by M59
"Note" has an "e" at the end!

[coco1997]

13 hours ago, MJD7 said:

Boston's City Connect was definitely shocking at first, but after visiting the city earlier this spring and seeing the City branding in the team store, it seemed to really "fit" and, from an outsider perspective, seems to be something that really "connects" to the city, no pun intended.

 

When I asked a native Bostonian what he thought about the City uniforms, he seemingly didn't even understand that I was speaking strictly aesthetically, because the Marathon and what it means is so deeply tied to the city Boston, that it almost wasn't even a question of whether it was worth it to have as part of their identity.

 

In my opinion, they did go a bit overboard with its use when they had that winning streak where they kept on wearing them, but I wouldn't mind it to be something they continue to wear around the time of the marathon and a few other times throughout the year.

Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of Boston's City Connect (I'm pretty sure most people weren't) when it was first unveiled, but it's grown on me, especially when viewed in the context of the program as a whole. It's definitely better than most of the designs from the past year or two. 

[Digby]

12 minutes ago, coco1997 said:

Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of Boston's City Connect (I'm pretty sure most people weren't) when it was first unveiled, but it's grown on me, especially when viewed in the context of the program as a whole. It's definitely better than most of the designs from the past year or two. 

 

It didn't seem to sell well at first either, but this year and last I've seen a lot more of that merch out in the wild. Especially amongst kids. 

 

As a local it has not grown on me at all and I still find those uniforms hideous. At the very least, I would've used regular Red Sox fonts both on the front and back, and used the actual Marathon colors, which are a deeper shade of royal blue and, I think, a deeper more golden yellow. Not sure why they insisted on the bright pastel shades. (also ditch the stupid 617 bib logo, we ran out of 617 phone numbers a generation ago.)

 

I assume they couldn't fly too close to the B.A.A. sun, though, because the Marathon has been an Adidas operation for many many years.

[adsarebad]

22 hours ago, CLEstones said:

Excuse me while I re-CLEV-jack this thread... but everyone keeps refencing the racing stripes on the jerseys, as an homage to the teams from the late 70's to late 80's... which had to be one of the worst/least successful stretches in MLB history.

 

I have said since the City Connect debuted last week (which was quickly reference in the Mother Ship's Post), that the racing stripes are an homage to the movie Major League, which so many people know and love. 

It would make much more sense to have a uniform element reference a beloved, feel good, sports movie, rather than decades of bad baseball.  If they wanted to reference one of the proudest runs in franchise history, it would have been the mid 90's to early 00's teams. 

You talk movies..... lets talk movies

-

Before they were proud Indians,  now the team are crossing guards  making sure traffic in Cleveland runs smoothly

 

just bring back the Indians name please..... but get a new logo.

Chief wahoo was too silly.

-

but guards, no !

 

 

[FriedPickles]

12 minutes ago, adsarebad said:

just bring back the Indians name please..... but get a new logo.

Chief wahoo was too silly.

 

 

 

you and I both know the toothpaste can't be put back in the tube! we will just have to get used to Guardians.

[adsarebad]

4 minutes ago, jamesizzo said:

you and I both know the toothpaste can't be put back in the tube! we will just have to get used to Guardians.

Of the Galaxy...... those are the only ones I'll ever get used to.  

[CLEstones]

1 hour ago, adsarebad said:

You talk movies..... lets talk movies

-

Before they were proud Indians,  now the team are crossing guards  making sure traffic in Cleveland runs smoothly

 

just bring back the Indians name please..... but get a new logo.

Chief wahoo was too silly.

-

but guards, no !

 

 

 

 

I actually think Guardians is an infinitely better name than Indians.  But that's just me.

[Marlins93]

On 5/13/2024 at 9:41 AM, WBeltz said:

I would agree. I think some of them are tweaks away from massive improvements, but there are a handful that are just not great. If I had to rank the best ones it would be:

 

1. Angels

2. Marlins

3. Cleveland

4. Chicago White Sox

5. Colorado.

 

I am surprised people here like the Cleveland ones. They are horrid IMO. Some nice design elements that are completely overshadowed by how lazy and obnoxious the CLE wordmark is. I think the three-letter concept is one of the worst things about the City Connect "program" in general. 

[CLEstones]

11 hours ago, Marlins93 said:

 

I am surprised people here like the Cleveland ones. They are horrid IMO. Some nice design elements that are completely overshadowed by how lazy and obnoxious the CLE wordmark is. I think the three-letter concept is one of the worst things about the City Connect "program" in general. 

 

I think we were all anticipating something really, really dreadful, something really off the wall with wacky colors and in your face elements... but these weren't.  These were quite subdued and actually made sense with the city and the team.  I think there are a few things a lot of us would have done differently... but compared to some of the other City Connects, some of the NBA City Connects, and some of the other uniforms Nike has come up with, in general,  I think most of us are happy with only having 1 or 2 bold elements, and the rest being subtle.

 

There is also something to be said about our player models... I know they are some of the most popular players on the team, but Kwan, Naylor, McKenzie, and Jose all have such non-normal baseball player bodies, that I don't think they do the uniforms any favors.

[PlayGloria]

15 hours ago, Marlins93 said:

 

I am surprised people here like the Cleveland ones. They are horrid IMO. Some nice design elements that are completely overshadowed by how lazy and obnoxious the CLE wordmark is. I think the three-letter concept is one of the worst things about the City Connect "program" in general. 

 I 100% agree. Stop with the three letter abbreviation already. 

[VDizzle12]

2 hours ago, CLEstones said:

 

I think we were all anticipating something really, really dreadful, something really off the wall with wacky colors and in your face elements... but these weren't.  These were quite subdued and actually made sense with the city and the team.  I think there are a few things a lot of us would have done differently... but compared to some of the other City Connects, some of the NBA City Connects, and some of the other uniforms Nike has come up with, in general,  I think most of us are happy with only having 1 or 2 bold elements, and the rest being subtle.

 

There is also something to be said about our player models... I know they are some of the most popular players on the team, but Kwan, Naylor, McKenzie, and Jose all have such non-normal baseball player bodies, that I don't think they do the uniforms any favors.

 

I think a lot of it has to do with the Guardians rebrand in general. The branding unveiled in 2022 seemed rushed and a simple evolution of the Indians. It made sense at the time. Unlike the Commanders they wanted a smooth transition and it works fine. But now what we're left with is just some Indians uniforms with new logos, wordmarks and fonts. The CC uniforms go all-in on Guardians and this should be the next logical step in the team's branding moving forward. It still feels like a Cleveland baseball team, but it's a perfect evolution into something new. 

[M59]

15 minutes ago, VDizzle12 said:

 

I think a lot of it has to do with the Guardians rebrand in general. The branding unveiled in 2022 seemed rushed and a simple evolution of the Indians. It made sense at the time. Unlike the Commanders they wanted a smooth transition and it works fine. But now what we're left with is just some Indians uniforms with new logos, wordmarks and fonts. The CC uniforms go all-in on Guardians and this should be the next logical step in the team's branding moving forward. It still feels like a Cleveland baseball team, but it's a perfect evolution into something new. 

Not only do you have rebranded Indians uniforms, but the script is eerily reminiscent of the old Kinston Indians font.

Edited May 15 by M59
correction

[WBeltz]

16 hours ago, Marlins93 said:

 

I am surprised people here like the Cleveland ones. They are horrid IMO. Some nice design elements that are completely overshadowed by how lazy and obnoxious the CLE wordmark is. I think the three-letter concept is one of the worst things about the City Connect "program" in general. 

I do get it. I would prefer to have "CLEVELAND" across the chest instead of the abbreviation, even if it means losing some of those detials that are present on the lettering. But it's infinitely better than some of the ones we've seen recently.

[CLEstones]

1 hour ago, VDizzle12 said:

 

I think a lot of it has to do with the Guardians rebrand in general. The branding unveiled in 2022 seemed rushed and a simple evolution of the Indians. It made sense at the time. Unlike the Commanders they wanted a smooth transition and it works fine. But now what we're left with is just some Indians uniforms with new logos, wordmarks and fonts. The CC uniforms go all-in on Guardians and this should be the next logical step in the team's branding moving forward. It still feels like a Cleveland baseball team, but it's a perfect evolution into something new. 

 

I agree with just about all of this.  I thnk they should have carried over the block C from the previous version of the uniform, and make that block font the standard for numbers, NoB, and anywhere the block text was needed/wanted.  The script should have been different -- it reminds of the Flintstones for some reason, and I dont know why.  I would have liked something a lot more classic, wavy, and script, to compliment and contrast the block C font.  They could have fixed the bloated look of the previous Jndians and Cleveland scripts.

 

I would have loved to see the City Connect go one step further, and provide a unique color palette.  I get so sick of seeing so many red/white/navy teams.  I know it's a sensitive topic in 2024 America, but the colors are just so played out, so common, so dull.  First and foremost, they could have take a dark/forest green color, which not only would have matched the seats and the outfield walls in Progressive Field, but the truss bridge is also a dark green.  Not to mention, one of Cleveland's nicknames is "The Forest City."  It almost makes TOO much sense.

 

Second, I would have like to see them add orange.  The dark green/orange color scheme is rare, but wherever it pops up, it looks phenomenal (Miami).  It would also have played incredibly well off of "the rust belt" and Cleveland's industrial heritage and renaissance. 

 

Lastly, the sand/stone color that the statues are made of, would have been the perfect ROAD+Sunday's Best uniform color.  I think one of the best aesthetics in all of sports, are when baseball teams use varying shades of light gray and tan for their road uniforms.  Instead, we are just 1 of 983453 teams with R/W/B (with gray) uniforms.

 

When it comes to the logo package, don't get me started.  Those Guardians statues have some incredible detail and artistic inspiration, from the wings on the pylons, to the 2 different kinds of helmets they wear, to the wings above their ears, to the different design patterns on the cloaks of the statues... it could have been one of the best logo packages in all of sports.  Instead... it's probably the worst.

 

I get why they didnt want to have a hard deviation... the reaction to retiring Chief Wahoo and changing the nickname, has bordered on insanity.  Even after 3-4 years... the amount of crying and bitching people still do, is insane.  Their delusions have made them believe that the entire history of the team is gone and that the memories we all made in 90's as the "Indians" are now deleted from our consciousness, all because the name changed.

Edited May 15 by CLEstones
Last Paragraph

[Silent Wind of Doom]

3 hours ago, PlayGloria said:

 I 100% agree. Stop with the three letter abbreviation already. 

 

Ironic that your team (at least I assume because you popped up focused on their City Connects and assume your name is a Blues reference) that is upcoming is already using and comes from a city perhaps most famous for their three-letter abbreviation.  

[PlayGloria]

23 minutes ago, Silent Wind of Doom said:

 

Ironic that your team (at least I assume because you popped up focused on their City Connects and assume your name is a Blues reference) that is upcoming is already using and comes from a city perhaps most famous for their three-letter abbreviation.  

 

 Well played sir. I want to leave a thoughtful reply, but I think I'll just tip my cap 

[SportsFan12]

So the Mets have their black and blue jerseys, which now puts them at FOUR home uniforms and just one gray road uniform. Why can’t they use the black or blue on the road like many teams do with their color uniforms for the sake of variety?

[Silent Wind of Doom]

2 minutes ago, PlayGloria said:

 Well played sir. I want to leave a thoughtful reply, but I think I'll just tip my cap 

 

Heh.  Just a funny observation.  It is a bit much for Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Washington, but "NYC" is probably of equal iconic status as StL.  I did not realize with all the talk of three letters in the last few pages how few overall actually use it.

 

The CLE does allow the detail to show and am unsure how (besides a large C in the style on the chest) to show it off as well.  But it's a small issue with what is overall otherwise an appreciated burst of sanity.