Detroit Tigers reveal City Connect uniforms: Here's where it ranks among MLB's best
MLB and Nike’s City Connect four-year uniform program rolled along on Monday, with the Detroit Tigers finally joining the fraternity of squads with alternate looks — No. 24 on the reveal calendar, but No. 1 in our hearts … if you were hoping for black jerseys and hats to match the Lions’, Pistons’ and Red Wings’ recently revealed looks.
There’s also a new shade of blue — closer to royal than the Tigers’ traditional navy — and, just to make sure the kit wasn’t too alien, the alternate Tiger-head logo featured on the team’s spring training hats and the phrase “Motor City.”
FIRST LOOK: Detroit Tigers' City Connect uniforms hit the street with plenty of automotive connections
Will they be a hit in the, ahem, “Motor City?” We can’t say for sure, but we can try to figure out where the Tigers’ new outfit ranks among the 23 other City Connect sets in use — scientifically speaking, of course. We ranked all 24 by hat, jersey and “vibe,” on a scale of 1-10, then averaged out the scores to give us a ranking.
Here's where the Tigers’ new gear ranks — don't worry, it's far from the worst to take the field during the 2024 season.
24. Los Angeles Dodgers: 1.3
Release year: 2021.
Hat: 1. Jersey: 2. Vibe: 1.
The buzz: The Dodgers’ — excuse us, Los Dodgers’ — tribute to Fernando Valenzuela’s insane rookie season amounted to all of three letters tacked onto the jersey, a hat with “Los Dodgers” squeezed even tighter into a smaller space and … blue pants. Fellas, Fernando didn’t sacrifice his only arm with 84 complete games before turning 26 just so you could sell slightly fancier spring training duds. How muy mal were these choices? Los Dodgers have already rolled them back, with regular “LA” hats and white pants becoming part of the kit, and the franchise is introducing an all-new City Connect kit this summer.
23. Baltimore Orioles: 3
Release year: 2023.
Hat: 6. Jersey: 2. Vibe: 1.
The buzz: The amount of work done to try and explain this incredibly drab look rivals that of Charm City folks trying to explain why “The Wire” is a superior show to “The Sopranos.” Then again, a McNulty-themed kit might have worked better.
22. Colorado Rockies: 4.3
Release year: 2022.
Hat: 3. Jersey: 4. Vibe: 6.
The buzz: Nike did, indeed, capture the primary experience of summer living in Colorado — staring at license plates while waiting for the Rockies to do something, anything, positive. The hats, meanwhile, look like giveaways with a Coors Light 30-pack; they couldn’t even muster a faux craft beer vibe?
21. Boston Red Sox: 4.7
Release year: 2021.
Hat: 2. Jersey: 6. Vibe: 6.
The buzz: The near-total lack of red in, y’know, the RED Sox’s unis feels like a fail, especially since the hats look like the BoSox knocked over a UCLA shipment. (The only red: A pair of red socks on the, uh, socks.) But the jersey’s Patriots’ Day/Boston Marathon touches is Baw-stunn enough to make us want to pahk a cahr in Hah-vahrd Yahrd.
20. Seattle Mariners: 4.7
Release year: 2023.
Hat: 6. Jersey: 5. Vibe: 3.
The buzz: Normally, when teams work up fauxback kits, they’re for memorable or beloved eras. The Mariners — who, of course, are the only MLB team without a World Series appearance — mashed together the 1946 Seattle Steelheads (who lasted a month in the West Coast Negro Baseball League), the 1969 Seattle Pilots (who made it a full season in the AL before moving to Milwaukee) and the 1977-86 M’s (who won less than 41% of their games over the franchise’s first decade). What, they couldn’t get Mt. St. Helens’ eruption and the Seattle Supersonics’ departure in there, too?
T-17. Detroit Tigers: 5
Release year: 2024.
HOW DO THE FANS FEEL? Detroit Tigers fans split on new City Connect uniforms: 'I actually don't mind the jerseys'
Hat: 4. Jersey: 6. Vibe: 5.
The buzz: The blue gradient, complete with tire-tread pattern, down the middle certainly gives an auto racing feel, and the tribute to Woodward Ave. — America’s first highway — is another nice touch. But the hat feels like they blew a tire coming around the final curve.
T-17. Milwaukee Brewers: 5
Release year: 2022.
Hat: 4. Jersey: 5. Vibe: 6.
The buzz: Look, anything that brings back the Brewers’ baby blue from the 1980s is solid, and the canonization of one of the better nicknames in MLB doesn’t hurt. But the airport code on the hat? The nod to Wisconsin’s tailgating tradition that merely earned a patch on the sleeve? It’s like MillerCoors trying to sell us light beer without reminding us that it’s both less filling AND tastes great.
T-17. Pittsburgh Pirates: 5
Release year: 2023.
Hat: 4. Jersey: 5. Vibe: 6.
The buzz: If City Connect jerseys are the chance to introduce exotic flavors to tradition-bound tastemakers, the Bucs’ look is pierogi — Midwestern comfort food, with its familiar black-and-yellow scheme and bridges … everything you could ever want to know about the bridges over Pittsburgh’s rivers. (Points off for the airport code on the jerseys, though.)
T-15. Chicago Cubs: 5.3
Release year: 2021.
Hat: 7. Jersey: 4. Vibe: 5.
The buzz: The hat’s use of the six-sided star from the city flag is sharp … but the jersey is like a fabric version of “Go Cubs Go” — cute at first and then, by the 50th time you hear a Cubs fan (drunkenly or not) slur, “Hey, Chicago, what do you say?” you’re ready to set fire to the ivy and its surrounding friendly confines.
T-15. San Francisco Giants: 5.3
Release year: 2021.
Hat: 7. Jersey: 4. Vibe: 5.
The buzz: Bridges? In Northern California? The devil you say! And … fog? Look, we get that the Bay Area may be having a bit of an identity crisis, but localized weather events do not make a personality. At least they leaned into the orange for the hats. The jersey looks like something from a movie unable (or unwilling) to spring for MLB licenses: The Bay Area G-Men needed something to believe in. They found … Air Bud III. Coming in July 2024, only in theaters.
T-13. Houston Astros: 5.7
Release year: 2022.
Hat: 4. Jersey: 7. Vibe: 6.
The buzz: The Astros have embraced their NASA-adjacent identity so hard in their rebrand over the past 10 seasons that Nike faced a mighty challenge in topping that with the “Space City” kit. The jersey goes all-in; the hat folds before the flop.
T-13. New York Mets: 5.7
Release year: 2024.
Hat: 3. Jersey: 8. Vibe: 6.
The buzz: Like the Mets’ approach to roster construction the past few seasons, there’s a real “whole is less than the sum of its parts” feel here. The jersey has a city feel — not to be confused with Citi Field — with the gray (for concrete, of course) and the purple (for the subway line to the park), but the hat … is a Mets hat with a bridge on it. They couldn’t just repeat the stylized “NYC” from the jersey on the hat? This shouldn’t be that hard, but then again, this is the franchise playing contract hardball with its most marketable slugger (except when the owner is asked about him).
T-10. Arizona Diamondbacks: 6
Release year: 2021.
Hat: 4. Jersey: 7. Vibe: 7.
The buzz: The khaki — er, “Sonoran desert sand” — set feels very Arizona, and “Serpientes” is a cool name (and so much better than the trend of slapping “Los” in front of a team name as a Hispanic tribute — we’re looking at you, Los Dodgers). But this is still a little bland, especially when the D’backs’ main kit has so many vibrant hues.
T-10. Cincinnati Reds: 6
Release year: 2023.
Hat: 8. Jersey: 5. Vibe: 5.
The buzz: We guess Nike could have gone with Queen City staples such as gambling managers, racist owners and subpar chili, but these “futuristic” duds are probably a better way to go. We’re not sure if they’re THE Ohio baseball team — we’ll let the Reds battle that out with the Guardians — but there’s a Buckeye logo at the hip, raising the question: Will Cincy’s wins be vacated a few years from now?
T-10. Texas Rangers: 6
Release year: 2023.
Hat: 4. Jersey: 6. Vibe: 8.
The buzz: A mashup of design elements from minor-league teams in Arlington, Dallas and Fort Worth while evoking the Republic of Texas’ independence in 1836, this is probably about as Texas as you can get without using red, white and blue, barbecue or Willie Nelson’s face. One quibble: The star of the show is “the Peagle” — the mashup of the Dallas Eagles and Fort Worth Panthers mascots. Put him on the hat instead of the sleeve, and we’ve got a winner.
T-8. Chicago White Sox: 6.3
Release year: 2021.
Hat: 4. Jersey: 6. Vibe: 9.
The buzz: Easily the most expected design in this whole set (so much so that the White Sox’s web page explaining the origins of the look no longer exists) — there’s gothic lettering, both overlapping and not (Freep style is “South Side,” by the way), an omnipresent, full-body black (or dark gray, as Nike claims) and of course, pinstripes. But it also feels like a trip to the South Side — just menacing enough to make you double-check when the night’s last Red Line train is departing.
T-8. Philadelphia Phillies: 6.3
Release year: 2024.
Hat: 4. Jersey: 7. Vibe: 8.
The buzz: Look, there is a LOT going on here — the gradient on the jersey is new, the Liberty Bell on the hat is a bit recycled and there’s a tie-in to the city flag, we guess? But it feels just Philly enough: Not quite throwing-batteries-at-J.D. Drew, but we could totally see folks climbing greased light poles in these following the Phils’ next World Series win.
7. Kansas City Royals: 7.3
Release year: 2022.
Hat: 9. Jersey: 6. Vibe: 7.
The buzz: Did you know K.C. was “The Fountain City” before this kit debuted? We did not. Props for the sweet logo that throws it back to the work of Hallmark — yes, the greeting card company — on the Royals’ original look … but what’s with the navy blue? Did Nike order too much fabric for the Cubs’ “Wrigleyville” look?
6. Atlanta Braves: 7.7
Release year: 2023.
Hat: 8. Jersey: 8. Vibe: 7.
The buzz: Kudos to Nike for going the fauxback route — though “The A” logo on the jersey feels squeezed — rather than trying to pay tribute to “unincorporated Cobb County” where the team is currently located. This set works nicely as a tribute to Braves legend Hank Aaron without drawing on some of the, uh, more problematic images from the franchise’s iconography.
5. Los Angeles Angels: 8
Release year: 2022.
Hat: 8. Jersey: 8. Vibe: 8.
The buzz: The Halos’ embrace of red over their original blue has always felt, well, forced, but this cream-toned, surf-friendly look feels a bit more SoCal, even if the franchise is located closer to the Magic Kingdom (3.6 miles) than the beach (about 17 miles).
4. Tampa Bay Rays: 8.7
Release year: 2024.
Hat: 9. Jersey: 7. Vibe: 10.
The buzz: It certainly takes “grit” — or a lack of a thesaurus — for the only MLB team still in a fixed dome to embrace the term “underground” but if you can’t embrace a jersey that features a skateboarding devil ray — to repeat that: A. SKATEBOARDING. DEVIL. RAY. (They don’t even have feet!) — then you have missed the point of these City Connect kits. Also, the mashup of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and a devil ray is an epic headwear choice. (But please, Nike, I promise you: EVERY city has a bridge it loves. Stop with the architecture classes.)
T-2. Miami Marlins: 9.3
Release year: 2021.
Hat: 9. Jersey: 10. Vibe: 9.
The buzz: This fauxback adoption of the Havana-based Cuban Sugar Kings style would be a winner just for getting teal back in the Marlins’ regular rotation. But the crown on the hat? The pinstripes on the jersey? The acknowledgment that jerseys and pants don’t have to be the same color? Quite frankly, it’s the best thing LoanDepot Park has seen since Derek Jeter made the city ditch the kinetic sculpture in center field.
T-2. San Diego Padres: 9.3
Release year: 2022.
Hat: 9. Jersey: 9. Vibe: 10.
The buzz: Does it make sense that the franchise known for its brown and yellow — and sometimes “sand!” — look would manage to pull off the wildest, most colorful set so far? No, no it does not. Or that a team known for getting overlooked in the Southern California market would be the one to actually make the Hispanic tribute not feel ham-handed? No, no it does not. And yet, here are these pink and sea-green wonders. …
1. Washington Nationals: 9.7
Release year: 2022.
Hat: 9. Jersey: 10. Vibe: 10.
The buzz: Nike took one simple idea — the 3,000 cherry blossom trees throughout the nation’s capital, gifted from Tokyo in 1912 — and built a clean, sharp look. There’s a tribute to the 1924 World Series-winning Washington Senators in there. There’s a three-letter city code (though not of any of the region’s three airports — creativity!) on the jersey. And there’s even a tie to the city’s NBA franchise. In all, these are tough to beat. (So of course the Nats are retiring them after this season. Sigh.)
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' new City Connect uniforms: Where they rank in MLB
