The Tampa Bay Rays are adding a City Connect uniform to their closet.
Tampa Bay unveiled its City Connect uniforms on Monday, becoming the 23rd MLB team to embrace the alternate look since the Nike-backed brand launched in 2021.
The Rays’ City Connect uniforms have “Tampa Bay” written across the chest in neon coloring, a similar look they had on their road jerseys in their first three seasons as a franchise (1998-2000), to go with the dark base. It marks the first time the Rays will have their city name written across their chest since 2007.
Tampa Bay’s skater culture inspired some of the look. The flames coming off each letter on the nameplate on the front of the jersey include flames, which are meant to honor street art and skate media, such as “Thrasher” magazine. Gradient accents cover the sleeves and pants of the uniforms, purposely making them asymmetrically as a symbol of doing things differently.
The Rays wanted to capture the feel of what it’s like to be in Tampa Bay, displaying a look of what people see when they’re in the city and calling it “Grit and Glow.”
[Related: Report: MLB plans to address players’ uniform complaints per union memo]
“When we started thinking about that feeling that you have when you’re in some of these really special places around this community, it’s fueled by this energy,” Rays chief business officer Bill Walsh said in a statement. “A lot of these types of countercultures, creative cultures, they’re really at the center of that in terms of creating that vibe.”
The Rays honored some local landmarks with their caps and logos. The main logo on the caps features the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the outline of a sting ray. A second logo has three palm trees and a pelican. The palm trees logo replicates the mark seen on Florida Historical Makers, such as Perry Harvey Sr. Park, Florida’s first public skatepark. The other logo is a stingray on a skateboard, further embracing the city’s skater culture.
“It’s also something we think that we have in common as an organization,” Walsh said of Tampa Bay’s skater culture in the statment. “We have demonstrated that, that you’ve kind of got to be willing to go against the grain and have some courage and disrupt. So I think it’s exciting that there’s that overlap, too.”
The Rays will debut the uniforms in their three-game home series against the New York Mets this season. They’ll wear the alternate look in every Saturday home game after that.
The Phillies were the first team to unveil their City Connect uniforms this season. “PHILLY” is written across the chest in white coloring while the uniform’s colors resemble the city’s flag. The cap’s logo is the Liberty Bell with the same coloring as the city’s flag, which has Philadelphia’s skyline placed within the logo.
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The Mets introduced their City Connect uniforms in April. It’s a base gray uniform with “NYC” stitched on the front and the Queensboro Bridge on the hat. The jersey also has a black patch on the arm with the Mets logo in pink lettering.
[Read more: New York Mets release ‘City Connect’ jersey with new color scheme]
Other teams set to unveil City Connect uniforms in 2024
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