Blue Jays among the teams to get a City Connect jersey in 2024

The MLB’s City Connect jersey series launched in 2021, as 20 teams across the league have donned the uniforms. Included in the nine teams announced for this year are the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are the only team to debut their second City Connect uniform. The only two teams who have not been included in the series are the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics. 

Now, it’s time to get creative. The City Connect jerseys have been pretty wild in the past and very diverse. Teams do not exactly follow a formula with these uniforms. They have been quite unique to the city and the area each team represents, from Washington’s Cherry Blossoms to Houston Space City, the series has been uncommon.

The first clue from the Jays’ announcement is the background of the social media post. Plastered by white text on a blacked out aerial shot of downtown Toronto. Many fans have been calling for a return of the cult-classic Black Jays uniforms from the 2000s. 

Throwbacks have been used in the City Connect series before. The Atlanta Braves and the Seattle Mariners both have paid homage to the past with their uniforms. The Braves threw it back to the Hank Aaron era as the Mariners went back to the Seattle Pilots. The Pilots participated in one season in the MLB, back in 1969, before folding and relocating to Milwaukee. 

So, throwing it back to the black uniforms could be an option for the Jays. I don’t see them going back to the ’80s/’90s baby blue era, as they already tried the look again from 2008-2010 with Flashback Fridays and also have a newer version of the light blue look in their current set. 

The one common area with the designs are area exclusive features. Chicago’s Southside, Colorado’s Rockies, and the Cubbies Wrigglyville, these uniforms have done an excellent job of celebrating the roots of each club. 

The Jays would be remiss not to portray the CN Tower with the uniforms. The landmark that overlooks the ballpark, could be used in numerous different ways. 

First would be the cap insignia; if the black look is the design we are going forward with, a white silhouette on a black hat would be a clean look. Even a cropped cut of the observation deck to eliminate negative space would work as well. Honestly, just use Drake’s Views album cover

Speaking of Drake, how much influence would he have on this jersey? Justin Bieber just had his input on the NHL’s All-Star jerseys, Drake has already been very involved with the Raptors in the past, I wouldn’t say it’s a stretch to see some sort of Drizzy influence in this jersey. Even if it’s just an OVO owl on the side of the hat or a black jersey with the OVO gold trimming, it would make a lot of sense and probably look unreal, too. 

“The 6ix” or just “6ix” would be the front runner for the front of the uniform for me. The Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates have used abbreviated names in their jerseys already; plus, Houston and Chicago have both used city-specific names on their uniforms with “Space City,” “Southside,” and “Wrigleyville.” 

You can integrate the CN Tower with the ‘i’ of the “6ix” and, boom, two birds, one stone. 

The Jays could look to go hyperlocal with the look, too. The ‘TORONTO‘ sign in Nathan Phillips Square would make for a pretty cool font and ode to the city. The colours of the sign would also allow the team to get a little creative and colourful with the look. The Jays may want to caution going down that road, though, as the San Diego Padres Baja look was quite interesting. It worked for the area of San Diego but may not hit as well with the Toronto feel. 

Airport codes have also been integrated into uniforms in the past, as the Milwaukee Brewers threw the ‘MKE’ code onto their hat in 2022. Throwing on ‘YYZ’ would look cool, especially as a side jersey logo, but at this point, we may be getting a little busy. 

Earlier this winter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. posted a photo on his social media that portrayed a new white hat with the Jays uniform. The post has since been deleted, but some speculated that it could be the Spring Training hat. Last week’s release of the hats confirmed that was not the case for Toronto. The white hat has not been confirmed with any uniform for the Jays yet but has been spotted in online stores since the release of the photo. Could these be a sneak peek at the City Connect uniforms? 

However, the news of the City Connect jerseys come at a relatively convenient time. With pitchers and catchers reporting this week and Spring Training right around the corner, the new Nike Vapor Premier jerseys are receiving some scalding hot reviews from players and fans alike.

The 2024 season is the first season Fanatics are in charge of production and ever since the announcement, they have been faced with loads of scrutiny. Twitter pages posting the number of shipping mistakes from the distributor, upside down nameplates, misspelled names, and mis-coloured stripes, there have been limited positive reviews from consumers. 

The Seattle Mariners’ replica home jerseys look like they were printed on with masking tape. But even the people who need to wear the uniforms to perform are complaining.

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas says the jersey “doesn’t fit right, pants are no longer as customized, and the fabric is a very different consistency.” Another player on the team said, “They look cheap.”

Not exactly the type of reviews you would like from the people who are going to be wearing and using the product everyday. The Cards are also one of the teams who will be donning the City Connect jerseys this year, and if this is the preview we’ve received from the pros, we may be in for a disappointing series. 

But, what do you expect from the Blue Jays City Connect uniforms? What are some of the landmarks and areas you would like the jersey to represent? And please let the jerseys include Jose Bautista’s bat flip!