I want you all to know that I thought long and hard before I decided to publish this. I’ve always prided myself on being open-minded, but every now and then, there comes a time where a line must be drawn. The new City Connect uniforms suck. There, I said it. Bring it on, Twitter trolls.
Before I continue, let me make something clear: I absolutely love the jerseys the Reds have right now. The crisp red with the white trim, even the whites with the red trim… it’s perfection. The simple script “Reds” across the chest… It’s all class and no clutter. Clean and confident. It’s keeping it simple with style. It’s a home run, if you pardon my pun.
But these new jerseys… it’s like fouling a bunt for strike three. Why did you feel the need to try that in the first place – and if you felt like this was really necessary, how could you execute so poorly? Some teams just aren’t meant for an ultra-modern look.
My first issue with the new uniforms is the color scheme – what’s up with all the black? Are the Reds trying to get into the XFL? Because that’s all I can think of when I look at those uniforms. It’s like the exact look they were going for was “Discount Atlanta Falcons”. Why? You’re the Cincinnati Reds. Shouldn’t the jerseys be, I dunno, mostly red? What an outrageous idea…
My second issue is the new “C” logo. It’s awful. What was wrong with the one they’ve been using for 100+ years? Who was tired of it? Somebody needs to start naming names. They’ve been using that “C” since at least 1912. It’s timeless. Now instead we get some weird, digitized “C” with lines… Why? Why??? (I get how the five lines are supposed to represent the five World Series the Reds have won, but I just can’t get behind this on principle.)
I do like how the word “CINCY” displayed across the chest is in the same font and style as the “CINCINNATI” displayed on the Duke Energy Center.
Photo Credit: 5chw4r7z, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
I can appreciate the inclusion of Cincinnati’s motto, “Juncta Juvant” (Strength in Unity), but if you’re going to put that on there, maybe put it somewhere we can actually see it? (It’s on the inside of the jersey, along with a buckeye leaf. So now we’re the Cincinnati Buckeyes too.)
It all just feels so… uninspired. Where’s the actual connection to the city itself? It all feels so superficial – like someone spent five minutes on Cincinnati’s Wikipedia page, jotted down the city motto and copied a picture of the, like, fifth most interesting feature of Cincinnati? (No offense to the Duke Energy Center.) How about we start with the fact that Cincinnati is the birthplace of American professional baseball? Anybody find that interesting? If any team should be leaning into tradition over modernization, it’s the Cincinnati freaking Reds.
Maybe I’m just a stick in the mud. But I also don’t see who or what was asking for this. How about we spend a couple extra million on getting a fourth or fifth starting pitcher instead of pandering for Twitter likes with a hip, new uniform and trotting Luke Weaver out there every fifth day, hmmmm?