Four years after the Cincinnati Reds honored their 150-year history with 15 throwback uniforms from different eras, they wanted their new City Connect uniforms to represent the future.
The Reds revealed their City Connect uniforms Saturday – notably on “513 Day” – which features a black cap, black jersey and black pants with bright red and white as the secondary colors for the outline and lettering. The jersey reads “Cincy” across the front with a stylized red wishbone “C” on the caps and sleeve.
The uniforms will be worn for the first time Friday, in a home game against the New York Yankees, and they will be worn every Friday home game for the remainder of the season. The Reds are the 18th MLB team to receive their City Connect uniforms, which will continue to be a part of the team’s regular uniform rotation in future seasons.
Reds player profileThe mentality behind Jake Fraley's clutch hitting for the Reds
Reds victory over MarlinsFraley, Steer make up for mistakes with clutch hits in Reds win vs. Marlins
Reds MetsThree plays that defined the Cincinnati Reds' series win over the New York Mets
“I like how simple it is,” Joey Votto said when he first saw the uniforms during spring training in a behind-the-scenes video released on the team’s social media channels. “It’s hard to do black correctly and it feels like it was done right.”
There was a line of more than 50 fans lined up at 9 a.m. when the Reds Team Shop opened at Great American Ball Park to purchase the new merchandise. All MLB teams, in conjunction with Nike, have one home uniform, one away uniform, two alternates and the City Connect set.
The City Connect jersey includes a black Kroger sponsorship patch on one of the sleeves with white lettering. On the neckline in the uniform is the city motto, the Latin phrase “Juncta Juvant,” which means strength in unity, underneath a red Buckeye leaf.
Reds new reliever'Everyone has a path': Ben Lively's long journey pays off with a Reds win over the Mets
Reds starting rotationWhat Hunter Greene learned during his matchup vs. Mets ace Justin Verlander
Reds top prospectCincinnati Reds top prospect Elly De La Cruz sets records in Triple-A game
“Early on with Nike, we let them know we do a really good job of celebrating our history, honoring our past,” said Ralph Mitchell, the Reds’ vice president of marketing and communications. “Three of the four current jerseys have Mr. Redlegs on it. So, Mr. Redlegs made a comeback from the ‘50s and ‘60s. That wishbone ‘C’ hadn’t changed since like the ‘30s, tweaked a little bit here or there, but it was still around. We were hoping to look forward and that’s exactly what they delivered on. It was very much intentional. We wanted to make it bold and make it modern.”
When the Reds were in the beginning stages of developing their City Connect uniforms, Mitchell said other teams typically fell into three buckets. The first bucket was uniforms inspired by a landmark or a physical attribute of the city. The Rockies patterned their jersey after the state’s license plate, and the Nationals featured cherry blossoms.
The second bucket was honoring a team’s history like Atlanta did with Hank Aaron and his home run chase. The third bucket, which the Reds fall in, was attempting to capture the vibe of the city.
“Anaheim/Los Angeles was a good example, the beach culture,” Mitchell said. “The inspiration for the Angels script on their chest was from a surfboard company in Anaheim. It’s more about the culture and the community versus something tangible or something from the past. We leaned into that hard. We’re going to talk about this team and the personality of this team.”
The Reds released a 99-second video in conjunction with the uniform’s unveiling Saturday with a theme of the team and the city writing its next chapter. “Who we were? Nah. It’s about who we are and who we will be,” Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Tyler Stephenson say in the video.
“We drew parallels between Cincinnati being an up-and-coming city with a ton of revitalization and entrepreneurship,” Mitchell said. “This is a thriving city. It’s energetic. It’s vibrant. Look at our roster, it’s also very vibrant, energetic, chock full of energy and talent. We drew those parallels to the city to make that connection.”
The all-black jerseys will be a new look for the Reds, though a uniform with black sleeves and a black cap was used from 1999-2006. Plus, when the Reds did their 15 throwback uniforms in 2019, it was an all-blue uniform that drew the most interest in the team store.
“The most popular one was the uniform that we wore only one year, the navy pants with the navy jersey,” Mitchell said. “You kind of look at everything. You look under every rock. We talked to the clubhouse, Nike, Fanatics and got feedback from a lot of different people during this whole journey. We were very intentional from the get-go. We want to look forward and make sure this is modern.”
The Reds will host a City Connect event at Findlay Market on May 20, one day after the uniforms are worn in their first game.
