Tigers try to 'strike a balance' with new City Connect uniforms

Detroit — The Tigers rarely have veered away from their traditional uniforms, particularly when it comes to the home whites adorned with the classic Olde English D.

But times, well, they are a-changin', starting Friday night at Comerica Park.

The Tigers on Monday finally unveiled their long-anticipated City Connect uniforms and they're, let's just say, different. Actually, really, really different — starting with the color scheme, which is mostly dark-navy blue, accented with what uniform-maker Nike is calling electric blue, the latter which is used to make tire tracks down the front of the jersey, and for racing stripes on the sleeves and down the pants. There is no orange in the color scheme.

The uniforms pay tribute to the city that put the world on wheels, with all-caps "MOTOR CITY" scrolled across the front of the jersey. The Tigers will debut the uniforms Friday night at Comerica Park, for the game against the Houston Astros, and they'll wear them again Saturday.

The Tigers will then wear them every Friday home game for the rest of the season, meaning they will wear the alternates 12 times this season.

The Tigers have worn exclusively white home jerseys for decades. Even during the annual Detroit Stars and Fiesta Tigres tribute games, the home uniforms are white. No wonder the reveal came as a bit of a shock to Tigers fans Monday, as social media churned out strong opinions on the design.

"The Olde English D and our uniform closet is one of the most traditional if not the most traditional in all of baseball, we don't take this task lightly," Ryan Gustafson, president and CEO of Ilitch Sports & Entertainment, said Monday in the Tigers' home clubhouse, where the team unveiled the Tigers' complete City Connect clothing line, including jerseys, hats, sweatshirts and T-shirts. "We wanted to do something that achieved the objective of connecting with the city, telling the story about the resurgence of Detroit, the resurgence of the Tigers' organization, but we didn't want to do something that our fans dislike.

"We wanted to strike a balance between tradition and doing something new and unique."

The tradition part comes with the nod to the Motor City, with the new and unique being in the color scheme, particularly with the tire tracks, symbolizing moving forward.

There are several "Easter egg" nods to Detroit on the jerseys, including a tribute to the famous Woodward Avenue street sign, a diamond with a No. 1 in the middle on one of the sleeves. The No. 1 is flanked by 3's on both sides, in a reflective, silverish shade, making for the 3-1-3. In the Woodward Avenue diamond, there also is a small Olde English D on top, the only Olde English D visible on Detroit's City Connect uniforms.

The caps and batting helmets are dark-navy blue, with an all-caps "DETROIT" across the front, and then a VIN tag on the side. The VIN tag is DET 190135456884, symbolizing the ballclub's founding in 1901, and its four World Series championships, in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984. The VIN also appears on the inside back collar of the jersey.

There are two subtle nods to the Tigers on the jerseys, with Tigers eyes near the beltline and underneath the bill of the cap. Player numbers on the back of the jerseys are in italics, just like "DETROIT" on the caps and "MOTOR CITY" on the front of the jerseys. That symbolizes motion, and the future.

The electric blue is used on the tire tracks on the jersey, stripes on the sleeves and stripes on the pants, while a dark-navy blue, the darkest shade of blue Nike makes, is used as the base for the cap, jersey and pants. The caps and pants might appear black, but they are dark-navy blue. The belt also will be the punchier electric blue.

The process in designing the jerseys lasted more than two years, and was a collaboration between the Tigers, Nike and Major League Baseball. The Tigers had dozens of employees in on the process, and ownership was involved. Players also provided feedback.

Select Tigers players were abe to get a sneak peek in recent days, with Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty and Javy Baez among those posing for the first-look photos. Eminem even appeared in a roll-out video for the uniforms.

For the Tigers, the automotive theme was an obvious choice.

"We knew exactly where we wanted to go. We were pretty focused on Motor City being the right one to start with," said Katie Jackson, vice president of marketing for the Tigers. "They were really focused on Motor City being the right one for our first, to really celebrate the innovation of this city.

"It's been really fun. It's a long time in the making."

Major League Baseball, Nike and the league's teams have been rolling out the City Connect jerseys since 2021, and the Tigers' version is more understated than most. MLB is rolling out nine MLB City Connect uniforms this season. The team unveilings are in a three-year cycle, so Detroit figures to release a second version of City Connect in 2027.

The City Connect line of merchandise went on sale at Comerica Park's D Shop on Monday morning, and online at mlbshop.com, with jerseys for $174.99, caps for $45.99 and hoodies for $89.99, with free shipping.

The Tigers will celebrate the uniform launch with two free block parties this week, outside Comerica Park on Friday from 4-7 p.m. and Saturday from noon-6:30 p.m. The parties will feature live music, local food trucks, muralists, merchandise tents, a classic car show and giveaways. Atwater Brewery also has canned a commemorative beer for the occasion, the Detroit City IPA, which has a can featuring the same color scheme, including the blue tire tracks.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984