Atlanta Braves Unveil New City Connect Uniforms Honoring The Late Great MLBbro Hank Aaron

Atlanta Braves Unveil New City Connect Uniforms Honoring The Late Great MLBbro Hank Aaron

ATLANTA, GA — The Atlanta Braves unveiled their new city edition uniforms on Monday morning for the 2023 MLB season that will honor the late great Hall Of Famer Hank Aaron.  The jersey that Michael Harris Jr. and the rest of the Braves players will be wearing is a replica of the 1974 jersey that Aaron wore when he broke Babe Ruth’s record becoming the new home run king at that time with 715 home runs. 

 

 

City Connect Video Features Ludacris 

The Braves released a video of their new ‘City Connect’ jerseys that feature rapper/actor Ludacris and Aaron’s widow, Billye Aaron. 

The commercial begins with different views of Truist Park as a helicopter is shown landing in centerfield, and Ludacris and two others exit the helicopter in the new Braves uniform. The rest of the video is a security detail delivering the new jersey — to some people in a secret delivery.

The classic jersey is reimagined with “The A” emblazoned across the chest, synonymous with Atlanta’s nickname and a visual representation of the Braves’ rallying cry “For The A.

 

 

Long-time MLB Authentic Collection partners New Era & Stance have worked in collaboration with the Clubs, MLB and Nike to develop the official on-field City Connect hats and socks in order to complete the players uniform designs. 

“Over the course of its first two seasons, the Nike MLB City Connect Series has been the most successful consumer product initiative we’ve ever had,” said MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden. “The overwhelmingly positive response from our fans is clear when you see ballparks full of these distinct designs and colors. Our Clubs have focused so much time and effort with Nike to create these exceptional uniforms for their fan bases, and it shows in every last detail. We look forward to seeing even more of our parks filled with City Connect jerseys this season.”

 

When Will Braves Wear The City Connect Jerseys? 

 

The Braves will dawn their City Connect jerseys for Saturday games in Truist Park beginning April 8th. The Braves under current Major League Baseball (MLB) rules are only allowed to have four jerseys they can highlight from six Clubs across the United States that include Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates. Nike MLB City Connect Series will be unveiled now through June.

City Connect Uniforms Are Designed To Show Spicy, Futuristic Union Between NIKE & MLB

City Connect Uniforms Are Designed To Show Spicy, Futuristic Union Between NIKE & MLB

The game is changing right in front of our eyes, and the New MLB City Connects are going to be a huge part of it.

Two years ago a billion-dollar deal brought two of America’s most synonymous brands together; Major League Baseball and NIKE.  

 

This new age era of baseball acknowledges showmanship and flair in the game as an important part of MLB’s future. Bat flips, dugout celebrations, and even pitchers breaking out their best dance moves after strikeouts on a nightly basis have been fun to watch.  

On the other side, we have seen NIKE becoming the official uniform brand of both the NBA and NFL recently. 

In January of 2019, NIKE announced a billion-dollar deal that included $3 million in the pockets of each team, bringing the swoosh to all baseball jerseys in 2020.

This morning, baseball unveiled one of  7 teams that City Connects collections will be fitting this year.

In a statement, NIKE announced these jerseys would honor each team’s city, history, fans and culture. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs and White Sox, LA Dodgers, Florida Marlins and Giants will be releasing their looks at a later date.

One of the most iconic franchises,  Boston Red Sox were up first, and in my eyes, hit a home run with their Boston Marathon-themed fashion choice.

 

Boston Red Sox Nike City Connect Uniform Player Portrait

 

Via fastcompany.com: 

The idea behind City Connect is that the jerseys explore, not just a team’s historic look, but something significant about that team’s broader hometown and culture. For the Miami Heat, Nike created a blue and pink, 1980s neon throwback for the team that screamed Don Johnson, bucking tradition for the otherwise red, black, and yellow franchise. The strategy has worked well. Nike’s Miami Heat jersey became the best selling jersey in the NBA in several seasons, according to Nike.

These jerseys stray away from the normal Red Sox white and blue, choosing to go with blue yellow jerseys in honor of the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  

The yellow is complemented with the word “Boston” across the chest in blue.  The city area code 617 is on the sleeve.

 

The new looks are going to take some getting used to. Baseball’s color schemes continue to evolve out of the traditional looks, but we have seen these types of designs recently with the NBA City collection jerseys in recent years.

“Nike is uniquely suited for our relationship with the MLB because we like pushing the edges of creativity across the board, but it’s always done out of a place of supporting the players and advancing the sport,” said Nike Vice President of North America League partnerships Sonja Henning.

Although we are not sure when the next team’s jerseys will be released, we do know the dates that they will debut on the field. 

The Red Sox will be worn April 17th, Florida Marlins May 21st, Chicago Cubs June 12th, Arizona D-Backs June 18th and San Francisco Giants on July 9th.   

The White Sox and MLB Bro Tim Anderson will be wearing their new drip on June 5th in a Saturday night matchup against the hottest young talent in baseball, Akil Baddoo, and the Detroit Tigers. 

2018 MVP and multiple World Series champion Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers will rock theirs in late August.

I’m ready to see these jerseys on the field.  Like it or not a cultural change is coming to MLB and these classic jerseys will be a major part of the process.