Graphic design and PR are my passion this week, apparently
As the sun was setting on the 2024 season in late September the news broke that the Red Sox would be shaking up their uniforms for 2025.
The original Boston Marathon inspired yellow and blue City Connect jersey that, at times, seemed to have magical properties would have been the first thought for elimination, given that when other teams (Dodgers, Astros, etc.) replaced a City Connect design it dropped right into the same uniform slot. But again, their uniforms were not magic.
“Given the popularity of our yellow uniforms with our players and fans, we have elected to keep it as a core uniform offering for the foreseeable future,” Grossman said, per Cotillo. “We will unveil a City Connect 2.0 uniform in 225 and will no longer wear our blue alternate jerseys.”
Ok, we get it. People like the yellow. I’m one of them. Despite my Boston bias I will die on the hill that they were one of the few teams to understand the assignment. City Connect is supposed to be about the city, not ‘team logo on black shirt” or “slightly different color scheme of a normal jersey.” Teams had some wild ideas that pushed a boundary or two. The Washington Nationals embracing the cherry blossoms was perfect (although they retired that design for some reason). The Red Sox were the first team to unveil a City Connect jersey and it was bold. No one knew what to expect from the Nike collaboration at the time and I don’t think yellow was at all considered as a color of the Sox. It was, however, a color associated with the city of Boston.
What was a little strange was Sam Kennedy’s comment this spring about the new threads was his phrasing:
“They will be controversial and I think you’re on the right track in terms of the color scheme you mentioned,” Kennedy said. “… I will say, though, nothing can be more controversial than bright yellow and those were probably among the most popular things we’ve ever done. So, I would say give them a chance.”
I keep going back to the word controversial. Contentious? Problematic? Difficult? Tough? Sure sounds like another idea that no one is expecting. It conjures the imagination to think of a Red Sox jersey with a with some type of glamour concealing the classic lettering, fonts, and colors to show off a new face.
But that’s a little at odds with his “subtle” allusions to the new hotness:
…he basically confirmed that the jersey will be a shade of green and have a “theme with a certain wall in left field,” referring to the Green Monster.
The Green Monster isn’t connecting to the city. It’s the snake eating its own tail and focusing the Connect back on the team itself. Not that this can’t be cool or interesting design space. It just doesn’t seem to fit the bill of designing something to bring the team and city together.
After leaked jerseys for the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies obtained by Uni-Watch were confirmed as their official designs it makes it very likely that the leaked Red Sox jersey is going to be revealed as this:
Uni-Watch
There’s a lot of Green Monster green here. White accents. The (possibly?) hand-painted looking font for the lettering. Or the lettering just looks a little funky in the pictures. Either way it’s mimicking the block letters from the scoreboard.
There’s even a ball/strike/out image representing the lights.
Uni-Watch
I won’t say this isn’t cool. It is. In fact, I like it a lot. It’s just not controversial. If you knew nothing else about a new Boston City Connect jersey besides that it was themed akin to the Green Monster, what would yours look like? Probably a lot like this.
Which takes us all the way back to the phrasing. Why. Why, if you were Sam Kennedy would you use the word controversial? It would have been controversial to replace yellow with green, that’s for sure. (I am sad blue is gone, it’s silly Nike has a limit on uniform designs. The Diamondbacks had something like 8 alternates no too long ago.) But merely adding a basic green jersey to the rotation doesn’t seem likely to kick up much controversy. And this raises questions about how Kennedy sets expectations.
Before the 2024 season, Kennedy tried to counter fans’ frustration about payroll by saying this:
I understand that people equate aggressive spending with trying and we own that because we haven’t matched up on big, boffo, long term contracts,
This was just a few months after “full throttle” which, to be fair, wasn’t Kennedy.
As Spring Training 2025 got under way Kennedy declared the team would be over the luxury tax.
We are currently over and I would anticipate us being over in 2025
However there are some big asterisks here. They had been talking about the luxury tax threshold as something to cross.
As free agency began over the winter, Kennedy was on his soap box saying:
Even if it takes us over the CBT,” Kennedy told Silverman on the possibility of the Red Sox’ payroll being north of $241 million next season. “Our priority is 90 to 95 wins, and winning the American League East, and winning the division for multiple years.
Per FanGraphs the Sox sit at just $249 million – $8 million above the threshold.
They notably did not sign Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, or Blake Snell. They did trade for Garret Crochet. (Phew). But it was the signing of the “heads I win tails you lose” Alex Bregman contract that pushed them over the top. If you can call a $120 million, 3 year deal a pillow contract, Bregman can walk after one season and dip Boston right back under the tax. Yes, if wishes were horses the tax, 90-95 wins, and division titles would all be coming together in a cohesive plan. But if my grandmother had wheels she’d be a wagon.
Year in and year out the guy who’s role is to be the carnival barker for John Henry just doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Can the Red Sox win the division this season? Looking at the first few weeks of the AL East, sure. How about 2026? I guess? Though is Alex Bregman still here – you’d have to know to really answer. Maybe those boffo contracts will be out there in December 2025. In the meantime, Roman Anthony probably looks pretty good in green.