Categories: Uniforms

Garrett Stubbs has an interesting way of describing the Phillies’ City Connect uniforms

Garrett Stubbs and the Phillies will wear their City Connect uniforms on Friday. (Don Otto/Phillies Nation)

The Philadelphia Phillies will wear their City Connect uniforms for the second time Friday, as they host the Chicago White Sox at Citizens Bank Park. If you were looking for the perfect way to describe the polarizing threads, catcher Garrett Stubbs might have found it.

Appearing on Foul Territory, Stubbs was asked to give his thoughts on the uniforms, and did so in a way that only he could.

“I think we look like a very sexy men’s beer league softball team,” Stubbs said. “Emphasis on the very sexy.”

The full uniform set was officially unveiled two weeks ago, with the Phillies wearing them for the first time on the field in a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates last Friday. The plan is for the Phillies to wear these jerseys for every Friday game at Citizens Bank Park, and our working theory is that teams have to wear City Connect uniforms for at least three years.

At best, the uniforms have received mixed reviews thus far. Not only are their critiques of the design, but the Phillies now have four home uniforms and just one road uniform. To comply with Nike’s “4+1 rule,” they had to eliminate their red alternate tops, which had previously been worn for Spring Training and “getaway days” on the road. The red tops were far from universally loved, but they at least matched with the rest of the Phillies uniforms.

For one of baseball’s oldest franchises, it was always going to take a bit of an adjustment period for a bold new uniform designed to appeal to younger fans. Stubbs hopes that the City Connect uniforms ultimately catch on.

“I think and I hope that they grow on us and the rest of the city throughout the year, because at the end of the day, we are going to be wearing them however often,” Stubbs added.

One interesting note is that the Los Angeles Dodgers will become the first team to release a second City Connect uniform in 2024, after wearing a much-maligned design as an alternate for the last three seasons. If the Phillies ever release another City Connect concept, Stubbs has an idea of what the inspiration for it should be.

“I like the story behind each part of the jersey. I think the colors were a little off for me. I was kind of hoping for a full-on [Phillie] Phanatic’s costume out there,” Stubbs said. “That could have been really cool.”

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Tim Kelly

Tim Kelly has been the Editorial Director for Phillies Nation since June of 2018. He also currently writes for Bleacher Report and Just Baseball. Previously, Kelly has done work for Audacy Sports, Sports Illustrated, SportsRadio 94 WIP and FanSided. Kelly is a graduate of Bloomsburg University.

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  • Those uniforms arent fit to be worn by a beer league softball team!! A disgrace to every Phillies fan and so is the glutton Smokey John for promoting them for $$$$$$$$$$$. Don't have enough billions, Smokes???

  • Pretty much every City Connect uni in MLB is beer league slowpitch softball team-esque. I can't wait for some team to bust out the late 00s multi-striped Boombah pants.

  • Now we start playing teams with more than 2 wins. I still thing Harper make to much $$$$ but, he,s good. Nick you can,t have two hits a week it,s time it,s time. We still can,t keep giving up 5 run innings that's why the other coach got fired.

  • Not a fan of the City Connect uniform. Where's the Philly red ? The font style looks like a KISS ad. JT looks like Big Bird in all his yellow gear.

  • Not a fan of the City Connect uniforms, though they aren't as bad as some others. JT looks like Big Bird in all his yellow protective gear !