Blue Jays players hope City Connect jerseys bring team luck on field

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Members of the Toronto Blue Jays were all smiles as they unveiled their new City Connect jerseys at a rooftop bar on King St. W. Thursday night.

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Emblazoned with a graphic of the city’s skyline, including the CN Tower, downtown high-rises and the team’s Rogers Centre home base, the new kits — dubbed “Night Mode” — are inspired by Toronto’s vibrant nightlife and scenic waterfront.

The accompanying hat includes a “T” on the front that emulates the pillars of City Hall on the Toronto flag, with a Maple Leaf at its centre.

MLB and Nike launched the City Connect line of uniforms in 2021, giving ballclubs a chance to embrace their distinct cities and culture. With previous teams leaning into flashy colours and designs, fan reception has been mixed. With its tints of “pitch blue,” “speed red” and “hyper royal,” the Jays are the 27th squad to partake in the new tradition; the Minnesota Twins will follow next month. 

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To coincide with the release, the Jays have a City Connect-themed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bobblehead being given to the first 15,000 fans at Monday night’s game and a backpack next Wednesday.

But aside from looking cool with its return to a dark colourway for the first time since 2011 that accompanies Toronto lettering inspired by the sign at Nathan Phillips Square, the players are hoping the jerseys bring them a bit of good luck on the field.

Leadoff hitter Davis Schneider, who has five RBIs in his last two games, said if the team starts winning in them, “we’re definitely not going to take them off.”

“Baseball is a funny game where if you (wear) something once and you win in it, then you’re going to wear it for the rest of the season,” Schneider told Postmedia on the blue carpet. “So if we keep winning in it, we’re going to wear it the rest of the way.”

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Schneider looked crestfallen when he learned that the 26-29 squad will only sport the new look at select night games for the remainder of the season.

“I did not know that,” he smiled. “Hopefully, then, we win every time we play in the them.”

Outfielder George Springer, who namechecked country star Luke Combs as a style icon, agreed that the all-black jersey could help the Jays, who are currently last place in the American League East, go on a winning streak.

“One hundred percent,” he said.

Springer, who got an early look at the concept last season, said he was immediately impressed by the design.

“I think it fits who we are. I like the ‘Night Mode’ style. It’s cool,” he said. “This has been a long time coming. We saw it last year when it was in its infancy stage … We all agreed that we had to have red. I think red is a staple for us. The tower, the skyline was huge. There’s so many different colours they could have gone with, but I like the ‘Night Mode.’”

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Springer said his favourite Jays jersey of old was the powder-blue v-neck ones the team wore in the ’80s. But he also revealed that he liked the old-school black ones from the mid-2000s.

“I used to have the black hat as a kid,” he said. “I don’t know if black is liked around here or not, but I liked it.”

Shortstop Bo Bichette said he’s normally not “a superstitious guy,” but hopes the ensemble helps the ballclub returning to its winning ways.

“I always wanted to wear a (dark) jersey so I’m excited about that,” he said. “You want to represent the city and this has the skyline, which I think is cool.”

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Pitcher Kevin Gausman wore City Connects when he played for the San Francisco Giants. He wasn’t a fan of that design, which featured a giant “G” and leaned into the Bay Area’s reputation as a foggy locale. But Gausman said he’s looking forward to seeing how his teammates embrace the uniform change.

“I think they’re really sharp. I think they’re going to look even better when some of these guys put a little swag to them and add some flavour to it. Those guys are going to be looking pretty good out there,” he said.

But he admitted he was surprised when he first saw the style.

“To be honest, I thought they would do something with black and gold, just because I know the Raptors have that,” he said. “That’s what I was thinking. Or if they had just gone total throwback. They have so many great throwback jerseys that they’ve worn. That retro, vintage look is in right now, so that could have been a cool direction they could have gone. But I think these turned out really good; they’re really sharp. They’re going to look even better in the stadium under the lights.”

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Closer Jordan Romano, who logged his eighth save against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, said the fact the skyline is on the front makes the garment unique.

“It’s got that nightlife vibe to it, and Toronto has great nightlife,” he said. “These are the best City Connects out there.”

Like some of his teammates, the Markham-born Romano said he was “very superstitious.”

“Hopefully I can pitch a little better in these jerseys,” he quipped.

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