MLB's Top 10 City Connect Uniforms: Where Do the Rays' New Threads Rank?

The Tampa Bay Rays became MLB's latest team to roll out their own version of Nike's "City Connect" uniform set Monday. Their neon-on-gray threads have been received to mostly positive reviews on social media, though a discerning read is always necessary. The City Connect jerseys were never meant to appeal to everyone, but instead to cater specifically to regional tastes. Don't like the jerseys of a team whose city you've never been to? That's OK. They're not for you.

Nike has had a difficult year with its next-generation MLB uniform construction, but the City Connect series offers a reminder that every now and then, they get it right. Here are the 10 best City Connect jerseys of the 23 that have been unveiled so far:

1. Angels

Inspired by the beaches of Orange County, it's hard to find flaws in a jersey set that somehow improves on both the team's usual home whites and road grays. (OK: the contrast between the white hat panel and the cream shirt/pants combo isn't ideal.) More than the "surf culture" the jersey attempts to evoke, this screams "classic baseball uniform" while preserving the Angels' signature aesthetic choice: a ringed halo around the "A."

2. Rockies

The sartorial history of Denver sports is strong. (Turns out there's plenty you can do with the letter "C" and the silhouette of rugged mountaintops.) Not only did the Rockies not screw it up, they upped the ante by splashing their jersey tops, bottoms and hats with a bold forest green that's unmistakably synonymous with the outdoors — a necessary break from the red/blue/black palate most teams fall back on.

3. White Sox

Can a traditional pinstriped baseball jersey with Old English lettering look any bolder? The White Sox preserved their identity pristinely with their "Southside" wordmark and traditional white-sock-in-a-baseball diamond logo on the sleeve. A head-to-toe black motif might ring lazy for a team without the color in its history; for the White Sox it's perfectly on point.

4. Padres

Exhibit A in the it's-not-for-everyone file: bright pink, mint green, and yellow as primary colors? Purists will complain their toddler abused mommy's highlighter pen, but this bold and breezy look perfectly reflects a young city with a young ballpark. While a team in New York or Chicago wouldn't dare, San Diego can embrace this contrast to its usual brown pinstripes.

5. Rays

Tampa Bay is Exhibit B in nontraditional uniform design, the East Coast's answer to the Padres' neon explosion. The 1998 expansion Devil Rays incorporated a similar neon rainbow into their wordmark, and the City Connect update leans into it hard on a dark-gray canvas. Whoever incorporated the outline of a neon green, blue and purple ray into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge deserves a raise (a Rays?).

6. Rangers

The idea here was to combine elements of three historic minor league teams — the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs, the Dallas Eagles, and the Fort Worth Panthers — into a modern, bold look. We can quibble with the choice of black pants, but the head-to-toe thoughtfulness incorporates a lot of ideas without looking busy or cluttered, something few concept jerseys can claim.

7. Marlins

The unmistakably vibrant color palate of Miami's fashion and architecture is, if anything, toned down with this traditional, tricolor pinstriped motif. It's a basic aesthetic for such an artsy city, but at least it's clean, uncluttered, and relevant to its audience. The shoulder patch and "MM" on the hat, both in the style of the Triple-A Havana Sugar Kings (1953-60), is the perfect nod to the city's many Cuban descendants.

8. Astros

Blue tops and matching blue pants are perhaps a little too space-suity for some, but that seems to be precisely what the Astros had in mind here. The "SPACE CITY" wordmark and tequila sunrise piping is smart and subtle, a grown-up version of what the Padres and Rays had in mind when they broke out the neon.

9. Red Sox

Once you get past two things — the hats and helmets essentially copy the UCLA baseball team, and there's no red to be found anywhere — this uniform simply looks good. Kudos to a city with a storied baseball history for not being bound to any of its aesthetic traditions, and excuse your casual-fan friends for asking "cool ... what team is that?"

10. Pirates

Pittsburgh's three main professional sports teams all rock black and yellow, unique among the major pro sports cities in North America. Nike didn't mess with the established tradition, modernizing the font while keeping the yellow top/black bottom formula that worked so well in 1979. Sometimes less is more.