For its City Connect 2.0 jersey, Cincinnati is fully leaning into all things Red

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At Reds games across the country, but especially at Great American Ball Park, the team’s black City Connect 1.0 jerseys and hats are represented as much or more than any of the team’s other looks, including the red, gray or white tops. That’s why, when Ralph Mitchell, the team’s senior vice president, brand and content, had his first call with Nike to start the process of the team’s next edition, the idea wasn’t to change what worked, but to complement it. The result was leaning into the team’s nickname and embracing not just red legs, but red everything. In total, five different shades of red are used throughout the uniform. “We wanted to bring the best assets forward,” Mitchell said. “To us, City Connect has always been an evolution, not a replacement.” The black City Connect isn’t going anywhere. It’ll continue to be worn for Friday home games, but the red City Connect 2.0 will be worn at Saturday home games (except July 4), adding to the team’s allotted collection of five uniforms. The Reds, along with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, are the only teams so far who have kept both City Connect uniforms and integrated them into their regular rotation. The first City Connect introduced a new version of the C, an art deco-inspired C with five straight lines making the letter. The City Connect C doesn’t replace the Wishbone-C, but is added to it. Aside from coloring and a drop shadow, the Reds have used the Wishbone-C on their uniforms since 1908. For a team with such a deep history, the Reds have consistently looked backward. However, the original City Connects were one of the team’s first forward-looking designs since introducing pullover jerseys and sansabelt pants in the 1970s. “For us to reinvent that for three years and do away with it, we had no interest in doing that and we talked to Nike very early on in the process about that,” Mitchell said. “The difference for us is making the two live in a City Connect series. Boston’s are both really cool and they mean a lot to that region — they don’t mean anything to each other.” The same can be said for the Southside version of the White Sox and their Chicago Bulls-inspired version introduced last year. Mitchell said the Reds had been working on the team’s solid red uniforms with pinstripes as well. Although the White Sox wear white pants with their pinstriped jersey, the Reds chose to keep the red and dark red pinstripes on both. The 2.0 version started as just the first City Connect design, but in red. That didn’t look right to anyone. It only took opening a FedEx box with a mockup for that idea to be rejected instantly. The new uniforms are mostly, if not entirely, red. Though the pinstripes look black from a distance, up close they are actually red. The main color is the same shade of red as the team’s red tops, and the pinstripes are slightly darker red. That darker “gym red,” as Nike calls it, shade is used not just in the pinstripes, but also on the bill and the squatchee (the button on the top) of the hat. The numbers, which appear on both the front and back of the jerseys, use the brighter “speed red” that is on the black City Connect uniforms. There is also a patch with the city’s most iconic landmark, the Tyler Davidson Fountain. Elsewhere, the “Cincy” wordmark from the 1.0 edition is used there and above the tag on the bottom of the jersey. Since the word “Reds” wasn’t used in the first iteration, it is on the collar. The stylized buckeye leaf has been moved inside the hat. The first City Connect was designed to focus on the future with slight nods to the past. That’s continued with this version. The jersey isn’t sleeveless, but to some, the darker red on the shoulders with no pinstripes evokes that memory. Mitchell would neither confirm nor deny that the five lines that make up both the City Connect “C” and the lines of water in the fountain patch represent the franchise’s five World Series titles. Those two elements can even be further entwined: The Tyler Davidson Fountain was given to the city in 1871, two years after the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first professional baseball team, and the fountain was moved in 2006 — the last year the team wore pinstripes. Ahead of the official reveal, pictures leaked online, and Mitchell said the feedback has been generally positive. The team’s black City Connect received mixed reviews, but has come to be more embraced by locals. Some of the adoption by fans was just a new look for a uniform that hasn’t changed much since 2007. It was also designed for a different generation of fans, and then, where luck came in. It was introduced after a 100-loss season that didn’t give way to much excitement until days after its first on-field appearance that saw a wave of new Reds talent reaching the majors, including Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz. De La Cruz’s first appearance in the black City Connect came on June 23, 2023, when he hit for the team’s first cycle in 34 years and the team won its 12th straight game, beating the Atlanta Braves. That game also helped link the team’s recent past with the future, with Joey Votto hitting two home runs in the team’s thrilling 11-10 victory. That spirit, Mitchell said, was part of keeping and building on the team’s City Connect brand. “We looked at every combination (of colors) and we just kept coming back to the pieces of feedback that we were getting — yes, it’s bold, it’s new, it’s out of the box, but where’s the red?” he said. With the latest version, nobody will be asking that question. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms C. Trent Rosecrans is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Cincinnati Reds and Major League Baseball. He previously covered the Reds for the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Post and has also covered Major League Baseball for CBSSports.com. Follow C. Trent on Twitter @ctrent