Just days after the Miami Marlins unveiled one of the worst rebrandings in sports, the Blue Jays unveiled one of the best.
Just minutes ago, the Jays trotted out their new look for the first time. Unlike with the Marlins, these jeresys hadn’t leaked prior to the unveiling, so our first glimpse of them was at a rather modest ceremony live streamed from the Rogers Centre that included neither a proselytizing owner throwing out the old hat or a rap concert. Just a couple of kind words about the previous season, a stated desire to honor the team’s rich history, and then the unveiling of the uniforms.
And while the team itself might not be among the best in baseball, these new jerseys certainly are.
We’ve known for awhile that the Jays were going to go back to more of a classic look if only based upon the giant new logo that you see above. What we didn’t know was how they were going to handle the uniform situation.
The answer — a modern look on the jerseys they wore in their glory days of the late 80s-early 90s, when Joe Carter was sending fans into fits of glee with a World Series walkoff home run off of Mitch Williams.
The new Blue Jays uniforms are simple — the team name emblazoned across the front of the home and alternate blue jerseys, the city name emblazoned across the road jersey, and the logo where most teams have a number. Quite frankly, this jersey is exactly how the Toronto Blue Jays should look. Gone is the angry bird below, which never really fit in with the team’s identity to begin with.
I’m also a huge fan of the team’s decision to incorporate the Maple Leaf into the new logo and jerseys as well. Toronto is the last remaining Canadian team, and this logo definitely serves as a subtle reminder of that. The team also announced in another refreshing bit of restraint that they’re going to wear the same hat with all of the uniforms. As for the back of the jerseys…
Again, totally digging this. The classic split numbers are back and the name is done in the standard uniform font. Just gorgeous. There’s something that is remarkably simple yet aesthetically refreshing about these uniforms. Following in their slugger Jose Bautista’s lead, the Blue Jays hit a rebranding grand slam today at the Rogers Centre. Bravo.
