Phillies celebrate Philadelphia with blue and yellow in 2024 Nike City Connect jerseys
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Phillies are celebrating Philadelphia by incorporating the city's official colors, blue and yellow, in their Nike City Connect jerseys, unveiled Friday.
The jerseys are heavy on the blue, with a lighter shade at the top fading into a dark blue at the bottom with yellow on the sleeves and the Nike swoosh yellow. "Philly" replaces "Phillies" on the front of the jersey. The hats are blue with the Liberty Bell on the front.
A patch on the sleeve includes "City of Brotherly Love" with the Liberty Bell integrated inside the word "love."
"Unapologetically Philly," the Phillies posted on social media.
Philadelphia will wear the City Connect jerseys for the first time next Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park and every home Friday game for the remainder of the season.
The City Connect jerseys give the Phillies five sets of uniforms: red pinstripes, road grays, home creams and powder blues.
The Phils are one of nine MLB teams to debut a City Connect jersey in 2024, joining the Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. Philly will be the first to wear the jerseys.
Fans can buy Phillies City Connect merchandise at the team store at Citizens Bank Park exclusively until April 12.
The Phillies are holding a free block party at Citizens Bank Park on Friday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. to celebrate the jersey release. The Phils' series opener against the Washington Nationals will be on a big-screen TV and several alums will be on hand, including 2008 World Series champion Shane Victorino.
"I'm excited," Victorino said. "Some of these guys get to be in town and be amongst the fans, enjoy another wonderful day, get to watch some baseball together and, you know, share the good times that hopefully Philadelphia gets to share this season, at the end."
What is the city of Philadelphia's flag?
Philadelphia's city flag is divided into three parts with the first and third azure blue and the middle pale golden yellow with the city's seal and motto, "Philadelphia Maneto." The city adopted the flag on March 27, 1895.
Why blue and yellow? The colors celebrate Sweden's original colonization of Philadelphia.
According to the color palette on the city's government website, "The color blue is an essential part of the City's visual identity. It's synonymous with being trustworthy, dependable, and secure."
Philadelphia sports and the city flag
The Phillies are not the first Philadelphia sports team to honor the city's official colors.
In 2007, the Philadelphia Eagles celebrated their 75th season, wearing blue and yellow uniforms against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 23 at Lincoln Financial Field. The uniforms commemorated the ones the team wore in its first game in 1933.
The Birds flew all over the Lions thanks to monster games from wide receiver Kevin Curtis and running back Brian Westbrook.
Curtis caught 11 balls for 221 yards and three touchdowns, while Westbrook ran for 110 yards and two scores and added 111 yards on five catches and a receiving touchdown. Donovan McNabb was 21 of 26 for 381 yards and four scores in Philadelphia's 56-21 win over Detroit.
In 2021, the Philadelphia Union wore secondary jerseys designed by a group of fans called Union Creators' Collective that featured blue and yellow. The Union said the uniform was influenced by the "flags of the Delaware Valley, a design inspired by innovation born in our city and they wanted to shock the soccer world."
"This kit is Philadelphia. The gritty, beautiful, diverse, creative place that we all love," then-Union chief marketing officer Doug Vosik said. "As a Philly native, an original season ticket holder years before working at the Union, I have not had a prouder moment in bringing our community together to shape the future of our club."