The Texas Rangers unveiled their City Connect jerseys on Monday ahead of their on-field debut on Friday night.
The City Connect jerseys are a partnership between MLB and Nike to celebrate the relationships between the clubs and the regions that host and support them.
The team said Monday that its City Connect jersey "celebrates the origin story of the Rangers and the Texas spirit that brought Dallas and Fort Worth together in Arlington. Through baseball."
The uniforms have gothic-style lettering influenced by the Dallas Eagles and include a spur "as a tribute to the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs." On the right sleeve is a Peagle, a mythical creature inspired by blending the mascots of two Texas League teams the Dallas Eagles and the Fort Worth Panthers.
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The jersey also includes a subtle nod to Tom Vandergriff, whose "big dream" and bold vision helped bring Major League Baseball to North Texas. The words "Dream the Big Dream" appear near the bottom of the jersey, on the jock tag, though it may not be visible when tucked into pants.
Photos: Texas Rangers 2023 City Connect Uniforms
The font on the jersey's "speed red" numbers is in a style inspired by the Fort Worth Panthers who won six straight Texas League championships in the 1920s and "are regarded as one of the greatest teams in minor league history."
The uniform has dark blue pants with rope braid piping, which is another nod to the DFW Spurs who once called Arlington's Turnpike Stadium home. Near the belt, there's a version of the DFW Spurs logo of the state of Texas merged with a spur.
The team will wear dark blue caps with the uniform. The gothic TR lettering is on the face with 4-star-21 on the side. The number represents several dates the team said are significant for baseball in Texas including the day Texas gained independence (1836), the date of the first championship baseball game in Texas (1868), the date of the first home game for the Texas Rangers (1972) and the date of the on-field debut of the City Connect jerseys (2023).
The Texas Rangers are one of six MLB teams featured in the 2023 City Connect program. The jerseys will be worn during 13 Friday home games this season and on Saturday, April 22.
To follow the "four plus one" policy on uniforms, four uniforms plus the City Connect uniform, the Rangers had to drop one of their uniforms. In recent years they'd played in white, blue, gray red and powder blue. The powder blue was for Sundays and red for Fridays. The team said in February they chose to keep the powder blue because it was more popular with fans than the red ones.
On Friday, a pair of promotions highlight the uniform debut as the first 30,000 fans take home the commemorative City Connect Program giveaway and the first 15,000 collect the City Connect-themed Marcus Semien Bobblehead giveaway. The Semien bobblehead is the first of a three-part City Connect bobblehead series also featuring Corey Seager on Friday, May 19 and Jacob deGrom on Friday, June 16. Additionally, as part of the Rangers Poster Series, a City Connect edition poster designed by DFW artist Chris Perez will be available for purchase at the Authentics kiosk behind section 134.
The City Connect jerseys are, of course, available for purchase in the team store. More information on sales can be found here.
