Pirates' new City Connect uniforms giving off Batman vibes
When A.J. Burnett wore the Pirates’ new City Connect uniform for a promotional shoot the team teased on social media during Spring Training, his mind immediately began to race.
The pitcher also reflected on what makes Pittsburgh so special, the bond that exists between players and fans and how the uniforms -- especially the new ones -- seemed to tie it all together.
There was also part of Burnett that was jealous, believing the new City Connects have some really strong Batman vibes.
“I would’ve worn that thing every five days whether it was a City Connect night or not,” Burnett said. “It’s just a sweet-looking uniform.”
If you think about it, Burnett really does make the perfect City Connect model. It’s a normal uniform with a creative twist or an edge, much like how he pitched.
With the new ones, there’s a lot of black, Burnett’s favorite color. Plus, the font looks like something right out of Gotham, a point that wasn’t lost on the former pitcher.
“I don’t know if they tried to do that or not,” said Burnett, who spent three of his 17 MLB seasons with Pittsburgh (2012-13, ’15) and was a special guest instructor during Spring Training. “But it’s very close. That definitely resonates with me.”
When the Pirates unveiled their original City Connect jerseys in June 2023, there was an idea of Pittsburgh going through an evolution, from steel to technology. Think structural but modern.
This year’s model, at least in the minds of Burnett and a few current Pirates, feels more like plundering and pillaging and honoring the past.
Part of that involves the 1997 era Pirate wearing an eyepatch with a red bandana on the left sleeve, along with 1887 split in half by “PGH” in the same font as the front.
Burnett loved the new ones the minute he saw them, believing they fit the city and current roster even better than the last ones.
“The City Connects are just so different,” Burnett said. “I think it’s a good thing for baseball. Guys enjoy it.
“Nowadays, they’re all about matching belts, shoes, hats and everything else. These City Connects let them get some flash in there.”
Each of the letters in Pirates has curved ends that conjure thoughts of some type of blade or liquid dripping.
Asked about the new uniforms, right-hander Isaac Mattson thought it was the perfect way of turning the word gritty -- a word cited often by Pirates manager Don Kelly -- into a baseball uniform.
“It’s a cool revamp,” Mattson said. “I really love the font they chose, kind of getting back to our roots as pirates. It’s gritty. The hat and accent of red will look really cool.
“I wanna see those little details. I know they’re in there. They also do a good job of paying homage to the city and area. I look forward to diving into more of those details. But so far, I think they look really cool.”
Mattson isn’t kidding about learning more.
He cited teams’ World Series rings and wanting to know why certain choices were made. No different here. Mattson wants to see how everything fits together and what each part represents.
Jake Mangum is that way, too. The speedy outfielder described the gold used as “mustard gold,” and it’s a solid descriptor. It also fits well with the rest of the uniform, one further accentuated by the splotches of red.
“They did a good job with it,” Mangum said. “I can’t wait to try ‘em on. I think we’re gonna look really good on City Connect nights.”
Good luck finding someone who doesn’t like the new City Connects, same as when the old ones debuted. But Burnett took things a step further when discussing this process.
Despite so much going into the design, the intent here is self-explanatory -- to connect, crafting something fans can identify with and get behind.
It was that way for Burnett during his time with the Pirates, whether it was the Zoltan hand gesture, dancing in the dugout or any number of mini-viral moments those teams enjoyed.
It’s the same string being pulled here with the City Connect uniforms.
It’s a way to bring the team and its fans closer together, and the timing couldn’t be better given what has already transpired this season.
“When the team is winning, the city loves and enjoys that as much as we do,” Burnett said. “Whether it’s orange traffic cones or the Zoltan stuff, they feed off of us like we feed off of them.
“They’re there for us. We play for them. People love it. Winning brings that out."