Guardians honor past, present with City Connect uniforms

The Cleveland Guardians became the latest team to unveil their City Connect uniforms Sunday, debuting a look that honors the franchise's roots while embracing its present.

The jerseys were inspired by the famous "Guardians of Traffic" statues - which the team renamed itself after in 2022 - on the city's Hope Memorial Bridge. The jerseys keep the franchise's traditional red-and-blue scheme but have "CLE" written in an art deco font across the chest in the bridge's Berea Sandstone color. The hat keeps the Guardians' "C" logo on a white panel.

"The pattern on the jersey is supposed to mimic the natural wear and tear you see on the sandstone on the Guardian statues," Guardians vide president of brand Jason Wiedemann told Chris Creamer of Sportslogos.net. "We wanted to maintain our historic red and blue, which have been part of our closet for almost all of our history but opted for slightly deeper shades."

Other features include "The Land" - a common Cleveland nickname - printed above the tag on the jersey's waistband and racing stripes that echo the team's look in the 1980s across the shoulders. Inside the collar, "Est. 1901" honors the franchise's inaugural season. Socks depicting the Guardians of Traffic statues complete the set.

The set's on-field debut will come Friday against the Minnesota Twins. The team will wear the uniforms in at least every Friday home game the rest of the season, according to Mandy Bell of MLB.com.

The Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers are all scheduled to release their City Connect uniforms later this year.