The Arizona Diamondbacks have unveiled a gold uniform that references the Sonoran Desert and the state’s Hispanic culture as the latest alternative jersey in the City Connect collection.
The shirt reads “Serpientes” on the front, intended to highlight Arizona’s Hispanic culture, while the uniform patch features the Arizona state flag and a reference to Phoenix’s nickname as El Valle del Sol.
The Diamondbacks will debut the uniforms on June 18 against the Los Angeles Dodgers and plan to wear them six more times: July 16 against the Chicago Cubs, July 30 against the Dodgers, August 13 against the San Diego Padres and for a Three-game series with the Dodgers on Hispanic Heritage Weekend Sept. 25-27, which includes Roberto Clemente Day.
“I was very excited about that because we are engaging the Hispanic community in a special way. Arizona has a really great Hispanic community, and for me to be a part of that, I’m very proud and excited about it,” said the Diamondbacks outfielder. David peralta, which is Venezuelan. “We have Venezuelan guys, Dominican guys on our team to represent the Hispanic community in Arizona. It really is a big thing for us, especially the way they are doing it with the team name.”
Arizona will join the Boston Red Sox, Miami Marlins, Chicago White Sox and Cubs in a City Connect jersey.
The Diamondbacks conducted Zoom calls during the 2020 season to survey players about their thoughts on potential City Connect uniform designs. Peralta said that while many of the uniforms featured a nod to Arizona’s Hispanic culture, according to the most recent U.S. census data, more than 42% of the state’s residents identify as Hispanic, the gold design jumped out. of the page.
“I was looking at the colors on the computer and I thought it looked good, but when I saw the shirt, the way the colors come out, the contrast levels, it was like, wow, this is unique,” Peralta said. “This is something different.”
Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall said the jersey will replace the current alternative that reads “The D-backs” and could become a regular part of the rotation depending on fan reaction and whether the team wins. With the uniform.
“If we have an overwhelmingly favorable reaction, then we’ll start working with them a bit more,” Hall said. “If we see hoodies and jerseys flying off the shelf in the team store, we will know that fans want to see more of it and we will get feedback from fans and players. Our players are extremely superstitious, and if we give it The return to the season will see a lot more Serpents, especially if we can get some wins. “
When MLB and Nike approached City Connect, the Diamondbacks immediately agreed to participate in the inaugural uniform race. When deciding what colors to wear, they decided to stick with their existing ensemble.
“Our preference was to have a brighter or stronger color, but we thought it was a reflection of the desert,” Hall said. “It was a color that we already had, so it’s not an escape from what we already have, but I think our fans would have been more surprised if we had completely ditched our colors.”
Historically, the Diamondbacks have been one of the most experimental teams when it comes to uniform designs. Ahead of the 2016 season, the team featured a complete redesign featuring a polarized weathered snakeskin pattern on the uniforms and pants, widely regarded among fans as one of the worst in the sport. When Nike took over as MLB’s uniform supplier, Arizona again redesigned its jerseys.
“We’ve been bold at times, maybe too bold, we had too many options in the past and we simplified,” Hall said. “We were one of the first teams to completely ditch our original colors and we were purple and teal, and for years MLB asked us to consider changing our colors. We already had the Rockies with purple. Purple never really matched up. , and on TV, it looked more blue, the purple and teal were somewhat out of date.
“There was no red in our division, and they gave us a full presentation where baseball was showing us that we should be the color red because of the Sedona mountains and the sky and we said, no thanks, but we thought about it more, that made sense. We are such a young franchise, and you can do it. “
Peralta said that while gold is not a typical color for a baseball uniform, he believes the unique look will appeal to fans. During a photoshoot prior to the reveal of the jersey, the gardener noticed a similar golden hue to the skin of a snake to that found on the jerseys.
“It’s just about doing something different,” Peralta said. “The fans, the youngsters, they like it, all the kids. With these new uniforms, it’s different, and I think that’s the best part of it. People are going to say, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen anything like it. that.'”