The gray is going away.
Unfortunately this isn’t about the weather in the Puget Sound. It has to do with the local professional baseball team and their uniforms.
Chris Creamer of SportsLogos.net broke the news that the organization will ditch their gray road jerseys and powder blue spring training jerseys for the 2023 season.
The decision is based on a new policy set by Major League Baseball and Nike, the league’s uniform manufacturer. Under the new guidelines, a team can only have four jerseys and one “City Connect” jersey. The Mariners had six jerseys last season — home white, home throwback cream, alternate “Northwest green” or teal to some, alternate navy blue, road gray and spring training power blue.
Kevin Martinez, the Mariners senior vice president of marketing and communications, confirmed the decision and said the elimination of gray and power blue was based on feedback from players and fans.
Instead of gray jerseys on the road, the primary road uniform will be gray pants with a navy piping and a navy jersey with gray lettering. If an opposing team is wearing navy blue at home, the Mariners will wear the Northwest green tops. The Mariners will also use those tops for spring training.
Traditionally, teams have worn white uniforms at home and gray uniforms on the road. But over the past decade, the introduction of alternate uniforms and multiple alternate jersey colors have given teams choices for home and road games.
With the exception of Friday night games at T-Mobile Park, where they are required to wear the Northwest green jerseys or Sunday home games where they must wear the cream-colored uniforms with royal blue and gold, the Mariners’ players have some choice in what they wear for games. Usually, that day’s starting pitcher gets to select the jersey.
In game filled with superstition, the Mariners players preferred to wear the navy tops whenever possible in 2021 and 2022.
The Mariners posted a 52-35 record last season when wearing the navy jerseys in either home or road games. They had a 5-6 record in the Northwest green tops and an 8-4 record in the Sunday cream uniforms. They didn’t track records for the white or gray jerseys. But the remaining combined record would be 25-27.