It's official. The Dodgers are bringing out the new blue road jersey at some point during their upcoming road trip. They travel to Washington to take on the Nationals and then head to Toronto to face the Blue Jays, and at some point during those series, we're going to see the Dodgers in blue on the road for the first time in franchise history. Let that sink in for a second.
via @Dodgers
We Changed Our Mind
We'll be honest. When this jersey first leaked, we were anti. We wrote about it here and said the Dodgers didn't need to add anything. White at home, gray on the road. That was the brand.
We've completely switched our mindset on this. After seeing the full details and sitting with it, we're genuinely excited to see what this looks like on the field. Here's why.
Breaking Down the Jersey
via @Dodgers
The gray piping. This is the detail that makes this jersey feel real. The Dodgers have been wearing blue tops during spring training for a long time, and the biggest risk here was this looking like a Cactus League throwaway. The gray piping ties it back to the traditional gray road pants and makes the whole thing feel like a legitimate road jersey, not just something they threw together.
The "Los Angeles" road script. We love that they kept the standard road script on this. It's the same script that has been on the Dodgers' road jersey from 1959 to 1969, 1999 to present day. It belongs here.
The red numbers with the gray outline. This is how the jersey separates itself from the spring training version. That gray outline on the numbers is a small detail but it goes a long way toward making this feel like part of a real uniform set. It's polished. It's intentional.
Dodger Blue. The color itself is the perfect shade. Nothing more to say there.
Our One Issue
The "Dodgers" script sleeve patch. From certain angles it looks great because you can read "Los Angeles Dodgers" together. But here's the thing: the sleeve ad placement means the script gets flipped depending on whether a righty or lefty is batting. They want the Guggenheim logo facing the TV cameras, same with the pitchers. So depending on the angle, that sleeve script can look off.
We wish they just put "LA" on the sleeve instead. Simple, clean, no orientation issues. It's a small thing, but it's the one detail keeping this jersey from being flawless.
The Three Road Sets
via @Dodgers
The Dodgers now have three road jersey options. They've always had the classic gray with "Los Angeles" across the chest. They recently added the gray with the "Dodgers" script. And now we get the blue with the "Los Angeles" road script.
That's a strong rotation. We actually love having all three available.
Overall Grade
We're a little surprised at how on board we are. The gray piping really does make it look legitimate. The number styling gives it its own identity. We were ready to hate this and we just don't.
We'll be watching closely during the Washington and Toronto series and will do a full update once we see it on the field with players wearing it.
This is a follow-up to our original breakdown of the leaked jersey.