Beginning around 18 months ago, the San Diego Padres‘ partnership with Nike for City Connect uniforms took a number of different turns. According to Padres CEO Erik Greupner, the majority of them represented safer, more traditional choices.

But in the end, they took a risk.

In honour of the Hispanic culture that is present in a city near to the border between Mexico and the United States, the Padres developed a binational motif. They emphasised the brilliant hues of pink, mint, and yellow—which can be found all throughout the Baja peninsula—on a uniform that honours a place with distinctive social dynamics.

Greupner told ESPN over the phone, “I think a youthful and diversified fan base would really enjoy this.” “We genuinely consider this as a chance to engage with young and diverse fans in a deeper and more meaningful way,” the company said.

On Friday, the Padres debuted their City Connect uniforms, which are now available at Petco Park, the Major League Baseball website, and Nike.com. On July 8 at home against the division opponent San Francisco Giants, the players will don them for the first time. Thereafter, they will be worn for every Friday home game.

Following the Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, and Washington Nationals, who each tried to capture the vibes of their surroundings through styles that deviated from their traditional City Connect uniforms, the Padres are the seventh and final team to unveil City Connect gear this season.

An estimated 100,000 individuals travel daily between San Diego and Tijuana, the populated border city in Mexico, using buses, trolleys, and autos to go to and from their places of employment. As a result, Hispanics and Americans share a culture that may only be surpassed by Miami’s deep links to the Caribbean. According to a press statement, the Padres made an effort to respect it with three hues that combine famous California images.

Yellow is used to outline the namesake on the front in a typeface designed to resemble worn beach signs, shape the collar, and line the sleeves. The right sleeve, the number, and the belt are all pink. The left sleeve and the hat are made of mint.

The Padres have undergone a significant makeover recently after being inert for the most of their 50+ year history. They traded for seasoned starting pitchers like Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger, Joe Musgrove, and Sean Manaea, profited from a star-studded farm system led by Fernando Tatis Jr., and saw their popularity soar in a city reeling from the loss of its NFL team. They spent a combined $444 million on Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado in back-to-back offseasons.

The Padres are drawing the fourth-most spectators in the majors, 36,551, on average at Petco Park this year. They have also had the highest increase in attendance in the industry since 2019, just just beating out the World Series champion Atlanta Braves. They anticipate that these outfits will be a further step in their efforts to engage the neighbourhood, which has supported the local baseball club even before the Chargers relocated to Los Angeles.
During spring training, the team had a picture session in their City Connect uniforms, and Greupner noted a noticeable increase in excitement.

“To wear them is kind of a vibe,” he remarked. “These hues undoubtedly evoke the Latin American and Caribbean cultures, where a sizable section of our lineup hails from. That wasn’t the reason we chose them, but if you look at some of the accents that players in Major League Baseball have been donning on their uniforms over the last couple of years, you’ll see that they’ve included gold belts, gold cleats, a lot of pink, and a mint green hue. As a result, we have developed a uniform that represents a variety of hues that have significant cultural significance in Hispanic culture.