Goodbye Cherry Blossoms: The Nationals Dropped New Uniforms for 2024

The new uniforms were a surprise to all, and had everyone in a frenzy when it seemed like they were replacing the existing script jerseys - which are exceptional. The Nationals won the World Series on the backs of their Navy Script jerseys. For a team who is still promoting their 2019 World Series run five years later, it would seem odd to remove all script jerseys from circulation. But alas, these new additions are merely alternate uniforms, replacing the existing road grays and the Red Curly W alternate. It does seem like the Nationals are slowly phasing out the Curly W, which is something to keep an eye on.

Despite burying the lead with the announcement, the new threads were met with acceptance following the understanding that the script uniforms were staying. It was also incredible symbolism for the current state of the team that the Nationals used "Player 24" to promote these new uniforms.

Let’s talk about the v-necks first. I’ve been waiting for the Nationals to drop one of these pullover jerseys, and again, they’re just alternates, but the logo on the front of the jersey is nothing special. Washington has used this logo on their hats before, and I personally think they should have kept it there, but this alternate jersey does have the classic intertwined DC logo on the sleeve. That patch makes up for the rest of this plain-looking pullover. It does give off a bit of an identity crisis though with the multiple logos, especially with the script jerseys still utilizing the Curly W.

The cursive script has been a staple of the Nationals’ uniforms for nearly the past decade, but it looks like they are using inspiration from some of the old Washington Senators jerseys. I personally don’t prefer the block lettering, but they’re just alternate jerseys, so no need to panic there. However, more news came out that did give reason to panic.

The Nationals are Retiring their Fan Favorite Uniforms at the end of the 2024 Season

The new alternates are getting mixed reviews from Nationals fans to say the least, but the team went too far when they announced that 2024 will be the last season they wear the cherry blossom city connect uniforms. These have only been out for around a year, and many called them the best-looking uniforms in baseball. Removing these uniforms from the rotation just doesn’t feel right, but it is also likely due to Nike and Major League Baseball hitting refresh on the merchandise so they can push new items to sell.

In my opinion, these were the best uniforms that this organization has ever worn. They looked clean, and they tied directly to the District of Columbia, with the cherry blossoms in the area being so beautiful. People travel across the world to see them every Spring and the inclusion on the jersey made sense to all fans. The whole idea of the organization getting inspiration from jerseys that are almost 70 years old instead of trying to establish deeper roots within the area pains me. 

Enjoy these glorious uniforms while you still can; the team will be rocking them on Fridays and Saturdays at Nats Park one last time this season. They are also bringing back the classic navy blue cursive-script alternates, a fan-favorite. We all remember how important these jerseys are…

Look, the Nationals have bigger issues going on right now than the disapproval of the new alternates from the fans. Besides the Nick Senzel and Joey Gallo signings, we haven’t seen Mike Rizzo improve this team as much as we’d all hoped. Let’s all just take a deep breath and see how these new uniforms look on the field before we sound the alarms. Who knows, maybe one of these new alternates will become our lucky jerseys, much like the navy blue jerseys were in 2019.