ESPN review of Pirates' new City Connect jerseys clearly doesn't understand Pittsburgh

There are bad uniform takes, and then there’s whatever ESPN's David Schoenfield just unleashed on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2026 City Connect jerseys.

The new threads, officially unveiled on Thursday, are already receiving rave reviews from fans. Schoenfield giving them a “C” grade isn’t just off — it completely misses the point of what City Connect is supposed to be.

Let’s start here: these aren’t just "black jerseys." They are Pittsburgh.

The wordmark isn’t generic. It’s intentionally rugged, a callback to the city’s industrial backbone and pirate lore, with lettering that subtly mirrors the arches of the Three Sisters bridges — including the Roberto Clemente Bridge. That’s not, as Schoenfield puts it, “more of the same.” That’s layered storytelling.

And the Jolly Roger sleeve patch? Clean. Timeless. Instantly recognizable. Even Paul Skenes — not exactly a guy prone to gushing over aesthetics — summed it up perfectly: it’s “pirate-y.” Sometimes the simplest evaluation is the right one.

Dave Schoenfield completely misses the mark with criticism of new Pirates City Connect jerseys

Schoenfield’s biggest gripe boils down to this: Why more black and gold?

Come on, man. That’s like asking why the Yankees wear pinstripes or why the Dodgers wear blue.

Pittsburgh is the only city in American professional sports where all three major teams — the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins — share the same color scheme. It's one of the strongest civic identities in sports and the envy of sports towns across the country. You don’t “get creative” by abandoning that. You lean into it.

The Pirates did exactly that — elevating black and gold into something modern, sharp, and unapologetically Pittsburgh. Criticizing that choice, as Schoenfield did, is a fundamental misunderstanding of the city itself.

And the 1970s comparison? Come on. Dragging out the Dave Parker/Willie Stargell all-black era as some kind of cautionary tale feels especially lazy. This new design isn’t a flat, lifeless black set — it’s textured, intentional, and filled with symbolism. It’s not trying to replicate the past; it’s refining it.

Here’s where Schoenfield's take really falls apart. He gave the original “PGH” City Connects — the bright yellow ones that looked more like highlighter gear than a baseball uniform — a better grade. It was a C+, but still... that alone tells you everything.

The 2026 version actually feels like it belongs on a baseball field. It looks like something players want to wear. More importantly, it looks like something fans instantly connected with — which, last time anyone checked, is kind of the whole point.

City Connect uniforms aren’t designed to win over a national columnist scanning photos on a laptop. They’re designed for the city. And in Pittsburgh, this one hits.

It honors the bridges. The grit. The shared colors. The identity. It looks like a team that knows exactly who it is — and isn’t interested in watering that down for the sake of novelty.

So no, this isn’t a “C.” It’s a reminder that sometimes the best designs don’t try to reinvent anything. They just get it right.