ESPN's low ranking of the Reds City Connect jerseys is laughable

Say what you will about the Cincinnati Reds new City Connect jerseys, but the majority of fans seem to like the new look. I'll be the first to admit that they're not for everybody. Personally, I think it misses the mark in a few areas. But I can also see the appeal, especially to the younger fans.

While the new threads pay virtually no homage to the history of Reds baseball or the city of Cincinnati, that's not what the designers were going for.

In an interview with The Athletic (subscription required), the Reds’ vice president of communications and marketing said, "We appreciate our history, we celebrate our history. Everybody knows that. So we were really intentional about looking forward."

ESPN's low ranking of Reds City Connect jerseys is laughable.

While I'm not in love with the Reds City Connect jerseys, or the entire City Connect concept for that matter, I can tell you that ESPN ranking Cincinnati's new uniforms below the likes of the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers is flat-out absurd.

ESPN ranks the Reds City Connect jerseys 11th out of 18 to debut so far. Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles will release their City Connect designs later this season.

This is what ESPN had to say about the new uniforms, "While not the most adventurous City Connect offering, the Reds created a look that feels modern and would slide right into a good-looking alternate."

I'm sorry that the Reds City Connect jerseys weren't as adventurous as the Texas Rangers who created a mythological creature by combining the Forth Worth Panthers and the Dallas Eagles. What in the world is a "peagle"?

And while the San Diego's pink, yellow, and mint color-scheme is an upgrade over the UPS-like brown and yellow outfits the Friars typically wear, the Padres City Connect jerseys are nowhere near as nice as the Reds.

If I sound like the guy who'd be yelling at kids to get off my lawn, it's probably because I would. At least ESPN was spot-on in their evaluation of the Chicago Cubs City Connect jerseys. According to ESPN, the fan reaction was relatively tame and a tad boring. That sounds about right.