I love the Chicago Cubs, I think their current uniforms are fine, but it is time for a change. Maybe it is becoming too much of a fad in sports nowadays, but the Cubs would be bringing back something from their own history, so I'm on board with the Cubs bringing back their powder blue uniforms.
To be clear, there aren't any current discussions about the Cubs introducing a new uniform type, but this became a conversation last Friday, when the Kansas City Royals announced that they were bringing back their powder blue uniforms for the 2023 MLB season.
In 2022, the Royals did wear the powder blue jerseys, but would pair them with white paints. For Opening Day this year, Kansas City is featuring the full power blue uniforms.
The Royals wore these full powder blue uniforms as their road attire from 1973-1991, but the team is said to be bringing them back on a limited basis in 2023.
Anyway, that announcement brought out a lot opinions, including this one from popular Cubs Twitter account Bleacher Nation, who is not on the powder blue bandwagon.
As you could imagine, most of the reactions disagreed and a lot of Cubs fans agree that the team should at least consider bringing back their 1970s powder blue uniforms with the pinstripes!
I did a poll asking Cubs fans about the powder blue uniforms and out of 547 votes, 2/3 of the votes want those back!
Cubs Powder Blue Uniforms History
Think of all the powder blue uniforms in MLB history and although these aren't the first to come to mind, I think it's cool that the Cubs are the inspiration for these uniforms. The Cubs were the first team in MLB to feature powder blue uniforms for road games. However, that only lasted for a couple of seasons in the early 1940s before they were taken out of their uniform options.
The Cubs wouldn't have powder blue road uniforms for another 30 years, as the team had two different sets of powder blue uniforms during the 1970s. The first set of uniforms were plain, while the ones worn from 1978-1981 had the pinstripes. Those are the ones Cubs fans want back.
1978-1981 Powder Blue With White Pinstripes
Nike's 4 + City Connect Limit
In January, news leaked that Nike has an agreement with MLB, limiting teams to four primary uniforms plus the city connect uniforms. This has caused a few teams from eliminating a few of their uniform combos for the 2023 season, however this rule doesn't affect the Cubs, who only have three uniforms and their city connect ones, if they do ever decide to bring back the powder blues as one of their primary uniforms.
Nike's 10-year deal to make MLB's uniforms began in 2020.
The Cubs currently feature their home whites, with blue pinstripes, road grays and a blue alternate jersey, as well as their city connect uniforms. So hey, Ricketts family, you have room for the powder blues!
