Rays' City Connect jersey tells 'a different story'

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE -- When the Rays started thinking about their City Connect uniforms nearly four years ago, they started the process with two questions.

The first: “If you could tell one story about Tampa Bay, what would it be?”

The second: “What makes Tampa Bay such a special place to live?”

That led them to a third question, which ultimately inspired the slick “Grit x Glow” gear they revealed Monday.

“What if we used this platform to tell a completely different story?” said Warren Hypes, the Rays’ vice president of creative and brand. “A story that many of us who’ve lived here for years may not even know, and for those of us who do, its day in the sun is long overdue.”

You can read our story here that covers everything about the City Connect jerseys, the skateboard culture inspiration and the careful attention to detail that went into it.

“There's an energy and a vibe that makes this region unique,” Hypes said. “The untold stories of our community are compelling, and the City Connect program gives us a chance to share them. We’re especially excited to celebrate Tampa Bay’s skate culture and shine a light on its role in history.”

The Rays will break them out for the first time Friday against the Mets at Tropicana Field, then wear them all weekend. They will be a fixture for Saturday home games -- and the players are excited to see the new uniforms in action.

“Honestly, not even trying to be biased, I think our guys knocked it out of the park. Better than any other City Connects I’ve seen,” reliever Jason Adam said. “The Skyway Ray [cap logo] is sick. The details inside the hat. My personal favorite part? The skateboarding ray.”

“This is a hat that I could just wear around,” pitcher Tyler Alexander added, holding one in his hand in the visitors’ clubhouse at American Family Field, “because it’s pretty cool looking.”

Said Jose Siri, through interpreter Manny Navarro: “As soon as I saw it, I thought it was really, really beautiful.”

Manager Kevin Cash said his daughter, Camden, texted him while she was at school when the Rays dropped the new look on social media. She was excited, Cash said, as were her classmates. He is, too, with a particular fondness for the cap logo now being dubbed the “SkyRay.”

“A huge thank you to Warren Hypes.  He's put a lot of work into it along with certainly [principal owner Stuart Sternberg], [team presidents] Matt [Silverman] and Brian [Auld],” Cash said. “But Warren kind of poured himself into it, and I'm glad that it's been well received.”

The Rays will continue to put a lot of effort into the project, too. They will be the first Major League team to wear their City Connect jerseys on the road in Atlanta (June 15) and St. Louis (Aug. 7). They also announced City Connect ticket packages for three, four or five games, with additional details available at this link.

The team will host a City Connect celebration event at the St. Pete Pier from 5-10 p.m. on Thursday, featuring players appearances, live music, a skateboarding demonstration, games, food trucks, photo stations and a drone show that will display the new uniform logos in the night sky.

The club is going to host City Connect-themed watch parties around the Tampa Bay area: May 18 at Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach, June 1 at Midtown Tampa and June 15 at Payne Park in Sarasota. They are also planning to host an event in partnership with Boards for Bros, the charitable arm of Skatepark of Tampa, which will include a skateboarding demonstration at the Trop before an Aug. 10 game against the Orioles.