Rockies Officially Remove Black Jersey from Rotation

Those who follow the Colorado Rockies on the regular are about to be both surprised and not surprised by the very next sentence.

The Rockies have eliminated their black jersey from their uniform rotation.

So… what’s the surprise? Well, that the Rockies even still had this jersey in their rotation! What’s not so much of a surprise is that it’s being eliminated (the team has confirmed this to SportsLogos.Net), as the club hasn’t worn their sleeveless black tops in nearly three years. Yes, despite the fact that they hadn’t worn them since a 5-4 loss at Arizona on October 3, 2021, the black vests were still an option and available to be worn over the entirety of the 2022 and 2023 seasons — they just didn’t!

What else does this mean? The Rockies join the Chicago Cubs as the only teams in the Major Leagues not to max out Nike’s MLB “4+1 City” uniform cap. Do they have wiggle room to add the uniform trade deadline? Do they not have uniform luxury tax to pay? I have questions!

Heading into 2024, the Rockies have a white home jersey, a grey road jersey, and a purple alternate jersey; that’s 3, not 4; there’s also their green City Connect uniform, which is their “+1 City.” Uniform math made fun.

“But what of the Yankees! Think of the Tigers!” I hear the commenters tapping away. Both the Yankees and Tigers used their two available uniform slots on a set of home and road Spring Training jerseys, and yes, Spring jerseys count against the four.

LINK: Colorado Rockies all-time logo and uniform history

Colorado first introduced a black alternate uniform for their 1993 inaugural season; it was gone after year one, and it wouldn’t be until 2005 that the team would try it again when they first introduced this vest. The Rockies wore the black vests regularly from 2005 to 2012 (including during the 2007 World Series) and then brought them back again (after a year off in 2013) from 2014 to 2021, leaving them in storage for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.