The Colorado Rockies have ditched their most iconic look

The Colorado Rockies have tried their very best to make purple their thing. From purple pinstripes to an updated color purple to the purple dinosaur who creates nightmares around Coors Field. The Rockies are purple.

But the uniform that probably firsts pops into your head when you think of the Rockies is not purple. It’s black and it doesn’t have sleeves.

First introduced in 2005, the black vests became a club signature in 2007 for Colorado’s Rocktober run where they won 21 of 22 games. Many of the club’s most remembered moments came while wearing these alternate uniforms like Todd Helton pointing to the sky as the Rockies clinched the 2007 pennant.

The 2009 playoff season was draped in the black vests, as were the 2017 and 2018 postseason runs.

But the black vests are no more. According to Thomas Harding of MLB.com, the Rockies have ditched their black uniform from the rotation this season, replacing it with a yet-to-be-seen Nike City Connect uniform. Harding did not detail if the drop was permanent or why the Rockies couldn’t have simply added a fifth jersey to the rotation.

The Rockies have rarely made changes to their uniforms since their inception in 1993. Their most notable changes were adding then later dropping purple pinstripes from their grey road uniforms and updating their color purple to a more vibrant shade.

One subtle change the Rockies made was ditching their white home vests, which existed for a few years in the 2000s. Iconic moments like Carlos Gonzalez’s walk-off cycle and Troy Tulowitzki’s triple play happened in these uniforms.

Ditching both the white and black vests is one of the weaker uniforms moves the club has made. Those jerseys were both classic baseball with a modern flair that helped players keep cool in the Colorado sun. The white vests went away rather quietly, and so far, the black vests have too. But the black vests won’t be forgotten and it’d be a shocking mistake to keep them on the hangers.

The Rockies new City Connect uniforms may introduce green into the club’s color scheme. Items of the uniform have leaked online, giving us a hint. The club had previously used green during the 1998 All-Star Game and features on Coors Field’s ushers. While the green could bring a flashy welcomed splash for the Rockies brand, the black vests will be missed.

New socks for the #Rockies🏔 City Connect uniforms seem to have been leaked. If this is it, what are your thoughts?? pic.twitter.com/U4AN6fZURK

— DNVR Rockies (@DNVR_Rockies) March 5, 2022

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