Pirates’ pirate kit

The Pittsburgh Pirates just swapped out their bright yellow City Connect look for an all-black one, and the first thing fans noticed was the chest: “PIRATES” in gold, drawn in a rough pirate style instead of the old “PGH” shortcut. The club unveiled it on April 9 and said the uniform debuts at PNC Park on Friday, April 17, against the Tampa Bay Rays. (mlb.com) This is the Pirates’ second City Connect uniform, not their first. Major League Baseball said teams can rotate to a new City Connect design after three years, which is why Pittsburgh’s 2023 set is now giving way to a 2026 version. (mlb.com) The old version leaned hard into yellow from 2023 through 2025. The new version goes the other way: black jersey, black pants, black-heavy trim, with gold used like pinstripes on a tuxedo instead of paint on a wall. (news.sportslogos.net) Pittsburgh is the only United States city where all three major pro teams wear black and gold, so the Pirates built the whole design around that shared color code. In the club’s release, the team said the uniform was made to reflect the city’s “grit, toughness, and pride.” (mlb.com) The most local detail is hidden in the lettering. The Pirates said the base of the gold wordmark was shaped to echo Pittsburgh’s three “Sister Bridges,” including the Roberto Clemente Bridge that sits right outside PNC Park. (mlb.com) The pirate part is not subtle. The sleeve patch and both hats use a Jolly Roger-style head in a red bandana with crossed swords behind it, which is why the tiny shot of red matters: it ties the uniform back to the flag image people already connect with the franchise. (mlb.com) There are two cap versions instead of one. The primary cap is gold with a black brim, the secondary cap is black with a gold brim, and both carry the same crossed-swords pirate logo. (mlb.com) This reveal was also part of a league-wide drop. Nike said eight clubs got new City Connect uniforms on April 9, including the Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers. (about.nike.com) Major League Baseball launched City Connect in 2021 as an alternate-uniform program built around local symbols, colors, and stories rather than standard home-and-road looks. By 2026, the league was calling this next wave “City Connect 2.0,” with second-edition uniforms meant to stay in each team’s rotation for multiple seasons. (mlb.com) So the Pirates’ new jersey is doing two jobs at once. Up close, it is a Pittsburgh uniform with bridge-shaped lettering and black-and-gold city branding; from across the room, it is a pirate costume cleaned up for Major League Baseball, with swords, a bandana, and a flag logo built to sell on sight. (mlb.com)