Following up on our previous examination of Nike’s 2025 uniform adjustments across Major League Baseball, we’re diving deeper into the St. Louis Cardinals uniforms. A significant portion of our insights comes from Oliver Kodner, a respected Cardinals uniform historian and the creator of the definitive resource, Cardinals Uniforms and Logos, a website renowned for its comprehensive MLB uniform database dedicated to a single team.
In our last discussion, Oliver highlighted a notable alteration: the removal of the “sun” collar from the Cardinals’ road gray uniforms for the 2025 season. This was a distinct change from the 2024 design. At that point, the home white uniforms of the Cardinals—one of the few teams to sport both white and gray jerseys during Spring Training—remained unseen. Now that they’ve surfaced, Oliver has uncovered an intriguing detail, potentially mirroring a broader trend across MLB this season.
Before we delve into Oliver’s new findings, it’s worth mentioning that we’ve now obtained the style guide images for the Cardinals uniforms, as promised in our previous article. We will explore these style guides in conjunction with Oliver’s latest report.
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Cardinals 2025 Jerseys: Sun Collar Update by Oliver Kodner
Building on the initial observation of the new 2025 Cardinals road uniforms and their sun collar removal, a change welcomed by many, the anticipation was whether the home uniforms would receive the same treatment. However, a recent check of the Cardinals’ Instagram revealed players in what appear to be the new home white uniforms, and surprisingly, the sun collar is still present. Screenshots captured this detail.
This creates an interesting dichotomy: sun collars on home jerseys, but not on the road jerseys. The status of the cream and blue alternate uniforms remains unknown. Historically, Nike and Fanatics have faced production delays with alternate uniforms, as seen last season when the cream uniforms debuted on May 18 and the victory blues on June 1. Similar delays are expected this year, meaning confirmation on the alternate uniforms’ collar design might not come until late May or June.
In 2024, sun collars seemed to be a league-wide feature, except for pinstriped uniforms. Teams like the Yankees, Mets, and Phillies, with pinstripes, omitted sun collars from home jerseys but included them on road jerseys. The Cardinals adhered to this with their pinstriped City Connect uniforms, which lacked the sun collar due to the river-pattern pinstripes. But 2025 appears to be another year of change.
As of now, the 2025 Cardinals uniform situation is shaping up like this:
- Home Uniform: Sun collar present
- Road Uniform: Sun collar absent
- Cream Alternate: Collar status uncertain
- Blue Alternate: Collar status uncertain
- City Connect Uniform: Assumed sun collar absent
See the visual comparison below highlighting the sun collar difference between the home and road jerseys.
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Style Guide Insights: Home, Road, and Alternate Cardinals Uniforms
Oliver’s detailed observations are invaluable. The key questions now are: Will all 2025 home white jerseys across MLB feature the sun collar, and will all gray road jerseys omit it? This is a developing story worth monitoring. Based on Oliver’s research, the graphic above illustrates the subtle differences, particularly the “lip” of the sun collar on the white jersey versus its absence on the gray. Let’s examine the official style guide for further clues.
Here are the 2025 Style Guide pages for the St. Louis Cardinals, providing a more official look at the planned designs:
HOME UNIFORM:
The style guide clearly indicates the “sun” collar is intended for the home white jersey, aligning with the observed uniforms.
ROAD UNIFORM:
Interestingly, the style guide for the road uniform also depicts the sun collar. However, as spring training photos confirm, the gray jerseys are being worn without the sun collar in 2025. This discrepancy is noteworthy.
ALTERNATE HOME UNIFORM:
The sun collar is also featured in the style guide for the alternate home cream uniform.
ALTERNATE ROAD UNIFORM:
The style guide for the alternate road blue uniform similarly includes the sun collar. However, as with the gray road uniforms, the actual production versions may differ.
CITY CONNECT UNIFORM:
As expected, the City Connect uniform style guide does not show the sun collar, consistent with last year’s version and the pinstripe-collar rule.
League-Wide Uniform Changes and the Sun Collar: What to Expect?
The Cardinals’ situation raises broader questions. In 2024, the sun collar differentiation was primarily based on pinstripes. However, with the Cardinals’ gray jerseys lacking the sun collar in 2025, is Nike phasing it out for all gray-jerseyed teams? The style guides suggest otherwise, showing sun collars on all St. Louis 2025 uniforms except the City Connect. Yet, the reality on the field with the gray tops contradicts this. (For comparison, the Mets’ 2025 home jersey style guide indeed omits the sun collar).
To understand if this is a league-wide shift by Nike, we’ll need to wait until opening week, when most teams debut their gray road uniforms. We also need to see if this collar removal is exclusive to gray jerseys. The cream and powder blue alternates, typically worn on Saturdays, will provide further clues in the weeks following the season’s start.
Looking at Susan Freeman’s spring training roundups for the American League and National League, most colored alternate tops still appear to have the sun collar.
Is this Cardinals-specific, or a wider change limited to gray jerseys in 2025? The evolving St Louis Cardinals Uniforms for 2025 and the broader MLB uniform landscape remain a developing story. Stay tuned for updates as the season progresses.
