Since Nike and Major League Baseball first introduced the special alternate City Connect uniforms in 2021 there have been a lot of hits, and a lot of misses. However, the one team that MLB and Nike seem to have gotten it right with, twice now, is the Houston Astros.
The first Houston Astros City Connect uniforms, which debuted on April 20, 2022, were obviously inspired by NASA being located in Houston. With the words “SPACE CITY” in the familiar NASA font across the front, were among the most popular jerseys with fans that season.
Fast forward to 2025 and the Astros are getting their second City Connect uniforms and once again they are space-themed. The new all-white uniform has the nickname “Stros” across the front of the jersey. The uniform’s trim and pinstriping references the history of the moon landing with a lunar pattern and the “Space City” tagline returns, this time around the neckline.
There is also a unique mission patch that appears on the sleeve of each jersey. ESPN reports that the team said the base design of the mission patch is a reference to the Union Station logo that appears on the historical building next to Daikin Park.
The logo on the hat is a new twist on the Astros’ star and the “afterburner” socks, as the team calls them, are a “fiery mixture of orange and yellow.”
The piece-de-resistance is on the jock tag where a quote from President John F. Kennedy’s space travel speech at Rice University in Houston on September 12, 1962 appears and reads, “We choose to do things not because they are easy but because they are hard.”
The Houston Astros’ new City Connect uniforms will make their debut against the San Francisco Giants on March 31. Based on fan reaction, there will be plenty of baseball fan purchasing the jersey for themselves well before then.