The Miami Marlins’ newly revealed City Connect uniforms honor the Sugar Kings.
On Monday, the Marlins showed off their City Connect series uniform combination in partnership with Nike. These jerseys will be used on Friday when the team faces off against the New York Mets.
The uniforms pay homage to the Sugar Kings. The Kings were a Triple-A team in the International League that was owned by Bobby Maduro and played out of Havana, Cuba, from 1954 to 1960. Maduro had aspirations that the Kings would become part of the MLB and become the first MLB team to be based out of Cuba. The team’s dream of making it to the MLB inspired a popular motto of “Un Paso Mas Y Llegamos” (“One More Step And We Get There”). The team came close in 1959 when the Kings won the Junior World Series, but it ended when Fidel Castro rose to power in the Cuban revolution. Castro’s rise led to the team relocating to New Jersey before folding.
Miami has a large Cuban population, so the homage is very special to the Cubans who were there when the Kings played.
On Friday, the day after Cuban Independence Day, the Marlins will wear the jerseys. The team will wear them throughout the weekend, which features Cuban Heritage Night and on five other weekend series.
