The cap, the jersey, the combination of midnight blue, light blue and yellow. The “PHILLY” font on the front of the jersey; the Liberty Bell; the skyline and the yellow stars on the cap; the Easter eggs scattered throughout. A year ago, Phillies executives invited Harper to look at the Nike City Connect uniforms they would wear in 2024. The group spent years working on the look and feel of them. They wanted his opinion.

Harper is the face of the franchise. His voice matters.

Harper looked at the cap and jersey in executive vice president Dave Buck’s office at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla. He said nothing at first. His silence lasted for only a few seconds, but it felt like forever to everybody else in the room.

Well?!

“They’re dope,” Harper said.

The Phillies unveiled their City Connect uniforms on Friday morning at Citizens Bank Park. They will wear them every Friday at the Bank, beginning on April 12.

The uniform is unlike anything the Phillies have done in the past, which was the plan from the very beginning. It explained why it took Harper a bit to say something that day in Clearwater.

“When I first saw them, I definitely didn’t think that was the vibe they were going to go with,” Harper said. “I never thought blue, yellow, that kind of thing. I never thought those were going to be the colors. I thought red or green for the Phanatic, or even black. Those were on my mind before I saw it. And then I saw it, and then I got the story behind it, and I thought it was cool. It’s way different than anything anybody could have ever imagined, but it comes together so well. The look, the story, everything.”

Nike told the Phillies to trust the process, but it also asked for help.

It wanted to know, “What does Philly mean to you? What do you like? What did you hate? What should we stay away from?”

It got ideas from those conversations. In the end, it presented them a uniform inspired by the City of Philadelphia flag, which is light blue and yellow.