Yellow Sox? Red Sox riding with colorful jerseys

Sep. 24—BOSTON — Your "Boston Yellow Sox" may be sticking around for a while.

The Red Sox, winners of seven straight games, five wearing the yellow, Boston Marathon-themed jerseys, will ride this wave as long as they can, ideally into October and possibly the postseason.

"We're on a good run," said Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts. "If we win tomorrow hopefully we'll see it the next day also. I know it's not white and red, I know we're not the Yellow Sox, but we need wins right now, so if it's yellow, it's yellow."

There is a story behind the Yellow Sox.

Recently Red Sox manager Alex Cora was watching games from around the league when he noticed a few things.

The San Francisco Giants were wearing their new Golden Gate Bridge themed City Connect uniforms, approved by MLB.

The Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs had also been wearing their City Connect alternates recently.

So Cora called home clubhouse manager Tom McLaughlin and asked about their own yellow and blue uniforms, which were inspired by the Boston Marathon.

"We asked Tommy how come we just wore them once?" Cora said during a recent interview with WEEI's Merloni and Fauria.

"He said, 'It's up to you guys ... We've just got to talk to the right people ... If you want to wear them again we'll do it.'"

A few phone calls later, the marathon-inspired alternates reappeared for last weekend's three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Red Sox haven't lost since. So guess what? Yellow, with a hint of blue, it is.

Famously a superstitious bunch, baseball players are known for sticking to a routine, especially when things are going well. Or changing it up when things are going bad.

And by the way, if they keep winning, there's nothing stopping them from sticking with yellow all the way through to the end.

An MLB spokesperson confirmed Thursday that teams are allowed to wear City Connect uniforms on the road, and if they wanted they can also wear them in the playoffs.

That means if the Red Sox were to sweep the Yankees while wearing the yellow alternates this weekend and stretch their win streak to 10, they could theoretically bring them on their final road trip to Baltimore and Washington to try and keep the streak going.

They could then wear yellow in the AL Wild Card game, whether it's in Boston, Toronto, New York or someplace else, and stick with them wherever the playoffs take them after that.

It wouldn't be the first time the Red Sox rallied around a unique color in October.

During the 2018 World Series Boston wore its blue road alternate uniforms in all three games at Dodger Stadium, including the championship-clinching Game 5. The tradition-minded organization has since embraced alternate uniforms more generally, and this season the club has worn alternates in 95 out of 153 games (62%).

Until recently the yellows weren't part of the usual rotation. Introduced this spring, MLB's City Connect uniforms were designed to celebrate the bond between each team and its city. The Red Sox uniforms were inspired by the Boston Marathon, a nod to the club's connection to the race and the events following the 2013 marathon bombing.

The uniforms utilize the race's iconic yellow and blue color scheme and feature a replica race bib with Boston's "617" area code on the sleeve. The team wore the uniforms twice in April on Patriots Day weekend but did not wear them again until this week.

Now, the avant garde uniform set has taken on a life of its own, and even the most traditionalist among the Red Sox have gotten on board.

"I love them! I do. I know that might be a surprise to some people," said Red Sox ace Chris Sale, who has typically opted for the club's classic home whites on start dates and who famously ripped up a set of throwback uniforms while a member of the White Sox. "I think it's great and obviously what it represents means even more to us.

"It's kind of crazy, right? We're wearing yellow, we're wearing baby blue, we're a red, white, grey, blue team, but it makes it fun," Sale continued. "I think you're going to see them quite a bit more because we play well in them, and for now we're going to keep that rolling and have some fun with it."

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.