I know some of you are sick of all Mets chatter on this site, but there are reasons why they keep coming up for discussion. Among them: No other team wears its designated road cap at home; no other team hardly ever wears its designated home uniform; no other team lets the color of their dugout jacket affect which cap they’ll wear at home; no other team has three different undershirt colors (the orange ones appeared to have been banished, but David Wright has recently revived them); and so on.
One of the more annoying aspects of this is that the team’s two black caps — one has a blue brim, the other is solid black — don’t even have matching “NY” logos. The logo on the blue-brimmed “road” cap (which is also worn for most home games, but whatever) is blue outlined in orange, while the one on the black alternate cap is blue outlined in white with an orange drop shadow. (And that’s not counting yet another version that appears on their color-gradated batting helmets, where the logo is black outlined in white with an orange drop shadow.)
All of which brings us to last night’s Giants/Mets game at Shea. The Mets were wearing the blue-brimmed “road” caps, so their cap logos were blue outlined in orange — except for rookie outfielder Carlos Gomez. He had a blue-brimmed cap, but it featured the white-outlined logo.
What this means, of course, is that New Era attached the wrong brim to the wrong crown. But really, who can blame them? I prefer to blame the team that was stupid enough to come up with two different but very similar logos for its two black-crowned caps. Remember, you can’t have quality control unless there’s actually some quality to be controlled. And in the case of the Mets’ headwear program, the quality has been sorely lacking for some time now.
(Special thanks to and Brian Erni and Neil Bisman, who were the first ones to spot Gomez’s cap snafu.)
Research Project: Speaking of caps, I’m trying to document as many instances as possible of MLB players wearing last year’s caps (easily identifiable by the gray underbrim) and/or not wearing the new BP caps (the Mets, for example, appear to have abandoned the new BP cap design altogether). Some of you have been pointing out examples of this for weeks, and at first I didn’t pay much attention, but now it strikes me that these two trends — not wearing the new 5950s and not wearing the new BP caps — may represent the largest rejection of a new uni element we’ve ever witnessed.
So if you spot good examples of players eschewing this year’s headwear, please let me know.
Membership Update: Several of you have asked why the Uni Watch membership program, which I announced nearly two weeks ago, still isn’t up and running. I was originally going to say, “I’m superstitious — as long as the Yankees keep losing, I don’t want to do anything to upset the cosmic order,” but the fact of the matter is that it’s taking a bit longer than I’d expected to get everything set up (who knew there were so many different sizes of laminating sleeves to choose from?), and I don’t want to take anyone’s money until everything is ready to go. But hang in there — Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner and I are diligently working away (which basically means he’s working his ass off while I keep asking him to make little changes to this or that), and we should be good to go in a few more days. Thanks for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Stop whatever you’re doing and check out what Frank Mercogliano just found: a mid-1980s video that features umpire Eric Gregg wearing a Cubs windbreaker and struggling to put on some makeshift gear (the umpiring crew’s gear had been lost) and the Expos’ powder blue road uniforms. Plus a double-flap batting helmet, the Cubbies’ old sleeve patch, and strained commentary from Bill Murray. Essential. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: We’ve talked before about the cross pin on Billy Martin’s cap. But I didn’t realize that the pin was also depicted on Martin’s plaque in Monument Park. … Also from yesterday: Great shot I hadn’t seen before of the Sox in shorts. … Josh Fisher notes that the Utah Utes were wearing some totally boss striped hosiery in the recent MWC Baseball Tourney. … Alabama has unveiled a set of coaches’ shirts, rendered in gray, red, and white. “Note the football laces at the base of the placket,” says Doug Simpson, who brought the shirts to my attention. … Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner somehow found time in between membership-related projects (see update above) to note the following: “It’s not just U.S. sports teams that get throwback tributes wrong. How come Celtic couldn’t get this right? They’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Celtic club that won the European Cup in 1967. The striping doesn’t match, they didn’t copy the numbers on the shorts, and the goalies back then wore yellow tops, not the black shirts today’s goalies are sporting. And if they REALLY wanted to pay tribute, they’d eschew the Carling corporate tag on the current shirts, as well as the Celtic chest shield and Nike logo creep.” … Jeremy Brahm sent along some pics from the FIVB World League (that’s volleyball, people). Interesting to see the Argentinean team using a center color gradation, and the Egyptians wearing, as Jeremy put it, “castoffs from the Adidas soccer teams.”
#1 by Marcus Ramsey on 05.30.07 8:10 am |
Paul, you could of at least said something nice about the Giants uni’s. I mean, the Mets are supposed to be half Giants and half Dodgers right? Sorry the Giants gave you the black part, but at least the Giants uniforms look nice.
#2 by Vincent A. Cipollone on 05.30.07 8:19 am |
I’m surprised you caught that because when I was looking at the black cap, I didn’t notice the difference at first because they look similar to the logo on the batting helmets. Good catch.
#3 by Lockbull on 05.30.07 8:22 am |
As for Celtic, just be glad they didn’t put in the big swooshes in the empty stands at Celtic Park!
#4 by Vincent A. Cipollone on 05.30.07 8:25 am |
Speaking of soccer, does anybody know the difference between soccer socks, baseball socks, and white sanitaries?
#5 by Mark in Shiga on 05.30.07 8:27 am |
I think Frank’s video of the Cubs-Expos game is from 1987. Didn’t Andre Dawson play in that game?
#6 by CBates22 on 05.30.07 8:29 am |
To quote Fred Gwynne:
“What the hell is a Ute?”
Sorry, had to be done.
#7 by Brady on 05.30.07 8:30 am |
Like Alabama in the Ticker article, Oklahoma (OU) has released their Nike “Endline” series coaches shirts as well (with the football stitching on the collar); however, note that they have doomed us all and produced a BLACK version to go with the traditional Red and White (or Crimson and Cream to be really correct):
Red
White
Black
You will have to scroll down a bit on the pages to see the shirts.
#8 by Paul Lukas on 05.30.07 8:32 am |
I believe it’s actually 1986. At one point the broadcaster mentions how the Expos are looking for big things from Galarraga “now that Hubie Brooks is gone.” Brooks played only 80 games in 1986, due to injury; Galarraga, meanwhile, was spending his first full season in the bigs.
#9 by Ken L on 05.30.07 8:37 am |
I posted this yesterday, but it got lost in the comments section…I felt a repost was in order!
Some interesting things out of NCAA lacrosse action this weekend, where Johns Hopkins won its 9th NCAA and 44th overall National title:
Cornell was sporting some awesome socks.
Hopkins wore their snazzy powder blue jersey for the championship game against Duke, and their unfortunately Nike-fied whites for the semifinal against Delaware.
If you look closely at the second Hopkins picture, you’ll notice an aspect of the uniform that made an appearance throughout the weekend, and has generated a bit of buzz on both the sportslogos.net forum and especially the laxpower forum. The Hopkins helmets featured a smiling cartoon blue jay wearing a ‘JHU’ sweater and wielding a lacrosse stick (better, high-resolution picture). As an alumni member of the Hopkins band, I’ve seen nearly every Hopkins lacrosse game over the past five years, and was familiar with the fact that such a logo existed (and was created in the 1960’s), but had never seen it on the helmet until this weekend’s games. It’s really an amazing looking logo (especially if you’re fond of retro cartoon logos), and echoes the general trend I’ve seen of teams embracing their old cartoon logos (like the Reds and Padres).
#10 by Pittsburgh Gunny on 05.30.07 8:41 am |
That Celtic team that won the European Cup were nicknamed the Lisbon Lions because they won the Cup in Portugal. Here is nice little gallery saluting that team.
#11 by Robert on 05.30.07 8:46 am |
Seeing the ballgirl in the Cubs video reminds me of the greatest ballgirl of all time, the great Marla Collins. I would watch Cubs games in the 1980s just to see her.
http://ignarski.trip...
#12 by dirwuf on 05.30.07 8:48 am |
The Cubs-Billl Murray video is definitely from 1987. This is when Harry Carry suffered a stroke and missed the first month or two of the season. In addition to Murray, guest announcers included Tom Bosley and George Will.
#13 by bj in gainesville on 05.30.07 8:50 am |
Soccer socks are often much longer than baseball socks, as they are usually folded to the length desired (and to hold the shin guards in). Baseball socks are basically standard. Sanitaries are very thin, as they’re designed to be layered.
Re lax finals: Hopkins’ blue unis also have the Swoosh under the collar, but in a less obvious white. the helmet logo really bothered me, as the coaching staff’s shirts and all other JHU logos were the stylized BlueJay logo. And both teams (Duke and JHU) wore black warmup shirts. also, UNC wore socks with the interlocking UNC logo when they lost to Duke.
#14 by Original Jim on 05.30.07 8:50 am |
Maybe someone can explain this one to me…
In the picture of the Argentinian volleyball team, there’s a player in the back row who wears #2. The 2 is underlined, just above the Visa logo, but it’s not underlined for player #12.
Does the underline signify “Captain”?
#15 by Mark in Shiga on 05.30.07 8:55 am |
Paul, you could be right, but they could also be referring to Hubie no longer being on the team; not just out with an injury.
Another 1987-only guy who I remember playing in the Bill Murray game was Alonzo Powell. All 14 of his games with the Expos were in 1987. He never amounted to much in the majors, but he later came to Japan and played with distinction for several seasons.
#16 by DCM on 05.30.07 9:04 am |
Too bad about the Mets unis, since they have 2 or 3 sets (without the black) that look great.
There’s another ChiSox in shorts photo bouncing around that included Moe Drabowsky, that was shown when he passed away last year.
#17 by Kim on 05.30.07 9:06 am |
Here’s the problem with the Celtic throwback:
Celtic is one of those ‘classic’ teams that really haven’t done much with their shirts over the last century or so. And sponsorship is to a point where the team can’t even change the number font to match because the league likely has a standard sponsored number kit, and it seems unlikely that a sponsor (who’s forked over a ton of cash) would let the team have logo free shirts.
The more interesting goalkeeper aspect is that back then goalkeepers could only wear solid yellow, red, or green shirts. Black was for officials.
#18 by Jeremy Brahm on 05.30.07 9:09 am |
Yes, that is correct, they use a line underneath the number to signify that player is the captain.
It was funny going to the match between the US and France this weekend in Portland because neither team’s captains (the underlined people) played much and the coach had to signal to the head referee who would be the new captain on the court, because you are required to have a playing captain at all times.
#19 by Robert on 05.30.07 9:10 am |
Leaving aside that black is not an OU color, the shirt with the black on it is just plain ugly.
#20 by Jeremy Brahm on 05.30.07 9:11 am |
I just noticed that the Argentine flags on the players did not have a sun?
#21 by Clevo on 05.30.07 9:19 am |
they could revert to the old number styling for cup/ non league matches.
#22 by Nick on 05.30.07 9:19 am |
It appears to me the Billy had a cross, not a crucifix on his hat. The latter of course, being a cross with Christ’s body on it.
#23 by Kim on 05.30.07 9:24 am |
Good thought. That would also be appropriate since it’s a European Cup winning team that they’re celebrating, so reverting to the old font for those matches would be a clever tribute.
#24 by Christopher on 05.30.07 9:24 am |
Yeah, but if you look at the stats of the players, and comments to the tune of “off to a great start”… it can’t be anywhere near past game 80.
Hubie must have played most/all of his games before the all star break- because he was an All Star.
Brooks also seems to have played most of 1987 (112 games).
MON played at CHI in Apr, June, Sept 1986.
MON played at CHI in Apr, July, Sept 1987.
#25 by Eephus on 05.30.07 9:31 am |
I think Celtic’s kits aren’t supposed to be throwbacks, just commemoratives. It’s not referred to as a throwback in the press release. There’s simply a Lisbon Lions logo around the normal chest shield, like when American football teams wear anniversary patches.
#26 by BStu on 05.30.07 9:34 am |
I actually liked the black cap, blue rim when the Mets first introduced it. Still do, really, though I think it should never be paired with the pinstripes. But the all-black cap has never impressed me. Mostly because I noticed right away that it had a third cap logo which seemed absurd. I’m not even sure they needed a second. So many of their adaptations have undercut the orange in their color scheme and frankly the orange is the reason I became a Mets fan as a kid. It was my favorite color, so it set the Mets apart from the Yankees and Red Sox. I’m not saying its the best reason to root for a team, but I was a kid without a clear influence. I’m disappointed to see the orange minimized with drop shadows and outlines and drop shadows on outlines.
#27 by Brian from Short Island on 05.30.07 9:38 am |
A clever idea would be to wear that old font (on the shirts, however) for Champions League matches this year. The only problem is that Celtic is required to blank out the hoops on their backs for CL Matches.
#28 by Jerry on 05.30.07 9:45 am |
Paul,
The Mets uniform situation is a complete disaster. The team is in desperate need of an official uniform czar. I would like to formally nominate you for that position.
Since I am doing the favor of nominating you to such a prestigious and thoroughly non-existent position, I would like to make a few suggestions that I know you won’t mind:
-Ditch the Black - No black hats, no black unis, no drop shadows, no black anywhere except for memorial patches!
-Keep uniforms uniform - So one hat, one road jersey (which is a great jersey), and I’m OK with 2 home jerseys. The solid white home jersey is salvageable if they do something to make it interesting. I’ve got some ideas to photoshop.
-Stirrups, or at least high socks.
- The Mets have great logos, why not use them. I’ve got ideas.
#29 by Graf Zeppelin on 05.30.07 9:46 am |
The black/blue caps, unveiled in ‘98, are just the ‘97 white caps with a black crown. The logo on those caps, the white and the black, matched what was at the time the script on the Mets’ jerseys, i.e., blue outlined in orange, but when designing the black alternate jerseys for ‘98 they probably found that the regular blue/orange script didn’t look good against a black background, or at least that the redesigned blue/white outline/orange drop-shadow script looked better. (Note also that the black jerseys in ‘98 still had the original Mets’ blue skyline logo patch on the sleeve.) They wore the black/blue caps with the black jerseys in ‘98, home and away, but the problem was that for absolutely no good reason, instead of replacing the plain white alternates with the black they kept them, added a black drop-shadow to the script, and as the season wore on started wearing the black caps with those as well (same for the road greys). The pinstripes still had the regular Mets script (no black drop-shadow) and were only worn with the blue caps.
For ‘99, since as Paul pointed out the logo on the two-tone caps didn’t match the script on the black jerseys, they designed a logo that did, hence the solid black caps (they also added the black “NEW YORK” jersey that year, and the redesigned black skyline logo patch). The pinstripes took on the black drop-shadow and started being worn, albeit rarely, with the two black caps, even more rarely with the blue.
The point is that the black/blue cap and the plain white uniform both became completely unnecessary and expendable when the black jerseys and solid black caps were added, but not only did the Mets keep them, they wear them all the time.
Paul is correct that there’s a reason this topic keeps coming up. It’s frustrating as both Mets fans and uni watchers to see that none of this makes any sense, and worse yet, after nine years, THE METS STILL DON’T GET IT and we can’t seem to do anything about it. Not even the “Ditch the Black” campaign helped; the Mets are wearing blue caps less often this year than they did last year.
#30 by Shaftman on 05.30.07 9:53 am |
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it over and over till Wilpon “gets it”
Home Games:
M-Sat: Pin Stripe uni’s with blue caps, blue undershirts, and blue socks.
Sun: Snow White uni’s with blue caps, blue undershirts, and blue socks.
Road Games:
Grey uni’s with Black/Blue caps, black undershirts and black socks.
I’m not in love with the black but I can live with it as part of the road setup (as a highlight color, not the jersey color.) This solution is kind of meeting in the middle but should make everyone happy enough.
#31 by Jeremy on 05.30.07 9:55 am |
While this is all nice and dandy, the fact is that those of us who are not Mets fans are fucking sick of all the Mets talk on this website. The uniforms that they wear from night to night are not that bad. So they have black jerseys? who cares? I understand that this is a uniform website, but we know how people feel about the black Uni’s, we know how people feel about the Mets, it’s time to just shut the fuck up already.
#32 by Joey Guns on 05.30.07 9:59 am |
The Cubs/Expos game was from 4/17/87.
http://www.baseball-...
Gotta love the internet.
#33 by Brad on 05.30.07 10:00 am |
I’m not 100% sure about Argentina, but several South American countries have civilian and government flags. The government flags usually have some kind of symbol in the middle which is omitted on the civilian flags. It is usually against the law to fly the government flag outside of government buildings, etc.
#34 by David on 05.30.07 10:01 am |
If you are fucking sick of it, just fucking stop reading.
#35 by Marty Met on 05.30.07 10:03 am |
Must be a Yankee fan in a bad mood from being 14 games out.
#36 by BCrisp on 05.30.07 10:05 am |
Last night in the top of the first inning (I think) Astros catcher Brad Ausmus had to remove his belt and throw it into the dugout. I heard this on the radio while driving, so I didn’t see it. Did anyone see this last night?
#37 by Joe Drennan on 05.30.07 10:05 am |
I say give the guy a break. It’s gotta be hard to find something to write about every day of the week when you can write about anything, but Paul is narrowing that scope down to something specific, very specific, so if he fills voids of what to talk about with what he knows best, his Mets, so be it. It’s better than having to look at those ugly D-backs jerseys every day.
#38 by Joey Guns on 05.30.07 10:06 am |
14.5 haha at least they’re still tied with the devil rays for last.
#39 by Stuby on 05.30.07 10:08 am |
Armando Benitez in any uniform looks like shit.
#40 by Joe Drennan on 05.30.07 10:12 am |
At least his name is fun to say though.
#41 by Shaftman on 05.30.07 10:20 am |
You know…I don’t like soccer. Never have and never will, I couldn’t care less about their kits or what they look like. However this is a site dedicated to all uniforms and the aesthetics of them. When people talk about soccer or rugby or other things I don’t care about I simply don’t read it.
It’s like when there is a program on TV and I don’t like it…I change the channel.
So, you have three options:
1) Go to a different site (bad option),
2) Don’t read the comments about the mets (bad option),
3) Start a discussion on what you would like to talk about (Ding ding ding…we have a winner.).
#42 by mg12 on 05.30.07 10:23 am |
Quick re-post from late yesterday. Todd McFarlane issued a new Wayne Gretzky figure from the 1996 Blues season where he played 31 games. Uniform cameo and oddity in one.
http://www.spawn.com...
#43 by Matt D. on 05.30.07 10:23 am |
The white Sox Shorts pics still make me cringe. Looking at the wide 70’s lapel (What the !@#$%^&* is a LAPEL doing on a modern baseball uniform!?!?!?) reminds me of the old Cheap Seats line - “That year, the White Sox uniform came with a matching sportcoat”
#44 by DenverGregg on 05.30.07 10:24 am |
Yesterday’s comments had a lot about the two-tone Cool Flow helmets. I think the Rox and Mets use them because they each have two different colored hats and the two-tone Cool Flow could be viewed as something that would work with either.
That being said, I don’t like the two-tone on the Cool Flow; I’m not sold on the Cool Flow look in general; I think the Mets ought to ditch the black (suggestion above for a Mets uni schedule was a good one); and the Rox ought to change their colors to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA affiliate) colors of Forest Green and Silver.
The Joe Morgan and ballgirl pic was great for many reasons. While the ballgirl was the best reason, the stirrups were perfect all ’round.
#45 by Brendan on 05.30.07 10:29 am |
I generally enjoy the discussions on here but I do find my eyes glaze over when the anti-black discussion appears in full force. It’s not that I disagree, I absolutely detest the trend toward black where it does not belong, it’s just that it is a lot listening my father-in-law tell the same story over and over.
#46 by Marcus Ramsey on 05.30.07 10:29 am |
Not if you’re a Giant fan. 4.66 ERA and he’s the closer? The worst part is our starters are pretty solid, Zito, Morris, Cain, and Lowry. All good pitchers and our new kid Lincecum, leading up to Benitez? TWO BALKS? Some guys so all season without ONE and he gets two in one game.
#47 by Matt D. on 05.30.07 10:33 am |
Maybe it’s my bitter anti-Yankeeness, but I’m not one to complain about the Mets uniform issues (and they do have issues). Those who want to come in and drop f-bombs over the issue of the day badly need to get a grip on reality. Issues close to home are fine. Remember, the blogger is from Brooklyn (Queens? sorry if I goof it up ,Paul).
I wil say, though, it would be nice if the Met’s uniforms were, well, UNIFORM.
#48 by Colin on 05.30.07 10:34 am |
On the Bill Murray clip
:22″And looking at Eric, I would say this is a guy that butters his bread on both sides”
2:18″Who’s this stiff coming up to back”
Those are two hilarious quotes, they didn’t even need to play the game that day to make it great.
#49 by Ryan B. on 05.30.07 10:34 am |
Sorry, but the Mets did not inherit the color black from the old New York Giants. They took the old “NY” cap insignia and the color orange from the Giants. That’s it. The blue is from the Dodgers and the pinstripes honor the Yankees.
Black came about in 1997 to sell merchandise, not to honor the Giants’ history or baseball in any way.
#50 by Stuby on 05.30.07 10:36 am |
Just remember: Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser for AJ Pierzynski. I don’t think the Giants ever even tried Nathan in the Closer role. That hurts.
#51 by Mark in Shiga on 05.30.07 10:42 am |
Hat modification buffs: Cory Sullivan seems to be another 5950 surgeon.
#52 by BCrisp on 05.30.07 10:47 am |
From the Astros Mailbag:
Is there a rhyme or reason to the frequent Astros wardrobe changes? They seem to be wearing the red “softball” jerseys all the time on the road these days, and never the classic road gray. Is there a reason? Those red jerseys aren’t too classy. Save them for batting practice and Spring Training.
– Carter, Los Angeles
The Astros wear the red jerseys on the road for two reasons — the material is lighter and therefore more comfortable during the hot summer months, and McLane likes them.
#53 by Paul Lukas on 05.30.07 10:47 am |
For the record: Today’s post has nothing to do with black (or the ditching thereof) per se. It’s about a confused cap logo situation and a genuine manufacturer’s glitch at the major league level.
I’m gonna be away from the computer for most of the rest of the day — let’s please keep things civil while I’m gone, yes? Yes.
#54 by todd krevanchi on 05.30.07 10:47 am |
some merchandise items…
now the teams are going global…
at least a few are anyway…
franchise country flag hats
http://shop.mlb.com/...
on my niketalk.com website, the nike corporate watchdogs have often used our membership as a free focus group for items to “retro”. in a cheap attempt to do the same, here is my request to twins enterprises…
see what you did here?
http://shop.mlb.com/...
with this logo and year?
http://moonlightgrah...
do the same in a solid red franchise
with this logo and include the original year!
http://farm1.static....
PLEASE?
also, although i am not a part of the faction (for or against) for the mets, cleveland area teams, or japanese baseball, all of whom many would say are over covered here (i like many simply pass over it), i did find this little nugget from last year…
im not sure that this was posted, so i’ll post it now…
http://www.angelfire...
#55 by Mitch on 05.30.07 10:53 am |
Here’s a photo of the Cardinals’ Low A team (Swing of the Quad Cities) who rock the stirrups as a team. However it looks like Brad Furnish may have missed the loop when putting his on…
#56 by Mitch on 05.30.07 10:54 am |
#57 by Mitch on 05.30.07 10:55 am |
ok…. that link thing isnt working so here it is
http://www.flickr.co...
#58 by Joe Drennan on 05.30.07 10:56 am |
Speaking of black that doesn’t belong, how about the Blackhawks 3rd jersey? This one makes sence though as black has always been an accent color for the Blackhawks, and the word black is in their names, but when you have what is annualy voted as the best looking jersey in pro sports in different forums with their home reds and road whites, why go with a black alternate? I know it was to sell more jerseys, heck I have one, but it doesn’t belong there. Unlike the black Mets jerseys though, the black Hawks jersey looks sharp none the less. I guess I would have prefered the Hawks go the rout of the Habs or the Bruins and have their alternate as a throwback.
I do like that more NHL teams are going throwback for alternates, I just wonder how that’ll be affected by the redesign. I’ve heard no team will have an alternate next year as it’s too much to ask RBK to design an alternate when they’re alreay redesigning all jerseys. Some don’t need to be redesigned though (Habs, Hawks, Wings, Rangers, Bruins, Leafs).
#59 by Matt D. on 05.30.07 10:56 am |
Try 2 balks in ONE INNING.
Now you know how it felt to be a Mets fan in the 2000 World Series and after. When Benietez would enter a game, you could feel your heart drop and know something bad was about to happen. I remember screaming at the TV during a subway series gae that he blew in 2002, “THROW A !@#$%^&* STRIKE, YOU@#$%^&*!!R... Yes, throwing a baseball close to 100mph is a talent, but you need mental fortitude to be a closer. 7 years after proving that he doesn’t have it (possibly 11 thanks to Jeffrey Maier?), a major leagur team is still trusting him to close games?!? unbelieveable. Even Byung-Hung Kim is only allowed to start.
#60 by Alex on 05.30.07 11:01 am |
not sure if anyone else noticed but something was up with Derek Turnbow’s undershirt last night. it was completely baggy around the neck, like he had stretched the neck WAY out…
sorry, no pic
#61 by Jeremy on 05.30.07 11:01 am |
Being a Yankee fan has nothing to do with it, and for the record, 2 f-bombs isnt dropping f-bombs all over the place. In fact, I like watching the mets, go to many of their games and wasn’t bashing the post of the day at all. It was the fact that one mention of the mets, whether it has to do with black or not starts a day-long debate about ditching the black. Get over it, they are a major league team and can do whatever they want. When’s the last time a fan petition led to the changing of a uniform? Which brings up another point. Has there ever been an official petition to Ditch the Black? Why not draw something up, have everyone who wants to sign it, and then send it to the team. If nothing else, it may gain recognition for the site. The fact is that I love this website, and have been reading since day one. I was simply voicing my frustration with the constant complaining about the Mets.
#62 by Larry C on 05.30.07 11:06 am |
The Anaheim Ducks need to start using more orange in their outfits. This occurred to me when I last saw the Anaheim-Red Wings game last week. The fans had some orange hats and were waving orange flags and the total effect was that they looked more Duck-like than the team on the ice. Plus the Orange ties nicely into the local area (Orange County). I have this weird vision that one day … one day the fans will be sporting goofy foam hats shaped like oranges, much like the NHL version of the Green Bay Packer cheeseheads. There is just so much potential for using orange with the Ducks.
It just bothers me that the current Duck jersey looks like it was slapped together at the last minute, as if the owners had a cool new name for the franchise in mind after they bought it, but the fans strongly insisted that they keep the Ducks name. It also bothers me, and it should bother the Anaheim fans, that they might win the Stanley Cup with such a “blah” outfit. Then again, the prospect of the (Mighty) Ducks winning the cup a couple of years ago in the Disney-brand outfits sent major chills down the spines of the hockey fans (in the Seattle area, anyway), so I suppose there’s much to be grateful about. But man, there could’ve been something really great here.
#63 by Perry on 05.30.07 11:09 am |
Check out this killer shot of young Tony LaRussa in green and gold Kansas City A’s togs, complete with enormous white sleeve numbers, ca. 1963-4.
http://sportsillustr...
#64 by Joe Drennan on 05.30.07 11:12 am |
While I never like the name Mighty Ducks, I did like the logo. I think the old Ducks logo in the updated colors on the updated jersey would look sharp. I guess I just like when hockey logos find a way tin incorperate sticks or other pieces of equipment like a goalie mask to fit a duck.
#65 by Stuby on 05.30.07 11:13 am |
We’ll play nice.
#66 by David on 05.30.07 11:20 am |
You consider telling Paul to “shut the fuck up” to be simply voicing your frustration? Sounds pretty rude to me.
#67 by Kerry on 05.30.07 11:21 am |
Paul,
Just FYI. I’m a Cubs fan down in South Louisiana…and I COMPLETELY agree about the Mets and understand your disgust with the situation.
And, even though many of the topics that YOU yourself discuss in YOUR daily blog postings, we get a daily dose of many things non-Mets through the comments section.
So keep up the good work and to hell with other people that tell you how to write YOUR blog.
#68 by Mr. Met on 05.30.07 11:24 am |
You gotta love how so many announcers point out his stats, like how many saves he has or how low batters are hitting against him (they mentioned second lowest in the league last night, I think), like they’re in awe of the fact that a guy with stuff like his has been on so many teams and can’t catch on as a closer.
The truth is that Armando Benitez has some of the most emptiest saves in the history of the sport, because every time, every time he was brought into a pressure siatuation, he folded like a cheap deck of cards. He would have 30+ saves by August, then always blow 2-3 saves against the Braves in September when the Mets needed a win in the worst way.
And long-suffering Mets fans will not soon forget the disaster that followed in Braden Looper, or as I liked to call him, Armando Looper. If anyone can believe it, he was actually worse than Benitez. Fortunately, Willie Randolph realized that Looper was not going to cut it as a closer you could rely on in a pressure cooker, and got rid of him after one season on his watch. Unlike Bobby Valentine, who stuck with Benitez through his failures year after year after year.
Two guys who just couldn’t deal with pressure situations.
#69 by Shaftman on 05.30.07 11:27 am |
Not to nitpick but they were “officially” know as the Athletics and the uniform, even though it’s hard to see, mearly had an “A” and not the “A’s” that we are currently used to now.
#70 by Jerry on 05.30.07 11:29 am |
So I tried my hand at creating a new mets home ALTERNATE jersey which should be worn only for Sunday home games. I would also go nameless on the back, but I didn’t photoshop that.
I followed a few basic principles to create this:
- The alternate jersey should be distinguishable from the normal jersey. This is just this minus the pinstripes and plus blue piping.
- I like Mr. Met.
- I really like the classic look of the Tigers, Yankees, Reds, and White Sox.
The jersey might look better with no numbers on the front. I haven’t made up my mind on that yet. In my mind it’s certainly an improvement over the current state of affairs.
#71 by Shaftman on 05.30.07 11:31 am |
Very nice…what if we even took it a step further and made it the same off white that the Giants wear at home?
#72 by Anthony Verna on 05.30.07 11:34 am |
I must admit that I like it greatly!
#73 by Brendan on 05.30.07 11:34 am |
I generally enjoy the discussions on here but I do find my eyes glaze over when the anti-black discussion appears in full force.
For the record: Today’s post has nothing to do with black (or the ditching thereof) per se. It’s about a confused cap logo situation and a genuine manufacturer’s glitch at the major league level.
I do understand the nature of the post; what I referred to was the way the discussion that derives from the daily post has a tendency to become repetitively and reflexively anti-black, anti-Nike, or anti-purple. I myself happen to be generally anti-each of those colours and apathetic about Nike but I was simply pointing out an irritant of mine.
On the positive side here is a sweet photo of the Junction City (OR) Reds http://www.registerg...
This happens to be the hometown of Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr though I don’t know if he had anything to do with them.
#74 by schuby on 05.30.07 11:36 am |
OK, does anyone know why my post was eaten, but when i tried to post it again it said it was a duplicate. I had a nice rant, but it hasn’t shown up.
#75 by James P. on 05.30.07 11:36 am |
a search of the web has no mention of this. you should e-mail allison footer–beat writer for MLB with the Astros–and ask her to look into it.
#76 by Joey Guns on 05.30.07 11:36 am |
How funny was it when the Yankees gave old Armando a shot a few years back? That experiment lasted about a week…….
#77 by Amy on 05.30.07 11:37 am |
Nice Job, I like it too.
#78 by WVU Tom on 05.30.07 11:38 am |
Not good news for those of eagerly anticipating the return of “Baltimore” on the O’s away jerseys. I don’t know how much of this is BS, or even what to believe for that matter, but it sounds like the Orioles did consider the change, but are probably not (at least not this year) going to move forward with it. If that is the case…BOO!
Much like Paul’s disgust over the Met’s uni situation, many of us O’s fans have been wanting to see this change for decades–I’ve even seen people with petitions outside the Yard asking for signates. I don’t want to put words in mouth of Paul or anyone else on this site, but for me the most frustrating thing is the question of “how can those that have the power to make these decisions make such stupid ones, totally disrarding the wishes of the fans!?!?”
#79 by TBDRO on 05.30.07 11:39 am |
But, the Rays own the season series so far 3-1… putting the Yankees at the bottom of the standings.
#80 by Pflava on 05.30.07 11:40 am |
I’m not a fan of the Mets in the least, but I think they deserve to be discussed here just about every day for how badly they’ve screwed up a beautiful uniform set. I can’t think of another team that has crapped all over a classic set quite like they have done.
#81 by WVU Tom on 05.30.07 11:40 am |
RE: Comment #76
In case you don’t see it–scroll down on the link for the full story.
#82 by Jaye on 05.30.07 11:43 am |
Armando Benitez didn’t balk that last time. That was the wind blowing those huge pant legs. If he’d gone tighter, it wouldn’t have happened.
#83 by Colin on 05.30.07 11:43 am |
As my friends will tell you, I’m a twins hater mainly for the fairweather twin city fans. I worked there in the summer of 2002 and at the beginning of the season those games were empty. Why they started winning, it was terrible seeing all these “hardcore fans”. My question is why are Bonser and Liriano always mentioned in that trade? Liriano is gonna be a Kerry Wood (talent beyond belief, but always hurt) and Bonser is marginal at best.
#84 by goofy119 on 05.30.07 11:44 am |
Long time reader, 1st time poster….
When did MLB uniforms loose their color?
I was going through the NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME web site for Uniforms
http://www.baseballh...
and I noticed how all teams home or away used to have colorful uniforms, what happened? Today’s uniforms all look cookie cutter white home, black/gray away. In this modem era of high def televisions shouldn’t teams go away from the white/black attitude and bring back the color?
I understand most teams have 3rd/Sunday colorful uniforms but they are only used for special days or every once in a while to change the pace.
With all of the modern marketing companies and artists in the world, couldn’t MLB come up with different colors for each team. As pointed out on this web site look at Arizona and Houston for example, they are the same uniform style and colors. This is 2007 for crying out loud!!! Back in the 1900’s each team had a different look, and MLB needs that different look back.
I recommend MLB hire a “Chief of Uniforms/Logos” (a little simualr to what the NBA has) This person would make sure that each team would have a different look/colors from one another. Set rules for how many teams can wear pinstripes or go sleeveless or wear black.
MLB, bring back the color, please, gray/black is killing me and the league look.
#85 by Joey Guns on 05.30.07 11:46 am |
I just saw this on deadspin. Some guy had Mr. Met come to his birthday party.
http://www.paultambu...
Mr. Met was wearing a hat that even the Mets don’t wear!
http://www.paultambu...
At least in this pic, taken at Fenway Park last year, he’s wearing a hat that they do wear…….
http://graphics.bost...
#86 by Stuby on 05.30.07 11:46 am | &nbs