Help The New York Mets Ditch The Black…And Help Fight Cancer!

What is this? Blue, Orange, and Pink: an effort by Mets fans, in conjunction with the American Cancer Society, to get the New York Mets to return to their traditional uniform colors and fight breast cancer at the same time.

How does it work? If you’re looking to join the cause, click the “Join Our Team” button right above this. Fill out your information (you are not required to make a donation when you join) including your e-mail address. From that point on, every time the Mets wear blue and orange caps at home, with either pinstripes or white uniforms, or blue and orange caps with gray uniforms away, you will be asked to donate $1 to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, a subsidiary of the American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society minimum for donations is $5, so you will receive an e-mail every fifth game that Mets wear blue and orange, asking you to come to the page and make a donation. All of the money we raise, as well as all of the money you personally donate, will be tracked on this website. 

Where is the money going? Can I trust this? Every donation is completely voluntary (we will never automatically deduct any money, nor do we have the ability to), and goes directly to the American Cancer Society, through this page, which is part of their official website. Neither myself, nor any third party plays any part in the direct transaction between you and the American Cancer Society.

What is your end goal? Our goal is to have 100 team members, and, if the Mets cooperate, up to 100 opportunities this season in which to donate. So at a maximum cost of $100 over the course of the entire season (or less, depending on how many games the Mets comply) you can do your part to help raise $10,000 in the fight against cancer, and the fight to put the New York Mets baseball club back in blue and orange.

When does it start? We will start sending out e-mails for the Mets first home series in June, starting against the Philadelphia Phillies on the 9th.

Ok, I want in, but I still have some questions.  Not a problem. Send any questions you have to [email protected]

Wait, you want to put the Mets back in their traditional uniforms? Huh? What exactly are you talking about?  For those of you who have just stumbled across this site, and aren’t entirely sure just what we’re talking about, let’s start way back at the beginning: 

New York City has a long and rich history of National League baseball, including one of its founding members in 1875, Mutual of New York. Mutual of New York soon folded, but the New York Giants joined the National League in 1883, and the Brooklyn Dodgers joined soon after in 1890. (American League baseball wouldn’t come to New York until 1904)

For 68 years the Giants and Dodgers would entertain New York City with their cross town, National League rivalry, helping to make New York City the center of the baseball world. That is, until 1957, when both teams picked up, and moved out to California.

New York City was crushed. And for the first time since 1882, it was without National League baseball.

A few years later, the New York Mets came along. Founded in 1962 to bring National League baseball back to New York City, the Mets were named for the New York Metropolitans who played in New York in the 1880’s. New York’s new team was an homage to its old; they wore the blue of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the orange logo of the New York Giants. In short, the Mets were an effort to keep alive the great traditions of New York baseball.

As the Mets played their first two seasons in the Giants old home, the Polo Grounds, while waiting for the new Shea Stadium to be built, fans who saw the blue and orange knew that those colors meant something. It meant that, yes, National League baseball in New York had a long and glorious past, but now, with the Mets, it also had a future.

Fast forward to the late 1990’s, when, for the last few years, the Mets hadn’t been doing so well on the field, and sales of their merchandise started to suffer. According to Dave Howard, the Mets’ executive vice president of business operations, market research at the time showed that black sporting merchandise sold better. Younger generations were more likely to buy black baseball hats and jerseys, irregardless of the team that was on it. So just like that, the Mets began to sell out over 100 years of baseball history in an effort to make more merchandise sales. 

As one blogger poetically put it: “The Mets, always seeking new ways to alienate their loyal fanbase,” are “taking a sport steeped in tradition and taking a dump on it.”

And to a certain extent, this is perfectly understandable. Alternate uniforms, particularly black ones, sell. (And many teams started to figure this out. At one point, it seemed that every single professional sports team, from the Detriot Lions to the Kansas City Royals, had alternate black uniforms.) But people can wear black Mets hats and shirts all they’d like. I’m not going to argue with you that blue and orange are easier to match with street clothes than black is. (I own many, many black articles of clothing. Very little, outside of baseball gear, that is blue and orange.) But plenty of organizations sell “alternate” colors without actually wearing them. Check out MLB.com, and you can buy a Yankees or Dodgers hat in black, or just about any color. In fact, I ran into a friend of mine today with a black Yankees cap on. “I like to wear black.” he said, “but I would kill them if they ever wore this during a game.”

Much like modern architecture would in the heart of Paris, wearing trendy uniforms doesn’t make us look cool, it makes us look like we don’t understand the importance of the history that surrounds us. 

And this seems to be representative of a larger problem within this organization. The Mets are a storied franchise with a history to be proud of, and instead we act like an expansion team who’s more interested current gimmicks and trends, as if we have no traditions or history to celebrate, and are desperately vying for anyone’s attention.

We don’t use our own theme song anymore (though we’ll save the Sweet Caroline discussion for another website), there’s nothing in the stadium dedicated to the team or its championships, we’re, perhaps, the only team in Major League Baseball who has their pennants hidden from sight, and we can’t even wear our own uniforms or proper colors anymore. Quite frankly, its embarrassing.

Tradition is not something that’s innate; it needs to be learned and passed down from generation to generation. And right now, its falling through the cracks. It saddens me to think that we’re loosing an entire generation to marketing and trends.

(If we must wear alternates, may I suggest doing what the Phillies and Indians do, and make them “throwbacks” and a nod to history. Wear them, but as alternates, that is, one day a week. That way the Mets can sell more uniforms, but still respect tradition.)

Remember, “The fans stay true to the orange and blue!”

What is breast cancer? Breast cancer is a malignant (cancerous) tumor that starts from cells of the breast. The disease occurs primarily in women, but men can get breast cancer as well.

A woman’s breast is made up of glands that make breast milk (lobules), ducts (small tubes that connect lobules to the nipple), fatty and connective tissue, blood vessels, and lymph (pronounced limf) vessels. Most breast cancers begin in the ducts (ductal carcinoma), some begin in the lobules (lobular carcinoma), and the rest in other tissues.

Lymph vessels are like veins, except that they carry lymph fluid instead of blood. Lymph is a clear fluid that contains immune system cells and waste products. Lymph vessels lead to small, bean-shaped collections of tissue called lymph nodes. Most lymph vessels of the breast lead to lymph nodes under the arm. These are called axillary (AX-uh-lair-ee) nodes. If breast cancer cells reach the underarm lymph nodes and continue to grow, they cause the nodes to swell. Once cancer cells have reached these nodes, they are more likely to spread to other organs of the body.

Aside from being female, age is the most important factor affecting breast cancer risk. Moderate or vigorous physical activity, maintaining a healthy body weight, having first child before age 30, breastfeeding, and avoiding alcohol or drinking less than 2 drinks each day are all associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.

To learn more about breast cancer, please visit www.cancer.org/breastcancer call us toll-free at 1-800-ACS-2345, anytime, day or night.