Did you know that even in the U.K. they hate black uniforms? Thomas from the Checked Swing blog dropped me a note:
Dear Mets Police Chief,
Back in May I blogged at Checked Swing about the Mets Uniforms. I’ve updated my research and would be honoured to have it used on Mets Police, since I know how strongly you feel about the black uniforms. I’ve already posted it here: http://checkedswing.blogspot.
A great guest article below. Oh, someone tell Charlie to unpack the black uniforms, I’ll be there tonight. Everyone please add Checked Swing to the list of blogs you check out.
Since the beginning of the season I’ve been checking what uniforms the Mets had been wearing, bemoaning the lack of pinstripes. Back in June we discovered that the Mets themselves have been tracking their record with the different uniforms. Here’s the records for the games up to August 2nd (note that where the Mets wore a special cap, such as for holiday weekends, the color of the batting helmet is used to determine the uniform):
| Uniform | No. of times worn | Record | Winning % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Road Grays with Hybrid Cap | 36 | 15-21 | 0.417 |
| Black with Black Cap | 23 | 10-13 | 0.435 |
| Home White with Blue Caps | 21 | 15-6 | 0.714 |
| Home White with Hybrid Caps | 18 | 8-10 | 0.444 |
| Pinstripes with Blue Caps | 5 | 1-4 | 0.200 |
| Pinstripes with Hybrid Caps | 1 | 1-0 | 1.000 |
So Pinstripes have been avoided as if they’ve got leprosy. In fact they were worn twice in April, twice in May (including once with the hybrids), once in June and once in July. Meanwhile the all-black uniform has been worn 23 times, including seven games in a row between the 19th and 26th of July.If we discount the poor Pinstripes due to small sample size, we can see that the only time the Mets have a winning percentage is with the white jerseys and blue caps. When the Mets won five straight at the end of last month, they won games 3, 4 and 5 of the streak wearing blue caps. Second game of the doubleheader against the Rockies, they don the Black again and Bam! The streak is over.Even if Charlie Samuels prefers the Black and hates the pinstripes, as has been claimed, the fact that the Mets lose games when you put a black or hybrid cap on them and win games when you put a blue cap on them should convince him otherwise.
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Does anyone know if there's some reason the Mets can't wear the blue caps with the road grays? God forbid they should choose such a traditional combination. I could understand if they didn't want to travel with three sets of batting helmets, but they could leave either the hybrids or the all black helmets at home for one trip sometime…
I think the black stuff is 'okay'. I'm not crazy about it though and I wish they wouldn't wear them as much. However, it makes for whenever they DO wear the home whites/ blue caps that much more special and pinstripes REALLY special.