Good morning. Â Thanks to everyone who sent in guest posts and thought-starters. Â I really appreciate the contributions, it shows we have a community here (and it does make the daily upkeep of the blog easier). Â I can’t tell you how many mornings I wake up with no idea where I’m heading, and then I check my email and find all sorts of cool stuff to write about.
I’m actually taking some time here on Tuesday night during the doubleheader to work ahead. Â I enjoy watching the Mets (Ollie just Ollie’d) and blogging – and if I work ahead I can watch TV tonight and tomorrow night and empty the DVR a tad.
Regarding the ongoing discussion of “the black.” Â I know some people don’t care and are bored with it…however, I keep checking the emails/comments/twitter and it comes up. Â I’m trying to space out the black uniform stuff so it doesn’t get repetitive. Â However, I don’t think it’s right to ignore the topic.
I’m fishing for “wacky uniforms” (say you have a “Cubbage” jersey) – send pictures in so we can goof on it and you in a loving way. Â If you read the site every day you’ve probably picked up that this is all in good fun.
I’m also interested in Bud Harrelson stories. Â I hope to write about Buddy later this week.
Don’t forget that you can see a public appearance by Ron Darling tonight (I can’t make it, personal life plans interfere) and keep those guest posts coming to [email protected]
The site continues to grow, April 2010 is already the biggest month in terms of readership, some of the real media is taking this seriously, and man if I told you who I heard from yesterday you wouldn’t believe me. Â All the success is because of people like you and other passionate fans like Peter. Â Peter take it away…
Hey Shannon,
I am a huge fan of your work on Mets Police. Though the Mets certainly didn’t read the manifesto I wrote them on the state of the Mets and the steps that needed to be taken to salvage the franchise from the wreckage it was fast becoming in the dreaded summer of Art Howe, it appears you may have. Or more likely, we are like-minded individuals and rather than write a letter that probably went straight to the trash when it arrived at Shea, you have started a website that has actually captured the attention of the Mets front office. Well done, and keep up the fantastic work!
I am writing in regards to the ongoing discussion about the awful black plague that has infested Mets unis for the past decade or so. Needless to say, I don’t like it at all…never did and most certainly never will. The fad has long since seen its day and is now as irrelevant as “Who Let the Dogs Out?” was by the time the Mets hired the Bahamen to rerecord it as “Who Let the Mets Out?” for the 2000 post-season. Yes, that irrelevant.
But, for my own amusement, I recently did some research on the National Baseball Hall of Fame Uniform Database to try to delineate the etiology of the Mets unis through the years. I was surprised and disappointed to see that for National League teams in New York, the ancestors of our Mets, the historical precedent for the dreaded black jerseys actually predates that of the trademark interlocking NY which currently graces our caps (the black is seen in the database for the first time in 1905, our NY in 1908) I think the old NY Giants would wear black in commemoration of the WS and according to the database these would reemerge from time to time. I didn’t do the extra five minutes of research to cross-reference vs. Championship season. Regardless, its still no excuse in my book but for the present day Mets, but perhaps acquits them on the Black for Black’s Sake charges that uniwatch article hurled their way in the link you posted earlier this week.
Anyway, here are those 1905 unis
And, in case you are interested in some more of the unofficial etiology of Mets unis I compiled, it appears with hyperlinks below.
Thanks again and keep up the good work. With any luck the Mets will someday join the ranks of teams that leave black behind, and win a World Series in pins with Blue Caps.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks,
-Peter
Etiology of NY Mets unis:
A legitimate throwback
1904-1907 NY Giants
The first sighting of the interlocking NY we now know and love
1908 NY Giants
The first photo I can find of that NY
1909 NY Giants
The first sighting of said interlocking NY on a cap
1911 NY Giants
The obvious choice for what the current Mets should wear on extreme throwback days
The very dapper 1916 NY Giants
The emergence of our original and current road uniform (in Giants colors)
The 1933 NY Giants
The father of the Mets uniform emerges: In 1940 the Giants wore blue and orange
(official colors of City of New York dating back to its establishment as New Amsterdam)
in recognition of the final year of the first New York World’s Fair. 22 years later this color scheme
would reemerge on the most important baseball team in the history of the game.) The look was a hit too
and stuck around to 1946.
1940 NY Giants
What about the Dodgers? I always knew that the Mets were formed to replace the void left by the loss of New York’s 2 National League teams and that the orange and blue in the uni’s were chosen to reflect that loss. Being that the blue played such a dominant role in Mets unis I always figured we were 2 parts Dodgers and 1 part Giants, but those 40-46 Giants unis have to make you wonder how much Dodger influence there was at all. What do you think?
1943 Brooklyn Dodgers
Genesis: And God said, “Let there be Mets!”
1962 New York Metropolitans
I emailed back and forth with Peter – Â I believe the 1940’s Giants jerseys to be red not orange. Â Peter replied:
The 40’s era Giants definitely did have a great look. From the limited research I have done I am pretty sure that is orange in the scheme. I don’t have a jersey (and am certainly jealous of yours) but I do have the vintage cap that American Needle makes and it is definitely orange there and they seem to take painstaking efforts to ensure authenticity. Here is a link to that hat… (because of a glitch on MLB’s online shop it is really hard to find, and so I have always received envious stares when I wear it out to Shea or whatever they’re calling it these days.  Link is here.
That hat is fantastic! Â I am going to buy one! Â In case you’re wondering he is referring to my el-cheapo and I suspect bootleg Mel Ott jersey I bought on ebay. Â I’ll post a picture soon. Â I’ll be rolling some more guest posts today as we go along.
You must have been thrilled that the Mets wore blue for both ends of the double-header against the Dodgers. If I were the uniform decision makers, however, they would always wear black against the Dodgers and blue against the Giants. FWIW.
@michael, i did like it. I mentioned on twitter that i would bet $5 that the last time they did that was (my guess) September 1997. It was a road DH in Philly. Black didnt start until 98. and I dont think they wore the awful white caps on the road –
are the white caps to blame for black?
Purely speculative, but I think the unpopularity of the white “iced cream man” caps (i.e. nobody wanted to buy one – http://ultimatemets.com/uniforms.html) was the reason they went away. Then Mets management began to reassess the historical color scheme and, voila – back in black!
@michael, i wonder why they introduced the white in the first place. I think I’ll kill those some day when I get bored.
And today they’re Back in Black!
i wish i could figure out the rhyme or reason (re black)
Wow… Awesome info on old uniforms. Looking at that I have to ask, would you rather have the black, or the 1916 uniform with plaid, and what is that fuchsia socks?? Complain about the black too much and you never know what you may get.
@mike g: i dare the mets to show up in plaid. If they make it I will buy one.
Black is far preferable to wearing the cloth that should be on the country table. 😉
1940-46 Giants is absolutely red and not orange. One need only look at the stirrups and shirt to discern that. I still believe, however, that changing the red to orange (and replacing the Giants with Mets, in the same lettering style, across the chest)would be a great alt jersey.
I also have to agree that the 40’s Giants wore red and not orange.
I actually have the above hat and there is no mistaking it is red…
But it’s a great hat and I have nearly worn mine out… tough to wear at Citizens Bank Park though.
As the writer of this post, I will concede that it certainly would make sense that a red white and blue scheme was worn during the WWII years, although since the US did not enter the war until December 1941, this doesn’t explain the 1940 or 1941 season.
Unfortunately the database is far from definitive… you can look up recent Mets seasons and see that they don’t document the existence of a black Mets jersey over the past decade.
Perhaps, and this may be a stretch and is purely hypothetical, the Giants did switch to and orange white and blue scheme in 1940 in commemoration of the World’s Fair and then decided to keep the look but go patriotic during the years of US involvement in WWII.
Regardless, they are fantastic uniforms and clearly were quite influential when the Mets people got together to design a uniform in the run up to the 1962 season.
Thanks for all the feedback… and thanks again for publishing this Shannon!
This is a great post, kept me from doing my work for nearly an hour now!
AWesome Post. But I actually own that fitted and it is definitely RED and NOT orange. However, if the Mets were to adopt that fitted and switch the RED with ORANGE I would be the first one to support it. As long as they get rid of the stupid Hybrid cap, I’d be happy.