I couldn’t think of a proper title for this post so I went with the email title which is strangely catchy. Â If I ever start a Mets cover-band I may call it Greetings Ron Hodges Etcetera.
This email came in:
Shannon,
Was checking out some Mets fan sites and came across the following…
https://metspolice.com/2010/04/04/pictures-of-mets-hall-of-fame-and-museum-uniform-display/
And right smack dab in the center of the story was the Ron Hodges jersey that I currently own and have on loan to the Mets museum… and I laughed hard!
My name’s Nick and I’m a life-long Mets fan and collector. Over the years, I have built a collection of game used Mets jerseys, but it’s not exactly a collection centered on the stars… My collection focuses more on the odder and rarer styles the Mets wore on field, including a few different blue alternates worn from 82-84… and through networking with other collectors, I’ve built a small reputation within the hobby as the ‘oddball jersey guy.’
Earlier this year I was contacted by the Mets to showcase one of my jerseys in their museum. Their plan to provide the fans a chronological uniform history was missing 1 key piece — the blue alternate, and that is just what they contacted me for… So after giving them a choice of jerseys, they zeroed in on Ron Hodges.
Fast forward a month and that jersey is in the feature photo of your blog… Surrounded by big ticket items in a display including jerseys worn by the likes of Seaver, Stengel, McGraw, Hernandez, Wright, etc., it was comical to see that Hodges got the spotlight photo. Well, after all, it’s a quirky style jersey, but it’s Ron Hodges! Who else could be lucky enough to win a World Series ring in his first year with the team but unlucky enough to not graduate from the ranks of back-up catcher for the next 12 years? After all, isn’t he that perennial underdog that us Mets purists root for day in and day out???
I think we’re going to have to spend more time in Nick’s closet, don’t ya think?
Oh, hells yeah. This guy should be an honorary MP Captain.
I’s also be interested in getting a once-and-for all explanation of the use of the blue alts with orange lettering vs. the blue alts with the greyish-white lettering. Seems like he’d know if anyone does.
In 1982, there was just 1 style blue alternate…which you clearly can differentiate from all the rest because it had blue neck & sleeve stripes. It was the only time the Mets have ever done this. The Ron Hodges jersey is this style.
The following year, the Mets went to “home” and “road” blue alternates (similar to what they were doing with the warm-ups of this era). The home alternates had predominantly orange lettering where the roads had predominantly gray/silver lettering. These were commonly confused with the BPs of this era because they were all blue, but the following characteristics set them apart:
Alternate Gamers had…
Set Tags
Names on back (sewn onto nameplates)
Subtly different color patterns (for example, the home alternate had orange letters bordered by gray; the BP had orange bordered by white)
They only wore these jerseys for 2 years: 1983 and 1984. The would not wer an alternate jersey from 1985 until the debut of the “ice cream man” uniform of ’97.