I was down in Florida recently and attended several games, including a Mets-Braves game at Lake Buena Vista (pics to come soon).
Before the game I had the opportunity to chat with a few of the Mets. One of them (not saying who) directly told me:
“…most of the guys in the clubhouse would love to ditch the black [uniforms and trim] and go with a blue alternate instead….we have a new clubhouse guy and he asked Dave [Howard] about it. Dave told him it was purely a marketing decision, that the black sells.”
So the guys in uniform AND the clubhouse guy all want to do away with the black.
The uniform discussion lasted several minutes and included thoughts on alternate shadings of blue (going back to a lighter shade) as well as orange trims.
Oh and as Shannon has pointed out many many times, if you look at the top selling items in the online Mets store, almost all are blue. Dave Howard, are you paying attention?
this is BEYOND frustrating. for the love of god, just get rid of it. please. the time has come. players don’t like it, the new equipment manager doesn’t like it, a lot of fans don’t like it and yet, it remains. i just don’t get it.
Home: off-white pinstripe (yes off white because white on the old wool uniforms worn in the 60s wasn’t REALLY white), with Blue cap
Road: Grey New York with Blue Cap
NO MORE BLACK!!!!!
They can sell all the black they want in their stores and online, but keep it off the field. I even hate their batting practice uniforms. Just wear blue with Mets script in orange and outlined in white just like the t-shirts they sell.
Get these fans/owners out of office and get Bobby V to buy the club (I hear he’s interested). He’ll get rid of the black AND the names off their backs. I love the look of just numbers (Mets did this in their early years)
I wear my pinstripes and blue cap proudly!
Why not just use it as “fashion” jerseys and hats? If it is really despised that much and they keep it for the mere fact that it “sells” then what else is new? Just effing pathetic from top to bottom this franchise. I’ve practically had it. I wish the Wilpons would just sell and let the fans root for their team without all this baggage. I think we’ve had enough embarassment to last 100 years.
No team, except the Cubs, can make the claim of having enough embarrassment to last a century.
So let me get this straight…the Mets are paying more money to people not currently in their employ than any other franchise, the team has actually lost value in the recent past, yet we’re stuck with uniforms from the _Titanic_ era because they think it’s a good financial move?
The level of irony here is awe-inspiring.
Also, note that whenever Dave Howard’s thoughts appear, he’s open about it being a marketing gimmick and never even attempts to make it about more fully honoring the Giants.
i like the Black Uni’s The Players dont have to wear them but i still will
This may just be my all-time favourite post here on Mets Police. To know the team and new Charlie don’t like the black has got to mean something. For crying out loud, these black unis have outlasted the ’83-’92 racing stripe. How is that possible?
One thing that I neglected to post was that the guy I spoke with volunteered this information. We were discussing MetsPolice and I said jokingly that we’d be kind as long as they didn’t wear black. That got him going and everything he told me was unprompted. Goes to show you how much the black unis are disliked
1. Black does not go with blue
2. Black retains heat
3. Original unis were beautiful
They also need to restore the Mets script so that the M is not falling into the other letters. Is that a marketing gimmick too?
On the side of hope, there are subtle signs that a change is afoot. aside from the fact that the derelict clubhouse manager with love of black is no longer in the picture– if you go to the team website you will notice black is absent from the primary theme colors for the first time in seemingly forever.
plus i keep hearing that people are hearing things- encouraging things.
keep applying the pressure Blue Cap Army- your efforts are not in vain
Angry, angry, angry! You would think that they would logically approach this and ditch the black! If you look at every other MLB that experimented with black in the 90s , most have ditched it because it usually doesn’t look right! Except for the White Sox. But if I were a BlueJays fan, I’d be pissed!
The White Sox are the exception because they actually changed their team colors first, and then suddenly every punk on MTV started showing up in a Sox cap. I wouldn’t doubt some consumer study or focus group factored into their decision to go retro black (it was their main color through the ’50s and into the ’60s), but in their case the dog was still wagging the tail. They decided upon a look, and it proved popular. Other teams then tried to take what was popular and turn it into their look.
The Reds are also something of an exception as their Black Plague unis were/are very similar to the ones they had previously worn in the ’60s. They also never resorted to a black game jersey.
Peter brings up an excellent point. Aside from the text, the Mets’ Web site is practically without any ‘black.’ Most of the rotating background images have featured pinstriped players … and it’s got a distinctively blue feel all around. We can only hope this, too, is a sign of things to come.
Peter, I neglected to thank you for your original post. I’ve been waiting for years to hear something like this.
Save your breath, Blue Crusaders. Two reasons:
1. The Mets are the 2nd-dumbest franchise, with the 2nd-dumbest ownership, in all of sports (the first being the Oakland Raiders).
2. Every time over the past 10 years+ there’s been a sign that maybe the black was on its way out, our hopes have been dashed.
Face it, Met fans, the black is here to stay.
TRUE METS = BLUE METS.
I agree, can the black uni’s and let’s go back to blue alternate jerseys.Almost every team tried the black look and it had its run.Now traditional colors are back.
The thing that aggravates me most about the black uniforms is that it really proves the Mets’ are run like a second rate team. To me, its become a microcosm for all that is wrong with this team. It shows a lack of respect for the fans, the history of the team, and the history of baseball, and gives way to cheesy marketing gimmicks and efforts to sell a product. To me, when I look at the Yankees in their classic uniforms, and the Mets in black, I see both of them represent the mind sets of each’s respective managements – a team that cares about its history and winning baseball games, and a team that is in some lost and confused stage.
They’re not concerned with respecting over a hundred years of National League baseball in New York City – with respecting the history and prestige of this team – they want high school kids to buy more hats. It’s sad.
I remember reading an article a while back about Steinbrenner being reluctant to put the Yankees into those “Future” uniforms when MLB was doing that. And the guy said something to the effect of “Come on, what will the Yankees be wearing in 100 years?” And Steinbrenner said something to the effect of “They are wearing what they’ll be wearing in 100 years.”
To me, if the Mets are trying to turn a new leaf and change the direction of this team, nothing could be more symbolic than ditching the black uniforms.