Posted on by Shannon Shark @metspolice

Mets Black Uniform War: now what?

(If you’ve made it here from MetsBlog welcome.  Check out today’s post which features pictures from a 1985 game where Rusty Staub played OF for the last time.)

Hmmm.  I’m not sure where we go from here.  I can’t believe it was Colactus who brought the black back to Citi Field.  This definitely puts a strain on our relationship and is making it very hard to root for the guy.

That being said, I’m not going to cut off my nose to spite my face and root for the Mets to lose just because they are dressed like a softball team.

It totally sucks that the black coincided with a winning streak – but the winning streak coincided with Jason Bay returning and a lineup that actually had a left fielder and protection for David Wright and also the Arizona Diamondbacks as the opponent.

I really thought we were done with this crap after the first homestand.  I thought that Kevin Kierst was the savior…but nooooo Terry has to get all superstitious because his team was tied for 4th in wins at Citi Field (they are now first).

So black-haters, I’m feeling beaten down.  As you know I can go on and on and on about this, but I need help.  Fortunately, there are others with even more powerful blogs.

…

Here’s a weekend comment from Phil who wrote a great tirade about the black on Uni Watch on Saturday…definitely read it if you take weekends off the internet.  The below is not the Uni Watch column, but a separate rant.

Yes, (Saturday’s) column was penned by me, and i won’t presume to speak for paul, but i’m pretty sure he feels the same way

the difference between paul and I (and i would suspect the good folks at MP) is that we don’t really give a (hoot) whether the uniform goes with people’s street clothing — the point of the uniform is to outfit the TEAM not the fans

the black in the mets uniform has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE GIANTS, and anyone who claims so is not only making a specious (at best) claim, but uttering a falsehood at worst…as paul himself said:

“They did NOT take black from the Giants. That was (and for some folks still is) a back-door rationalization. Just a coincidence. Total BFBS.”

and just because 1/3 of the mets history happens to include black, 2/3rds does not…it was not originally a mets color, plain and simple

i will agree that if you want to wear fanboy gear, authentics or replicas, yes, black does go better with your street clothes — but the point of a uniform is not, nor should it EVER be, simply to sell shit to the public…and despite their success in the racing stripes, i personally detested them — but at least they were in royal and orange

it may “define” the era of piazza, reyes and wright just as the houston astros tequila sunrises defined nolan ryan, or the bumblebee pirates defined willie stargell and kent tekulve…doesn’t mean either of those two uniform iterations defined the pirates or astros long term — hell, the white sox wore two of the more garish (but distinctive) uniforms in a 12 year period (the early 20th centruy fauxbacks and the beach blanket bingo‘s that followed — but would you say either of those uniforms defined the white sox?

you may want a more fan-friendly look for your team if you wish to wear their jersey around…and indeed the mets no doubt want to tap into the lucrative market that is jersey & paraphernalia sales…

but to say black is part of the mets uniform history is true — but what is not true is that it was added for any other reason than because it was trendy … it was NOT done as a nod to the giants, in any way, shape or form

…

You guys need to read Uni Watch every day.  They’ve been fighting the War on Black since way before I started my dopey site.  I am folding my former #waronblack hashtag into their #ditchtheblack so that we can present a unified front.

They say it gets darkest (ha) before the dawn.  Hopefully the 50th anniversary will lead to change and tradition.  The Treaty of Flushing is still on the table if anyone wants to meet in a subway car.

 

14 Replies to “Mets Black Uniform War: now what?”

  2. Maybe it’s a good sign that the Mets are delaying their Golden Jubilee to the 50th Anniversary next year, instead of the 50th season this year.

    (As we all recall, the Silver Jubilee was in 1986, the 25th season, when they won the World Series wearing this sleeve patch.)

    The 1995-97 uniform was the same as the original 1962 set, except with sans-serif numerals, number on the front, and player name on the back. Perhaps Mr. Alderson has a change in mind for next year…

    Wishful thinking, I know. Every positive sign we’ve seen over the past 10 years has turned out to be a red herring. We’ll see…..

    1. That patch is a repro…here is an authentic 1986 Uniform Patch currently on ebay. I see very few of these, but a lot of the smaller patch the Mets issued to their fan club…you can tell that one from the uniform patch because it is smaller, has less sharp detail and the point on the bottom is rounded. I have a couple of these or I would pick it up myself.

      1. Good eye, but I was only making the point about the team celebrating the 25th season as opposed to the anniversary, whereas it appears they’re doing the opposite for the 50th.

        Perhaps this is also further evidence that the organization is kind of “writing off” this year, although they could have generated some interest with some Anniversary events. (Kind of like the Islanders used to do by retiring the numbers of decent but hardly legendary players.) Maybe the closing of Shea is still too fresh for more historical re-hashings at the ballpark.

        1. They started doing anniversaries after 1986…2002 was marketed as the 40th. Most teams do season celebrations, but some do anniversaries. It is personal preference I guess…I’d prefer season.

          It’s funny that on the 25th Season patch, they incorrectly called it “anniversary” which would have been in 1987. Lucky for us though, because the championship year had a cool patch to identify itself. Anyone looking for the authentic patch should jump on that one.

          1. I used to be able to tell the front runners by whose merch had that patch. I respected you more if you didn’t. 25 years later its the mark of a diehard.

            There was some massive front running circa 1986. Massive.

    2. Just for the sake of completeness…

      In addition to the differences you listed, the ’95-’97 unis had an additional white outline on the writing on the home uniforms and the sleeve braid was not present on the original road set.

      1. Nice. Thanks, Sparks.

        The white outline was something that always bothered me about the Mets’ road grays from 1988-94. I actually liked the 1993-94 road grays with the script “New York” (smaller than the ’87 script, with a proper capital N and the “tail” underneath through the bottom of the Y), except for the white outline.

        ON the home jerseys, though, the white outline didn’t bother me. The Mets got it just about perfect in 1995 and there was never any reason to mess with it.

  3. I’m thinking of the blue. I’ve always felt it had a green tint to it. It just occurred to me to check Petruccio’s drawing for the 80s uni, and sure enough, it’s Pantone 287 blue, which is a blue w a strong green accent. I knew I was seeing that overtone.

    Would you have any interest, Shannon, in approaching Petruccio to find out why this blue was used in the 80s unis, whether it was used before in Mets unis, and basically what’s the deal w this greenish blue? Does he have a theory why it might have been chosen?

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YuuT8NnYW7g/TacXj7auRlI/AAAAAAAAA9U/SIV6a7tbgwo/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-04-14+at+11.48.17+AM.png

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