Hello Mets fans,
Were the Mets in first place I’d be getting a bunch of SHUT UP WHO CARES YOU SUCK reactions, but with the Mets 5 games out and The Dark Knight (0-3, 25-21 career) not pitching so well, there are other things for Mets Twitter (I hate that term) to be mad at, so let me sneak this one in for the diehards.
A few things I am noticing:
- David Wright is wearing a blue undershirt. As regular Mets Police readers know, the official MLB rules state….
So it is good to see The Captain following the rules. Past versions of this rule allowed for a “heather gray” undershirt to be worn, but I believe that language has been removed.
2. In last night’s game, Niko noticed coach Kevin Long in violation…
@metspolice Meanwhile, Kevin Long is wearing the wrong cap. pic.twitter.com/6ssJEmAo5L
— MetsPlus by Niko G. (@NikoMetsPlus) April 16, 2016
I will get back to that in a second.
3. To my eye, it appeared that Terry Collins pulled a Buck Showalter/Terry Francona this week and wore a jacket one day and a sweatshirt a different day. Both hid that he didn’t appear to have a uniform top on.
Similarly, I saw someone in the dugout last night wearing a Mets sweatshirt. I asked on twitter who it was, and our best guess is Dick Scott.
Which brings me to the next lawyering of the rulebook. Note the rule above says PLAYER. So, does Terry Collins have to be in uniform, or can he wear a suit or sweat pants or jeans? Unclear. However I can lawyer you on coaches.
But wait, let’s keep lawyering. Was Dick Scott on the “playing field?” Was Long?
I will argue yes, as Section 2.00 is called THE PLAYING FIELD and subsection 2.05 is called Benches. Even if your lawyer wants to say Long and Scott were not on the playing field, clearly the jacketed Dan Warthen must wear a matching uniform were he to go to the mound.
…
Anyway, I find this fun. There are I find rules broken every single game.
There are rules about not fraternizing with opponents while in uniform, so hopefully Mr. Torre will cut down on chatting at first base.
There are rules about not interacting with fans, so hopefully Mr. Torre will clamp down on outfielders flipping a baseball to a kid.
I find the rules to be shockingly loose. Does a manager need to be in uniform? Show me.
Could Cespedes wear a polka dot head to toe compression body suit as long as his uniform and undershirt match, and there was no advertising on it, I think so.
In case you’re wondering what the penalty is – the way I read it (from the Collective Bargaining Agreement) is that the first step is that the umpire would ask the offending player to change into a matching uniform. The next step would be a warning from the league.
So once again, I propose that on 9/11 David Wright accidentally forget to remove his FDNY cap and take the field in it, and let’s see if the umpires make him change or if the league sends a warning. Nobody cared what Kevin Long had on his head, and apparently you can play on national TV in your Royals Champions cap. Selective enforcement isn’t cool.
….
Addendum, got a note from Michael below. I had to run out and haven’t verified this (for 2016) but in the past the below was true, and I interact with Michael every day and he doesn’t seem like he’d punk me on a CBA rule.
