OK Mets, I get it. You want to sell merchandise. By now I imagine every John Franco fan from Staten Island has bought his black #45 t-shirt, owns three Piazza jerseys and now has a Santana. I’m here to help you make even more money off those guys.
You ask, what brings on yet another rant about black uniforms tonight? From the inbox:
Shannon — please comment on today’s ridiculous uni lineup. Mets in black shirts and caps, and Braves in dark shirts and caps too. Isn’t the point for the home team to look different than the opponent — not the same?
Of course it would make sense for the teams to look different. The NFL would never allow this. Baseball, who cares – everyone wear alt jerseys, screw tradition.
There is a force for evil in Flushing, and Charlie Samuels (the equipment manager) I fear it must be you. You must be the one who dressed the Mets like a softball team from New Jersey today. You must be the one who hates the pinstripes. You must be the one who doesn’t realize you can’t see the NY on the hats on tv when they wear the blue/black hat. (As much as I hate black Mets stuff, the all-black looks better than the hybrids.)
First let me state that I am right (about everything, but especially the black uniforms). I will use as my source the words of…wait for it….the New York Mets!
The Mets’ colors are Dodger blue and Giant orange, symbolic of the return of National League baseball to New York after the Dodgers and Giants moved to California. Blue and Orange are also the official colors of New York State.
So now that we’ve established that black doesn’t belong, but that the Mets need to sell as many “alternate” jerseys as possible to numskulls, let’s look at the options.
1. Wear Blue Jerseys.
They wore blue jerseys in the early 80s. They don’t look so great, but at least they are blue. Slap a Murphy 28 on the back and you’ll move a bunch – so long as Charlie issues them now and then (how about Sundays?)
2. Wear Orange Jerseys.
As I walk around Citi Field I see tons of Santana jerseys. Let’s pull out orange every 5th day and you’ll move a ton. It could even be a quirky tradition that they only wear orange on Santana Day, and when he moves on we can pass the tradition to the next ace. I just made that up on the fly, but I kind of like it.
3. Honor the New York Giants
Invite Willie Mays to come by, and start a tradition where the Mets sometimes wear their New York Retros. These have tons of black, and would pair nicely with the old Giants black/orange caps – so the morons that buy black and blue jerseys can wear these instead. Plus the Mets would actually acknowledge the Giants for a change. Stick a Mets circle logo on the sleeve and change the number font to Mets version so the Cooperstown Collection doesn’t get upset.
4. White jerseys with pinstripes and no black shading.
If you’re still reading you don’t need me to explain.
So how about it, Mets? We can rid ourselves of the black jerseys and you can still make money and dress in silly color combinations. Deal?
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@metspolice
personally, I have no problem with the Black jerseys, but I know that it’s not really an official jersey. I do like the black on the pinstripe jerseys (my favorite one) because it makes the blue and orange stand out better. the all black caps just suck, but better than those all white caps they had in 1997.
i heard Howie and Wayne on the radio today say that the Braves jersey was dark navy blue (or something like that) in pointing out the two teams’ jerseys and how ridiculous it was to have them looking so similar.
if the Mets were going to wear retro jerseys, don’t you think their treasonous owner would get them “Brooklyn” jerseys to wear instead of one of the jerseys you show? look in the big team stores at Citi Field to see what it looks like.
Maybe the team is just trying to attract heat to themselves. Either way, I hate the black jerseys and hats, only because every single team seems to want to wear them now, from the Blue Jays to the Marlins, and its getting rid on any identity (and tradition!) that these teams once had.
I just don’t get them. Whats the point?
I think throwback Giants/Dodgers jerseys are a fantastic idea!
I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO COMPLAINTS OVER THE BLACK FOR YEARS NOW AND IT DOESNT WORK, IM NOT SAYING I LIKE THE BLACK ON THE METS BECAUSE I PREFER THE BLUE AND ORENGE EXCLUSEVELY BUT I DONT COMPLAIN CAUSE ITS NOT GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING SO JUST NOT LET IT ANOY YOU THAT MUCH
I personally think if the Mets want to have an “alternate” jersey, why not switch the blue ones they used in batting practice last year, even the ones they have this year with the black ones…Make the black jerseys the “warmup” batting practice jerseys and the blue ones the alternate ones.
The White unis with the blue pinstripe (not black) should def. be the main home jersey not just for Sunday games. The snow whites at home or ok, at least they aint wearing those God awful white caps wit the blue bills at home that they tried that one season. The all black homes don’t work at all. As far as away jerseys are concerned, I don’t understand why the mets used the black homes in yesterdays game in SF. The aways should be the greys with the blue caps. Someone mentioned that Delgado’s 9 rbi game was the last time they used it. the only reason Samuels chose them was because it was the last Met game at yankee Stadium in honor of tradition. Chrlie Samuels don’t like the home pinstripes or the away greys with blue. As a fan I say bye with the black (selling or not). Stick to the traditionary unis.
Bring the blue jerseys back, keep the black jerseys and if your going to have orange jerseys once in a while then I’m game but keep the hats blue and the pants white!
Honoring the New York Giants is something that they are doing by donning black on the hats and jerseys but I love the Willie Mays idea! It’s about time they should definitely do something cool like that.
Hey Anonymous —
The jerseys that say “Mets” that they wore in San Francisco are the official alternate road jerseys for this year — they dropped the black “New York” jerseys from their wardrobe for some reason. Next time you see them, note the lack of a “Pizza Patch” — they only wear the Inaugural Season uniform patch at home.
Howie Rose, during a game last season said that he asked Charlie Samuels what was up with all the black uniforms worn so often (Howie wants the black gone). Samuels told Rose that he preferred the black and DIDN’T like the pinstripes!
Charlie Samuels IS Satan!
With the Mets I always wonder whether Fred Wilpon, Mr. throwback, nostalgie and baseball history, know about or cares about, whether it’s jerseys or anything that someone like him should abhor.
Yet he allows all this crap.
First thing they need to do is fire Charlie Samuels or at least not let him choose what jerseys they wear. The black jerseys have been killing me since day one. The Mets have absolutely no tradition as a team. If you have been to Citi Field this year you know what I mean. (more below)
The Mets should have one cap – Royal Blue
And two Jerseys – Home – Pinstripes
Away – Grey
They can also toss that ugly two color cap that they wear 10 times more at home then their actual home cap (royal blue)
Went to Citi Field a couple of weeks ago and I thought the Mets were an expansion team playing it's first year….Give me any 50 feet in the new Yankee Stadium and you will see more pictures and memorabilia than all of Citi combined.
BTW, I'm still calling it Shea!!!! And would the Mets please put Ralph Kiner & Bob Murphy’s name next to the retire players (you could also throw Lindys name in there also)
And that’s another thing…they have only retired one players number in 47 years…Ughhhh
how much money do you think are the mets jerseys at the met game
if charlie samuels is responsible for the mets wearing black most of the time, get rid of him. he likes black better, so thats what the mets wear? don't the wilpons have a say in this, or don't they care!!
The Mets, along with every other team need to get rid of those stupid alternate jerseys and go back to regular white jerseys at home and gray on the road. Along with that the players need to be forced to wear their pants the way baseball pants are supposed to be worn stopping right below the knees and with the stirrups showing. Last of all, this doesn’t have anything to do with the uniforms, but stop pasting the names of some banks, insurance companies, etc. in front of stadiums and start giving the stadiums real names again.