Ditch the Black

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

http://ditchtheblack.uniwatchblog.com/

[Guest Edgy DC]

Black is black
I want my Nady back

[metirish]

Tonight Ron asked Gary if the Mets wore the black uni during the 2000 post-season, Gary thought for a sec and said that they wore the black uni mostly during that run....

[metsmarathon]

heh... i like the black. maybe its because i think that i personally look ridiculous in reams of bright blue. its selfish, but true.

[Valadius]

The black gives us more flexibility. I happen to like it.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I've always liked the black unis. And I do associate them with the 1999-2000 seasons.

[HahnSolo]

No black unis at home, please. If I have to see black, let it be on the road.

Did I read somewhere, maybe this forum, that it's Charlie Samuels' call on what uniforms to wear for each game?

[stevejrogers]

In the words of Frayed Knot, though he does come a little from out in LF =

Well you wonder why Mets always dress in black,
why you never see bright colors on their backs.
And why does their appearance seem to have a somber tone?
Well there's a reason for the unis they have on.

They wear black for the poor and the beaten down,
for those not living on the south Bronx side of town.
They wear 'em for the teams that have long paid for their crimes
but are down as though they're victims of the times.

Well they wear black for the fans who've never read,
or listened to to words that Bill James said.
Of learning about baseball through statistical theory,
why it's as if he's talking straight to you and me.

While some are doin' mighty fine I do suppose,
with all their rings and their fancy pin-striped clothes.
But just to be reminded of the ones who are held black,
in New York there oughta be a team in black.

Yes they wear black for bitter and the old,
and for the ones whose road trips leave them cold.
They wear 'em for the young players whose careers have never been,
each year we draft a hundred fine young men.

And they wear black for the thousands who have cried
thinking that the fates would be their guide.
And they wear 'em for the dreams of those pennants that have died,
when it seems as if the umps weren't on their side.

Well there's things that never will be right I know,
and things need changing everywhere Bud Selig goes.
But until the basic agreement starts to make a few things right,
you'll never see Mets wearing only white

Oh we'd love to wear blue and orange everyday,
and tell the world that everything's O-K.
But for now the daily standings form a burden on our backs,
and until things are brighter we'll be the team in black

[stevejrogers]

HahnSolo wrote: No black unis at home, please. If I have to see black, let it be on the road. Did I read somewhere, maybe this forum, that it's Charlie Samuels' call on what uniforms to wear for each game?

Yes, some teams its the Starting Pitcher, but for the Mets its Charlie's call

[metirish]

] Did I read somewhere, maybe this forum, that it's Charlie Samuels' call on what uniforms to wear for each game?

Ron and Gary were talking about this last night,Ron would like to see more of the clasic home uni with blue caps,Gary said that if you asked Charlie Samuels' he'd tell you that the Mets win/loss record on those uniforms is not good.

[Guest cooby]

Do they ever still wear black?

[soupcan]

Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate the black unis and the black drop shadow on the Mets script on the white unis and the white pinstriped unis as well as on the 'New York' across the chest of the road grays.

I also detest the all black hats with the tri-color 'NY'.

I do like the black hats with the blue bill and think that these hats should be road hats, worn only with the road grays that say 'New York' (sans drop shadow of course).

The only solace I take when I see the Mets wearing all black is that a black uniform does have some precedence in baseball history...


Baltimore circa 1901


New York, National League circa 1905

These were the only examples I could find but I think there was a team named the Spiders that also wore all black unis around the turn of the century.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I also despise the black jerseys and the all-black caps. While I prefer blue caps and pinstripes, I don't object to the blue and black caps or to the all-white home uniforms.

I know that the variations exist because they help sell more merchandise, and I'm okay with that. So I'd allow the black jerseys and caps to continue, but they should be used very sparingly.

And I want to see pinstripes and blue in the postseason. I think (though I'm not sure) the Mets may have worn black jerseys and caps for every postseason game they played in 1999 and 2000.

[soupcan]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I I think (though I'm not sure) the Mets may have worn black jerseys and caps for every postseason game they played in 1999 and 2000.

And since those postseasons did not end the way we would've wanted, its time to change the karma.

[metirish]

] And I want to see pinstripes and blue in the postseason. I think (though I'm not sure) the Mets may have worn black jerseys and caps for every postseason game they played in 1999 and 2000.

Ron asked Gary about that last night and Gary thought they wore the black in just about every game going to the WS.

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: Black is black I want my Nady back

Grey is grey
Only for a road game day.

Later

[Guest Mr. Zero]

the only reason the Mets put on the black unis was to move more merch. the black happened to be the color of the moment when they were introduced. all part of the mets unfortunate and self-induced identity crisis (don't get me started on why the new stadium has to look like Ebbets Field. yeesh).

this plague of drop shadows, multiple outlines, and dimensional looking type and logos is pervasive throughout sports and will hopefully (though I'm not that hopeful) go away soon.

[HahnSolo]

In 2000, they wore white unis when Agbayani hit the HR against the Giants, so they didn't wear black in every game. They also wore white in WS games 3 and 5, IIRC.

[HahnSolo]

SteveJRogers wrote: ="HahnSolo"]No black unis at home, please. If I have to see black, let it be on the road. Did I read somewhere, maybe this forum, that it's Charlie Samuels' call on what uniforms to wear for each game? Yes, some teams its the Starting Pitcher, but for the Mets its Charlie's call

Curious, why is it his decision?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I think we need a bloodless coup.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah.

I was just looking at an issue of Inside Pitch, with Reyes and Wright on the cover, Reyes in royal cap and pinstrip, Wright in all white with the deep blue and black batting helmet and the deep blue trim on the all-white uniform.

Reyes looked like a Met, Wright looked like a player for a nondescript college team.

The black is a leftover from a gangsta-chic era, and, like any timeless insitltution that affiliates itself with a passing trend, the Mets end up looking stupid and tired --- rather than timeless and noble --- wthen the trend passes.

And just keeping multiple uniforms in cicrulation is a crass attempt ot maximize profit in the short term, while ignoring the long-tem financial effects of degrading a brand.

Two uniforms.

[stevejrogers]

Yup. Hence also the rather un-baseball like caps that MLB (and every other league) have been pushing for championship celebrations.

These caps are created soley for the non-baseball fan (both male and female) that hate the regular baseball cap (built a little too tough not snug fitting, and too warm to wear on a regular basis, ect) to pick up more merchandise so they can look "chic" and "hip" by wearing a cap symbolizing a MLB team (or any team) that achieved a championship (or a postseason birth)

[seawolf17]

How about the circa-mid 90's white hat?



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! God, those were ugly.

[soupcan]

I, um, liked those.

[Valadius]

Oh MAN those look horrible.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Ick!

[Guest KC]

The black has grown on me, but I still signed the petitioin ... I won't miss it
if it becomes extinct.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Well, it's not like they couldn't sell black jerseys. AFAIC, they can sell pink jerseys. It's really about what the players wear.

I have zero confidence the petition will do much of anything, but I signed on.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Times...

]October 8, 2006 Flushing At Shea, the Name of the Game Is Color War By JOHN FREEMAN GILL When the New York Mets took the field at Shea Stadium on Wednesday for Game 1 of the National League Division Series, Paul Lukas, an ardent lifelong fan, was in the loge, wearing a blue Mr. Met cap and cheering the players on. It was a beautiful afternoon for baseball, with red, white and blue bunting fringing the green grass beneath a deep blue sky. But amid all the color and pageantry, Mr. Lukas could not help feeling rankled by the inclusion of one nontraditional hue in the team�s uniforms: black, the dominant color in the Mets� caps. �It�s the home opener, they�ve got the bunting up, and the blue cap is their official home cap as stated in the Major League Baseball Style Guide,� said Mr. Lukas, the editor of Uni Watch blog, a Web log devoted to sports uniforms. �They�ve got all this tradition going on, and they can�t even honor their own tradition.� When the Mets began play in 1962, the fifth season after the Brooklyn Dodgers� and New York Giants� much-lamented departures for California, their uniform incorporated blue and orange as a respectful nod to those two franchises. But in 1998, the Mets began including black in the team�s home and away uniforms, in various combinations. �The black was added as a style element based on some degree of research of fans in terms of what was popular in the marketplace,� Dave Howard, the Mets� executive vice president of business operations, said on Thursday. �At the time, our traditional hats and uniforms were selling hardly at all.� But to Mr. Lukas, the change bordered on sartorial sacrilege. �It would be like if in Washington they decided that the red, white and blue is a little outdated, and maybe we should change the red to a burgundy,� he said. Consequently, as the team charged toward the high-visibility postseason, Mr. Lukas launched a playful but heartfelt campaign calling on the Mets to banish black from their uniforms and �reinstate blue to its place of chromatic supremacy in the team�s color scheme.� So far, more than 800 fans have signed on to his petition, at www.ditchtheblack.com. Mr. Howard said that the Mets� uniforms would remain the same through 2007 but that the team might revisit the issue for the opening of the club�s new ballpark in 2009. Still, he said, �if you look around the building, you�re seeing a lot of the black, so it�s clear fans vote most effectively with their pocketbook.� In Shea�s loge, opinions on the question were mixed. �They�ve had a lot of losing in the past, so it�s cool they have something newer, to start a new tradition,� said Derik Aasan, a 28-year-old beer sales representative. Joe Campbell, a 50-year-old database administrator, disagreed. �For a lot of people, blue and orange is what they grew up with, and a change from that is a change from tradition, so it doesn�t appeal,� he said. Why, then, was Mr. Campbell wearing a predominantly black Mets jersey? �It was the only one I could get,� he said ruefully.

[DocTee]

IIRC, Samuels opts for black hats to keep with Rick Peterson's jacket...having a blue hat and black jacket would look tacky (as opposed to black hats and jackets, which just looks bad).

Ban the Black.