None More Black (split from IGT Game Seven)

[batmagadanleadoff]

Rant!

SteveJRogers wrote: There have been rumblings that they were planning on dialing it down, so while the black with blue brim caps are still the official road cap and occasional home cap, it has seemed the black is close to being ditched.

If the Mets are planning a uniform change for next season, we will soon find out. I think that teams have until sometime next month to notify the league if they intend to change their uniforms for next season.

While I would certainly welcome a change, (and I've been hoping for one ever since I first saw the new black unis before the '98 season started) especially one that eliminates the color black from every single element of the Mets uniform, I'm not so confident that the Mets will do the right thing, the tasteful thing. I think that the Mets have no boundaries here and are capable of doing just about anything to their uniforms. Maybe they'll bring back the tail from 1993-94 and make their front uniform number the color red. Maybe Wilpon will petition the league to have the word "Dodgers' on the front. The New York Dodgers. Or the word Dodgers after the word Mets. The New York Mets hyphen Dodgers. Hey - is Tom Seaver getting a statute in front of Citi Field? Or is it not enough to be the greatest player ever in the history of the franchise and the best pitcher of your generation?

[metsmarathon]

i need to start my own exclusive club just for people who actually don't hate the black...

[Benjamin Grimm]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: While I would certainly welcome a change, (and I've been hoping for one ever since I first saw the new black unis before the '98 season started) especially one that eliminates the color black from every single element of the Mets uniform, I'm not so confident that the Mets will do the right thing, the tasteful thing.

I fear that the new uniform will be brick red and teal. (Or whatever the currently hip colors may be.)

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Hey - is Tom Seaver getting a statute in front of Citi Field? Or is it not enough to be the greatest player ever in the history of the franchise and the best pitcher of your generation?

The statue won't be of Seaver, but of Johnny Podres.

[metirish]

metsmarathon wrote: i need to start my own exclusive club just for people who actually don't hate the black...

I'm in , I have various black Mets hats and jerseys.

[metsmarathon]

maybe to increase our team's popularity with girls, we'll go with pink alternate jerseys.




mrs marathon would so love that.

[Guest Triple Dee]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: If the Mets are planning a uniform change for next season, we will soon find out. I think that teams have until sometime next month to notify the league if they intend to change their uniforms for next season.

Isn't the black jersey the second-best selling after the Pinstripes? If so, no chance they'll be ditched.

I could never understand why people are so repulsed by the black uniforms (and I'm fairly certain they don't understand themselves). Black is a neutral color, and looks for more respectable on a baseball jersey, than say, the solid blue effort of the early 80s.

Maybe the Mets should introduce a powder blue jersey (like many teams are this year) to pay homage to the powder blue jersey they never had.

[Valadius]

We could use a split.

[Guest Triple Dee]

On the subject of uniforms, does anybody know whether the Mets will make their "Negro League" jersey available for sale to fans.

[Guest AG/DC]

Triple Dee wrote: Isn't the black jersey the second-best selling after the Pinstripes? If so, no chance they'll be ditched.

The Yankees have proven that you don't need to don apparel to sell apparel.

Triple Dee wrote: I could never understand why people are so repulsed by the black uniforms (and I'm fairly certain they don't understand themselves). Black is a neutral color, and looks for more respectable on a baseball jersey, than say, the solid blue effort of the early 80s.

Because it wa cheap pander as part of an ugly trend from the nineties. The Mets find greatness is in leading, not following.

[Guest Triple Dee]

AG/DC wrote: The Mets find greatness is in leading, not following.

You know, I'm sure many ex-Dodger and Giant fans were repulsed at the idea of the Mets wearing pinstripes in 1962.

[Guest AG/DC]

Picking up a traditon from lost teams that acknowledge a tragic severing of a relationship and playing "Sweet Caroline" because it works in Boston and we can't think of our own act are two different things.

The Mets were seemingly the fiftieth team in 10 years to switch to black. They were not the fiftieth to adopt the Giants' jettisonned insignia.

[seawolf17]

Splitted.

I don't HATE the black. I have a black hat, mostly on days when I either can't find my blue one or when my two-year-old is wearing his black hat and demands that we wear the same one. (All black, not the black/blue brim combo.)

I understand the vitriol against the black, though... I posted in the IGT about it the other day. I don't see it going away, though.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Triple Dee wrote: Isn't the black jersey the second-best selling after the Pinstripes? If so, no chance they'll be ditched.

What do you mean by "pinstripes"? Mets pinstripes? Yankees pinstripes? Something else?

[Guest Triple Dee]

="batmagadanleadoff"] ="Triple Dee"] Isn't the black jersey the second-best selling after the Pinstripes? If so, no chance they'll be ditched. What do you mean by "pinstripes"? Mets pinstripes? Yankees pinstripes? Something else?

We are talking about Mets jerseys, yeah?

[batmagadanleadoff]

="Triple Dee"] We are talking about Mets jerseys, yeah?

Just making sure. And when you say black jerseys, are you talking about the Mets roads, Mets homes or all blacks combined?

The Mets black may be the 2nd best selling Mets jersey but don't forget that the Mets also have two styles of the black jersey - a home and a road version that in combination, allows the Mets to wear black shirts on any given day. - and that the Mets have by far, worn their black shirts more often than any other shirt since 1998. This is also free publicity, free advertising. And then there's the domino effect. Every time the Mets appear in black just increases the number of publicity shots, internet photos, baseball cards you name it that will eventually appear depicting a Met in black. Given all of this, one could argue that sales of black jerseys are disappointing, maybe not in the raw # of sales, but when looking at the relation between sales figures and the # of times the black jersey was worn.

It says more that the pinstripes remain the best seller even though that shirt is by far the least worn Mets shirt since the black unis were introduced. Unfortunately, pinstriped Mets are a rare sighting these days.

[soupcan]

Mark me down as a hater.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I fear that the new uniform will be brick red and teal. (Or whatever the currently hip colors may be.)

Maybe the Mets could have a Lindsey Nelson day and wear psychedelic plaids.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I have a black and blue cap (as well as an all-blue one) and I like it well enough. I hate the all-black caps, though, and the black jerseys.

The all-black look isn't in itself bad. It looks good on those t-shirts with the players' names and numbers on the back. (My son has one for David Wright and my daughter wants one for Jose Reyes. And I'll be glad to buy one for her when I see one in her size.)

And I'm okay with the black road jerseys getting occasional use. But home jerseys should be bright white. They should gleam against the green grass and make the visiting team look drab in comparison.

Also, as AG so accurately pointed out above, the merchandise will sell if it looks good. It doesn't matter if the players are actually wearing it on the field. When the Mets are on the field at Shea (or at Citi, gonna have to get used to that) I want them in blue caps and pinstripes.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: But home jerseys should be bright white. They should gleam against the green grass and make the visiting team look drab in comparison.

Good point. I agree with you there. Dark, or even alternate home jerseys are sacrilegious to me. Unfortunately, dark home jerseys isn't just a Met thing.

[Guest Triple Dee]

="batmagadanleadoff"] ="Triple Dee"] We are talking about Mets jerseys, yeah? Just making sure. And when you say black jerseys, are you talking about the Mets roads, Mets homes or all blacks combined?

I believe it is the black home jersey that is the second best selling. I was told the black road is the worst selling Mets jersey, but that may be because it's $35 more expensive than all the others because it's the only Mets jersey that uses Coolmax.

The manufacturers wanted to issue a road grey jersey in Coolmax too, but apparently the Mets refused because it was two shades lighter than the grey road trousers, and presumably made them look like dorks playing in two-tone grey.

[Guest Triple Dee]

soupcan wrote: Mark me down as a hater.

A hater and an evildoer.

[seawolf17]

And then, of course, you get lucky sometimes with your baseball card photos:

[batmagadanleadoff]

Triple Dee wrote: Isn't the black jersey the second-best selling after the Pinstripes? If so, no chance they'll be ditched.

Here's something else to consider: Do black Mets jerseys sell well because the particular style is popular? Or do successful sales figure merely reflect the fact that fans will buy whatever jersey the team happens to wear, in part because the Mets have one of the larger fan bases and because the team is located in New York City?

And if it's more of the latter, wouldn't fans then purchase in large numbers whatever new Mets jersey ultimately and hopefully replaces the blacks? Doesn't Met merchandise generally sell more than that of most other MLB teams?

Is it the black or is it the Mets?

[seawolf17]

I think black has (had?) the "cool" factor for a while, which is why so many teams went that way, as opposed to going back to baby blues, for example. If flannel uniforms had a cool factor that would sell, they'd wear 'em. Teams have tried stupid things before (camouflage, the Mercury Mets), and sometimes they catch on, sometimes they don't. Black worked, so they stuck with it.

If you're a kid, a black jersey might just be cooler than pinstripes, especially if you associate pinstripes with the team across the river.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Coolmax?

What's that?

[batmagadanleadoff]

="Triple Dee"]The manufacturers wanted to issue a road grey jersey in Coolmax too, but apparently the Mets refused because it was two shades lighter than the grey road trousers, and presumably made them look like dorks playing in two-tone grey.

Yeah. As opposed to the Mets looking like dorks in black tops and white pants.



Hey! - I'm not calling for black tops and black pants.

[metsmarathon]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Coolmax? What's that?

only one of the greatest inventions ever.

tis fabric that doesn't get wet. it wicks moisture away from the body, maintaining cool, comfy skin temperatures in toasty weather. it also works well in cold weather to take away the chilling cold sweat from the toasty body, helping again to maintain temperature.

i haven't worn cotton t-shirts to run in in about ten years.

http://coolmax.invista.com/

[Guest Triple Dee]

Yes, except they can't make trousers out of it because it rips like tissue paper.

[Guest Triple Dee]

seawolf17 wrote: as opposed to going back to baby blues

I would be all for the Mets adopting a baby blue jersey, provided they have the matching pants, too. And I'm dead serious.

[Guest Triple Dee]

="seawolf17"]If you're a kid, a black jersey might just be cooler than pinstripes, especially if you associate pinstripes with the team across the river.

Nothing looks cooler than pinstripes.

One of my favorite movies quotes is from Catch Me if You Can about the MFY wearing pinstripes;

] Frank Abagnale Sr.: You know why the MFY always win, Frank? Frank Abagnale, Jr.: 'Cause they have Mickey Mantle? Frank Abagnale Sr.: No, it's 'cause the other teams can't stop staring at those damn pinstripes.