Bat boys and ball girls

[Benjamin Grimm]

Got an interesting (sort of) question from a fan by e-mail today. I referred the sender to MBTN, but I figured I'd post his question here, too, since there's nothing too trivial as far as we're concerned:

Just was wondering if you happen to know what uniform # the Mets bat boys and ball girls will wear in 2010 and maybe beyond? As most Mets fans know they both always wore the year as their uniform # like 86, 87, 88, 00, 01,09 and so on for almost their whole history since 1962. But now in 2010 the cycle starts with real uniform #'s that players usually want like # 10, 11, 12, 13 and so on, most and it won't be until maybe the year 2060 that the Mets can go back to the year system for the bat boys and ball girls.

[G-Fafif]

I don't remember this being the custom until the 1980s. In fact, I'm looking at some pictures in We Won Today, a bizarre little book about the 1976 Mets, and several bat/ball boy/girl pix appear and there's no "76" in sight.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah, I'd guess that it started around 84 or 85 or so.

I think before that they either had blank backs or maybe a BB where the number would have been.

[Valadius]

It'll probably be 10 anyway.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Valadius wrote: It'll probably be 10 anyway.

Not if Andy Green has anything to say about it!









So, yeah, it'll be 10.

[G-Fafif]

Valadius wrote: It'll probably be 10 anyway.

Let Rusty do it. Not like he has a restaurant to run.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

As I recall it batboy unis used to have no numbers until they gave MIKE and PAUL numbers in 86, yes? I am certain the Mets never had "BB."

By the way some guy first wrote me with this question like 3 years ago, anticipating this day. I had no idea then or now.

[metirish]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: By the way some guy first wrote me with this question like 3 years ago, anticipating this day. I had no idea then or now.

"thanks for writing back asshole"

[G-Fafif]

'86 seems like the first year in memory. My friend joked that October that Double-A callup Elster seemed out of place on a World Series team. "He should be wearing a uniform that says KEVIN 86."

Hey, if '86 was the first year, and they won the World Series, maybe they should take them off this year. Or take them off and put them back on.

[TransMonk]

Possibility?:

[Benjamin Grimm]

I remember in 1999 they skipped ahead to issuing "00" to the kids in deference to Turk Wendell.

I guess they could continue with the current numbering system for another four years (including this one) if they wanted to, but they'll run into Gil Hodges' retired number by 2014.

Maybe they can switch to Roman numerals. Put an X on their backs this year, XI next year, etc.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I never liked the BB look.

irish- great shot.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Great question!

They should leave the backs blank.

My son has a bat boy jersey from the local West Michigan Whitecaps, and it's got the giant BB on the back.

Does Mr. Met have a number on his uniform?

[metirish]

[batmagadanleadoff]

metirish wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: By the way some guy first wrote me with this question like 3 years ago, anticipating this day. I had no idea then or now. "thanks for writing back asshole"

If there was a category for visual BOC's, I'd nominate this post.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It looks like metirish might look after about 5,000 Hostess Fruit Pies and a perm.

I advocate for four digits stacked on both the front and back, like so:

[Ceetar]

Put 21 on their back and have Century 21 sponsor them. (or MO)

Put two apples instead of 00.

64, for Shea.

Go the cheesy Yankees route and do '3' for the championship they're targeting.

NY? NYM?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: metirish wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: By the way some guy first wrote me with this question like 3 years ago, anticipating this day. I had no idea then or now. "thanks for writing back asshole" If there was a category for visual BOC's, I'd nominate this post.

It's a superb one-note visual punchline, but also surprisingly suggestive of more. Has his life-- and online manga-selling business-- hit the skids since JCL ignored him? Would JCL's answer have been the key to saving his marriage to that mute Post Office clerk, and his CPU? Has he actually lost weight and improved his life, and are we witnessing him on the upswing? And where did the rest of his furniture go? It's like a shocker of an unoaked Chardonnay that socks you with a spicy, honeyed complexity beyond the fat, mineral-buttery front-taste.

With skidmarks.

(Oh, and I like "BB.")

[seawolf17]

Will you people stop requoting that picture? Jeez.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Does Mr. Met have a number on his uniform?

You don't remember the Tony Clark thing? He wore 00 for a while, but he said kids kept asking hin why he was wearing Mr. Met's number, so he switched to 52. I don't know when Mr. Met started wearing 00... I assume he was numberless back in the day.

[metirish]

You crack me up LWFS .

[Benjamin Grimm]

Should I be concerned if I find myself aroused by that photo?

[metirish]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Should I be concerned if I find myself aroused by that photo?

No , but your missus should be.

[Guest Edgy DC]

We had a Mets ball girl at my college. I had no idea that she was anything of the sort, and maybe said a few words to her in passing freshman year. One day, she shows up to the cafeteria in her uniform, grabs some food to go and cuts out.

"Oh, yeah," somebody tells me. "That's her job. She hates wearing the uniform outside the stadium, but I guess she was late for the game."

It was like being hit by an anvil. I never said another word to her over the next three years. My anxiety level (a constant companion in college) increased if I was within 100 feet, though I somehow doubt she continued in the job. (I never noticed her on TV.) You couldn't have shocked me more if you said, "Oh, yeah, Linda Danvers... she's Supergirl. You didn't know that? I thought everybody did."

[Benjamin Grimm]

So... did anybody notice? What number are the bat boys wearing?

[TransMonk]

00

[Ceetar]

00