I believe it was Jeffrey Wayne King who once said, “The arc of the sartorial universe is long, but it bends toward the esthetically pleasing.”
Mets’ 51st Anniversary Jerseys Are Pleasing
The Mets unveiled their new uniforms on Wednesday, and they’re better than last year’s. It’s just a shame we didn’t see them last year.
Unfortunately, we’re never going back to the wool uniforms that allowed for such brilliance for so many decades. But one does get the impression that while baseball teams continue to make terrible mistakes with their livery, the general trend is toward elegance and classicism.
To wit, the Mets’ jerseys will be tweaked next season, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the franchise’s first season in 1962:
The Mets this coming season will wear new home pinstripe, white and road grey uniforms reflecting the look of the original uniforms from their inaugural season. The black dropshadow will be removed from the Mets script logo, letters and numbers. The pinstripe uniform will be the primary home uniform with the white and black alternate jerseys worn on select dates. The blue cap will be worn with the home pinstripes and white uniforms, and the road grey uniforms. The team will also wear a new blue and orange batting practice jersey.
This is all exceptionally good news, since the Mets’ uniforms in 1962 were classics.
Along with their slightly revised jerseys, the Mets will be sporting a 50th-anniversary shoulder patch, with this logo.
This does raise a question, though ... 50th anniversary of what, exactly?
An anniversary is most appropriately enjoyed on a particular day.
The New York Mets played their first game on April 11, 1962. That is a date worth celebrating, and presumably the Mets will pull out all the stops before and/or after their afternoon game against the Nationals next April 11.
The rest of the season, though? I don’t really get it.
It’s always seemed to me that seasons should be commemorated, and the time for that was last season ... the New York Mets’ 50th season.
Some years ago, the Royals figured this out; in 1993, they celebrated their 25th season on their media guide and their pocket schedule. They also unveiled their 25th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1993.
But as I recall, people were confused. They just couldn’t wrap their noodles around the idea that something 25th had actually happened 24 years earlier. So, like the metric system, the proper commemoration of baseball seasons died because Americans are fundamentally innumerate. Or because baseball teams -- we’re looking at you, Mets! -- are afraid their fans might be stupid.
Thanks for getting rid of the black dropshadows, though. Those were flat fugly.
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