Posts

Posted on

I hate Don Zimmer?

I was sitting in the recliner bouncing between The Office, Thursday Night Football and Mets Yearbook 1982 and Junior blurts out of nowhere, “I hate Don Zimmer.”

What?

How does he even know who Don Zimmer is?

Kids, (and I think that might be every reader except Greg Prince from Faith and Fear) if you think the recent run of Mets teams has been awful you have no idea.

If you want to really grasp the nadir of this franchise you need to watch Mets Yearbook 1982.

Mets Yearbook 1982 is fascinating.   They didn’t even try to hype the team or players.  Here’s the quick summary.   They beat Steve Carlton in the road opener.   They beat the Phillies again in the home opener.  Neil Allen had two saves.

That was it for season highlights.  Imagine 5 years so bad that by the end they couldn’t even be bothered to talk about the season.

So how did they kill time?   By telling us it was the 20th anniversary of 1962 and telling us about the starting lineup from 1962.

“Why do you hate Don Zimmer?”

“Because he stole David Wright’s face.”

“His face?”

“Base!”

Oh.   It bothers Junior that Don Zimmer played third in 1962.  Hilarious.

Back to Mets Yearbook 1982.  They filled time by showing 62 and 69 and talking about Tom Seaver.  I was going to make fun of that but then I realized they did the same thing I do here on the blog.  When I have nothing to talk about I dust off the last championship and Tom Seaver.

Mets Yearbook 1982 mentioned a whole boatload of prospects.   Kids, you haven’t heard of any of them except for Ron Darling and Darryl Strawberry.   I have heard of them.  I paid money to watch these “prospects” in 1983, but believe me you have never heard of them.

Other random notes:  the blue uniforms look nice to me.   There’s a shot of Shea in its in-between phase:  the squares are gone but the blue siding wasn’t up yet (and the neon players would come later).  It looks like Generic Stadium.

The film also spends a lot of time hyping Diamond Vision.   Being someone who attended games in 1982 – yeah Diamond Vision was very cool.

Yearbook 82 wraps with the news that Tom Seaver would be returning home in 1983.  I know where I was on April 5, 1983 and it is my favorite Mets memory of them all.   Fortunately Tom would forever be a Met because only an idiot would let him go a second time.

Anybody out there live through any of this or are all you guys and gals 25?

Posted on

Bakersfield Dodgers part 2

Remember yesterday’s post that asked about the accuracy of Brooklyn Dodgers caps and if they are actually Bakersfield Dodgers caps?

11th and Washington has explored the subject and has done a much better illustrative post than mine.

Dan did such a great job that Honor Among Bloggers comples me to send you there without even a teaser.  Trust me.

…

As of this writing nobody has yet told me that the RA Dickey version of the uniform looks better than the dropshadowless Seaver version.   Go ahead, I dare you. See yesterday’s post.

Posted on

Go ahead, I dare you

The other day On The Black posted a cool video of the intros from the 1973 World Series.

I did this screen cap.   I defy anyone to tell me that this road uniform does not look better than the 2010 version did. LOSE THE DROPSHADOW IT LOOKS TERRIBLE.

Click on the picture for a bigger version.   This was the pinnacle of Mets road uniforms.

I defy you.

Even with crappy resolution you can more easily read the New York on Tom’s jersey than RA’s.

Jeff, gangs aren’t wearing Mets jerseys.  It’s over.  You gave it a try.  You can sell all the black bastardized stuff you want in the Mets store.  You’ve hired professionals to run the organization.   Now have the players look like a professional baseball team.

Posted on

Are ‘Brooklyn’ caps really ‘Bakersfield’ caps?

I’ve been sitting on this one but today seems like a good day to explore a mystery.

I bet this has been asked and answered years ago on Uni Watch but I found this fascinating…let’s hear what Greg has to say.


Greetings fellow Mets uni enthusiast….

You may or may not be a Mets fan who views with abhorrence the team’s outward recollection of the Brooklyn Dodgers. I can tell you that I am not alone when, as a Brooklynite, I put my allegiance to the Mets completely on the shoulders of the well-documented Brooklyn connection. I’m not saying these are the Dodgers, because they are equal part NY Giants (whom I also respect re: Willie Mays), as well as their own team (Gooden, Seaver, Strawberry), with links back to the 19th century (The Metropolitans), but still, the migration of Dodger fans is difficult to miss and hard to underappreciate.

With that in mind, a core constituency as it were, I’d like to address the peddling of false Brooklyn Dodger hats by the Mets, and by New Era. You may be aware of previous and current lawsuits leveled by the LA Dodgers against various Brooklyn companies, for using the word Brooklyn in blue script, etc. The LA Dodgers send a clear message to Brooklyn fans: the Dodgers are never coming back to Brooklyn. They back this up in a symbolic gesture which is known to only a few, but which makes a mockery of Brooklyn fans.

The hat peddled by New Era, is a Bakersfield Dodger hat, the AA team the Dodgers once had on the west coast. You can find pictures of Piazza and Pedro wearing that hat in the 1980s.

The Dodgers of LA have been giving this out for years, when people ask for a Brooklyn Dodger hat. It’s amazing how many consumers accept it, and they are being cheated of their money. Look at any Brooklyn Dodger photo, and you’ll never see a B like the one the LA Dodgers/New Era are peddling. Nor is it similar to the one the Franchise collection is selling, which is a Boston B with a triangle cut out. But it’s a carbon copy of the Bakersfield B. It’s clear from photos of the Brooklyn Dodgers that although there were varients of their logo, it was never like these. Furthermore, they had a white pin on top.

Since the Mets are selling these to unsuspecting fans, and the LA ownership are getting a last laugh at our hard earned expense, could you raise this as an issue to Mets brass? I have photos to corroborate if you are interested.  (Shannon – I haven’t investigated that the Mets are selling Bakersfield caps as some sort of charade, but I am enjoying Greg’s tirade.)

Every insignificant minor league team and second rate mlb ballclub gets authentic throwback gear, but the most celebrated of all does not? How can it not be intentional, when all the other teams’ throwback gear gets such meticulous treatment?

God bless the firmament,
Greg

Hmmmm….the images in this article were chosen by me…I think Greg makes a good case.  I feel like I’m in an episode of the X-Files or National Treasure or something.

Are we all being duped into honoring the Bakersfield Dodgers?  Who’s gonna tell Fred?

UPDATE:  The Dodgers have a great reply…here.  Read the comment by Ross.