Mets

[Westheim]

Jose Reyes dressed in the dark for the occasion.

[Westheim]

Mets blow a 2-0 lead in absolute braindead fashion in the third inning.

What's this, 2017?

Or 2019?

Or 2021?

[Westheim]

Mets threaten, but fail to score.

For three hours.

[Amazin69]

Torrens' bad throw = 1 run for Cincy
Mauricio's bad throw = 2 runs for Cincy
Mets 1/10 w RISP = Six Most Common Words in English
Mets 10-20 in recent games = not quite Callaway-esque, but you can see it from here.

On a positive note, the Mets got waxed on Strawberry Saturday last season. And after blowing the Sunday game to fall to 24-35, went 75-38 thereafter. Better 10 games over .500 than under.

[Westheim]

Pete is not in the lineup due to a paw contusion, and Vientos plays first base, and he immediately blunders the first ball thrown at him.

Can we just try and trade Vientos and Baty for another throwaway reliever we will DFA in two weeks?

[Amazin69]

It all worked out, though. Not exactly thrilled with Edlose vulturing the win, but Super Squirrel saved the day, so I'm good.

Never got to hear who was with Gary on the telecast, though. Zeile? Murph? Anthony Recker and his Amazin Ass?

Injury news…Winker the Stinker needs another epidural, won't be back until Obama's birthday, if then. Marte supposed to return…soon-ish. Max Kranick liked his first Tommy John so much he's having another, and Dicky Heterosexual was DFA'd.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Never got to hear who was with Gary on the telecast, though. Zeile? Murph? Anthony Recker and his Amazin Ass?

Murph! Although I think bringing in Bum-Bum Recker, having him do color standing up, and showing the game only from a camera behind him might actually drive ratings

Bum-Bum Recker should not be confused with Boom-Boom Diaz, who wasn't even worth trading Kelenic for.

[Amazin69]

Revised roster update!

Alvarez is back, Senger sent Syra-nara!

The Crankees also tried to send Rico Garcia to AAA, but they had no better luck than did we! "Ping-Pong" Garcia is ours again!

Also, Brandon Waddell was sent waddling to Syracuse.

And thus, having barely scraped one of three from Stinkinnati (unfair, as they are now over .500, but until they post a successful season, I'm sticking to it), the NY Sinking Ships will try and appear competent against the Anaheim Angels of Disneyland. Yes, the Country Bear Jamboree would be an upgrade on our "bullpen", but I can at least feign hope…for now.

[Amazin69]

For a dramatic rally, this victory over Mike Trout and the Seven Dwarfs looked rather a mess. I'll take it, but…

At least it's a day Kevin Herget won't want to ferget. Or ferjet or fairzhay, depending on how he says his name (I haven't heard it as yet.)

What was the story Ronnie was telling about Tony Conigliaro's half-season with the Angel's in 1971? House of Highlights didn't let me hear the details.

[Amazin69]

Mets won. Don't care. I'm now THISCLOSE to rooting for them to lose every home game until sanity is restored.

My poor AI takes too much abuse, I'm afraid. My most recent "conversation" after seeing today's highlights:

Why are my New York Mets now wearing those crappy City Connect uniforms day after day? I thought this stinking MLB money-grab was just for Saturdays? Grey and MAGENTA are NOT the Mets' colors! "The fans are true to the ORANGE and BLUE" is how "Meet the Mets" goes…those colors have a particular meaning for the team, to say nothing of the history.

I dont' give a ****ety-**** if the team had a meeting and decided they needed to change their mojo or whatever. They'd better stop

AI responds in part:

You're right that the MLB City Connect program was initially designed with the idea of being worn primarily for Saturday home games (and sometimes road games if the opponent is wearing a similar alternate). The intention behind these uniforms is to celebrate a city's unique culture, history, or local identity, often with abstract designs and colors that step outside traditional team palettes.

However, while the "Saturday home game" guideline is common, it's not always a rigid, absolute rule for every single team or every single week. Teams do have some discretion and, at times, will choose to wear them on other days, or more frequently, especially if they believe it creates a "buzz" or if they're trying to integrate them more deeply into their branding, even if it's controversial.

That "integrate into their branding" made me queasy, so…

While I appreciate your emotional support, I was actually asking if you had access to any NEWS reports that would explain the shift. (Pretty sure GREY AND MAGENTA are NOT "associated with" NYC in any way.)

The AI repeated the press-release about the design, and then added this:

Why They Might Be Wearing Them More Often (Beyond Just Saturdays):

While the program generally aimed for Saturday home game debuts, news reports and discussions suggest a few factors that can lead to more frequent use:

Team and Player Discretion/Preference: Several reports, including one from SNY, indicate that once unveiled, teams, and often even individual starting pitchers, have some discretion to choose which uniform the team wears for a given game. This means if players "liked the unis" (as some early clubhouse conversations suggested), they might opt to wear them more often than just the scheduled Saturdays.

Marketing & Sales Push: As you suspected, there's a strong commercial incentive. The City Connect program is a huge revenue generator through merchandise sales. More visibility means more sales. News articles often mention the significant investment and expectations for record sales associated with these new uniforms. The Mets even revamped their team store which coincided with the City Connect launch.

"Slump Buster" or "Mojo" Attempts: While not explicitly cited as official policy, it's a common unwritten rule in baseball that teams (or players) might switch up uniforms or other routines in an attempt to break a losing streak or change their "mojo," as you alluded to.

"Connecting to New York" (Beyond Baseball): The Mets' chief marketing officer, Andy Goldberg, stated the design was meant to "connect to New York" and be something "Met fans can represent across the world," even if it's "not orange and blue by design." This broader appeal to the city's identity could be a reason for more prominent display.

The line about "represent across the world" nearly made me vomit, leading to this:

BLECH. The idea of throwing away 63 years of history, of struggle and triumph for these RIDICULOUS trashy unis (name another famous Magenta/Grey combination, anywhere?) and try and make this the "new brand" is vomitous

You'd never see the Yankees doing this. I'm pretty sure the Yanks don't even HAVE a "****TY CONNECT" uniform. That alone makes the Mets look like wannabes, trying for "buzz" at the expense of who they are.

They literally retired David Wright's number on Saturday…now they want to bathe themselves in garish garb utterly unlike anything David (or Doc Gooden or Tom Seaver or, hell, ROB GARDNER) ever wore. FFS

Which the AI confirmed:

You are absolutely correct. The New York Yankees are one of only two MLB teams (the other being the Oakland Athletics, due to their relocation issues) that do not have a City Connect uniform. This is largely due to their staunch commitment to tradition and classic pinstripes. Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner has explicitly stated his reluctance to deviate from their iconic look, saying he's "not having any serious conversations about doing it." The Yankees' brand is so strong and tied to their traditional uniforms that they've opted out of the program entirely, reinforcing their image as a team deeply rooted in history. This definitely makes the Mets' adoption and frequent use of the City Connect uniform stand out even more by contrast.

Me again, after confirming the AI knew "why orange and blue", specifically:

Yep. The idea was to reassure the New Yorkers of the Sixties that this wasn't some new team, they were the keepers of a heritage that stretched back beyond when the Yankees and the American League were even around. Organized baseball began in the Greater NY area (at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken NJ) and while the original NY Mutuals were booted from the National League early on, National League baseball in New York has been as constant as anywhere else other than Chicago.

I'm almost rooting for the Mets to lose a few games now…anything to prevent this cancer from MET-astatizing

And in the time it took for me to come here, the "almost" died. I now want the Mets to LOSE EVERY ****ING GAME they play in those abominations so we can kill off Andy Goldberg's dream of this being the brand "Mets fans represent across the world" and go back to having What It Means To Be A Met be about more than ****head Lindor liking purple and our pathetic joke of a "pitching staff" pissing on the graves of so many Mets moundsmen, from Tom to Tug to the recently-passed Jeff Bittiger.

Take your Magenta Mania and stick it in Grimace's ass, please. (And yes, I think that purple creature being an unofficial mascot last year is partly to blame, as well. Which, since all we ended up accomplishing was finishing 6th out of 15 teams, is just embarrassing.)

There may be many, many drawbacks to being a Yankees fan (that empty aching hole where your soul should be comes to mind… ) but even Hal Steinbrenner knows not to pull this sort of crapola. GRRRR

Four games in a row is four too many. In the words of Susan Powter…

[Westheim]

The Mets look like dog crap in those uniforms, yes, but they'd also look like dog crap in those uniforms if they lost.

Which they almost managed to do last night despite an ample supply of runners, but like in my car, the performance of the clutch leaves things to be desired.

The clutch is actually fine, but I turned my BMW in for service and mandatory inspection this morning and specifically requested them looking at the horrendously squeaky brakes. They called in the fifth inning, proudly declaring that the car is finished, and that the brakes are still gud. It's a bit like ordering Chinese and it arrives after just five minutes at your doorstep. You did not have enough time to do this job properly!

Joke's really on me. As a BMW driver I should never brake, really! I'm the one who does it wrong!

Kidcaster looks like a bit of an entertainer (on a 12-year-old's level, so, eh!), but should perhaps lay off the cookies for a bit.

(looks at himself)

I must talk.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Westheim

The Mets look like dog crap in those uniforms, yes, but they'd also look like dog crap in those uniforms if they lost.

Yes, but it would kill the idea that has apparently infected the team that the unis are "lucky" or whatever, and then normal service can resume. It's bad enough we have see these on Saturday because we don't have the integrity and the balls that the Yankees do. (And yes, having to type that sentence makes me die inside, at least a little.).

But for them to become our "unofficial" home uni from here on out (and possibly the official kit next year) would be unforgiveable. Kill it with fire before the infection spreads.

We can get the wins back. Becoming a literal clown team is intolerable. And Satan forbid we have our identity stolen just to finish 86-76, grab the #8 seed in the playoffs, get knocked out in the second round and have Andrew Goldberg convince Uncle Stevie this year was a success, let's keep it going…

[Westheim]

I always liked the blues, btw...

Oh, and the car passed inspection, but the squeaky brakes were "noted".

I need a new BMW dealer for service and stuff.

And the Mets still need a new clutch.

[Amazin69]

Mets win and, more importantly, look like the Mets in so doing. Nimmo hit one, and Peeeeeete hit one which it somehow falls to me to report (??) moves the Polar Bear to 248 on his career, tied with Hall of Famers Leon "Goose" Goslin and Ted Simmons.

Goose played for all 5 AL pennant-winning teams that weren't the Yankees or the Athletics between 1921-1939, winning the 1924 and 1935 World Series.

Ted only made the Series once (being beaten by Keith Hernandez and various other Cardinals ex-teammates in 1982), but was a very durable and successful catcher for 21 years in the show. He's also one of the few to have faced both the 1969 and 1986 Mets champions, as one of his 5 late-season appearances in 1969 was as a pinch-hitter at Big Beautiful Shea on the night Gary Gentry threw the division-clinching shut out. (Ted struck out.) And then in 1986, Simmons returned from the Land of Endless Sausage to watch Doc and Darryl and Friends do their thing, as a reserve in Atlanta.

Congrats, Polar Bear!

Also, Lindor got a hit! Miracles never cease!

[Westheim]

My eyes closed on me as the game ended, but rest assured that I SQUEE!!-ed merrily when the #248 event occurred