I have written on this website before about uniforms, and the many different variations that the New York Mets have donned in their days. It seems like the general consensus is that many fans tend to like the classic Met pinstripe more than any other variation that the Mets have donned. Not many are opposed to the racing pinstripe that the team ran with from 1982-1992, but a vast majority (for some reason) seem to have a large disdain for the powder white and black jersey that the team employed during the end of the 90’s and throughout the 2000’s. No uniform in New York Met history, not even the aforementioned powder white and black could be hated as much as the 2019 Player’s Weekend jersey, however.
Player’s Weekend was instituted in 2018 thanks to the efforts of CC Sabathia, Bo Schultz, and brace yourself, Josh Thole, as a way for players to be able to express themselves through their uniforms. Seeing the marketability of jerseys with the nicknames of popular MLB players on the back, the MLB jumped on the idea. So, in 2018, Player’s Weekend came with fanfare, and fun was had by all who donned the jerseys and purchased them as fans. The jerseys were different than the regular season jerseys but contained the same color scheme so teams could be at least differentiated from each other.
The 2019 jersey for Player’s Weekend did not exactly sail as smoothly. Introduced for all the teams playing at home that weekend was an all-white version of their home jersey. For the away team, an all-black version of their away jerseys. The outcome? Utter chaos, confusion, and frustration of the entire league. The purpose of the nicknames was completely wiped out, because you could not read it on the back of the jersey from a distance. If you were watching from home, it could at times be difficult to determine what player was making the play. At their roots, the purpose of having numbers or at least some sort of identification was to be able to tell teams and players apart from each other. These jerseys killed that logic.
This is not to say that the concept of a Player’s Weekend is a bad idea, because that is far from the truth. It is no secret that the fanbase of the MLB is rapidly aging, and younger fans are turning to more fast paced sports like basketball to entertain themselves. What the MLB did by adding nicknames to the back of their jerseys was bring a youthful excitement to a game that often times lacks it. No other league had done this before, and it looked like the MLB had taken a step in the right direction. Instead, they took a giant step back with the monstrosities that they put out onto the field.
With such push back from players, fans, and media, it is likely that these jerseys never again see the light of day. It is safe to say however, that there is now a universally agreed-upon worst Mets jersey of all time.
The inaugural Players Weekend took place on August 25–27, 2017 and was not instituted in 2018 as stated in your article. The hideous 2019 black and white uniforms were the third iteration of this concept.
Also, home teams had the choice as to whether they would wear white or black ….. it was not as simple as home team wore white and away team wore black.
Just trying to bring some factual accuracy to the discussion ….. I agree that these uniforms — white or black — were horrible and really nothing more than another alternate uniform option for teams to market and make money.
Agreed these were the worst uniforms of all time. However, this was a league wide deal not the Mets, so I cant hang it on the team, unlike the hideous black jerseys and black shadowing on jerseys in the earlier 2000s. Im no fan of the 80s racing stripes either.
The player weekend jerseys were signed off on by the MLBPA.
These white uniforms were horrid. It was pretty stupid to have white jerseys with white letters. They looked like the Good Humor man from the 1960’s.