213 Miles From Shea

The Netherlands are back for another go in the classic sporting their orange and black look again:

Their hat is fantastic, especially when compared to Germany’s and Great Britain’s. Personally I would make two changes to their uniform set. First, the script should be larger. Second, instead of home whites, maybe an inverse of their way uniforms, orange base with a black accent, like the Oriole’s two BP uniforms. I do enjoy the crown on the name, since they are the “Kingdom of the Netherlands”

The Czech Republic was another team that didn’t make it out of the qualifier round, and no surprise there, I think Canada was in their group. Anyway in the tournament they wore their navy blue tops, which you can see here. I was a fan of their uniforms mainly because unlike a whole list of other teams, the team name was in big letters on the front. Also because their hat design matched their uniform quite well:

Australia returns for another go in this year’s World Baseball Classic and they maintain their Green and Yellow look from the last several seasons:

I was a fan of their look last time around and I’m still a fan of their designs. My only complaint, which is once again a common complaint, is the the typeface for the country name’s seems small. Overall, nice set and glad they kept their “A” which is unique, especially when you look at some of the letters for hats for other countries.

Thailand was eliminated from the 2013 World Baseball Classic during the 2012 Qualifier rounds which forced teams that didn’t win a game in the 2009 Tournament to defend their spot from a group of new comers. In both games that Thailand played, they wore their road uniforms that can be seen in this image gallery. Their hat is below:

Aesthetically speaking, I’m not a fan of the hat or the uniform. The “T” on the hat looks odd with the white outline and the writing “Thailand” appears small and awkward on the Jersey front.

The 2013 World Baseball Classic is quickly approaching and rosters are starting to leak and uniforms are starting to be sold. As pictures go online for a team’s full uniform set, we’ll cover it here. First up on our journey is Puerto Rico:

(Home)

(Away)

The hat is similar to what we have seen in year’s past, so is the country script on the uniforms. The main difference this year, as it is for all the teams, is the BP template and two tone nature.

One complaint you’ll see me make a lot as we go through the uniforms is the home whites with the two tone nature make a lot of jerseys look and feel the same if they have the same under arm coloring. However, a complement you’ll see me make a lot is the two tone nature of the jerseys looks nice on the color away’s. Both statements hold true here.

After the last post that had a picture of Joe Torre wearing what looks to be a new jersey for team USA, Dan, a writer for myKBO, a Korean Baseball Website sent me the following picture over twitter with the USA jerseys:

His sources are here and here.

Now that’s much better. I would personally like the white jersey better with the two tone BP look, mainly because I’m not a fan of the two tone BP look especially on jerseys where white is the base color. I actually don’t mind the two tone look on the Navy USA jersey, it gives it a little spunk.

Also that 2013 WBC patch looks great on white jerseys, not so much on color uniforms.

We’ve seen a few 2013 World Baseball Classic Uniforms in the early rounds of the tournament but the big teams, like the United States, haven’t played yet nor have they sold their uniforms.

I was assuming that their uniforms would look similar to last time, just like how this banner ad for David Wright shows:

However earlier today I saw a banner ad for Joe Torre as the team manager wearing a USA Jersey that is similar to the BP Jersey template used for the last couple of seasons:

Interesting. I’ve been looking for other pictures of the uniform but this is the only one I can find. Was this an soft revealing?

Every year I’m shocked with how much money teams spend in the off season for players to improve their team. Almost every time there is a big player who signs a big contract the analysis is the same:

“This will help the team in the short term, but hurt them in the long term”

Let’s see how true that is. The list below is comprised of players who signed in 2012 with a big contract, and how their team ended up:

– Heath Bell, 27 Million, Marlins – 5th Place NL East
– Carlos Beltran, 26 Million, Cardinals – Wild Card Winner, Lost in NLCS
– Mark Buehrle, 58 Million, Marlins – 5th Place NL East
– Prince Fielder, 214 Million, Tigers – Division Champion, AL Pennant
– David Ortiz, 15 Million, Red Sox – 5th Place AL East
– Papelbon, 50 Million, Phillies – 3rd Place NL East
– Albert Pujols, 247 Million, Angels – 3rd Place AL West
– Aramis Ramirez, 36 Million, Brewers – 3rd Place NL Central
– Jose Reyes, 106 Million, Marlins – 5th Place NL East
– Rollins, 38 Million, Phillies – 3rd Place NL East
– CC Sabathia, 122 Million, Yankees – Division Champion, Lost ALCS
– CJ Wilson, 78 Million, Angels – 3rd Place AL West

It’s hard from the above to make any form of conclusion from the above list mainly because of the quote above about short term vs long term. So let’s expand it 2011 Off Season teams spending money:

– Adrian Beltre, 80 Million, Rangers – Division Champion (11), AL Pennant (11), Wild Card Champion (12)
– Carl Crawford, 142 Million, Red Sox – 3rd Place AL East (11), 5th Place AL East (12), Traded Mid Season (12)
– Adam Dunn, 56 Million, White Sox – 3rd Place AL Central (11), 2nd Place AL Central (12)
– Derek Jeter, 51 Million, Yankees, Division Champions (11), Division Champions (12)
– Paul Konerko, 38 Million, White Sox, 3rd Place AL Central (11), 2nd Place AL Central (12)
– Cliff Lee, 120 Million, Phillies, Division Champions (11), 3rd Place NL East (12)
– Victor Martinez, 40 Million, Tigers – Division Champions (11), Division Champions (12), AL Pennant (12)
– Mariano Rivera, 30 Million, Yankees – Division Champions (11), Division Champions (12)
– Rafael Soriano, 35 Million, Yankees – Division Champions (11), Division Champions (12)
– Jason Werth, 126 Million, Nationals – 3rd Place NL East (11), Division Champions (12)
– Ted Lilly, 33 Million, Dodgers – 3rd Place NL West (11), 2nd Place NL West (12)

From this list, only the Red Sox, White Sox and Dodgers were teams that spent a lot of money to bring in a large contract, and then not make the playoffs for two years. So it looks like in a 2 year retrospective, spending money on large contracts does make a difference about short term chances of making the playoffs, which isn’t too surprising. Now let’s look at the 2013 contracts:

– Zach Greinke, 147 Million, Dodgers
– Josh Hamilton, 125 Million, Angels
– Edwin Jackson, 52 Million, Cubs
– Mike Napoli, 39 Million, Red Sox
– Angel Pagan, 40 Million, Giants
– Anibal Sanchez, 80 Million, Tigers
– Nick Swisher, 56 Million, Indians
– B.J. Upton, 75 Million, Braves
– Shane Victorino, 39 Million, Red Sox

Now of course all of these lists do not include extensions. Looking at the three lists, there really isn’t too much of a difference of money spent (minus the two mega contracts last year) but the real difference is the quality of player. Last year there were some real high quality free agents, this year’s free agents not so much. The market adjusted and you now have players taking home contracts and years guaranteed way above what they would have in other markets.

Just some food for thought.

I collect lapel pins. Lapel pins always strike me as this interesting mix of a consumption culture obsessed with the sports spectacle looking to make collectible memories tangible in a simultaneously authentic and inauthentic way.

But that’s a conversation for another day. One pin I picked up in 2004 has silhouette of both Jose Reyes and David Wright with the script, “The Future”.

Back in 2003 Jose Reyes broke into the majors. The following year David Wright broke in. Things were looking up for the Mets. 2006 Wright and Reyes help carried the Mets to the playoffs. Reyes became the spark plug of the lineup that the National TV announcers made sure to state that about 4.52 times per Reyes AB. Reyes went on to become a major story line in the 2011 season ending it with a batting title…then a trip down to South Beach and now Toronto.

Wright on that pin became the future of the franchise. He’s now the present. He’s the de facto captain of the team. David is the source of hope, a strong player at his position and a now a generational figure.

The new future of the Mets is starting to bring some deja vu in terms of prospect hope coming up to the majors. After Wright and Reyes, the Mets farm system hype machine went into full gear with players like Milledge, Fernando Martinez, etc. There’s something different this time around. Harvey, Wheeler and d’Arnaud all feel like they’re real deal. The hype is different. I think it’s because the hype about these players are coming from outside sources, not just people inside the organization.

Harvey broke in first. Wheeler and d’Arnaud are coming in this year. Harvey was a source of hope for 2012. The only positive prospect for 2013 are these three players growing in a meaningful way.

I expect 2013 to feel a lot like 2004, not 2003. In 2003 it wasn’t obvious if the Mets have a direction. Although the Mets have done some contradictory moves over the last couple of seasons, they have a direction in 2013, making it feel like 2004. Remember in 2005 was when the Mets finally made some splashes in the market and those splashes combined with the young talent led to 2006. I sincerely hope that is where 2013 is going.

It’s the new future with the New York Mets.