MLB 2019 Changes

[Anubis2051]

It looks like MLB Shop may have given us our first hint at what the London Series hats will be:

 

 

https://www.mlbshop.com/new-york-yankees/mens-new-york-yankees-new-era-navy-2019-london-series-side-patch-9twenty-adjustable-hat/t-14777676+p-3650702405036+z-9-545638754

 

Kinda bland don't you think? This is also the only hat that's up, so it could change. 

 

EDIT: whipped this up real quick - wouldn't something along these lines be better and more exciting?

 

 

 

[Sec19Row53]

3 hours ago, Anubis2051 said:

It looks like MLB Shop may have given us our first hint at what the London Series hats will be:

 

 

https://www.mlbshop.com/new-york-yankees/mens-new-york-yankees-new-era-navy-2019-london-series-side-patch-9twenty-adjustable-hat/t-14777676+p-3650702405036+z-9-545638754

 

Kinda bland don't you think? This is also the only hat that's up, so it could change. 

 

EDIT: whipped this up real quick - wouldn't something along these lines be better and more exciting?

 

 

 

I know it isn't, but I read that as Jondon Series. Not a fan.

[Anubis2051]

3 minutes ago, Sec19Row53 said:

I know it isn't, but I read that as Jondon Series. Not a fan.

 

Yeah - that's just the official underground font. Don't know why the "L" is so short there

[MJWalker45]

1 hour ago, Anubis2051 said:

 

Yeah - that's just the official underground font. Don't know why the "L" is so short there

It looks like someone tried to blend it in. The font is different too because the L's are longer at the bottom.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

5 hours ago, Anubis2051 said:

EDIT: whipped this up real quick - wouldn't something along these lines be better and more exciting?

 

 

 

That is a great concept.  The logo should contain some imagery that is identifiably London-related or English or British: Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Union Jack, or, best of all (as you suggest), the Underground.

[Anubis2051]

Just leaving this here for comparison. This is NBC's logo for the 2012 Olympics. This does a far better job of conveying location than the generic logo MLB ran out. 

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

 

 
Pondering the London Series logo, I thought of the flags of Australia and New Zealand, which have a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper left quadrant.  So it seems natural to apply the same straighforward treatment to the Major League Baseball logo.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ice Man]

Word in the street: Nats-Royals doing a Turn Back the Clock night in July.

Nats will be dressing as Expos. Pinwheel cap.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

16 minutes ago, Ice Man said:

Word in the street: Nats-Royals doing a Turn Back the Clock night.

Nats will be dressing as Expos. Pinwheel cap.

 

This is great!  A look at the schedule shows that those teams meet only on July 5, 6, and 7 in Washington.

Not to complain, but that is strange opposition.  The best choice would have been the Blue Jays.  But they don't meet this year. Otherwise it should be against the Mets, Phillies, or Dodgers, or else against their 1969 expansion partners, the Padres.

Nitpicks aside, this is wonderful news.  I hope that they have some former players, such as Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie, Steve Rogers, etc., there to celebrate this.  Do we know what year they are going to be commemorating?  I bet it will be the racing-stripe look of the early 1980s; though I would prefer the look just before that, without the racing stripe.

 

 

[daveindc]

24 minutes ago, Ice Man said:

Word in the street: Nats-Royals doing a Turn Back the Clock night in July.

Nats will be dressing as Expos. Pinwheel cap.

 

Link?

[SFGiants58]

Oh hi, we stole Montréal’s team away because of language laws, a white elephant stadium, Canadian economic downturn, and a lack of desire to have a team in the area. Do you mind if we dress up like them and pretend that everything is hunky-dory?

 

Nobody should do an Expos throwback until there’s a replacement team in Montréal. Heck, I’d rather have the Jays do an Expos throwback than the Nats. At least it’d be a good way to not rub salt in Montréal’s wounds.

[Ice Man]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

This is great!  A look at the schedule shows that those teams meet only on July 5, 6, and 7 in Washington.

Not to complain, but that is strange opposition.  The best choice would have been the Blue Jays.  But they don't meet this year. Otherwise it should be against the Mets, Phillies, or Dodgers, or else against their 1969 expansion partners, the Padres.

Nitpicks aside, this is wonderful news.  I hope that they have some former players, such as Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie, Steve Rogers, etc., there to celebrate this.  Do we know what year they are going to be commemorating?  I bet it will be the racing-stripe look of the early 1980s; though I would prefer the look just before that, without the racing stripe.

 

 

 

It's for July 7th. 

 

1969 is the year they're "turning back" to.

[Ice Man]

40 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Oh hi, we stole Montréal’s team away because of language laws, a white elephant stadium, Canadian economic downturn, and a lack of desire to have a team in the area. Do you mind if we dress up like them and pretend that everything is hunky-dory?

 

Nobody should do an Expos throwback until there’s a replacement team in Montréal. Heck, I’d rather have the Jays do an Expos throwback than the Nats. At least it’d be a good way to not rub salt in Montréal’s wounds.

 

Yea, this does seem awkward and tone deaf. It'd be like if the OKC Thunder wore Sonics throwbacks. 

[AstroCree]

2 minutes ago, Ice Man said:

 

Yea, this does seem awkward and tone deaf. It'd be like if the OKC Thunder wore Sonics throwbacks. 

or the Carolina Hurricanes doing the Hartford Whal-oh.....

[SFGiants58]

Just now, insert name said:

or the Carolina Hurricanes doing the Hartford Whal-oh.....

 

Because Raleigh doesn’t give a crap until the team gets to the playoffs, they had to indulge in this.

 

I’d have thought that the Nats were better off as far as regular season fan engagement goes. Did Harper’s departure really mess up the team that much?

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

1 hour ago, Ice Man said:

It's for July 7th. 

 

1969 is the year they're "turning back" to.

 

Lovely!

 

The Royals are also a 1969 expansion team. So this makes some sense.

 

1 hour ago, SFGiants58 said:

Nobody should do an Expos throwback until there’s a replacement team in Montréal. Heck, I’d rather have the Jays do an Expos throwback than the Nats.

 

It has to be the Nationals first. This is a celebration not only of the Expos but of the concept of franchise continuity.

 

There have been a few examples of cross-franchise throwbacks, such as the Mariners-as-Pilots, the Brewers-as-Braves, and even the Mets dressing in vaguely Giants-like uniforms. But the first team to dress as the Pilots were the Brewers, and rightfully so. We've even seen the Orioles dress as the St Louis Browns!

 

For the Nationals to be the ones to do the first Expos throwback is entirely appropriate.  It was right for the Carolina Hurricanes to wear Hartford Whalers uniforms; it was right for the Clippers to wear Buffalo Braves uniforms; and it's right for the Nationals to wear Expos uniforms.

 

What's more, this will teach the kiddies some history, as there is a whole generation that has started following baseball since the move of the Expos, a generation consisting of young fans who might not be aware that that is the origin of the Nationals.

 

Ideally, the Nationals should not only bring in Expos stars, but they ought to take the opportunity to formally recognise the Expos' retired numbers.

 

Make it a total Fête des Expos on the 50th anniversary!

 

[SFGiants58]

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

It has to be the Nationals first. This is a celebration not only of the Expos but of the concept of franchise continuity.

 

There have been a few examples of cross-franchise throwbacks, such as the Mariners-as-Pilots, the Brewers-as-Braves, and even the Mets dressing in vaguely Giants-like uniforms. But the first team to dress as the Pilots were the Brewers, and rightfully so. We've even seen the Orioles dress as the St Louis Browns!

 

Well, all of those only happened after a replacement team came around. The St. Louis Browns are a slight exception, but even then it wasn't an abandoned market.

 

 

 

1

16 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

For the Nationals to be the ones to do the first Expos throwback is entirely appropriate.  It was right for the Carolina Hurricanes to wear Hartford Whalers uniforms; it was right for the Clippers to wear Buffalo Braves uniforms; and it's right for the Nationals to wear Expos uniforms.

 

Yeah, no. Not until a replacement team comes around. The Hurricanes and Clippers rubbed salt in wounds (although let's be honest, does anybody in Buffalo really miss the Braves?). 

 

 

 

1

16 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

What's more, this will teach the kiddies some history, as there is a whole generation that has started following baseball since the move of the Expos, a generation consisting of young fans who might not be aware that that is the origin of the Nationals.

 

Really? One of the most popular videos making fun of the Nats brought in Expos history:

 

 

Wikipedia, Baseball Reference, and the official MLB guides all make the lineage clear. Throwbacks aren't necessary to make that clear. Also, using the term "kiddies" is condescending. 

 

 

 

1

16 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Ideally, the Nationals should not only bring in Expos stars, but they ought to take the opportunity to formally recognise the Expos' retired numbers.

 

They did it once and never again.

 

 

They did nothing for Pedro Martinez, Tim Raines, and Vlad Guerrero. They didn't even wear a memorial patch for Rusty Staub or Gary Carter. I guess they realized that their fans know that the team used to be the Expos and that they don't care about it (since the Nationals are technically more successful than the Expos ever were). 

 

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

Make it a total Fête des Expos on the 50th anniversary!

 

 

Expanding to Montreal, even more than Tampa Bay. Montreal, given what happened with Bill 101, the financial chicanery surrounding Olympic Stadium's construction, the separatist referendum, and the exodus of the Anglophone population to places like Toronto. Heck, Toronto should have been the expansion destination in 1969! They are not to be celebrated, but rather offered as a cautionary tale.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

(@SFGiants58 - For some reason I cannot quote your post.)

 

First of all, I am talking about actual kiddies — children who are like 13 or 14 years old, and who are making formative memories. The Nationals have existed for these fans' entire lives. Kids that age likely don't know a thing about the Expos.

 

Expanding to Montreal was a good thing (unlike either of the horribly misguided expansions to Florida). The stadium was a boondoggle; but the same is true for nearly every stadium built outside of California, and even for some in California (such as the refurbished Oakland Colliseum).

 

The Quebec economy is robust, with Montreal's citizens enjoying a good standard of living and having plenty of disposable income to use for entertainment, such as baseball. Also, the province's language law is essential for the protection of Quebecois culture.

 

And that culture includes baseball. The Majors will probably go back there eventually (perhaps by moving the Rays, thereby solving two problems).

 

It's true that the Nationals have given only scant recognition to their Expos past. I was terribly disappointed to see that they are wearing no memorial patch for Frank Robinson, who perfectly straddles the Expos and Nationals portions of the franchise history. 

 

But now, on the franchise's 50th anniversary, is the perfect time to correct that policy, and to start embracing franchise history.

[Digby]

lol it’s profoundly bizarre to make André Dawson and Steve Rogers fly to DC though. This makes not one lick of sense. Don’t poke the Expos bear and don’t do anything stupid in DC, this shouldnt be that hard.

[Digby]

On another note: has Boston given up on its old Friday alternate scheme? Bad enough wrecking last year’s World Series wearing the navy jerseys in LA but I’ve seen those again already on not a Friday this year. And tonight they’re wearing red and I’m pretty sure it’s Wednesday.