Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal today makes note of the 13 ballplayers known to have worn No. 0 — and perhaps the 14th, Mets reserve shortstop Omar Quintanilla.
My first reaction upon seeing that article was to think there must have been more than 13 so far but it checks out at least according to Baseball-Reference.com. Amazinly, two players wore No. 0 as Mets — Terry McDaniel in 1991 and Rey Ordonez in 1996-97 — while Junior Ortiz went on to wear 0 in his post Mets career (Junior was a rare No. 34 position player in orange and blue). There’s actually been more 00s in baseball history than 0s — 19 overall. That group includes Tony Clark, who wore it for the Mets in 2003 — at least until it was pointed out that he was sharing a number that otherwise belonged to Mr. Met.
Clark initially took 00 upon joining the Mets as a late-arriving free agent during 2003’s spring training. With jerseys already assigned, the veteran said he preferred taking 00 to the selections in the 80s that were otherwise available then. Ironically, when Clark switched — to No. 52 — he became the first Met player to appear wearing that number too. Former Met reliever Rick White — a 51 in New York — wore 00 later in his career.
As for Quintanilla, he explains that like Clark he preferred a number more befitting to his stature and experience — modest as it may be — when he rejoined the team this winter on a minor league contract after seeing his most recent assignment, No. 3, issued to newly arrived free agent Curtis Granderson. What Diamond’s article fails to mention is that the uni switch was the second in as many deals for Quintanilla, who saw his 2012 assignment of No. 6 issued to Kelly Shoppach and then Marlon Byrd while he was away with Baltimore.
So we all knew Mets did a poor job of keeping the fact they would have a few new uniform looks in 2013 a secret but all the same was anyone as shocked as me by how softly they revealed them today given the potential for the new look to spark a retail renaissance and maybe sell a few tickets? Couldn’t they have asked Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum to come along for a big runway show instead of unceremoniously Tweeting the news that these new looks are available?
As a longtime critic of the Mets’ questionable senses of fashion and self-awareness I feel obligated to tip my (blue-and-orange only) cap to what appears so far to be a thoughtful and tasteful approach to the team’s 50th anniversary as revealed yesterday. Uni fans know the info by now I’m sure, but they’re dropping the black drop shadows and black hats for 2012 (hopefully the butt-ugly two-toned batting helmets go along with them, as I’ve long felt nothing looks any worse). They said they’d use the black alternate jerseys for selected away games only; and introduced a series of events dedicated to acknowledging team history including a return of
4) I’m again happy to have been asked to contribute an article for the 2010 Maple Street Press Mets Annual, which is arriving on area newsstands now. My contribution — a look at 2009’s injuries and their place in team history, got a terrific boost from longtime MBTN contributor Jason E., whose comprehensive history of the Mets disabled list made it all work. Did you know who the all-time leader for separate trips to the disabled list is? What body part has been injured most often? Who was the first Met ever to go on the DL? Then pick this thing up now. Also, there’s good articles.
Many of you are probably aware the Mets will take the field against the Giants this weekend wearing “throwback” jersey that pay tribute to the Mets’ National League predecessors. The cream-colored jerseys with the oversized NY logo recall the New York Giants unis of 1904-1907 and invite fans to imagine 
This was an interesting find though. I’ve got copies of Newsday, the Times and the Post from that day, all of which used the same closeup of Johnson’s face to illustrate their stories. But it’s not unprecendented. Back in 2004, on the November day the Mets introduced another new manager, 
Which brings me to an interesting discovery I made while fleeing a rain delay earlier this season at the new park. Ducking into a Promenade-level memorabilia shop to avoid the downpour I came across (not literally) a selection of “game-used” jerseys from scrubs of the not-so-distant past, selling at the relative bargain price of $100 each. Among the KNIGHT 28s (
The Mets appear to have shut down their online survey on their uniforms — hopefully not before you, like me, submitted a few dozen responses. Don’t think I’ve come across anyone who’s a big fan of the black anymore but I sense the hatred among the prototypes in the survey was strongest for the vest which, I’m just gonna say, I don’t think is so bad provided you’re resigned to the inevitability of an alternate, which I am.