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?

Come on Mets, you don’t need geeks like me to tell you there are thousands of fans who eat this kind of stuff up. I mean, new unis is something the Yankees never get to do, why the sudden soft sell? And why do you suppose when they showed this rather handsome new road-blue jersey they showed it with … Ronny Cedeno’s number? (never mind, I get that now. Sheesh).

Those curious asides aside, I think we’ve got a handsome jersey, particularly the return of the silvery letters that last appeared on the Mets’ jerseys the last time they were blue. I’m not necessarily sold on the piping but at the same time welcome the orange back to the color scheme. My other critique, such as it is, is that the shade of blue is much darker than it was 30 years ago, as though someone dumped half a bottle of purple into the royal shade of yesteryear. I guess black dies hard.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those Howie Rose types who bemoans every moment the Mets aren’t outfitted in baggy wool pinstripes: I like that things can change from time to time and I believe the Mets could easily and successfully get away with going further in this change: How about an alternate hat with a Mr. Met logo? As I mentioned above it’s something the Mets have on the Yankees, at least when they do it right. Here I think they have a good looking alternate, and it’s weird that they’re keeping it to themselves.