Home Run Derby

So the Blue Jays have recognized that their fans will spend money on a uniform if they put one out there … especially if it was one they already knew and loved …

And here’s the new home alternate and the new road uniform.

The Blue Jays (as previously mentioned here at HRD) will be bringing back their old Powder Blue Uniforms - as part of their Flashback Fridays promotion in which they bring former Blue Jays in to sign autographs and throw out ceremonial first pitches.

Vernon Wells (above) liked the blue uniforms …

“This is my favourite uniform. I like the old school vibe! The guys are thrilled with these uniforms. When we were presented with options, we voted to go with the powder blues - I’m glad they listened.”

The new road uniforms are just craptacular, however.

Former Blue Jay Lloyd Moseby was at the unveiling - and talked about his playing days and the powder blue uniform. Apparently he didn’t like the uniforms coming up as a rookie.

Moseby actually said “they sucked” and said that his friends called them pajamas.  He also compalined in particular about the elastic waistband and how the snaps would come undone.  I think Moseby is just jealous that the new uniforms have a belt.

Here’s a pic of old man Moseby with his pants hiked up …

“Get off my lawn, you pesky kids!!” 

More Powder Blue Uniforms right here …

In 2008, the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals are going to do something that no baseball team has done since 1991.

They’re going to break out the Powder Blue Uniforms. Mind you - they’ll be only occasionally be used as home alternate uniforms, but that’s a feat in and of itself. I don’t think anyone’s ever worn the powder blue in their home stadium before.

The Royals will be wearing blue shirts (with white pants) while the Blue Jays will go completely retro and bust out the baby blue from head to toe. The Jays will also bring back their old logo, a pullover jersey, and their old two-color cap. I have one of those hats. I love it.

There’s no word yet as to how often the Royals and Jays will do this in 2008, but the vibe is that they’ll do it enough that they petitioned MLB to add the uniforms to their regular cache of kits.

The St. Louis Cardinals have worn powder blue throwbacks in road games twice (2005 vs Tampa Bay and 2007 vs Milwaukee).

Considering that we’ve hardly seen powder blue for the last sixteen seasons (and the fact that no one under the age of 21 likely has any memory of powder blue baseball) let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit the teams that dared … to wear blue.

Prepare yourselves for a trip when the blue wasn’t just in the azure sky over the field. And watch out for lots of polyester pullovers and stirrups.

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If you look hard enough, you can find the 2007 Division Championship T-Shirts over at MLB.com.  Well, that’s no surprise, as the Angels and Indians have already clinched …

What?  They’ve got shirts up for teams who haven’t clinched yet? 

Yep.  Until they discover we’ve discovered them (Mets link is down already).  

National League Central (Cubs or Brewers)

I just jinxed my Cubbies by posting that pic, didn’t I? 

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Our latest commercial is from the late seventies, as current New Tork Yankees manager Joe Torre hawks some fine looking suits for the defunct Bond’s Clothing Store in New York City …

I’m pretty sure that Torre was managing the New York Mets when he made this commercial. 

I love how Torre and another gentleman have successfully accessorized their Three-Piece Suits with Pinkie Rings.  Can you get any more 1970’s New York Italian-American than that?  Torre is from New York.

I’m guessing that Bond’s dressed the Corleone family. 

We’ve posted Boston Red Sox fans doing silly things here at Home Run Derby.

But we’re equal opportunity snarks here at HRD - there must be other fans to ridicule …

Let’s stay in the AL East, but go South to Baltimore … they gotta have some crazy fans too.

Specifically this big Baltimore fan … and I mean BIG.

First off - I’ve never seen a jersey worn backwards under another jersey under a jacket. Heck, I’ve never seen anyone wear a Baltimore Orioles #53 Todd Williams jersey in the first place. They sell those?

Later at the game, the jacket and jersey come off to reveal an Erik Bedard jersey. And then that comes off to reveal a black Orioles T-Shirt. I think you know where this is going …

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Barry Bonds knocked out his 10th Home Run last night … creeping within eleven HR of Hank Aaron’s all-time record.

I think Bonds’ head is getting bigger. Maybe it’s just the Jersey that says Gigantes that makes me think of the side-effects of HGH.

The Cardinals are in bad shape. Their 2007 so far: Two Drunk Drivers (one of them dead), Slumping Batters, 4-10 Home Record, and now Carpenter is on the DL for three months.

Could they be the 2nd team to go from First to Worst? I still think their World Series Rings are Cursed.

Former Cubs Manager Dusty “Walks Clog the Bases” Baker must be rolling over in his grave after the Cubs beat the Nationals by scoring three runs on four straight walks yesterday.

Standings have been updated.

Yesterday, Major League Baseball honored the great Jackie Robinson for contributions to the sport of baseball (and to society in general) by unretiring his number for any players who wanted to wear 42 in Robinson’s honor. Sixty-plus players, managers and coaches (in addition to six entire teams!) were to wear the number 42 yesterday.

I was wondering if I could field an All-Star caliber team with the players who donned Jackie’s #42 yesterday … I tried to find the best players at each position who donned Jackie Robinson’s number yesterday.  It was a little tough considering some of the talent wearing #42 and the fact that five games were washed off the schedule.

The Home Run Derby All #42 Team is after the jump …

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Ten years after Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s #42 Jersey for all MLB teams, someone’s going to wear it again.  Ken Griffey Junior.  (yes I know Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera wears #42)

On Tuesday, Griffey spoke with Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and received permission to wear the number on the 60th Anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier.  The Reds will play the Cubs that afternoon at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

MLB Commisioner Bud Selig apparently loved the idea and let it be known that any player who wants to wear #42 on April 15 could do so.  Could you imagine a couple #42’s on the same team that day?  Well get ready because the ballclub that started Robinson to break the color barrier,  the Dodgers, will have every player wear #42 on Jackie Robinson Day.

… the Dodgers have chosen to have every player on the club wear that number for their nationally televised home game with San Diego that night. 

“Jackie Robinson was a Dodger,” team president Jamie McCourt said. “The most fitting tribute the Dodgers can pay to him is for our entire team to wear his number.”

This is one of the few instances where MLB consistently trumps the NFL.  When MLB players or teams want to honor someone or something (like the Brewers and their Cerveceros jerseys or the NYPD and FDNY caps during a Yankee game after 9/11), the league almost always supports them.  In many cases the league initiates it - like the Pink Bats to promote Breast Cancer Awareness last Mothers’ Day. 

Whereas in the NFL, the uniform police were out in full force when Jake Plummer wanted to remember Pat Tillman, when Peyton Manning wanted to wear black shoes to honor Johnny Unitas, or Corey Dillon when he wanted to switch his uniform number to 34 in honor of Walter Payton.

 We’ll do something for Jackie Robinson Day here at HomerDerby.com too.

One of my favorite things about St. Patrick’s Day is that it falls smack in the middle of Spring Training - which leads to a number of MLB clubs celebrating the day with special caps or uniforms.

Yesterday the Red Sox, Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers, Royals, Pirates, Phillies, Mets, Mariners, Braves, Tigers, Blue Jays (Green Jays?), and Cardinals (and probably some others) all wore some form of Green.

Of course, the real reason MLB teams wear the Green is so they can make more Green when you go out and buy the hat or jersey. 

Not just because they look cool or anything.

And later this season, the Boston Red Sox will wear Green Caps and Jerseys again during the regular season to honor the late Celtics coaching legend Red Auerbach. 

A baseball team honoring a basketball legend?  Well, I guess the White Sox did it for Michael Jordan - and he wasn’t even dead. 

The Chicago White Sox and KC Royals both have special “Halfway to St Patrick’s Day” games Sept 13 and 17, respectively.

Interesting that the White Sox will wear fully Green Pinstriped uniforms for that home game but only a Green Cap for the Spring games.

Guess they don’t want to give the guys who won’t make the team a free green pinstriped jersey.