Yesterday 2009 officially began for me as I spent the day after my birthday in a little bit of Nationals-land, attending the new jersey unveiling at the ESPN Zone. The ESPN Zone events are always fun and entertaining, getting a chance to interact with the players a little bit, etc. This was a little different than the usual noontime Q&A however, because there were quite a few media types there, including Brent Haber from Channel 9 and Russ Thaler from Comcast Sports Net. Cameras were lined up everywhere. And, most encouragingly, the place was packed with fans.
The new jerseys are in my opinion really pretty cool. The road grey jersey is mighty impressive -- a throwback, and apparently intentionally so, as noted by Charlie Slowes at the event. I'm an old time Senators fan (well, I remember them as my team for my first two years following baseball and went to my first game on Memorial Day 1970 at RFK), so obviously they are appealling to types like me. (Now if only once the Lerners would sponsor a Senators throw back the clock day along with the usual annual Grays tribute.)
Another really great jersey in my opinion is the new red Sunday jersey. I was never a fan of that interlocking DC logo. But this new jersey with a curly W looks almost EXACTLY like the Cincinnati Reds Sunday jerseys from 2003 -- the curly W replacing the Wishbone C, and that's about it. I actually own an Adam Dunn 2003 Sunday Reds jersey. He'd look right at home in that new Nats gear. The other alternate jersey is kind of odd. Its a dark blue jersey with an American flag pattern in an interlocking DC logo. Its taken a lot of heat on the message boards (at least the not-as-great-as-it-used-to-be Nationals Journal at the Washington Post), but I like it. It is kind of a unique logo, almost like one of those magic eye posters that were popular a while back, you look at it one time and you see the flag, then keep staring and you see the DC. The lettering on the back is white, and on the blue jersey I think it looks really nice.
Some other uniform notes: the blue caps will apprently continue to be worn on the road even though the jerseys are red and grey. You had to imagine what this may look like since Lastings (who was wearing a new grey uni) was not wearing a blue hat (or any hat) as he laughingly strutted past the cameras in the made up runway at ESPNZone. Something tells me that they have a backlog of blue hats they want to sell before switiching to all red, because a blue hat with that jersey is just gonna look odd and mistmatched.
The road jackets from last year, which were damn sharp, are apparently being scrubbed, (as are any clothing with Washington in that 'Fuddruckers' font). The new road jackets are supposedly going to look like the jerseys. I think Charlie said the jackets would be grey, but I may be wrong about that.
The new flag logo blue jerseys will also sport a new hat that looks a lot like the 2005 batting practice cap, only with the flag DC logo. They're pretty cool.
Manny Acta and Lastings Milledge were both at the ESPNZone as part of the event, but, interestingly enough, Elijah Dukes, although advertised, was not. Someone in the media (or on the team) should find out the explanation; missing a high profile fan event was just not cool if there was not a good reason for it.
Manny gave an approximately 15 minute powder puff interview to Charlie, then after the fa-fa-fashion show, the guys took questions with the media and then signed autographs for the fans. They were in good spirits, and, as always, both Manny and Lastings are very conversational and fan friendly in meets and greets like this. When Manny saw me trying to work the camera function of my new IPhone, he quickly grabbed Lastings and they both struck a pose. It was pretty funny. I've posted that shot here.
Jerseys and hats are, of course, available in the team store, so I dutifly made the three stops on the green line to pick them up (a late birthday gift). There were no packed houses when I went there to lay down the coin though -- it was about as empty as RFK in July 2004. I was pretty amazed that they had authentic player jerseys there in all styles -- of course at authentic jersey prices, but still, I'd rather have a choice at a Zimmerman than just a blank back. Interestingly enough, the jerseys in the store were better representations of the new gear than the fashion show at the Zone, where models from the Nat Pack modelled the ladies jersey equivalent of the new gear.
It was a happy day after birthday.
The new jerseys are in my opinion really pretty cool. The road grey jersey is mighty impressive -- a throwback, and apparently intentionally so, as noted by Charlie Slowes at the event. I'm an old time Senators fan (well, I remember them as my team for my first two years following baseball and went to my first game on Memorial Day 1970 at RFK), so obviously they are appealling to types like me. (Now if only once the Lerners would sponsor a Senators throw back the clock day along with the usual annual Grays tribute.)
Another really great jersey in my opinion is the new red Sunday jersey. I was never a fan of that interlocking DC logo. But this new jersey with a curly W looks almost EXACTLY like the Cincinnati Reds Sunday jerseys from 2003 -- the curly W replacing the Wishbone C, and that's about it. I actually own an Adam Dunn 2003 Sunday Reds jersey. He'd look right at home in that new Nats gear. The other alternate jersey is kind of odd. Its a dark blue jersey with an American flag pattern in an interlocking DC logo. Its taken a lot of heat on the message boards (at least the not-as-great-as-it-used-to-be Nationals Journal at the Washington Post), but I like it. It is kind of a unique logo, almost like one of those magic eye posters that were popular a while back, you look at it one time and you see the flag, then keep staring and you see the DC. The lettering on the back is white, and on the blue jersey I think it looks really nice.
Some other uniform notes: the blue caps will apprently continue to be worn on the road even though the jerseys are red and grey. You had to imagine what this may look like since Lastings (who was wearing a new grey uni) was not wearing a blue hat (or any hat) as he laughingly strutted past the cameras in the made up runway at ESPNZone. Something tells me that they have a backlog of blue hats they want to sell before switiching to all red, because a blue hat with that jersey is just gonna look odd and mistmatched.
The road jackets from last year, which were damn sharp, are apparently being scrubbed, (as are any clothing with Washington in that 'Fuddruckers' font). The new road jackets are supposedly going to look like the jerseys. I think Charlie said the jackets would be grey, but I may be wrong about that.
The new flag logo blue jerseys will also sport a new hat that looks a lot like the 2005 batting practice cap, only with the flag DC logo. They're pretty cool.
Manny Acta and Lastings Milledge were both at the ESPNZone as part of the event, but, interestingly enough, Elijah Dukes, although advertised, was not. Someone in the media (or on the team) should find out the explanation; missing a high profile fan event was just not cool if there was not a good reason for it.
Manny gave an approximately 15 minute powder puff interview to Charlie, then after the fa-fa-fashion show, the guys took questions with the media and then signed autographs for the fans. They were in good spirits, and, as always, both Manny and Lastings are very conversational and fan friendly in meets and greets like this. When Manny saw me trying to work the camera function of my new IPhone, he quickly grabbed Lastings and they both struck a pose. It was pretty funny. I've posted that shot here.
Jerseys and hats are, of course, available in the team store, so I dutifly made the three stops on the green line to pick them up (a late birthday gift). There were no packed houses when I went there to lay down the coin though -- it was about as empty as RFK in July 2004. I was pretty amazed that they had authentic player jerseys there in all styles -- of course at authentic jersey prices, but still, I'd rather have a choice at a Zimmerman than just a blank back. Interestingly enough, the jerseys in the store were better representations of the new gear than the fashion show at the Zone, where models from the Nat Pack modelled the ladies jersey equivalent of the new gear.
It was a happy day after birthday.
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