Turn Ahead? Turn around

Sporting News, The, August 16, 1999 by Todd Fitzpatrick

Have you seen those futuristic uniforms some baseball teams have been wearing lately? You know, the ones that look like they were designed by Dennis Rodman and the Teletubbies.

It's all part of baseball's "Turn Ahead the Clock" promotion, which is supposed to be a glimpse of life in the year 2021. And, let's face it. Who hasn't been sitting around lately wondering what baseball would be like in 2021?

Some teams--the Yankees, Cubs, Blue Jays, Rangers, Expos, Astros, Reds and Dodgers--aren't participating. Other teams probably wish they weren't as well.

When the "Mercury" Mets hosted Pittsburgh on July 27, the Pirates' uniforms looked like pajamas designed by color-blind preschoolers. They wore orange-red shirts with no sleeves and yellow shirts underneath, with an enormous pirate plastered on their chests. Even the bright-orange Astros uniforms of the 1980s were easier on the eyes.

"It looks like Halloween came early," Pirates pitcher Greg Hansell says.

Each Mets hitter was pictured on the scoreboard with space-age graphics you might expect on Star Trek. Rickey Henderson was depicted as a three-eyed alien with huge pointed ears.

"I don't know where they came up with my picture," Henderson says. "I know my ears ain't that big.

Before the game started, the umpires were laughing at me. And then when I lined out to short, they were saying I hit the guy in his third eye."

"We should have had a big top," Orel Hershiser says. "If we can't sell the product the way it is, maybe we should give it a rest."

If any fans out there disagree with Hershiser and think you've missed all of the fun, don't fret. There are several more "Turn Ahead the Clock" games coming to a ballpark near you, including Saturday, when Tampa Bay plays at Kansas City. Other dates: Atlanta at Colorado, August 18; Arizona at Pittsburgh, August 20; Cleveland at Chicago, September 10; Philadelphia at Arizona, September 11; and Detroit at Boston, September 18.

Say what you will about the crazy uniforms and circus atmosphere created by this promotion. At the very least, it has given players another excuse alter a loss.

Says Mike Piazza, "We weren't beamed up to the proper coordinates."