Uniform patch 2.025
Nintendo announced the Mariners will be their official baseball billboard in 2025.
The Mariners home white jerseys get a bright red rectangular patch on the sleeve that says "Nintendo." I think it looks fine, maybe even nice if I'm being generous. Red is one of the Mariners "official" colors (from the stitching on the ball in the logo), and I use it frequently in my plots as a point of contrast. Navy, northwest green, and deep-ish red go well together, especially on a white base. It's a splash of color, even if it's an advertisement.
But they lose me with the teal jerseys, which were already not my favorite. The patch -- similarly bright but twice the size -- clashes badly. The "Nintendo Switch 2" logo takes up an entire arm sleeve. It's kind of embarrassing, actually. Maybe they'll look better in game and on TV, but I can't see it working on any level.
The best thing I can say about the patch on the teal jerseys is it just might be bad enough they have to bring back the road greys, which were already the superior choice and would look fine with the red patch.
It's not clear whether the patch will be on the City Connects (which I love but would be ruined with a red patch), the creams (where the lack of patch is the only thing keeping them above the teal in my personal ranking), or the navy (which are great and would be fine with a patch).
Also, a stray thought, why do some players wear a navy belt and some players wear a teal belt? I noticed it for the first time last year and couldn't unsee it.
My power ranking, post patch:
- Road grey (bring them back)
- City Connects
- Navy
- White
- Cream
- Teal
I became kind of ambivalent on the jersey patch as soon as MLB announced it would allow them. My only wish was the Mariners didn't pick Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks, or worse -- an unknown tech startup that sells software for 3D printers or something boring like that.
Nintendo is fine. We have a Switch we don't really play. We'll probably get the Switch 2 in a few years when the price drops and then not play it after a while. We liked Mario Galaxy a lot, and I had a great time with Dredge. I was maybe just a bit too young to have gotten into Nintendo when it really mattered. Our YMCA had a Gameboy Color, and that was my only real exposure to Nintendo-verse. I was more into baseball, and MLB 2006 (989 Sports) on PS2. Maybe I'll get the next Super Mega Baseball game on Switch 2. Maybe it will have Julio.
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