James Crabtree writes:
I was alarmed to read on an official Houston Astros blog this week that during the 50th anniversary “Flashback Friday” games this year the Astros have decided to remove the pistol from their original Colt .45s jersey because they have deemed it to be inappropriate.
Here is the post from the official Astros blog.
It reads, “Flashback Fridays: the Astros will wear retro jerseys from past decades every Friday home game this year, starting with the Colt .45s (minus the pistol, which was deemed inappropriate to include on a uniform).”
Here is that great uniform –
http://17jersey.com/pic/20117214485512155.jpg
This is offensive to me. They proudly wore this uniform from 1962-1964 as the Houston Colt .45s and only misguided political correctness (or a more nefarious political agenda) would lead one to removing it. So, the Astros will wear that classic jersey during Friday home games in April sans the iconic pistol. I have sent a letter of protest to the owner and general manager of the Astros, Messrs. Crane and Luhnow, as well as one to the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Mr. Bud Selig. I would appreciate you spreading the word about this afront to our heritage to all of your members and fellow concerned citizens. Thank you.
I’m very surprised this would happen in Texas.
“This is offensive to me.”
Oh good lord. No matter what a team does, *somebody* is going to be offended. Someone would be offended if they did leave the pistol images on the uniforms. James Crabtree is offended that they took them off.
The only offense I’m interested in is the kind Albert Pujols provides.
The Astros have an official blog? Do other teams have official blogs?
I agree with Mr. Crabtree. What’s next they’ll start airbrushing or redacting guys like Ty Cobb from the record books? The Astros need to right this and apologize. Baseball is a game deeply rooted in history and when you mess with that, you’ve crossed the line.
I was at a game at the Vet in 80s where we all walked out of the game in a fan protest for fan rights. I would hope something like that could be organized.
Do they know that the Astronauts (aka Astros) were all part of a military space race to beat the commies to the moon? I think that’s pretty offensive. Was that why Crane was thinking about changing their name? I think the Houston Daffodils would be nice.
The Astros should apologize, right. They should apologize for taking the gun off the jersey, for insulting grass by being the first to use Astroturf, and for many other things. Baseball is a game deeply rooted in tradition, and Astroturf has no roots, and the tradition does not include domes.
I’m offended!
Stan is a Baseball Bolshevik!
Who’d they consult on this? Bono?
They’re going to backtrack on this, put the pistol back on, have Lil’ Wayne wear one in a video, and sell about 100,000 of those shirts at the stadium merch outlet on Texas Summer Friday Nights.
New Coke Moment! You heard it here first!
The Braves have a hatchet on their uniforms. Might as well scrub those. This reeks of Upper East side NYC tin ear morons telling a Texas team what to do.
I think fans need to push back on this and Action Counts Today!
Neil Diamond spoke to this in his great song “Coming to America”.
I hope they don’t decide to make things worse by replacing the pistol with a cartoon image of a horse.
Theron » Quick Draw McGraw would be okay. 🙂
@Ryan D – good point about the Braves tomahawk!
MLB and the Astros removing the pistol from the jersey is white washing history like Stalin airbrushing executed Communist party officials out of photographs.
Ms. Footer has taken to her blog to write that, “having a gun on an MLB uniform is in poor taste and sends a bad message” and “MLB, being a social institution, has a duty to represent itself in a decent, upstanding manner and it has decided guns on uniforms are not acceptable.”
Braves tomahawks are fine, however.
http://footer.mlblogs.com/2012/02/13/astros-baseball-dinner-and-fanfest-provide-a-heavy-dose-of-nostalgia-the-50th-anniversary-celebration-is-underway/
“the Astros will wear retro jerseys”
Except that the Colt .45 isn’t retro or a throwback jersey. It’s a new one, if it doesn’t have the original design.
@rbj Yes, that’s a great point. It’s a totally new uniform if it’s never been worn.
Thank you for sending a letter to the Commissioner, David, since that’s where the decision came from. Changing the uniform changes the history, and that should never happen.
All standard and alternate uniforms have to be approved by the Commissioner’s office (technically MLB, but it’s the same thing today). After the delay in approving Crane as owner, I’m assuming he’s walking on eggshells now and isn’t in position to butt heads with Bud, but Selig is the target for protesting this decision.